Manila Standard - 2019 December 7 - Saturday

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SEVEN GOLD-MEDAL HAUL ON DAY 6 STEADIES TEAM PH ON TOP OF SEA GAMES

By Peter Atencio THE Philippines continued its dominance on Day 6 of the 30th Southeast Asian Games and remained firmly entrenched at the top, thanks to an unheralded marathoner, an Asian Games golf champ, a Fil-Japanese in judo, a twin-

kill from the debuting obstacle racing course event and a former contestant from the ABS-CBN’s The Voice Teens Philippines in modern pentathlon.

Friday’s seven gold-medal haul had Team Philippines raising its medal tally to a total of 71 golds, 55 silvers and 50 Next page

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 296 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

UTTERLY UNSTOPPABLE. Philippine athletes continue their dominance in the 30th Southeast Asian Games on Day 6, their bubbling gold medal haul: Christine Hallasgo (from left) (athletics women’s marathon); the medallists in the men’s and women’s 5k x 20 obstacle course: Sherwin Managil, Glorien Merisco, Sandi Abahan and Mervin Guarte; Michael Ver Anton Comaling (modern pentathlon men’s individual beach triathlete even); Bianca Pagdanganan (golf women’s individual stroke play); and Mariya Takahashi (women’s judo 7-kg final). AFP

‘Sovereignty lost in water deal’ Duterte fumes for ‘surrendering everything’ in 1997 concession accord

By MJ Blancaflor and Maricel V. Cruz

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said the country surrendered everything— including its sovereignty—when it entered into a water concession agreement with Manila Water and Maynilad in 1997.

The President also accused the two private utility companies of “economic plunder” and insisted the government would not pay them the P10.8 billion as ordered by a Singapore-based arbitration court.

“In that contract, if you read it, our country surrendered everything to Manila Water and to Maynilad. Everything, including the sovereignty,” he said during a briefing on the effects of Typhoon “Tisoy” in Albay.

“We have lost the sovereignty. We bargained it away,” President Duterte added.

Duterte said he would not comply with the ruling of the Permanent Next page

Duque to probe hospitals due to illegal detention

STORM SUFFERANCE. Cagayan reels

HEALTH Secretary Francisco Duque on Friday vowed justice for patients who claimed they were illegally detained in hospitals, mostly private ones, owing to unsettled bills.

The Department of Health is currently investigating 77 cases of illegal detention in violation of Republic Act 10932 or the Anti-Hospital Deposit Law, and Duque said they would be resolved by March next year.

“The accused, most of them are private hospitals who refused their patients to leave because they cannot settle their bill,” the DOH chief said.

A source with the Private Hospital Association of the Philippines, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on its behalf, told Manila Standard the group’s president would Next page

under severe flooding due to rains dumped

by Typhoon ‘Tisoy,’ while President Rodrigo Duterte (inset) holds a situation briefing on ‘Tisoy’s’ effects in Legazpi. Above right, Task Force Lingkod Cagayan and the Quick Response Team conduct an operation for victims in Amulung, Cagayan, while barangay Cagogobngan in Catubig, Northern Samar (below right) experiences severe flooding from Tisoy. Rubilyn Suboc, Presidential photo, Cagayan PIO, James Acdang

Crop damage in 5 regions breaches P5-b mark MORE than P2 billion worth of crops in five regions were damaged by Typhoon “Tisoy” (international name “Kammuri”).

In its 6 a.m. update on Friday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said crop damage reached P2.096 billion in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, the Bicol region and Eastern Visayas.

The report rice, corn, and high-value crop plantations, as well as fishery,

Sino single women opt for virtual BFs

BEIJING—Chinese teen Robin spends hours online chatting to her man, who always has a sympathetic ear for her problems—as long as she’s willing to pay him.

The 19-year-old pre-medical student has spent more than 1,000 yuan (US$150) speaking to “virtual Turn to A3 boyfriends.”

livestock, and agriculture infrastructure were damaged by the storm.

Tisoy also damaged 78,691 houses in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, and Eastern Visayas and Caraga.

The number of schools damaged was placed at 2,193 in the Cordillera, Caraga, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, and Eastern Visayas regions.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday pledged to build about 2,000 shel-

Students’ poor reading grasp a reality—Palace

ters to relocate families living along foreshore areas in Albay province following the onslaught of Typhoon Tisoy.

Duterte made this commitment after Albay Gov. Al Francis Bichara said several houses along the coastline had been heavily damaged by the typhoon.

“I think we should start relocating them in a nearby place but we should not allow them to be in the foreshore areas. We need to enforce this,” Bichara

THE poor reading comprehension of Filipino students is a “reality” that must be recognized by the Philippines to improve its educational system, Malacañang said Thursday.

Filipino students ranked last among

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Afraid of bashing, Quiboloy lets ‘Tisoy’ roil HE COULD stop earthquakes, but why not a typhoon like “Tisoy”?

Pastor Apollo Quiboloy said he let the destructive storm pass through the country recently because he feared he would be Next page

15 aspire for lone SC vacancy, 15 from CA

By Rey E. Requejo

THE Judicial and Bar Council on Friday said there are 15 aspirants for the Supreme Court associate justice post left vacant following the promotion of Associate Justice Diosdado M. Peralta as the country’s 26th Chief Justice of Next page

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ICC nixes Pinoy fishers’ complaint

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor has dismissed the complaint filed by two former Philippine officials and Filipino fishermen against Chinese President Xi Jinping for committing crimes against humanity, particularly for the alleged destruction of natural resources in the country’s exclusive economic zone, especially in the West Philippine Sea.

the territorial and personal jurisdiction over the case.

Del Rosario, Morales and a group of fishermen accused Chinese officials led by Xi of committing crimes against humanity for allegedly implementing a systematic plan to control the South China Sea, which resulted in the destruction of natural resources, and endangered the livelihood of more than 300,000 fishermen and the food security of present and future generations of Filipinos.

In dismissing the complaint, the ICC prosecutor noted that China is not a

party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC. “The crimes referred to in the communication were allegedly committed

by Chinese nationals in the territory of the Philippines. China is not a state party to the Rome Statute. Accordingly, the court lacks personal jurisdiction,” the ICC prosecutor said.

The prosecutor also found no basis for the ICC to acquire jurisdiction over the complaint on the argument that the crimes committed by the Chinese leaders took place outside Philippine territory.

In a report posted on the ICC website, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda dismissed the complaint of former Foreign Affairs secretary Albert del Rosario,

former Ombudsman Conchita CarpioMorales and a group of fishermen accusing Xi of committing crimes against humanity, saying the tribunal lacked

Duque...

From A1

Du30 floats Bicol’s Salceda, Chiz as next President

most likely talk to lawyer Nicolas Lutero, head of the DOH Health Facilities and Services Regulatory Bureau, on Monday.

The PHAP has a seat on the DOH Health Facilities Oversight Board, which is currently reviewing the complaints, with some being filed in 2018, the Standard source added.

Duque reminded hospitals that they cannot choose their patients, and there is no guarantee that all patients have the financial capacity to pay their hospital bills.

The DOH also clarified the laws do not apply to patients using a private room.

On Thursday in Dagupan City, DOH Assistant Secretary Charade Mercado Grande of the Health Regulation Team said most of these hospitals have been filed with cases in the previous year.

“We are aiming to solve these cases within six months upon filing complaint,” she said.

Under RA10932, which strengthened RA 9439 or the Anti-Hospital Detention Law, advance and/or deposit payments are strictly prohibited for patients who are treated or confined due to emergency and other serious cases.

This also includes the non-issuance of medical services due to lack of advance payment, which could result in the patient’s disability or death.

RA 9439 prohibits the detention of a patient—either alive or dead—who either failed to pay in advance or entirely pay his medical bills and expenses.

Under the law, patients are allowed to be released from hospitals or medical clinics provided they were able to sign or write a promissory note.

“The promissory note may be in [the] form of mortgage or a co-maker guarantee, to which they could also be liable if the patient neglects his obligation,” Grande said. With PNA

Students’..

From A1 79 countries in a global survey of reading comprehension, a result that the Palace opted to view in a “constructive” manner, according to Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo.

“Our government’s joining in this assessment program signifies that this administration is unafraid to open the eyes of the Filipino people to the reality in order for us to ascertain what steps to undertake so we can perform better in the aspect of education,” he said.

In related developments: • Education Secretary Leonor Briones says she will further look into the effects of the choice of language on test performance as she acknowledged the need to strengthen the teaching and learning of English.

“Does the choice of language affect test performance? Reading in English is clearly a weakness of our learners, and this may also affect the performance of our learners in Science and Math as the language of instruction and testing in later grades is English,” Briones said at the launch of “Sulong Edukalidad” on Wednesday in Quezon City.

• The low ranking of the Philippines in the Program for International Student Assessment or PISA is rooted in hunger among Filipino children,” Senator Francis Pangilinan said Friday.

Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz, with PNA

Crop...

From A1 told the President in a situation briefing in Legazpi City.

“Look at other countries, sa foreshore, nobody lives there. Right now, they’re washed out. The next day, they’ll put up their houses. So when the typhoon comes, the same thing will happen,” he added.

Acknowledging the Bicol region is among the most disaster-prone areas, the President said he commiserated with Bicolanos who bore the brunt of

Chiz Escudero,” President Duterte said.

Escudero and Salceda were among the officials present at the post-typhoon damage-assessment meeting in Albay.

Salceda, a Duterte ally, laughed at the President’s comment.

“Ha ha ha. Actually, he gave me a huge assignment, that’s why he made that statement,” Salceda posted on his Facebook page.

Duterte has previously said he will not endorse a presidential candidate for the 2022 elections as he has discouraged Vice President Leni Robredo, who also hails from Bicol, from running for the top gov-

ernment post, citing her “incompetence.”

He even said the country would face a disaster if Robredo became the next President.

Duterte appointed Robredo as antidrug czar only to fire her after 19 days.

He has also told his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, not to run for President.

“I know what it’s like to be President.

Don’t believe the clamor of the people because when the water gets rough, you find you’re the only one sailing the lonely sea,” Duterte said in an interview last month.

shouldering the corporate income tax of the water utilities.

“It is money of the entire Republic of the Philippines. They are your constituents. Government money was used to pay your income tax. How can you say that only Metro Manila was affected?

We paid for your taxes,” he said.

Two legislators on Friday backed Duterte’s position against the duopoly of Manila Water and Maynilad.

“If the MWSS water concessionaires believe they can wave around that arbitration ruling and think the decision is like a check they can encash at the bank, they are dead wrong. We in Congress will not allow these water firms to get billions of pesos in public funds for services not rendered or delivered poorly,” said Ako Bicol Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. Garbin said the House will study legal remedies to address the situation.

“Congress has the power of the purse.

Not a single centavo of public funds will go to Manila Water and Maynilad for that arbitration decision without Congress’ approval. In this situation, the legal authority must emanate from the House of Representatives. Add to this power, is the constitutional authority of Congress to regulate firms that perform public services,” Garbin said.

Meanwhile, Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera maintained that the two water concessionaires should be held accountable for the plumetting water pressure in the metropolis.

In April, Herrera wrote Duterte and Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo to suggest ways on how to enforce accountability and make water

concessionaires liable for their failures in water services delivery.

“Congress would have failed the country if it allows Manila Water and Maynilad to get away with their disservice to the Filipino people while denying billions from other government priorities,” Garbin said. “A thorough review of the concession agreements is necessary.”

On Friday, Solicitor General Jose Calida on Friday said his office will exhaust all available remedies against the award recently made by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore.

“Our next steps will show that the arbitral award was not, to quote Manila Water, due to a ‘procedural lapse’ by government. It is a company’s refusal to become the subject of a legitimate regulation,” he said.

“The OSG cannot just simply stand by and watch Manila Water spin the circumstances and paint itself as an exemplary, outstanding company.”

Calida questioned the company’s claim of having spent billions of pesos on infrastructure improvement since the contract was awarded in 1997. “[W]e can only ask what the millions of Manila Water customers have been asking and complaining of for the past year: If indeed billions went to investing in water infrastructure, then why is the public suffering from one of Manila’s worst water shortages for the past year?” Calida said.

Manila Water is a subsidiary of the Ayala Corp., while businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan’s Metro Pacific Investments Corp. owns a controlling stake in Maynilad. With PNA

bronzes with other events still going on late Friday as the hosts continued to pull away from the rest of the field.

Indonesia has overtaken Vietnam at second place as it now has a tally of 4041-47, with the Vietnamese relegated to third place (38-41-52).

Singapore continued its dominance on the pool and currently sits at fourth place (32-22-36), followed by Malaysia (28-20-29).

Playing second fiddle to 2017 SEAG marathon champion Mary Joy Tabal, Christine Hallasgo did the unexpected and pulled off a queen-sized upset in marathon, which started and finished inside the New Clark City Athletic Stadium.

The 27-year-old Hallasgo found her chance to go for the women’s crown when Indonesian runner Odekta Naibaho collapsed in exhaustion in the last 400 meters as she reached the turn going into the NCC complex.

As Naibaho was carried out of race

route, Hallasgo took over the lead and reached the stadium finish line with Tabal, for a 1-2 finish among Filipina bets in the women’s division.

Hallasgo, a first-ever gold medal right on her first SEA Games’ stint, reached the finish line in two hours, 56 minutes and 56 seconds in scorching conditions.

The favorite Tabal, who dropped down in exhaustion upon reaching the finish line, was one minute and 53 seconds behind to check in at 2:58.49. She had to be carried off the track in a stretcher when it was over.

“I didn’t expect to win,” she said in Filipino. “I prayed that my body would be in condition so that I would not be left by the lead pack.”

Hallasgo made it to the national team as a late entry.

Asian Games’ gold medalist Bianca Pagdanganan completed a come-frombehind victory over Thailand’s Kan Bunnabodee to win the women’s individual play in golf Friday.

Staring at a one-shot deficit going into the last four holes, Pagdanganan closed out with a 71 and a 209 for the title, three strokes ahead of Thailand’s

Kan Bunnabodee, whose even par 72 and 212 total was good for silver. Pimnipa Panthong, also of Thailand, took the bronze with 71-213.

Lois Kaye Go (72-215), Pagdanganan’s teammate during the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asiad team play, was tied for fourth with Asia’s No. 1 amateur, Atthaya Thitikul (71-215).

Meanwhile, Michael Ver Anton Comaling made up for a disappointing SEA Games’ debut earlier this week by capturing the title in the modern pentathlon at the Subic Boardwalk in Subic.

After finishing a forgettable seventh during Wednesday’s laser run, Comaling, a former contestant of ABS-CBN’s “The Voice Teens Philippines,” outgunned Phurit Yohuang of Thailand in a rematch of their Thailand Open showdown last year.

Comaling clocked 17 minutes and 8.87 seconds, while Yohuang came in at 17 minutes and 19.83 seconds in the event, where competitors target a shaded circle using a laser pistol from 10 meters, then swim 50 meters in open water before running an 800-meter sand course, with the sequence repeated four times.

the typhoon’s wrath.

“Apparently you are condemned to suffer this kind of crisis every now and then you know, even before the climate change which made it really worse,” Duterte said.

“I can commit about 2,000 but we have to look for a new site,” he said.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, meanwhile, suggested they implement no-build zones along coastal areas.

“We can actually implement the nobuild zone observance, meaning to say 40 meters from the shoreline should be a no-build zone but we have to prepare

the relocation sites of these affected families,” Año said.

“I think it is about time really to implement that especially the eastern seaboard where we are visited by at least at the average 16 to 20 typhoons a year it would be more economical if we relocate these families living within the 40 meters...it should be a holistic approach together with the other agencies especially the NHA,” he added.

Duterte said he is “more than satisfied” with the performance of government in responding to victims of the typhoon. PNA

By MJ Blancaflor

THREE years before the next national elections, President Rodrigo Duterte has floated the idea that his successor will come from Bicol.

In his meeting with the region’s officials Thursday night, Duterte said the next chief executive could be Albay’s Second District Rep. Joey Salceda or former Senator and now Sorsogon Governor Francis Escudero.

“So the next President will come from Bicol. You have a choice of Salceda and

‘Sovereignty...

From A1 Court of Arbitration in Singapore ordering the government to pay Manila Water P7.39 billion and Maynilad P3.4 billion for their respective losses after they were not allowed to raise their prices.

“Don’t fool me, bitch. Don’t fuck with me. You tricked Filipinos with money. I said I will pursue this if this is the only thing I can achieve in this administration. I will really run after them, economic plunder,” the President said.

“This is a classic case of economic plunder. Nobody found it. I can only assume money really talks,” he added.

Maynilad and Manila Water distribute water in Metro Manila and nearby provinces under agreements signed with the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System during the Ramos administration.

But a review by the Department of Justice revealed a dozen of “onerous” provisions in the concession agreements.

Duterte directed the Department of Justice to file charges against all those involved in the contracts with the utility firms, including their owners, legal counsels, and government lawyers for economic sabotage.

“I’ll file plunder. Plunder, Mr. Ayala, has no bail. You want to see a billionaire going to jail? All those jailed are poor members of the NPA [New People’s Army]. But this is it,” the President said.

He also said Filipinos have been

Seven...

From A1

Afraid...

From A1 bashed again by netizens, who had criticized him for claiming to stop the temblor that rocked Mindanao in October.

The leader of the religious sect Kingdom of Jesus Christ and a close friend of President Rodrigo Duterte, Quiboloy said in a video interview posted on Facebook that owing to the backlash, he led “Tisoy” blast its way through the country and just prayed for its swift passage.

“Because when I stopped the earth-

Palace: Rise in inflation not a big concern THE slight increase in consumer prices in November should not be a cause for concern as the latest inflation figure still settled within the forecast of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Malacañang said Friday.

Headline inflation inched up slightly to 1.3 percent in November after a five-month slowdown in the price increases of basic commodities.

The latest inflation rate picked up from the 42-month low of 0.7 percent in October, but was still within the BSP’s forecast of 2 percent to 4 percent for the month and lower than the 6 percent registered in November 2018.

“The increase in the inflation rate in November 2019 to 1.3 percent from October 2019’s 0.8 percent should not be a cause for alarm,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

“Soaring inflation, which peaked at 6.7 percent last year, has been slain through the efforts of responsible agencies and is now a thing of the past.”

Panelo acknowledged that the faster headline inflation in November was driven by the highest annual increase registered in alcoholic beverages and the tobacco index (17.6 percent).

The Philippine Statistics Authority said the higher annual increases in housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (1.2 percent), furnishing, household equipment and routine house maintenance (2.8 percent), health (3.1 percent) and communication (0.3 percent) also contributed to the higher inflation in November.

“Our economists attribute the same to excise taxes,” Panelo said.

But he said for the first 11 months of this year, the inflation rate averaged at 2.5 percent, which the Trade department said remained a “very tame inflation rate” and “much lower than the full-year range of 2 to 4 percent we are expecting.”

Panelo also echoed the Finance department’s stance that the country’s stable macroeconomic fundamentals and streamlined food supply would enable the economy to “attain rapid growth and sustain low inflation.”

He said that, through appropriate fiscal and monetary, the country would be able to “ride safely through the ongoing trade war [between the United States and China] and avoid the shocks that slowed down many emerging economies.” PNA

15 aspire...

From A1 the 15-member high tribunal.

The JBC, the constitutional office that accepts, screens, and nominates appointments to the judiciary, said 12 of the aspirants are associate justices of the Court of Appeals: Associate Justices Ramon A. Cruz, Eduardo B. Peralta Jr., Samuel H. Gaerlan, Jhosep Y. Lopez, Pablito A. Perez, Maria Filomena D. Singh, Oscar V. Badelles, Manuel M. Barrios, Ramon M. Bato Jr., Apolinario D. Bruselas Jr., Ramon R. Garcia, and Ricardo R. Rosario.

The three others are Sandiganbayan Presiding Justice Amparo M. Cabotaje Tang, Court Administrator Jose Midas P. Marquez, and Anti-Red Tape Authority Deputy Director General Ernesto V. Perez.

In an advisory, the JBC, concurrently chaired by Chief Justice Peralta, has set public interviews of Cruz and Peralta on Monday, December 9, at the SC’s division hearing room.

Ernesto V. Perez, Gaerlan, Lopez, Pablito A. Perez and Singh are set for interview on December 18.

Badelles, Barrios, Bato, Bruselas, Cabotaje Tang, Garcia, Marquez, and Rosario will no longer be interviewed because their previous interviews are still valid, the JBC said.

Once the JBC submits to President Duterte its nominees to the vacant post, the President has 90 days from October 23, 2019 to appoint Peralta’s replacement as associate justice. quake, they got angry. So many people bashed me. So, if I stop the storm, they might get angry again. So I just let [the storm] be,” he said in the vernacular.

“I said, ‘Let’s just pray for the storm to pass.’ Now it’s back to normal. Let’s just help those affected by the storm,” Quiboloy added.

Previously, the pastor claimed the public should thank him for stopping the deadly earthquake that struck Mindanao two months ago.

“I was just drinking coffee when it quaked. I said, ‘Earthquake, stop!’ It stopped,” he said in another televised program.

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Du30 insists he’s a true Maranao; hits bio author

WASTED. Hundreds of cubics of water are wasted at Araneta Avenue corner Bayani St. in Quezon City, when the main pipe line of MWSS was accidentally damaged by DPWH workers around 3 a.m., Dec. 6. Manny Palmero

Return Sison to face cases, group tells Dutch gov’t

By Rio N. Araja A GROUP of parents wants the Dutch government to send Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison back to the Philippines to hold him liable for terrorism.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Dr. Arlene Eluwa of the League of Parents of the Philippines said their organization was able to meet representatives of the Dutch Embassy—Dieter Terpstra, counsellor and deputy head of mission; Jaymie Ann Reyes, senior political officer, and D.P. Trimp (Peter), head of Consular and General Affairs—upon their invitation to sit down for a dialogue after holding 14 protest rallies "right in front of the embassy building in Makati City."

"We are saddened to know from them that their hands are tied when we kept asking them if they could send Sison back to the Philippines.

According to embassy officials, Joma has no citizenship. He is not even an immigrant or a tourist. To us, he is a ghost. You [embassy] know where he lives but you are not doing anything while he could manage to sow terrorism," she said.

"There is a terrorist in the Netherlands. This is a fight not only of the Philippines but also of the whole world," she added.

IN BRIEF SSS pensioners get 13th month pay THE state-run Social Security System said on Friday that its through-the-bank pensioners who availed of the advance 18 months pension will receive their 13th month pension starting Dec. 10, 2019.

SSS president and chief executive officer Aurora C. Ignacio said the releases are part of the P12.71-billion 13th month pension disbursements to over 2.83-million SSS pensioners this year.

“As of Dec. 5, 45 of our 62 partner banks have already credited the 13th month pension to the bank accounts of our regular pensioners wherein the earliest recorded was on Nov. 18,” Ignacio said.

Anti-drug ops ‘legitimate’—PNP THE Philippine National Police spokesperson on Friday reiterated that operations in connection with the government's ongoing anti-drug campaign are legitimate.

PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac was reacting to the International Criminal Court's latest claim of rape and other abuses in the government's campaign against illegal drugs.

Banac said the rehashed narratives of alleged abuses remain unproven and devoid of truth from the beginning but had been repeatedly told and retold over and over again to make it sound factual. PNA

SWS: Pinoys worried over rising Chinese workers in PH

By MJ Blancaflor

S

EVEN out of 10 Filipinos are worried about the rising number of Chinese workers in the Philippines, who are perceived “threats” by the majority of respondents, a poll from the Social Weather Stations showed.

Malacañang said Friday it was not surprised with the survey results.

“It is a matter of research methodology,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

The survey, conducted from Sept. 27 to 30, asked respondents: How worried are you with the increasing number of foreign Chinese working here in the Philippines?

“Necessarily, the response is logical and expected because the question already assumes that there exists a cause of worry,” Panelo said.

Fifty-two percent of 1,800 respondents agreed that the increasing number of Chinese working in the country was a “threat to the country’s overall security,” according to the poll.

SWS said visibility of Chinese

workers was highest in Metro Manila, where 43 percent of respondents said they saw “very many” or “somewhat many” workers.

This was followed by Visayas at 37 percent, Luzon at 28 percent, and Mindanao at 19 percent.

Meanwhile, survey results showed that worry about the growing number of Chinese workers was highest in Metro Manila at 75 percent, followed by the Visayas at 71 percent, Balance Luzon at 69 percent, and Mindanao at 67 percent.

Early this year, officials expressed concern over the large number of Chinese working in the Philippines, many of whom are employed in online gambling operations that are supposed to be regulated by the

Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.

President Rodrigo Duterte has sought to establish a warmer relationship with Beijing since he assumed office in 2016, but China‘s aggressiveness in the South China Sea sparked antiChina sentiments among Filipinos.

“Those who are opposed to the President's pivot to China by reason of his independent foreign policy, would put political color and tweak and highlight the result of this survey question for political propaganda purposes,” Panelo said.

“The Filipino people are assured that this administration is strict in enforcing the law, especially those pertaining to our immigration and labor policies. The President, as always, will prioritize the interests of the Filipino people and our local labor force,” he added.

The survey, with a margin of error at ±2.3 percent for national percentages, was conducted nationwide through face-to-face interviews.

The survey items on people's opinions on Chinese workers were non-commissioned, which means they were "included on SWS' own initiative and released as a public service."

BI agents arrest, ‘NFA budget amendment will help farmers’ deport Chinese By Macon Ramos-Araneta fugitives for economic crimes

By Vito Barcelo THE Bureau of Immigration has ordered the deportation of three Chinese fugitives wanted by authorities in their country for economic crimes and large-scale fraud.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente said the foreign fugitives were arrested in separate operations in Parañaque and Pasay by operatives from the bureau’s fugitive search unit.

Morente said the fugitives’ arrest was made at the request of the Chinese government which sought their deportation to China so they could be prosecuted and tried for their crimes.

The Chinese fugitives were identified as Xu Xiaojun, who was arrested inside a restaurant along Airport Road, Baclaran, Parañaque, while Chen Yao Lin and Lv Mingwei, were nabbed along Newport Blvd. in Pasay.

Information from Chinese authorities said Xu is wanted for his involvement in bank credit card fraud which defrauded many of his compatriots of millions of yuan.

According to the Chinese government, both Chen and Lv were involved in internet fraud from their victims amounting to more than US$2 million.

A detention warrant was reportedly issued against the duo by the municipal public security bureau in Wuxi City, Jiangsu province, China.

SENATOR Cynthia Villar assured the public that her proposed amendment in the 2020 budget of the National Food Authority will mean a bigger budget for the program providing assistance to small farmers.

Villar, chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Food and sponsor of the proposed budget of the Department of Agriculture, said a bigger budget is needed to help farmers affected by the initial phase of the implementation of Republic Act 11203 or the Rice Tariffication Law. She said this is why she recommended the transfer of P3 billion from NFA to the Land Bank of the Philippines.

“It is a given that there are difficulties encountered by the farmers when the law took effect that is why we are looking for ways how to give more assistance to them

through bigger budget,” Villar said.

Tha Nacionalista Party senator also allayed fears that the transferred funds will affect the palay procurement extend program of the agency.

She said the NFA will continue to buy palay from our farmers.

“They should do this so that our farmers will no longer go to abusive traders who will buy their produce at very, very low price,” she said.

Under the proposed amendment of Villar, P3 billion will be transferred from NFA to the LandBank for year 2020 to assist the implementation of the Rice Tariffication Law. “This fund will go to 600,000 farmers tilling farms of one hectare or less kaya sigurado tayo na ang assistance mapupunta talaga sakanila. Wala nang excuse para hindi makarating ang tulong ng gobyerno sa kanila,” Villar said.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has belied a political analyst’s claim that he has no Maranao bloodline.

The President insisted Thursday that his grandmother was a Maranao and so was his mother Soledad, after an unauthorized biography hinted that he could not have any link to the Maranao tribe.

“My grandmother is a Maranao. My mother is a mestiza, Maranao,” Duterte said in Albay while he was meeting with local executives.

“I saw an article. Why should I pretend about my lineage? That's what you get if you begin to dig in to the history o tapos you rely on rumor,” he added.

The book, entitled “Beyond Will & Power: A biography of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte” has reportedly suggested that Duterte could not possibly have Maranao bloodline.

Authored by Earl Parreno, the book features the President’s ancestry and rise to the presidency.

The President has often taken pride of his Maranao lineage in his public speeches since he assumed office in 2016. Duterte, former mayor of Davao City, was also named as the country’s first president from the south.

Parreno said he had interviewed “nearly a hundred people” including Duterte’s siblings and checked archives.

The author also said he has traced the President’s genealogy, childhood, high school days and life as a lawyer, prosecutor, and politician.

Lawyer Saidamen Pangarungan, a Maranao appointed by Duterte as secretary of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos in July 2018, said that Parreno “tried in vain to cast a cloud of doubt on the President’s Maranao ancestry by alleging that the President’s maternal grandfather Eleno had his surname Fernandez changed to Roa when he was adopted by the latter family.”

MJ Blancaflor

Virtual...

From A1

These aren’t seedy sex-chat lines but men who charge for friendly and flirty online communication, from wake-up calls to lengthy text exchanges and video conversations.

“If someone is willing to keep me company and chat, I’m pretty willing to spend money,” said Robin, who didn’t want to give her real name.

The option for intimacy on-demand has gained popularity among China’s middleincome young women, who are often focused on careers with no immediate plans to marry and start a family.

Shops selling virtual friends and partners can be found on Chinese messaging app WeChat or on an e-commerce site like Taobao.

Several virtual boyfriends told AFP that most of their customers are single women in their twenties with disposable income.

By day, 22-year-old Zhuansun Xu is a foreign exchange trader in Beijing. By night, he chats with female clients who pay him to be their “boyfriend”, something he has done for the past year.

Girls come to Zhuansun with different needs - some want friendly advice, while others have more romantic requests.

“While we’re interacting, I tell myself: I really am her boyfriend, so how can I treat her well?” he told AFP. “But after we’re done, I’ll stop thinking this way.”

Prices start from a few yuan for half an hour of texting, to a few thousand yuan to keep a companion on retainer for phone calls throughout a month.

“People have figured out how to commodify affection,” said Chris KK Tan, an associate professor at Nanjing University who has researched the phenomenon.

“This is a new mode of womanhood that is unprecedented in China,” Tan said. AFP

CHRISTMAS CAROL. Members of Amicus-UPD Adventist Church composed of students and alumni of the University of the Philippines serenaded House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (right) during their courtesy call and caroling at the House of Representatives. Romualdez is also a graduate of Bachelor of Law from the University of the Philippines. Ver Noveno

A4

Opinion

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

More questions on BCDA deal AS A follow-up on my Thursday column on the “Questions on BCDA (Bases Conversion and Development Authority) deal with MTD Capital Berhad of Malaysia” as I go over the alleged Joint Venture Agreement (JVA), there are some more questions in connection with this deal that bothers me.

My gulay, this Malaysian firm must be favored.

To place everything in proper perspective, let’s look at the timeline.

MTD Capital Berhad of Malaysia sent an unsolicited proposal to BCDA, a government owned-and-controlledcorporation (GOCC), to develop and construct the National Government Administrative Center worth P4.185 billion in Capas, Tarlac. The unsolicited proposal does not include the construction of the Sports Facilities, also in Capas.

Nine days from receipt of the proposal on Oct. 30, 2017, BCDA accepted the proposal, and negotiations followed using BCDA JVA guidelines.

During the negotiations, BCDA and MTC Capital Berhad agreed to include the construction of the Sports Facilities for P8.51 billion.

A competitive challenge or what is called a “Swiss Challenge” was set on Dec. 17, 2017. No entity submitted any document to challenge the unsolicited proposal. Subsequently, BCDA awarded the project in favor of MTD Capital Berhad.

BCDA and the Malaysian firm prepared a draft JVA which was still a

draft, pursuant to BCDA JV guidelines, Commission on Audit guidelines on JVA, and GCG Memorandum Circular No. 2018-2, which subsequently were sent to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC) for review and issuance of Counsel’s Opinion, which are among the functions of the OGCC. In that draft JVA, it did not provide for “a return of investment (ROI)” which will entitle MTD Capital Berhad to receive “reasonable costs and returns” from BCDA for the construction of the Sports Facilities in the amount of P2.49 billion. The JVA draft also does not provide for the division and sharing of profits of the Sports Facilities, which will entitle the Malaysian firm to receive 50 percent of the profits of the Sports Facilities for, Santa Banana, 25 years!

The OGCC then issued a contract review dated Jan. 30, 2018 stating that: 1. The construction of the Sports Facilities is a build-operate scheme embedded in the joint venture agreement; 2. The construction of the Sports Facilities is covered by the BOT (BuildOperate-Transfer) law and not by laws on joint ventures; 3. The construction of the Sports Facilities is subject to public bidding; and 4. Section 8 of the draft JVA on the construction and payment of the Sports Facilities should be revised to align with the laws on joint venture agreements.

What was in Section 8 of the draft JVA that must be revised? The draft JVA requires the BCDA to pay and/ or reimburse MTD Capital Berhad the cost of the construction of the Sports Facilities for 5 years (yearly installments).

The contract review of the OGCC dated Jan. 30, 2018 requires the BCDA to revise this Section 8 to align with the law on joint ventures, and that is for BCDA not to pay the Malaysian firm the cost (P8.51 billion) of the Sports Facilities, since this is the contribution of MTD Capital Berhad in the joint venture.

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

T

Path to progress

HE law postponing the 2020 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections or BSKE has been signed which, political analysts say, paves the path for the passage of the Magna Carta for the barangays.

SK councilors.

The intent of the law putting back the scheduled elections on May 11, 2020 to Dec 5, 2022 is to extend the term of incumbent officials, and give them what national leaders call the “fullest opportunity” to serve their constituents and finish whatever projects they have launched.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles put it suitably: “The intent is to improve public service and make local governance more responsive to the needs of the people [and the postponement] ensures our continued path to progress and better service at the grassroots level, which is one of the main policy aims of the Duterte administration.”

With the law now signed, the administration has geared up in working with the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the National Youth Commission and the

Under the new law, the next BSKE will be held on Dec. 5, 2022, nearly six months after the six-year term of President Rodrigo Duterte ends in June 2022, effectively extending the terms of office of the incumbent SK and officials of 42,045 barangays.

To be elected are 42,045 barangay chairmen and at least 294,000 barangay councilmen or “kagawad,” as well as 41,995 SK chairmen and 293,365

Commission on Audit to finish the manual on financial management for the SK. Nograles has said this “will help improve how the SK’s allocated funds are utilized to serve the youth in the barangay [and] we are also working on legislation that would allow SK officials to receive an allowance so that they can actively perform their duties as elected officials.”

In President Duterte’s State of the Nation Address this year, he called on Congress to defer the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections to recalibrate the abbreviated terms of sitting barangay officials.

At the same time President Duterte urged the two Houses of Congress to work on the Magna Carta for Barangays, which aims to declare officials as regular government officials.

The path to progress has been paved. Filipinos raise their hopes.

Turn to A5

Defunding implants: Sotto vs. women SENATE President Vicente Sotto III, the foremost anti-women’s rights legislator, strikes again. This time, he hit women, particularly poor Filipino women, by removing the P195 million from the Department of Health’s proposed 2020 budget for the purchase of subdermal implants.

The subdermal implant is a contraceptive that has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration as safe, legal, and non-abortifacient.

Since its introduction some years back, it has become popular with Filipino women because it is easy to use and long-acting. It only takes about five minutes to insert, yet is effective for three years. After insertion, women can go back to their usual routine and there is no restriction in terms of what they can do.

Moreover, it is reversible, meaning if at anytime within the three years that it is effective the woman with the implant decides that she wants to get pregnant, the contraceptive can easily be removed.

A report quoted Sotto as saying that the Senate “removed an unauthorized provision from the 2020 budget of the DOH for purchase of P195 million worth of abortifacients.” Wow. This statement is loaded and so WRONG. First, the subdermal implant does NOT cause abortion. In a Senate deliberation on the health budget, Sotto mentioned that this contraceptive is abortifacient, quoting Donna Harrison’s opinion criticizing the FDA for approving its use by Filipino women.

But who is Donna Harrison? She is an American obstetrician/gynecologist who is also the Executive Director of the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologist. She also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Trinity International University, an evangelical Christian university. Clearly, Dr. Harrison is anti-contraceptives, and her opinion is not surprising, being a pro-lifer.

What is surprising is that a senator of a secular State would choose to side with Harrison’s bigoted opinion over those of international medical and health experts. The subdermal implant is among the most recently developed

contraceptives and was approved in the United States in 1990. Despite it being new, it has already been approved as a contraceptive by regulatory agencies of more than 60 countries worldwide, including the Philippines’ FDA. Contraceptives do not induce abortion. They prevent, not terminate pregnancy. Contraceptives act BEFORE pregnancy occurs and thus, are not abortifacient. As former Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral often says, contraceptives cannot abort pregnancy because there is nothing to abort.

Is this a case of not knowing all the facts about contraceptives?

The World Health Organization in its 2019 List of Essential Medicines has clearly made this distinction. In the list, number 22 is Medicines for Reproductive Health and Perinatal Care. 22.1. is Contraceptives and under this, 22.1.5. is Implantable Contraceptives, which means subdermal implant. Item 22.3. is Uterotonics and under this are the medicines that may be used for abortion (which is legal in a good number of countries).

Clearly, the WHO has categorized contraceptives like subdermal implant separately from those that may be used to for abortion. Surely, the WHO is more authoritative than Dr. Harrison.

In removing the budget for implants, Sotto tried to appease the women who will be adversely affected by saying that anyway, other methods are available. Did he mean the so-called “natural” family planning methods? If yes, it should be emphasized here that the NFP is the least liked by women because these are quite difficult to use, and requires the full cooperation of their male partners. The latter is hard to achieve because of the inequality that exists in many relationships.

If, however, Sotto was referring to birth control pills and injectables, well, we have news for him. Implants contain the SAME hormones found in other hormonal contraceptives. Why then would Sotto single implants out, and curtail Filipino women’s access to it? Why did he not remove the budgets Turn to A5

Her crusade is paying off BACK IN 2010, neophyte solon and Bagong Henerasyon Rep. Bernadette Herrera or “BH” bared in a news forum the onerous contracts entered into by former President Fidel V. Ramos with water concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water.

Back then, BH was already crying her lungs out, pointing to anomalies in the alleged one-sided agreements with the concessionaires, which had duped Filipinos of billions of pesos.

Among them are: (a) Misinterpretation on the treatment of the concessionaires as mere agents of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System or MWSS, as opposed to what they truly are, public utilities. As a result, the concessionaires are able to pass on to the consumer business expenses and their own corporate income tax; (b) Misrepresentation in the determination of the Return on Rate Base to include MWSS assets which may not be part of the system and were not properly audited and verified by Commission on Audit; (c) Failure to adopt appropriate methods and/or practices to determine whether assets or expenses had been “prudently incurred,” as required in the Concession Agreements themselves; (d) The so-called “innovation” of the MWSS Regulatory Office, purportedly in its interpretation of the Concession Agreement, that allowed the concessionaires to collect via the water tariff

capital investment plans and programs that have not yet been implemented and/ or even abandoned, where the consumers did not enjoy the benefit of its intended services, devoid of clear, legal and factual basis.

BH was like a voice in the wilderness, alone in her crusade. (e) Systematic, coercive and habitual acts in determining the 12% limit on investment return or profit imposed on public utilities by relying on a legally dubious idea that the Concessionaires are not public utilities but are mere “agents” of MWSS; (f) Prematurely extending the concession periods to 2037, when their expiry would not occur for over a decade to go, and there is a clear provision in the concession agreement for a transparent transition in the event of term expiration;

(g) Contrary to the provision of the concession agreement, MWSS virtually allowed the concessionaires to engage in developmental activities outside of its main contractual obligation in the distribution and improving the level of water service in their respective concession areas, such as in the operation and maintenance of the common purpose facilities, which apparently MWSS had played a minor role.

The present arrangement is a clear case of an integrated monopoly; and, (h) Unfair provision in the concession agreement, particularly in the event of an arbitration case, that all expenses of the concessionaires associated with the case are passed on to the consumers via the water tariff while the government shoulders its own expenses.

On top of it, there is a provision in the contract, which states the government de cannot intervene in the policies and deinclud cisions of the concessionaires, including proposal for rate hikes. This was the reason why Maynilad and Manila Water sought the intervention of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Singapore, in a case where the Philippine government lost.

Unfortunately, even as BH had allied herself with the administration then, her cries just fell on deaf ears. She was like a voice in the wilderness, alone in her crusade.

According to BH, there was no way the MWSS Regulatory Office would Turn to A5

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Opinion

WATER concessionaires Maynilad and Manila Water said they are “willing to sit down” with the Duterte administration to address its concerns on the contracts forged between them and the previous administrations.

They are now up against a Chief Executive who knows what he is doing.

Unfortunately for them, President Rodrigo Duterte will no longer put up with their crap. Finally, these monstrous profiteers have been unmasked after decades of duping the public out of their own natural resource of water.

Apparently, these companies’ bigshot execs have been accustomed to having the government decision makers bow to them, submitting to their wishes.

Now, Manong Digong wants to publicly expose the identities of the culprits and their partners in crime behind the shamelessly onerous deals they got the

More questions...

From A4

My gulay, in joint ventures, a partner does not pay the contribution of his partner in the partnership! The construction of the Sports Facilities pegged at P8.510 billion is the contribution of the Malaysian firm in the joint venture, while BCDA contributed its 40-hectare land in Capas, Tarlac. So why should BCDA or the government for the matter pay for the contribution of the Sports Facilities? But, BCDA will pay anyway. That’s why I said, how lucky is the Malaysian firm that it is favored. Santa Banana!

I’ve done some research, and I found that A.B. Batuhan, a member of the board of directors of BCDA, sent a letter to the editor of another newspaper on Dec. 4, 2019, saying among other things that the construction of the sports facilities is a build-transfer scheme. My gulay, that’s clear enough!

What is a Counsel’s opinion anyway, and what is a contract review?

Note that a Counsel’s opinion by the OGCC is required under BCDA JVA and COA guidelines. Under paragraph 6.3 (1) of the BCDA JVA guidelines, No. 11 of Article VIII, “Prior to the execution of the JV Agreement, the OGCC, DOJ (Department of Justice), or other entity prescribed by law issuances as the statutory counsel of GOCC shall issue the corresponding Counsel’s Opinion. Santa Banana, in other words, this Counsel’s opinion is the key for the BCDA to sign the JVA, and not the contract review.

After the OGCC issued the contract review Jan. 30, 2018, the draft JVA was returned to BCDA. Do you know what happened? BCDA inserted Section 4.9 (b) in the draft JVA that the income of the Sports Facilities will be divided equally (50-50) by BCDA and MTD Capital Berhad. As I asked, what is in it for BCDA? In short, Santa Banana, the Malaysian firm will now be entitled to 50 percent of the income of the Sports Facilities for the entire term of the JVA―25 years, and extendable for another 25 years.

This provision was not in the unsolicited proposal submitted and agreed upon by the BCDA and the Malaysian firm. This provision was not even in the terms of reference (TOR) and subject to Swiss Challenge on Dec. 11, 2017.

Likewise, this provision was not in the JVA draft that was sent by BCDA to the OGCC for review. This leads to the question, why?

Likewise, BCDA inserted P2.2 million in Section 8.1 of the draft JVA and (once all such advances have been repaid) the balance of such annual installment shall be payable to the winning party to cover its “reasonable cost and returns.”

With these insertions, MTD Capital Berhad is now entitled to receive from BCDA P2.49 billion―the excess of P2.2 billion x 5 equals P11 billion) as its return of investments for the construction of the Sports Facilities. My gulay, this Malaysian firm must be favored.

This figure (P2.2 billion) and sentences which were inserted by BCDA were not in the unsolicited proposal, and neither were they in the terms of reference (TOR) during the “ Swiss

Challenge” and neither were they in the draft JVA that was sent by BCDA to the OGCC for review. Santa Banana, these make the BCDA deal all the more questionable and needs looking into by President Duterte!

With the insertion of provisions that will favor the Malaysian firm, I ask this question: What’s in it for BCDA and the OCGG issuing statements that the deal is transparent and in compliance with the law and legal requirements?

On the part of BCDA, I ask: What makes MTD Capital Berhad so favored to get so much from the BCDA deal?

On the part of the OGCC, I also ask what made it change its tune to claim that the BCDA deal was legal and in compliance with the law? As I said, I smell a rat, Santa Banana! *** With the resumption of protests at Hong Kong, we can only speculate what Beijing will do next. Note that Hong Kong is now ruled in its legislative council by the majority of prodemocracy legislators. This makes it unlikely for Beijing to do anything to quell the protests.

The big question I now ask is: Will Hong Kong return to its former glory as the financial hub of the world and an unparalleled shopping venue? This I doubt with so many residents of Hong Kong owning business like restaurants and jewerly shops now migrating to Taiwan.

Whatever happens to Hong Kong, its old glory of Hong Kong will never be the same again, Santa Banana!

Now whether China President Xi Jinping will maintain the “one country two systems” in the former Crown Colony is another subject to speculation. With the victory of pro-democracy residents of Hong Kong, they will not continue as a democratic autonomous region. And that will be a big problem for China. *** I was not at all surprised with the Philippines hitting rock bottom in a study of no less than 79 countries of 15-year-old students getting the lowest education ranking, scoring the lowest in reading and second lowest in both math and science. Just how Filipino students fare in English in another question.

I lament the findings because my parents were both teachers, and I, too, was a professor at the Ateneo de Manila before it became a university, teaching English, history and literature.

In analyzing this lamentable condition of education in the Philippines, I attribute it to many factors―the quality of teachers, which has become substandard; the school curriculum, which has made the use of the national language as a medium of instruction: and the utter neglect of the government of the country’s education. There are also those who say that the nutrition problems of Filipinos is also to blame.

With these confluence of events, I now urge President Duterte, Congress, and all educational institutions, both private and public, to come together and find out what’s wrong, and to prioritize what can be done.

My gulay, I recall there was a time when Filipinos excelled in English, which became the envy of Asians. But, with so much nationalism, the national language prevailed. That’s why I say, there is need to review everything in our education system.

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Lackadaisical condemnation in China’s NGCP participation

Unmask them culprits behind water deals! government into.

Again unfortunately for them, they are now up against a Chief Executive who knows what he is doing and who knows he can scrap those deals and trash them altogether.

If the Duterte administration can lock up a former Justice secretary-turnedsenator for dealing drugs, then it is not farfetched that he can throw these water firm execs in jail for “economic sabotage” and their cohorts for “plunder.”

The irony of it all, the stupid decision of the Singapore-based international arbitral court ordering the Philippine government to pay the water firms tens of billions of pesos in “lost profit” came just months after the agonizing water crisis our people were subjected to.

The President is firm on his position that the government not honor the “illegal contract” with Maynilad and Manila Water, who actually owes the government in corporate taxes.

Maybe it is time to make them pay instead by having the government, with the help of the Armed Forces, take over the water distribution in Metro Manila and suburbs serviced by Maynilad and Manila Water. It was to the disadvantage and detriment of the public that this form of public utility was fully privatized in the first place.

They can’t just bully or bribe the tenant in the Palace, and ought to realize by now that they are no longer dealing with some idiot playing video games in Malacañang like they used to.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019

(Part I) THE Senate has found a way to blast anew China’s creeping economic dominance in our country. It noted that according to its “ownership” of 40 percent of the country’s only transmission grid, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, China could pose a potential threat as it could “switch off the power grid and it will take between 24 and 48 hours to reboot the system after it has been ‘hacked.’”

Many of our senators, by their seemingly implanted view of China, expressed apprehension that we have to do something to allay this danger. Even retired Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio did not waste his time to pitch in, saying it is a “cause for concern.”

Unfortunately, this news that China might just shut off the country’s power grid was first reported by an American through that country’s notoriously subjective news media. Congressman Jericho Nograles charged that NGCP has been raking between P16 to P18 billion in dividends to its shareholders annually.

For a better understanding of this brouhaha, it is suggested that we examine why that portion of the National Power Corporation’s main function was sold.

One need not forget that Napocor guaranteed the financial cost of the country’s first nuclear power plant. Unexpectedly, the demagoguery that prevailed after the Marcos administration was ousted decided to mothball the almost finished power plant.

The Aquino government issued Executive Order No. 55 on Oct. 1, 1986 transferring to the national government the nuclear power plant, its equipment, materials, facilities, records and uranium fuel, and providing for the assumption of the remaining foreign loan contracted by Napocor and guaranteed by the government to finance the construction.

As if to firm up the decision to forgo the operations of the multibillion-dollar plant, the demagogue issued another Executive Order No. 98 on December 18, 1986, modifying EO No. 55, transferring to the National Government the nuclear plant, its equipment, materials, facilities, records and uranium fuel, and providing for the assumption of the remaining loan of Napocor by foreign lenders guaranteed by the government.

That decision instantly buried Napocor in such irredeemable debt of $2.3 billion, not to mention the usurious interest slapped by US creditors, which was bent on overthrowing the Marcos government. It could even be said that the Cory government was a party to that swindle because of the enormity of the amount about to be thrown into

Her crusade...

From A4

listen to her, as they share the same office with the water concessionaires.

Adding insult to injury, the former administration extended in 2014 the contracts with Maynilad and Manila Water up to 2037, giving an additional 15 years from the originally agreed period of 1997 up to 2022.

Enter the Duterte administration.

In April this year, BH wrote to President Rodrigo Duterte, coursed through Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo, asking the Chief Executive to support her House bills creating the Department of Water and the Water Regulatory Commission.

In her letter, BH suggested that the contracts of the water concessionaires be canceled.

Defunding...

From A4

for the other contraceptives? Is this a case of not knowing all the facts about contraceptives?

Thus, there is no truth to Sotto’s assertion that the P195-million budget he removed was unauthorized because it was for abortifacient supplies.

Removing the budget for implants means that poor women will not have access to this highly effective and longacting family planning method. The cut does not mean that implants will no longer be available. It means that government will not be able to provide the service to the women who want and need it, but it may be available through private medical providers.

The problem is, only government provides this important and needed service to economically marginalized women.

Implants are not cheap. If one gets this

the septic tank.

Not a whimper was heard from Cory Aquino to demand a recession or rebate to the amount. We lost the case because the government failed to cite any defect to make the plant unserviceable and justify a demand for damages.

The country had to pay P250,000 a day for the loan until it was fully paid in 2014, even if the plant, in the words of Thelmo Cunanan, “did not produce a single watt of electricity.” As Americans creditors would say, they would not mind if the government would dump that into the garbage bin, provided they are paid to the last centavo.

(Let’s) examine why that portion of the National Power Corporation’s main function was sold.

the form of VAT. On Dec. 12, 2007, a bid for a 25-year license to run the Philippine power grid or the privatization of Transco was held.

The consortia, led by Monte Oro Grid Resources, then headed by Enrique Razon, the State Grid Corporation of China, and Calaca High Power Corp., won the bid, submitting the highest offer of $3.95 billion. On Jan. 15, 2009, NGCP officially started its operations of the transmission system with Walter A. Brown as president.

On June 10, 2010, Henry Sy Jr. was appointed as second president, but in May 2017, TransCo accused NGCP of violating the terms of the contract by supposedly making too much money from its operations and unduly profiting by allowing telecommunications firms to mount their fiber optic cables on the transmission towers. On March 7, Henry Sy Jr. resigned as president and CEO, and administrative officer Anthony Almeda was named new president.

Unlike the sale of other state-owned industries, the concession agreement allowed the government to keep the ownership of the transmission assets through TransCo. In accordance with Section 8 of the EPIRA Law, it states that no person, company or entity other than TransCo shall own any transmission facilities. The franchise only covers the operations, maintenance and expansion of the power grid, and the right of eminent domain necessary to construct, expand, and operate the transmission system.

For a cost of $3.95 billion, the State Grid Corporation of China has poured in P17 billion since 2009 for the improvement of the transmission lines.

The privatization of the country’s transmission grid remains anomalous, because the law imposes a condition that the transmission grid remains government property.

While the owners of Monte Oro Grid Resources, led by Henry Sy Jr., and Calaca High Power Corp. led by Robert Coyiuto Jr., each represent 30-percent shares each, the State Grid Corp. of China, with 40 percent, is limited to giving just technical assistance.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Geng Shuang: “The project is now operated, managed and maintained by the Philippine side, with the Chinese partner offering only the necessary technical support upon request. The allegation of China’s control over the Philippine power grid or threat to the country’s national security is completely groundless.”

If the opposition now sees a problem in China’s participation in maintaining, expanding and improving the country’s power grid, the fact is it was done by the past administrations. First, the government should have analyzed that it was about to sell a vital and strategic industry. Second, the bidder includes a foreign and state-owned corporation engaged in a parallel industry. In other words, we were fully aware of these facts.

The government later tried to deflect the adverse reaction from the public, particularly for the long hours of power outage. Production nosedived due to loss of man hours that to recover from the vandalizing effect of vengeance, the succeeding economic planners thought it wise to sell the only industry that produces energy for this country.

Napocor was placed in a very tight spot that it had to no choice but to sell or face the spectre of a possible economic collapse. The debt was swelling alongside the interest the country had to pay, not to mention the depreciating value of the peso and the incessant badmouthing by our politicians in blaming the corruption in Napocor.

On June 8, 2001, then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed the Electric Power Industry Reform Act (EPIRA) or Republic Act 9136. Since the object was for the privatization of the only state-owned power industry, our economic managers opted first to deregulate the industry, referring to the rate of electricity that could be charged form the consumers.

Second was to chop the industry into several parts or divisions, particularly the creation of the transmission grid, an electricity market called Wholesale Electricity Spot Market (Wesm) and of separating them from the power producers.

Before that, the government issued EO No. 215 on July 10, 1987, amending Presidential Decree No. 40, allowing distribution utilities to generate their electricity. This firmed up the cartel in the power industry, resulting in the uncontrollable increase in the price of electricity. Those in the power generation industry often connived to supply power to distribution utilities they own.

Most importantly, the government repealed PD No. 551 that lowered the cost of franchise tax payable by owners of distribution utilities, and instead passed them on to consumers at higher rate in rpkapunan@gmail.com

“The President can demand for the immediate suspension of all rate rebasing and tariff increasing measures until all of the existing billed but unimplemented projects are either fully accounted, fully implemented, and/or fully refunded to the consumers. All such moneys imbued with public interest shall be placed in escrow, while those that are to be fully refunded shall be subject to interest rates as determined by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA),” BH stated in her letter.

“The President can, by Executive Order, also cancel the suspicious premature term extension of contracts made in 2014 that extended the Concession Agreements until 2037 and make a thorough review of the Concession Agreement,” she added.

More importantly, BH stressed that the President “can demand for the creation and immediate implementation of a

clear-cut MWSS policy on the Sewerage and Sanitation System, and require, as indicated in the Concession Agreements, that the concessionaires create a suitable ‘international standard’ sanitation and sewerage system, as opposed to the current situation where the concessionaires rely mainly on the unsuitable DPWH pipes.”

Early this week, BH’s crusade finally got traction. Duterte declared he would finally run after the water concessionaires, saying not only would he ignore the ruling of the PCA to compensate Manila Water and Maynilad more than P10 billion, but at the same time vowed to slap them with charges of economic plunder.

Finally, BH is no longer that lone voice. Filipinos are now rallying behind the President as he takes on companies owned by two of the most powerful oligarchs in the country.

And we owe that to BH.

from a private doctor, one should be ready to shell out between P8,000 to P15,000. This amount is way beyond the means of poor women. Only rich women will not wince in paying this amount. When I checked a few years back, government bought the supplies at a wholesale price of P500 per implant. This is equivalent to three years of protection from unwanted pregnancies per woman.

Outside of the DOH, NGOs like ours also provide family planning services, including implants to poor women for free. However, our supplies also come from the DOH. Therefore, Sotto’s budget cut will deprive poor women of their right to choose which method they want to use. Consequently, this will impact on the implementation of the RH law because family planning is a vital program.

Based on the 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey, we have a situation where Filipino women, on the average only want two children. The

richest women are able to achieve this because their average number of children is 1.7. The poorest women, however, have 4.3 children on the average.

Also, the demand for family planning and the unmet need for these services remain high with the latter at 36.3 percent. The highest unmet need (37.5 percent) is among the 15 to 19 year olds. It is not surprising then that teen pregnancy is now a national crisis. Around 24 babies are born to teen mothers every hour or 576 babies a day.

The situation is problematic and must be addressed. Tito Sotto is not helping any. There is still hope because the Bicameral Conference Committee on the budget can still restore the P195 million that Sotto deleted. We are hoping that RH champions in the bicam will succeed in putting back the resources for subdermal implants. Sotto must be defeated. @bethangsioco on Twitter; Elizabeth Angsioco on Facebook

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

There is thus no question that Respondent Loreta, being the mother of and having sole parental authority over the minor, is entitled to have custody of him. She has the right to keep him in her company. She cannot be deprived of that right, and she may not even renounce or transfer it “except in the cases authorized by law.” [emphasis supplied]

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Standard Regional Trial Court

TODAY NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 107, QUEZON CITY

LORIE-LYN LOPE KOSTER, Petitioner, -versusCivil Case No. R-QZN-18-15647-CV LOWELL LEGASPI DAMIAN, Respondent. x -----------------------------------------------x

SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION TO:

LOWELL LEGASPI DAMIAN - with last known address at Blk. 100 Lot 6 Area D, Purok 1, Brgy. Sta. Cruz 1, Sapang Palay, San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan

Greetings: The petitioner prays that after due hearing, judgment be rendered declaring sole parental authority and custody over minors MEEKHYLE AVERY DAMIAN,LEEHVYNE AVERY DAMIAN, and LLOYD ANDREW DAMIAN in favor of their mother, the petitioner herein.

Pursuant to the Order dated October 22, 2019 granting the petitioner’s request to effect service of Summons by Publication, this Summons by Publication was issued in consonance with Section 14, Rule 14 of the Rules of Court.

NOW, THEREFORE, respondent, LOWELL LEGASPI DAMIAN - with last known address at Blk. 100 Lot 6 Area D, Purok 1, Brgy. Sta. Cruz 1, Sapang Palay, San Jose del Monte City, Bulacan, is hereby summoned and required to file with the Regional Trial Court Branch 107, National Capital Judicial Region, Hall of Justice Bldg., Quezon City, his answer to the instant petition within thirty (30) days from last date of publication of this summons. Failure of the respondent to file his answer within the reglementary period, the petitioner shall be allowed to present her evidence in support of the petition.

WHEREFORE, let this summons, together with a copy of the Petition, be published once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation, to be selected by raffle pursuant to P.D 1079, at the expense of the petitioner. Likewise, let a copies of the summons and the Petition be sent by registered mail addressed to the respondent at his last known address, also at the expense of the petitioner and to submit to this court proof of compliance therewith.

WITNESS THE HONORABLE JOSE L. BAUTISTA, JR., Presiding Judge of this Court, this 22nd day of October 2019, in Quezon City, Philippines.

29. The Parties had been living separate lives since 2007. From the time the children were born up to the present, Petitioner had always been the parent exercising actual parental authority over them as Respondent had not shown any concern or inclination to perform any of his fatherly duties.

30. Despite Petitioner’s need to be abroad from time-to-time, being an OFW before, she maintained a healthy relationship with her children.10 She always found the time to keep in touch with them and look after their best interest. After all, working abroad is just a means to secure a better life for her loved ones back home. Petitioner regularly sent them remittances for their subsistence and education. Financial support is just part and parcel of what she gives her children. More than that, she provides them her love, care, time and affection. Petitioner has also been at the forefront of decision-making on matters that affect the children such as the choice of their abode and the school to enroll in.

31. As narrated above, Petitioner is more than capable to exercise exclusive parental authority over her children. Currently, she has ample resources and time to take care of her children without any support whatsoever from the Respondent. Petitioner is likewise physically and mentally equipped as well as morally fit for the role.

32. Petitioner is likewise physically and mentally equipped as well as morally fit for the role. Petitioner’s physical and mental fitness is evidenced by the Medical Certificate11 dated 28 November 2018 issued by Dr. Samuel S. Duran, MD, FPCP, to wit: “This is to certify that MS. LORIE LYN KOSTER was seen and examined today by the undersigned and was found to be PHYSICALLY and MENTALLY FIT and HEALTHY.” 33. As to Petitioner’s capacity to financially provide for her children, she had, in fact, been supporting them without any support from the Respondent. Moreover, Petitioner’s husband, Mr. Koster, is more than capable to provide for her and her children.12 He has always considered them as part of his family and never showed any prejudiced towards any of them. On the contrary, Mr. Koster has been nothing but a caring and loving father figure to Meekhyle, Leehvyne, and Lloyd.

34. On the other hand, Respondent is an unfit parent as he had consistently and deliberately refused to perform his paternal duties. During the time the children were residing in Respondent’s parents’ residence, he was content with letting his parents look after the children. While Petitioner was busy with household and baby chores, Respondent was out gallivanting with his friends. Respondent did not look for a job to support his family. He had no sense of responsibility or urgency in life. As of date, he works as a cook. He does not provide even token support nor does he lift a finger to visit his children. For all the above reasons, Respondent is clearly unfit to have custody of and to exercise parental authority over them.

35. It is worthwhile to revisit the Supreme Court’s Decision in the case of Nerissa Z. Perez vs. Court of Appeals 13 which held that: “Only the most compelling of reasons shall justify the court’s awarding the custody of such a child to someone other than his mother, such as her unfitness to exercise sole parental authority. In the past the following grounds have been considered ample justification to deprive a mother of custody and parental authority: neglect, abandonment, unemployment and immorality, habitual drunkenness, drug addiction, maltreatment of the child, insanity and being sick with a communicable disease.

(Sgd.) ATTY. ANIHAIRAH B. HADJI OMAR Branch Clerk of Court REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT Quezon City Branch 107

It has long been settled that in custody cases, the foremost consideration is always the welfare and best interest of the child. In fact, no less than an international instrument, the Convention on the Rights of the Child provides: “In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.”

In re: Petition for Declaration of Sole Custody and Parental Authority over Minor Children MEEKHYLE AVERY DAMIAN, LEEHVYNE AVERY DAMIAN, and LLOYD ANDREW DAMIAN LORIE LYN LOPE KOSTER, Petitioner, - versus -

SP. Proc. No. R-QZN-18-15647-CV

LOWELL LEGASPI DAMIAN, Respondent. x----------------------------------------------------------x

Courts invariably look into all relevant factors presented by the contending parents, such as their material resources, social and moral situations.”

36. Based on the afore-cited laws and jurisprudence as well as the factual backdrop of this case, Petitioner had shown herself to be capable of exercising sole parental authority and custody over her children while Respondent had consistently evinced the opposite. Petitioner had fulfilled and continues to carry out the duties of a parent with flying colors as enumerated in Article 22014 of the Family Code, to wit:

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News

Binay hopes Makati will top P17.12-b 2019 revenue goal

By Joel E. Zurbano

M

AKATI City Mayor Abigail Binay is optimistic her administration will hit and surpass its P17.12-billion revenue goal for this year as the city government already collected 98 percent of the target as of Oct. 31.

Binay said based on the latest report from the City Treasurer, the revenue collections of the city reached P16.8 billion last October, with the biggest chunk contributed by Business Tax. She noted that actual collections from Business Tax for the said period amounted to P9,354,986,068.13, which was 95 percent of the full-year target of P9,810,018,000.

“Our business sector continues to make the biggest contribution to the city’s coffers, with thousands of new businesses locating here, while tens of thousands more

continue to grow their investments with us,” the city chief executive said.

Records of the Business Permit and Licensing Office show that as of Nov. 26, there have been 4,936 new business registrants and 34,904 permit renewals.

The new enterprises chalked up a total of P40.47 billion in capital investments, while total gross sales of businesses that renewed their permits reached P1.41 trillion.

The latest Treasurer’s report also showed that the city has achieved 100 percent of its target for locally sourced revenue consisting of Business Tax, Real Property Tax, Fees & Charges and Economic Enterprise.

From January to October, the city collected P5,370,855,848 in realty taxes, or 112.5 percent of its target RPT collection for the year amounting to P4,785,000,000.

From other local sources, the city earned P757.39 million from Fees & Charges and P139.9 million from Economic Enterprises.

The rest of the city’s revenue collections for the same period has been sourced from Interest Income amounting to P202.5 million and Internal Revenue Allotment, P988.2 million.

To keep them in their company, to support, educate and instruct them by right precept and good example, and to provide for their upbringing in keeping with their means; To give them love and affection, advise and counsel, companionship and understanding;

SEIZED GOODS.

To provide them with moral and spiritual guidance, inculcate in them honesty, integrity, self-discipline, self-reliance, industry and thrift, stimulate their interest in civic affairs, and inspire in them compliance with the duties of citizenship;

Bureau of Customs seized P11 million worth of smuggled canned goods, sacks of coffee beans and used clothes from Hongkong, Korea and Brazil at Manila International Container Terminal in Manila on Friday.

Norman Cruz

To enhance, protect, preserve and maintain their physical and mental health at all times;

JURISDICTIONAL FACTS 3. The Parties never entered into marriage.

4. The Parties have three (3) illegitimate children namely MEEKHYLE AVERY DAMIAN (“Meekhyle”)2, LEEHVYNE AVERY DAMIAN (“Leehvyne”)3, both born on 01 May 2003; and LLOYD ANDREW DAMIAN (“Lloyd”)4 born on 28 October 2005. All children are minors at the time of the filing of this Petition.

5. Petitioner married5 Mr. Maarten-Jan Koster, a Dutch national, on 11 September 2015 in Hong Kong.

To furnish them with good and wholesome educational materials, supervise their activities, recreation and association with others, protect them from bad company, and prevent them from acquiring habits detrimental to their health, studies and morals; To represent them in all matters affecting their interests;

NARRATION OF FACTS

To demand from them respect and obedience; To impose discipline on them as may be required under the circumstances; and To perform such other duties as are imposed by law upon parents and guardians.”

37. Petitioner submits that for the reasons cited above, as bolstered by the prevailing laws and jurisprudence on this matter, sole and exclusive parental authority and custody over the minor children Meekhyle Avery Damian, Leehvyne Avery Damian and Lloyd Andrew Damian should be declared unto Petitioner.

PRAYER WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is respectfully prayed that the Honorable Court issue an Order declaring sole parental authority and custody over minors MEEKHYLE AVERY DAMIAN, LEEHVYNE AVERY DAMIAN, and LLOYD ANDREW DAMIAN in favor of their mother -- Petitioner Lorie-Lyn L. Koster.

Other measures of relief just and equitable under the premises are likewise prayed for.

Pasig City for Quezon City, 27 November 2018.

For: LU MAMAÑGUN & JUCO LAW OFFICE Counsel for Petitioner 2305 Antel Global Corporate Center, 3 Julia Vargas Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City Phone: 919-4643 by: ATTY. RAINIER R. MAMAÑGUN Roll No. 45758 IBP Lifetime No. 03133 PTR No. 3897338 / 18 January 2018 / Pasig City MCLE No. V – 0016462 Issued on 31 March 2016 ATTY. CARLA THERESE L. ARRIOLA Roll No. 68576 IBP Lifetime No. 016408 PTR No. 3897337 / 18 January 2018 / Pasig City Admitted to the Bar on 29 May 2017 Mobile No. 0917-7482490

ATTY. PAMELA KAYE G. BALDON Roll No. 70696 IBP No. 042974 / 28 May 2018 PTR No. 4463246 / 01 August 2018 / Pasig City Admitted to the Bar on 04 June 2018 Mobile No. 0905-2361066

VERIFICATION; CERTIFICATION OF NON-FORUM SHOPPING; AND SPECIAL POWER OF ATTORNEY REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) MANDALUYONG CITY ) s.s.

I, LORIE-LYN LOPE KOSTER, of legal age, Filipinos with address at 4A Olive St., Dona Petrona Subdivision, Quezon City, after having been sworn in accordance with law, hereby depose and state that: 1. I am the Petitioner in this case; I have caused the preparation of the foregoing Complaint; I have read and understood the contents thereof; and all the allegations contained therein are true and correct of my own personal knowledge.

2. I hereby certify that I have not commenced any other action or proceeding involving the same issues in the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeals; that no such action or proceeding involving the same issues is pending in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals or any other court, tribunal or agency; and, that should I later on learn of the filing or pendency of any similar action, I hereby undertake to inform this Honorable Court of such fact within five (5) days from such knowledge.

3. I hereby name, constitute and appoint my counsel of record- the Lu Mamangun & Juco Law Office, in filing this Complaint and with full and special power and authority to do and perform the following: (a) to represent me during the Preliminary/Pre-trial Conference, on such dates as may be agreed upon or directed by the Court, to negotiate, conclude, enter into and execute a compromise on matters allowed by law under such terms and conditions as my lawyer may deem just and reasonable; to mark evidence; to agree on the simplification of the issues; to amend the pleadings; to obtain stipulations or admissions of facts and of documents to avoid unnecessary presentation of proof; to limit the number of the witness; to undertake a preliminary reference of the issues to a commissioner; and to do and agree on such other matters as may aid in the prompt disposition of the action, with full power and authority to do and perform all and every act requisite and necessary to be done in and about the premises; (b) To represent me during the Court-Annexed Mediation before the Philippine Mediation Center, on such dates as may be agreed upon or directed by the Court, with full and special power and authority to negotiate, conclude, enter into and execute a compromise on matters allowed by law to be compromised under such terms and conditions as my lawyer may deem just and reasonable. (c) To represent me during the Judicial Dispute Resolution before the Honorable Judge, on such dates as may be agreed upon or directed by the Court, with full and special power and authority to negotiate, conclude, enter into and execute a compromise on matters allowed by law to be compromised under such terms and conditions as my lawyer may deem just and reasonable.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature on the date and place mentioned below.

(Sgd.) LORIE-LYN LOPE KOSTER Petitioner SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me on NOV 27, 2018 at MANDALUYONG CITY by the affiants with her identifying documents as follows: Name LORIE-LYN LOPE KOSTER

ID Type and Number Passport No. EC6406392

Date and Place Issued Exp. 03 January 2021, PCG Hongkong

Notary Public

DISCUSSION 26. The Petitioner and Respondent were never married to each other; thus, their three children, Meekhyle Avery, Leehvyne Avery, and Lloyd Andrew are illegitimate despite Respondent’s acknowledgement of his paternity over them. This is in accordance to Article 165 of the Family Code of the Philippines, to wit: Art. 165. Children conceived and born outside a valid marriage are illegitimate, unless otherwise provided in this Code.

27. The Family Code further provides that in the case of illegitimate children, the mother has SOLE parental authority over them. This means that the father has no say on matters that affect the children such as the choice of their residence and their health, travel, and education concerns. On this point, Article 176 of the Family Code of the Philippines as amended by Section 1 of Republic Act No. 9255 provides that: “Article 176. Illegitimate children shall use the surname and shall be under the parental authority of their mother, and shall be entitled to support in conformity with this Code. xxx.” [emphasis supplied] 28. With the mother having sole parental authority over the illegitimate children it necessary follows that custody should also be awarded to her. In the case of Joey D. Briones vs. Maricel P. Miguel et.al, the Supreme Court ruled that: 9 “An illegitimate child is under the sole parental authority of the mother.

In the exercise of that authority, she is entitled to keep the child in her company. The Court will not deprive her of custody, absent any imperative cause showing her unfitness to exercise such authority and care. xxx “David v. Court of Appeal held that the recognition of an illegitimate child by the father could be a ground for ordering the latter to give support to, but not custody of, the child. The law explicitly confers to the mother sole parental authority over an illegitimate child; it follows that only if she defaults can the father assume custody and authority over the minor. Of course, the putative father may adopt his own illegitimate child; in such a case, the child shall be considered a legitimate child of the adoptive parent.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019

“Art. 220. “The parents and those exercising parental authority shall have with respect to their unemancipated children or wards the following rights and duties:

PETITION

Petitioner, by and through the undersigned counsel, unto this Honorable Court, respectfully avers that: 1. Petitioner LORIE-LYN LOPE KOSTER, is of legal age, female, Filipino, married to Maarten-Jan Koster and with address at 4A Olive St., Dona Petrona Subdivision, Quezon City1. She may be served notices and other processes of the Honorable Court through her undersigned counsel the Lu Mamañgun and Juco Law Office at Unit 2305 Antel Global Corporate Center, #3 Julia Vargas Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Philippines.

2. Respondent LOWELL LEGASPI DAMIAN is of legal age, Filipino, single, and with city address at Cluster 2, 6-I Greenhills Garden Square, 297 Col. Bonny Serrano Ave., Quezon City; and provincial address at Blk. 100 Lot 6 Area D Purok 1, Barangay Sta. Cruz 1, Sapang Palay, San Jose Del Monte City, Bulacan where he may be served summons and other Court processes.

6. Sometime in 2001, Petitioner and Respondent met during their sophomore year at San Jose del Monte National Trade School, Bulacan. They became friends and spent many hours in each other’s company. After some time, Respondent decided to court the Petitioner. This was also the time when Respondent was transferred to Norzagaray High School. He got kicked out of school for hitting someone with a stone just because Respondent did not like the way he stared at him.

7. Despite what happened, Petitioner gave Respondent a chance to prove himself.

Eventually, their friendship turned into romance. A year into the relationship, Petitioner got pregnant at the very young age of sixteen (16). Due to this unplanned pregnancy, the Parties were compelled by Respondent’s parents to live together under one roof. Given her young age and lack of resources, Petitioner was left with no choice but to just follow orders and stay with Respondent in the latter’s parent’s house at San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

8. On 01 May 2003, the Parties welcomed their twins Meekhyle Avery Damian and Leehvyne Avery Damian. The children stayed with them at the Respondent’s residence in Bulacan. At that time, the Parties were just seventeen (17) years old and were fresh High School graduates. Having no income, they became completely dependent on their parents who were financially stable enough. All the needs of the children for food, clothing, etc. were provided for by the Parties’ parents.

9. Upon the birth of the twins, not once did the Respondent took the initiative in giving them adequate care and attention. He completely ignored his responsibilities as a father as he continuously acted like a carefree, irresponsible teenager. Respondent had conveniently passed on his duties and obligations as a father to his parents and the Petitioner. He would have his parents watch over the children so that he could go on with his bachelor pursuits. Whenever Petitioner would urge Respondent to help out in simple matters like baby chores, he would do so grudgingly. Instead, he preferred to go out and play basketball, pool, billiards, or hang out with his friends. He would return home at any time he wished.

10. In 2004, the Parties decided to go to College and enroll themselves at Our Lady of Fatima University. However, Respondent just went through the motions as he never exerted genuine efforts to do well in his studies. Skipping classes had become a norm for him as he would rather go to the malls to hang out with his friends. Respondent prioritized leisure over school and never paid much attention to the Petitioner and their children. This became the cause of the Parties’ frequent quarrels.

11. On the other hand, Petitioner was cognizant that getting a good education would translate to a better future for her and her children. Thus, she put in the hard work and dedication in her studies which reflected in her grades. Unfortunately, she had to stop attending school after a semester because her twins needed more of her time, and Respondent could not be counted on for help. Though heartbroken, Petitioner chose the welfare of her children over her personal pursuits. To Petitioner’s mind, her children were of such a tender age that they deserved her full attention.

12. On 28 October 2005, the Parties’ third child Lloyd Andrew Damian (“Lloyd”) was born. Petitioner thought that having another child would make a responsible father out of the Respondent. She was proven wrong as the Parties’ relationship with each other continued to deteriorate. They started to engage in more serious fights which often ended up with Respondent physically hurting the Petitioner. Respondent punched Petitioner’s eye and pulled her hair violently. Petitioner had just turned nineteen (19) years old then and was left to wonder whether staying with a man with no sense of responsibility and with violent tendencies at that was the right thing to do.

13. Despite all her problems with the Respondent, Petitioner did not let it affect her role as a mother. In fact, Petitioner’s love for her children became the overwhelming consideration in everything that she did. With the aim of providing for her children, she decided to work in Japan as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) in 2006. However, Petitioner stayed in Japan for only three (3) months because Respondent, who was left behind in the Philippines, kept bugging and arguing with her. Because of this, Petitioner had to eventually go back to the Philippines.

14. While Petitioner was toiling abroad, Respondent remained jobless at home. He never matured and remained indolent. He was completely dependent on Petitioner and his parents for support. He had no plans whatsoever for their future. Despite his lack of direction, Respondent had the gall to ask Petitioner’s hand in marriage. Petitioner wisely declined.

15. In 23 July 2007, the Parties decided to go their separate ways. Due to their evident incompatibility, endless arguments and Respondent’s immaturity, not to mention his violent proclivities, Petitioner was left with no choice but to leave him.

She left Respondent, took the child Lloyd with her, and moved to stay with her mother Rosemarie Diego in Bulacan. Eventually, Petitioner was also able to get Meekhyle from Respondent. Meekhyle had always been a sickly child and thus needed more attention.

16. Petitioner regularly visited her son Leehvyne who remained in Respondent’s parents’ custody at that time. During these visits, Respondent would take advantage of Petitioner’s presence. He would get himself deliberately drunk and compel Petitioner to stay overnight. There was an incident during which Petitioner was sexually harassed

by Respondent owing to the latter’s extreme intoxication. Petitioner was so fearful of him and what he might do next that she resorted to leaving abruptly, giving her no time to even put her slippers on. She rushed and climbed the gate of the house as fast as she could to escape Respondent.

17. In 2008, Petitioner enrolled herself at the Mapua Institute of Technology (now Mapua University). Because of her hard work and dedication, she was rewarded a halfscholarship by the University. In 2012, Petitioner obtained her degree in Bachelor of Science in Business Management. After her graduation, she was able to get the child Leehvyne from the Respondent. The child was ecstatic to be reunited with his mother.

18. To cover the growing needs of her children, Petitioner decided to leave for abroad again. She worked part-time at a restaurant in Hong Kong. There, she met her husband, Mr. Maarten-Jan Koster, a Dutch national who is the CEO of Lidl Hong Kong Ltd., a German Company based in Hong Kong. They got married on 09 September 2015.

19. Despite her marriage to Mr. Koster, Petitioner made sure that her children would remain the priority. Thus, she initiated her children’s application for Hong Kong Identification Cards for them to be able to stay in Hong Kong for longer periods of time. The Hong Kong ID however required the written consent of the biological father.

Thus, in 2015, Petitioner called the Respondent, who by then was also in a relationship with another, to ask for his signature. He unreasonably refuses to give it, saying “Wag mo akong kausapin ngayon, problemado ako!” After some time, Petitioner sent text messages to Respondent which were however not responded to. Worse, Respondent’s girlfriend would take it against the Petitioner whenever she communicated with Respondent even if the purpose was to discuss matters about their children.

20. In 2016, Petitioner’s mother decided to help Petitioner by going to Respondent’s house in Bulacan to ask for Respondent’s signature, but to no avail. Knowing the difficulties that they go through whenever they would travel abroad, the children Leevhyne, Meekhyle, and Lloyd themselves took the document which needed to be signed with them to Respondent so they could personally ask him to sign it. However, they were not even able to take it out of their bag because of their fear of the Respondent.

When asked by Petitioner why, the children replied by saying “Baka ano lang gawin.”

21. Because of Respondent’s refusal to lend his signature, Petitioner was unable secure the Hong Kong IDs for her children. Thus, without these, the children are forced to leave Hong Kong every time their visas are to expire. They have to go through the hassle of going back to the Philippines after 14 days to get another visa and then return to Hong Kong. The children had to endure these hardships all because Respondent refuses to cooperate.

22. On the other hand, the children’s relationship with Mr. Koster is great. Meekhyle, Leehvyne, and Lloyd feel comfortable and at ease with him. It did not take long for them to develop love and respect towards Mr. Koster who acted as their foster father. They saw in him a dad who genuinely cares for them and their mother6.

23. All the comforts and luxury that the children are experiencing now are attributable to Petitioner and Mr. Koster’s loving relationship with each other and the hard work they put it. Petitioner regularly sends remittances to her children to support their daily needs, including their tuition fees and other educational expenses7. At present, Petitioner shoulders the cost of the children’s education without any help from the Respondent.

The children are enrolled at the Far Eastern University (FEU) in Quezon City8. They are also sheltered in a comfortable home located in a gated subdivision at Petitioner’s address as indicated in this Petition.

24. Respondent, on the other hand, is currently working as a cook in a restaurant.

However, instead of giving support to his children, he spends his money on himself and his girlfriend. He never sends even token amounts to his children and had not shown any concern for their welfare. The initiative to visit and see each other would always come from the children themselves, specifically Leehvyne. Never did the Respondent lift a finger or get out of his way to personally see the kids. Respondent had taken a passive role in their lives. He was just a father to them “on paper.”

25. Petitioner aspires for nothing less than to provide her children with a good future with the best opportunities for education and growth. This dream will only materialize upon her declaration as having sole custody and parental authority over the children; hence, the filing of this Petition.

A6

Doc. No. 514 Page No. 105 Book No. 119 Series of 2018

ATTY. JAMES K. ABUGAN NOTARY PUBLIC Until Dec. 31, 2018 IBP No. 021498/ 1-5-2018 Rizal Chapter Roll No. 26890 MCLE No. V-0004484-10-/31/2014 PTR# 3369955 – 01/05/2018 Mandaluyong City TIN # 116-239-956 Tel. 631-40-90

A copy of the Barangay Certificate of Residency is attached hereto as Annex “A.” The Certificate of Live Birth of Meekhyle Avery Damian is attached hereto as Annex “B.” 3 The Certificate of Live Birth of Leehvyne Avery Damian is attached hereto as Annex “C.” 4 The Certificate of Live Birth of Lloyd Andrew Damian is attached hereto as Annex “D.” 5 The PSA-issued Report of Marriage dated 21 September 2015 is attached hereto as Annex “E.” 6 Photographs of Mr. Koster with the children are attached hereto as Annex “F” Series.

7 Copies of Receiving Slips from Western Union and M-Lhuillier Money Transfer are attached hereto as Annex “G” Series.

8 Copies of the Official Receipts of children’s tuition fee payment are attached hereto as Annex “H” Series.

9 G. R. No. 156343, October 18, 2004.

10 Photographs of Petitioner Lorie-Lyn Koster and her children are attached hereto as Annex “I-Series.”

11 A copy of Mr. Koster’s Return of Remuneration and Pensions is hereto as Annex “J.” 12 G.R. No. 118870, March 29, 1996.

13 Art. 220 of the Family Code of the Philippines.

1

Cimatu wants waste-to-energy Lower court facilities that won’t violate any law restrained by high court

By Rio N. Araja

ENVIRONMENT Secretary Roy Cimatu wants to ensure that the establishment and operation of a waste-to-energy facility for the treatment of municipal solid wastes will not violate any law.

He issued Administrative Order 201921 providing the guidelines on environmentally sound evaluation, establishment, operation and decommissioning or closure of waste-to-energy technologies for the management of the municipal solid wastes.

“With these guidelines, we hope that we will be able to demonstrate in a pilot basis one solution to the waste problem using waste-to-energy method without violating Republic Act 8749 or the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999,” he said.

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is looking at waste-to-

energy as a cleaner and more sustainable alternative to the traditional sanitary landfill, which is the waste disposal method allowed under RA 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.

The DENR chief said the country’s garbage woes were only getting worse, especially in Metro Manila, that generates about 56,000 cubic meters of trash per day.

“The problem on solid waste is one of the primary issues that we must address immediately,” he said.

He gave the assurance that the waste-toenergy guidelines “adhere to the policy of the government to ensure the protection of public health and environment.”

The order follows set guidelines and targets for solid waste avoidance and volume reduction through source reduction and waste minimization measures in accordance with ecologically sustainable development practices.

Artists Holiday treat opens Dec 12 ‘TIS the season of gift giving. It’s the time of the year to gift yourself with something different this time.

Art Elements Asian Gallery, located at the 3rd Floor of SM Aura, Taguig City, has put together an art collection from talented Filipino artists with their various abstract interpretations.

The exhibit dubbed as “12:12 - Abstract of Emotions” features various select artworks of Joel Reglos, Josep Pascual and Regina Coeli Manese.

These budding artists will showcase their respective extraordinary talents in the field of abstract paintings at the exhibit which will formally open at 6 p.m. on Dec. 12, according to a press statement.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

A FORMER legislator lauded the Supreme Court’s issuance of a resolution restraining a lower court decision that earlier declared the franchise of MORE Electric and Power Corp. of businessman Enrique Razon as unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court en banc issued a temporary restraining order on Dec. 3 against Mandaluyong City Regional Trial Court Branch 209 and current distributor Panay Electric Co. from enforcing the ruling of the lower court declaring unconstitutional the franchise of MORE as the new power distributor in Iloilo City.

“The SC’s TRO against the Mandaluyong RTC and PECO is a partial vindication already of the 17th Congress’ passage of RA 11212 because it was an en banc decision and not just by a division,” former Parañaque Rep. Gus Tambunting, former vice chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Legislative Franchises, said.

President Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic Act 11212 in February granting MORE the franchise to operate the distribution system of Iloilo City after PECO’s franchise expired in January.

The Mandaluyong Court on July 1, 2019 declared as unconstitutional Sections 10 and 17 of RA 11212 and issued a TRO on March 14.

1st Gintong DALOY Awards given to LGUs in Calabarzon

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE DOH-CALABARZON has given the first Gintong DALOY Awards to local government units who participated in the Environmental

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

2

(MStandard - Dec. 7 & 14, 2019)

By Alena Mae S. Flores

Notice is hereby given that a Deed of Extrajudicial Partition of the Estate of the late Edilberto V. Pozon who died intestate was executed by his heirs namely Eveline Z. Pozon, widow and children, Geraldine Michelle Z. Pozon and Angelica Emilia Z. Pozon as per Doc. No.321; Page No.: 65; Book No.:VIII; Series of 2019 before Notary Public Atty. Ruben M. Azañes Jr. (MStandard-Dec. 7, 14 & 21, 2019)

Sanitation Project of Quezon Provincial DOH Office project during the 2019 Health Summit for the Province of Quezon.

Regional Director Eduardo Janairo said Gintong DALOY stands for “Damayan para sa Aksyong Linis, Oportunidad at Yamang pangkalusugan.”

The award, he said, highlights the importance and benefits of having and using sanitary toilets, adequate and safe water supply in the community.

It also encourages local governments to showcase their best practices on sanitation, safe water supply and other local initiatives and innovations related to environmental health.

“It is an Environmental Sanitation initiative of Quezon Provincial DOH Office in meeting the target in the Philippine Sustainable Sanitation Sector Roadmap by 2025 for water [100 percent] and by 2028 for sanitation [100 percent],” emphasized Janairo.

Among the Category A winners at the barangay level were barangays Angeles in Alabat, Quezon (1st place), Pinaglubayan in Polilio, Quezon (2nd place) and Bagupaye in Mulanay, Quezon (3rd place). Caregory B winners were barangays Pambilan Sur in Alabat, Quezon (1st place), Mapagmahal in Perez, Quezon (2nd place) and Bato in Panukulan (3rd place).

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

A7

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Neon Esports, Miraculum Gaming advance to Predator League finals AFTER a grueling round employing mindtricks, strategy and sheer love of the sport, Neon Esports and Miraculum Gaming bested their opponents in respective tournaments and bagged the Philippine championships title at the recently concluded Predator League 2020 Philippine Finals held at SM North EDSA. Predator League is the most anticipated professional gaming tournament and the largest brand-initiated tournament in the Asia Pacific.

Predator, the brand with the most complete gaming devices, gathered the best of the best Philippine gamers to determine who shall represent the country in the Asia Pacific Predator League 2020, which is scheduled for Feb. 22 and 23 in Manila. They will face off with teams from Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand.

“We are excited to see the teams Neon Esports and Miraculum Gaming showcase the best of Filipino talent against counterparts from the Asia-Pacific,” said Ms. Sue Ong-Lim, Predator General Manager. “Predator has always been proud of supporting esports athletes by coming up with innovative products to cater to their ever-changing esports needs. We hope that the APAC finals will also help foster cama-

raderie among the participants and elevate the esports industry not only in the Philippines but in the Asia Pacific, as well.”

Using speed, wit, and determination Neon Esports took home ₱150,000 and a slot at the APAC finals wherein they will compete together with TNC Predator for DOTA 2 and first runner-up Lowkey Esports who also took home ₱50,000 cash prize. SG Dragons placed second runner-up with a cash prize of ₱35,000 while Cignal Ultra placed third with ₱15,000.

Team Miraculum Gaming won the PUBG tournament with ₱150,000 cash prize and an APAC finals slot alongside ArkAngel Predator.

Not far behind is Angel Alliance bagging the first runner-up spot with ₱50,000 cash prize.

Gamer’s Lounge placed second with ₱35,000 while Excommunicados placed third with ₱15,000 cash prize.

The first-ever Asia Pacific Predator League was held in Jakarta, Indonesia, to further reinforce the Predator brand’s commitment to supporting the gaming industry globally starting in the region. The second edition was held in Bangkok, Thailand, saw one of the fiercest battles with the tournament lasting three days at Nimibutr Stadium in February. Over 10,0000 fans watched the battles in real-time—and in real life. It garnered 4.3 million views online

Shown here are (from left) Predator ArkAngel’s Renbert “ALJBOTZ” Alvior, Yves “k1lla” Navarro, Christian “CeeJay18_” Strella, Dan “Mad Dog” Noya, Miraculum Jaime “Burninggg” Gonzales, Jubet “FoggyDew” Gonzales, Phillip “OGPhillip” Dela Cruz, and Albert Hechibert.

and peak concurrent viewership of over 60,000.

Prestige partner for the esports tournament. This The Philippines will play host for next year’s is the fi rst time that esports is included in the fi nals.

SEAG. Predator is a Southeast Asian Games (SEAG) For more details, visit www.predator-league.com.

Marathon starting time ‘troubling’ T

HE Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association is ecstatic of the 1-2 finish of its athletes Christine Hallasgo and Mary Joy Tabal in women’s marathon of the 30th Southeast Asian Games at the athletic stadium of the New Clark City, but reiterated its call to review the start of the event so as not to endanger the athletes competing in future editions.

Amber Garcia

Young Filipino rider dies from race injuries A Filipino motorcycle racer died on Thursday from injuries sustained while participating at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand last Sunday.

The incident occurred at Turn 7 on Lap 3 of the Underbone 150cc Race 2.

FIM Asia officials reported that 16-year-old Amber Garcia first received medical attention at the Medical Centre before being transferred to the Buriram Hospital, where treatment continued in the ICU unit.

FIM Asia and the ARRC promoter Two Wheels Motor Racing announced his death on Thursday after four days at the ICU of the Buriram Hospiral.

Officials of FIM Asia said they are one with the family, and have offered their condolences.

“Despite the best effort of circuit medical staff, Amber sadly succumbed from his injuries,” said FIM Asia in a statement.

Garcia secured several victories and the title of Sniper 150, the national series of the Philippines reserved for Underbone 150cc scooters.

Peter Atencio

PATAFA president Philip Juico, upon closer inspection of the races, said some aspects of the event were troubling.

“Two runners from each gender did not finish the race. And the winners, especially, on the women’s side, suffered so much as attested by event doctors, who checked on them post-race,” said Juico.

These were a result of the scorching heat of the sun as the races finished at around 9 to 10 a.m.

The PATAFA tried so hard to put the welfare of the athletes its utmost priority by writing Technical Delegate Cuddikotta Valson twice before the SEA Games, the last one in October, to reconsider starting the race at 4 a.m.

But the pleas were completely ignored and disregarded by Valson.

“The marathon, especially in the women’s division will be run on an average of 3 hours. If the competitors will start at 6

in the morning, half-way into the race the sun is already in its full might and beating on all the runners. Take note that the area where the race will take place is not known to be shaded with trees or any shade-giving structure. The runners will all be exposed to the searing heat of the sun,” Juico wrote Valson last October.

“Aside from the concern on the sun’s heat, there is another equally unsettling factor we have to contend with. That is humidity. The Philippines, being an archipelagic country, most of the time is humid.

Humidity is the relative concentration of water in the air. When humidity is high, the volume of air expands. When volume of air is high, concentration of oxygen per unit area is low. In endurance races especially the marathon, oxygen is the critical

‘Ginebra Ako’ campaign bags Quill award GINEBRA San Miguel Inc. received the Quill Award for Excellence in Marketing, Advertising and Brand Communication for its “Ginebra Ako” thematic marketing campaign at the 17th International Association of Business Communicators Philippine Quill Awards, the country’s most prestigious awards program in the field of business communication, held recently at Marriot Grand Ballroom in Pasay City.

Ginebra San Miguel’s breakthrough campaign “Ginebra Ako” is a salute to the Filipinos’ everyday heroism, courage, and never say die spirit. The campaign featured the stories of soldiers, farmers, fishermen, workers as well as brand ambassadors Miss Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach, Olympic silver medalist Hidilyn Diaz, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin King Scottie Thompson, and singers Quest and KZ Tandingan.

“Stories of courage, perseverance and overcoming the odds are universal, and Ginebra San Miguel hopes to inspire and encourage more Filipinos by the stories we tell—stories of Filipinos who is strong, who will do anything for family, for community, and for country,” says GSMI AVP and Marketing manager Ron Molina.

The “Ginebra Ako” video that was aired as a TV ad and carried

GINEBRA SAN MIGUEL INC. marketing group led by AVP and Marketing manager Ron Molina, Group Product manager Glenn Miguel and Brand manager Paolo Tupaz receive the Quill Award for Excellence in Marketing, Advertising and Brand Communication for the thematic campaign ‘Ginebra Ako’ at the recent 17th Philippine Quill Awards.

the song titled “Tagay” by R&B artist Quest garnered over 2.7 million views online and hundreds of shares in just a few days. Sharing scenes depicting the daily challenges faced by workers, rescuers, and soldiers, viewers said the video sparked in them a sense of pride and patriotism.

Ginebra San Miguel Inc. is the producer of the world’s largest selling gin, Ginebra San Miguel. Ginebra San Miguel is one of the country’s longestrunning consumer brands and is celebrating its 185th anniversary this year.

GSMI is the hard liquor unit of San Miguel Food and Beverage Inc.

National University coach downplays favorite tag in Freego Cup

Former chairman Rudy Yu of Macbeth Underwear (3rd from left) poses with the management committee of the PSSBC Freego Cup which starts on Dec .

14. They are (from left) Edster Sy, Sunny Co, Commissioner Ato Badolato, NCAA representative Peter Cayco of Arellano University, Bernard Yang of Hapee Toothpaste and Levy Valenzuela.

GOLDWYN Monteverde, the soft-spoken mentor of UAAP champion National University, yesterday downplayed the favorite’s tag labeled on his team, saying anybody can beat anybody in the 8th PSSBC Freego Cup which opens shop on Dec. 14 at the SGS gym in Quezon City.

“This is a different arena and I’m sure everybody has its own motivation to beat us and go all the way to the championship,” said Monteverde, who is on his last term as the Bullpups mentor after being designated to handle the men’s team of NU starting next season’s UAAP. “Besides bilog ang bola at saka maraming malalakas na teams ngayon,” added the architect of the NU’s 10 championships the past two years, including back-to-back ASEAN Championships.

During the league’s media launching at the ShaTin Courtyard Restaurant in Quezon City, Monteverde picked NCAA champion San Beda University, Lyceum and Ateneo as the teams who have what it takes to be-

come champion in the annual tournament dubbed as “Battle of Champions”.

“All teams are strong so I expect another exciting race for the title,” said PSSBC chairman and Freego big boss Eduard Tio. “The best teams of NCAA and UAAP are here and so are the top three Fil-Chinese schools.”

Also entered in the event that also has the backing of Blackwater Sports, IronCon Builders, Jumbo Plastic Linoleum, Rain or Shine, Hapee Toothpaste, MEC Networks and Macbeth Underwear are La Salle-Greenhills, La Consolacion, San Sebastian College, Chiang Kai Shek College, Hope Christian, Lyceum, Far Eastern University, Adamson and Xavier.

San Beda, bannered by former NU star Rhayyan Amsali, Justine Sanchez, Winston Ynot and Yukien Andrada, are bidding for its third title after winning the event in 2014 and 2018.

The annual tournament that offers P50,000 to the champion is also backed Gerry’s Grill, Cherrylume Roofing, SUMO GI Sheets, Choi Garden and Molten .

driving force to performance and survival.

So the plausible situation is that the runners will exert more effort yet get less oxygen to support that effort. And that is not an ideal setup for any competing marathoner. Although Capas, Tarlac, where the race will take place, is in Central Luzon which is relatively distant from the coastal area where humidity is expectedly high, it will still be humid considering the forecast of our national geophysical agency that December this year will be exceptionally warm. Warm in the Philippines means humid warm,” the letter continued.

“Solar heat plus rising core temperature plus humidity equals a high potential wreck waiting to happen. This is what we want and need to avoid,” Juico reasoned out.

PH rugby teams shoot for golds CLARK—The Philippine Volcanoes and the Lady Volcanoes shoot for a rare double-gold medal as the rugby competitions of the 30th Southeast Asian Games kick off Saturday at the Clark Parade Grounds here.

The Philippine Volcanoes’ primary goal is to prevent the Malaysians from winning back-to-back gold medals medal after winning in their own turf in the Kuala Lumpur SEAG in 2017.

Aside from the Philippines and Malaysia, the other competing teams in the men’s division are Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Cambodia and Laos.

The Philippine Volcanoes won the rugby championship in 2005 Manila SEA Games when the sport was played as a demonstration event.

In the 2015 SEA Games in Singapore, the Volcanoes crushed the Malaysians, 24-7, in the finals to capture the gold medal, while the Lady Volcanoes placed third after beating Malaysia, 22-0.

The Lady Volcanoes will battle Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Laos in the women’s division, which the Lady Thais topped in 2017.

In preparation for the 2019 SEA Games, the Lady Volcanoes saw action in the Asia Rugby Women’s championship and in the Asian Trophy Series.

PH Blu Girls reach finals AS expected, the Cebuana Lhuillierbacked Blu Girls reached the finals in the women’s division of the softball competition with an impressive 12-0 drubbing of second-ranked Malaysia yesterday in the 30th Southeast Asian Games at The Villages, Clark Freeport.

They will now await the winner of the stepladder series with Malaysia to face the winner of the game between thirdranked Singapore and fourth-ranked Indonesia with the winner advancing to the finals against the Philippines.

“I am more than proud of the way our Blu Girls have been performing in the ongoing SEA Games, playing their hearts out game after game. Now, we are just a step away from the gold medal and with the continued support of the Filipino sports fans, I am confident that our team will prevail in the finals,” said sportsman -businessman Jean Henri Lhuillier. who is also the ASAPHIL President.

Sports

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

sports@manilastandard.net

sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

A8 SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019

Fil-Japanese Takahashi retains SEAG judo crown FIL-JAPANESE Mariya Takahashi bounced back from two elimination round losses with an ippon win over Thailand’s Surattana Thongsri yesterday to retain the women’s -70 kg crown yesterday.

This allowed Takahashi to keep her crown for the second time in the 30th Southeast Asian Games judo competitions at the Laus Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.

After Takahashi bowed to Indonesia’s Gusti Kakihara in the round robin eliminations, she got past Thongsri at the 1:55 mark.

This handed the Philippines its third gold medal in judo in this regional biennial meet.

Thongsri won over Indonesia’s Gusti Kakihara via waza-ari in the second round robin bout.

Later, Kakihara prevailed over Takahashi via the second highest score during the tiebreak.

The 18-year-old judoka saved Philippine judo’s medal hopes after three other local bets Ryoko Salinas, Shin Matsumura and John Ferrer were eliminated.

Takahashi joined Tokyo 2020 Olympics hopeful Kiyomi Watanabe and Shugen Nakano in getting golds.

Thailand took its fourth gold medal off Santjadet Thontin in the women’s 78 kg class.

Thontin won via shido-hansokumake over Vietnam’s Nguyen Thi Nhu, and this put the Thai in the lead of the medal race in judo.

Indonesia is in second with three golds, a silver and bronze after Gede Soethama ruled the men’s 100-kg class via wazari-shido over Low Yilong of Singapore.

The Philippines is third (2-1-5).

Peter Atencio

Obiena gets third crack at pole vault title CAPAS, Tarlac—Will the third time be a charm for Olympic-bound pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena?

After a silver in the 2015 Singapore Southeast Asian Games and skipping the Malaysian edition two years ago due to injury, Obiena is expected to go all out for gold as track and field action in the 30th SEA Games unfolds at the New Clark City Athletic Stadium here on Saturday.

All eyes will be on the lean and lanky athlete when he takes the field at 5:30 p.m. as the top favorite after qualifying to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games when he cleared 5.81 meters in ruling the Salto Con L’Asta competitions in Piazza, Italy last September.

This exceeded the Olympic qualifying cut of 5.80 meters, which is also superior to the gold-medal winning height of 5.35 meters set by Thailand’s Porranot Purahong in the 2017 SEA Games.

It has been a banner year for Obiena, who also clinched top honors in the world championships in Doha, Qatar and the World University Games in Naples, Italy.

Over the past four years he has been training at the special IAAF training camp under the tutelage of noted Serbian coach Vitaly Petrov, the former mentor of world and Olympic champion Sergey Bubka and Rio Olympic gold medalist Thiago Braz da Silva of Brazil.

He has repeatedly said that he would love nothing better than to clinch the gold in front of his countrymen before resuming his training for the Tokyo Olympics.

BEAUTY AND GRACE.

Filipina gymnast Shieldannah Sabio handles the ribbon while performing in the qualification round of Rhythmic Gymnastics at the 2019 Southeast Asia Games competition held at the Rizal Coliseum. Lino Santos

Underdog Hallasgo rules marathon

By Peter Atencio

C

APAS, Tarlac—Christine Hallasgo did the unexpected and pulled off an upset yesterday in the 30th SEA Southeast Asia Games marathon, which started and finished inside the New Clark City Athletic Stadium here.

The 27-year-old Hallasgo found her chance to go for the women’s crown when Indonesian runner Odekta Naibaho collapsed in exhaustion in the last 400 meters as she reached the turn going into the NCC complex.

As Naibaho was carried out of race route, Hallasgo took over the lead, and reached the track stadium finish line with Tabal for a 1-2 finish among Filipina bets in the women’s division.

Hallasgo, first ever gold medal on her first ever SEA Games stint, came after she reached the finish line in two hours,

56 minutes and 56 seconds.

Tabal, who dropped down in exhaustion upon reaching the finish line, was one minutes and 53 seconds behind to check in at 2:58.49, and she had to be carried off the track in a stretcher when it was over.

“Hindi ko inexpect na ako ang mananalo. Nagdasal ako ng kundisyon ang katawan ko para di ako maiwan sa lead pack,” said Hallasgo, who made it to the national team as a late entry.

Her coach, former SEA Games veteran Eduardo Buenavista, said Hallasgo just followed her instruc-

tions to the letter.

“Timing lang. Sabi ko, sumunod ka lang sa kalaban. Pag nakita mong bumagal, mag-umpisa ka nang mauna,” said Buenavista to Hallasgo, who regular runs in 21-km races.

This is Hallasgo’s best time this season after she won the Manila leg of the 2019 Milo Marathon with a time of 3:06.28.

Vietnamese runner Thi Hong Le Pham, who took the silver in the 2017 SEA Games, settled for the bronze with a time of 3:02.52.

Indonesia’s Agus Prayogo, the silver medalist back in the 2017, clocked 2:26.48 to rule the men’s marathon with Thailand’s Sanchet Namkai (2:27.18) and Malaysia’s Muhaizar Mohamad (2:33.08) taking the silver and bronze, respectively.

Defending champion Soh Rui Yong, who was banned from competition by the Singapore National Olympic Com-

PH pugs advance to boxing semifinal

All-Filipino men’s doubles tennis final set IT’S a sure gold for the Philippines in the ongoing 30th Southeast Asian Games men’s doubles tennis competition after the winning tandem of Cagayan de Oro-born Niño Alcantara and Iligan-native Jeson Patrombon crushed Vietnamese power duo Daniel Cao Nguyen and Van Phuong Nguyen, 6-3, 6-1, today in a heart-stopping race to the finals.

An all-Filipino fi nal awaits local tennis fans tomorrow at the Rizal Memorial Complex in Malate, Manila as Alcantara and Patrombon face US-based veteran Filipino netters Treat Huey and Ruben Gonzales who sent Quoc Khanh Le and Hoang Nam Ly packing back home to Vietnam earlier today.

Huey and Gonzales swept past Vietnamese players Khanh Le Quoc and Hoang Nam Ly, taking both sets 6-1, 6-3.

Huey and Gonzales were dominant in the opening set as they swamped their foes. The Vietnamese tandem put up a better challenge in the second as they kept things close in the second set, pulling to within a point, 3-2.

The Filipino pair whowever rallied to take the set and seal the win.

Huey said they performed well and both he and Gonzales are excited to play in the finals.

Gonzales said the Vietnamese team just found their groove in the second set after struggling in the first. The PH pair however stuck to their gameplan to eventually pull off the victory.

The two Philippine team pairs play the fi nals on Saturday, December 7 with the country already assured of another gold.

mittee, due to conflicts with officials, showed up to coach young Singaporean runner Gordon Lim, who was seventh.

Local bets Jerald Zabala finished fifth (2:37.20) while Anthony Nerza sixth (2:39.28) for the locals in the men’s division.

The two came in place of the late Rafael Poliquit, who died from an illness while in training.

Tabal who was favored to retain her crown, said the sweltering early morning heat affected her though she managed to stay behind Pham and Naibaho until the last 10 kilometers.

The heat took its toll on the exhausted Tabal, allowing Hallasgo to take over while negotiating a hilly terrain.

“I am happy for Christine. That’s because this is her fi rst SEA Games appearance,” said Tabal, who took instructions from her coach John Philip Duenas.

Ruben Gonzales Jr. (left) and teammate Treat Huey battle their Vietnamese opponents in tennis. The pair prevailed to advance to the battle for the gold. Lino Santos

OLYMPIANS Rogen Ladon and Charly Suarez of the Philippines clinched semis berth in the boxing competitions of the 30th Southeast Asian Games Thursday by outclassing their respective quarterfinal foes at the PICC Forum.

Ladon dispatched Aldoms Sugoro 4-1 in the flyweight division while Suarez beat Min Arkar Paing of Myanmar by majority decision to assure themselves of at least bronze medals.

The Filipinos, however, suffered a casualty in John Marvin, the defending light-heavyweight champion, who lost to Truong Dinh Hoang of Vietnam 2-3.

Ladon and Suarez joined Carlo Paalam and the women’s trio of Josie Gabuco, Irish Magno, and Aira Villegas in the semis, along with AIBA World silver medal winner Eumir Felix Marcial, Ian Clark Bautista, and Riza Pasulit, who all drew byes.

The semifinals were being held Friday.

AIBA World Women’s champion Nesthy Petecio will be up against a Myanmar opponent for the gold in featherweight division.

Pagdanganan snatches SEA Games gold in golf

CELEBRATION. Sandi Abahan of the Philippines celebrates after winning gold at the 2019 Southeast Asia Games women’s 5k x 20 obstacle course held at Filinvest Alabang. AFP

LPGA Tour-bound Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, pouncing on Thai Kan Bunnabodee’s late mishap to turn a one-stroke deficit in the last two holes into a rousing three-shot triumph Friday and bag the individual gold in the 30th SEA Games golf competitions at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac.

Pagdanganan, the Asian Games bronze medalist, lost a two-stroke lead in the face of Bunnabodee’s fiery charge in the last nine holes at the front and fell by one with a costly bogey on the par-3 No. 6. But it was the Thai who cracked in a pressure-packed finish as she double bogeyed the par-4 No. 8 that enabled Pagdanganan to regain control with a routine par and the Filipina ace completed her romp with a kind of finish that wins big-time championships.

The Thai went for broke on the closing par-5 ninth in a desperate attempt to score a birdie and possibly force a playoff but paid dearly for it as she hit it into the rough twice and ended up with a bogey instead for a 72.

Pagdanganan kept her poise and calmly sank a birdie from an eagle-putt distance for a two-shot swing as she closed out with a 71 that capped her run of under-par scores that included a 70 and a 68 for a 54-hole total of seven-under 209.

“I feel very happy to see my teammates on the final hole watching,” Pagdanganan said after delivering the first SEA Games golf gold for Team PHI since Princess Superal dominated the 2013 Games in Myanmar. “I felt like we won as a team.”

While Pagdanganan basked in glory, Bunnabodee rued her poor finish that marred what could’ve been a great comeback against the Fili-

pina top gun. She settled for silver with a 212 while compatriot Pimpina Panthong took the bronze with a 213 after a 71.

Like Pagdanganan, Singapore’s James Leow foiled the Thais in men’s individual play, firing a stirring bogey-free seven-under 65 to snare the gold with a 203 total. Tanapat Pichaikool, who led after 36 holes, failed to match Leow’s hot 33 start with a 36, carded a 68 and lost by one with a 204 for silver while another Thai, Nopparat Panichphol, bagged the bronze with a 205 also after a 68.

The Philippines and Thailand will take a bye in the first round in women’s match play with the No. 3 Malaysia (437) clashing with No. 6 Vietnam (499) and No. 4 Indonesia (440) taking on No. 5 Singapore (454) with the winners facing the top two teams. The hosts emerged as the top seed with 423 with the Thais finishing with 424.

IN BRIEF

International reserves reach record $85.83b

THE country’s gross international reserves as of end-November 2019 rose $0.56 billion to an all-time high of $86.39 billion from $85.83 billion a month ago, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Friday.

The BSP said in a statement the increase reflected the inflows arising from the foreign exchange operations and income from investments abroad, and the national government’s net foreign currency deposits.

“The end-November level of the GIR provides ample external liquidity buffer that is equivalent to 7.5 months worth of imports of goods and services and payments of primary income,” the BSP said.

They are also equivalent to 5.6 times the country’s short-term external debt based on original maturity and 4.1 times based on residual maturity.

Net international reserves, which refer to the difference between the BSP’s GIR and total short-term liabilities, also increased $0.56 billion to $86.38 billion as of end-November from the end-October 2019 level of $85.82 billion.

Julito G. Rada

Business

Energy urges ERC to relax WESM rules

THE Department of Energy urged the Energy Regulatory Commission to relax some of its requirements to enable the start of commercial operations of the electricity spot market in Mindanao by next month.

“We wrote ERC to relax some of their requirements, like the 90 percent participation because we feel that if we really push for that, we will have a hard time achieving the target of Jan 26, 2020,” Energy Assistant Secretary Redentor Delola said.

Delola said the government aimed to put in place the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the trading floor for electricity in Mindanao, by January 26, 2020.

“The standing order of the department is to conduct commercial operations by January 26, 2020. We will actually issue a department circular commencing the operations of WESM the issues that are pending right now is first the approval of PDM, price determination methodology pending with the ERC,” he said.

Delola also said another concern was the simultaneous transition of the Luzon and Visayas WESM to the new market management system.

Alena Mae S. Flores

B1

By Jenniffer B. Austria

FIRST BALFOUR TURNS 50. Officials of First Philippine Holdings Corp., led by chairman and chief executive officer Federico Lopez (third from left), raise their champagne glasses to celebrate the 50th anniversary of subsidiary First Balfour, one of the country’s leading engineering and construction companies. With him (from left) are Francis Giles Puno, FPH president and chief operating officer; Anthony Fernandez, First Balfour president and COO; and Fiorello Estuar, First Balfour senior adviser.

Poverty incidence in PH declines to 16.6%—NEDA

By Julito G. Rada

T

HE National Economic and Development Authority said Friday poverty incidence in the country further dropped to 16.6 percent of the population in 2018 from 23.3 percent in 2015 due largely to the improved labor market conditions that increased the salaries and wages of the poor.

NEDA Undersecretary and officer in charge Adoracion Navarro said the latest numbers showed that the government was “on track in meeting our targets set under the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022.”

“We are pleased that the official poverty statistics for the full-year of 2018 reported by the Philippine Statistics Authority show significant progress, not just in terms of increasing overall income but also reducing inequality as well,” Navarro said.

“With a poverty reduction rate of 2.23 percentage points per annum, we are not only on track to meet our PDP target of bringing down poverty incidence to 14 percent by 2022. We are also likely to meet the Sustainable Development Goal or SDG target of eradicating extreme poverty as defined by the international poverty line and cutting by half the proportion of the population living below the national poverty line by 2030,” Navarro said.

Navarro said the target of lifting 6 million Filipinos out of poverty by 2022 was almost reached, as 5.9 million have already been lifted out of poverty as of 2018.

“These demonstrate that the strategies elaborated in the Philippine Development Plan 2017-2022 do result in inclusive growth. These need to be

sustained, if not further enhanced,” she said.

Navarro said with a vibrant economy that continued to generate good jobs, the mean salaries and wages for the population rose 22.8 percent to P156,114 in 2018, from P127,122 in 2015.

For those in the bottom 30 percent of the population, mean per capita income increased 31.87 percent. This outpaced the 18-percent income growth experienced by the top 20 percent of households. Navarro said this was a good sign that the government’s programs targeting the poor were working well.

The NEDA said the sustained implementation, expansion and enhancement of the government’s social assistance programs (i.e., Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino, Unconditional Cash Transfer, Pantawid Pasada, and Social Pension) provided additional income to the poorest sectors of the society.

Transfers received by households from the bottom three deciles increased 34.8, 32.8, and 25.0 percent respectively.

PTT Philippines bullish, hikes gas stations to 170 PTT Philippines is set to close the year with approximately 170 gasoline stations in the country, a ranking official said Friday.

“The vibrant Philippine market drives us to continue our expansion, especially in the regions,” PTT Philippines president and chief executive officer Thitiroj Rergsumran said.

“We are expecting to duplicate our target next year, so you could expect us to be more visible in various areas in the Philippines especially in the provinces,” the official said.

PTT Philippines plans to open approximately 40 stations in Luzon and the Visayas for the coming year.

Thitiroj earlier said PTT Philippines had earmarked about P500 million in capital expenditure for retail expansion involving 30 to 40 stations, adding to its 162 stations mostly located in Luzon.

“Our expansion will continue on both our oil and non-oil businesses and we are confident that we can achieve our growth because of the strong support from our head office in Thailand,” he said.

PTT Philippines has also been expanding its non-oil business—the Thai brand Cafe Amazon—which is part of the diversification of its parent company in Thailand, PTT Oil and Retail Business Plc. Café Amazon originated in Thailand before expanding to other countries, such as Cambodia, Laos, Japan, Myanmar, Oman, Singapore, China and the Philippines.

It has more than 2,500 stores in Thailand, making it the country’s market leader in out-of-home consumption with more than 200 shops overseas.

Alena Mae S. Flores

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019

SM Prime wins Pasay reclamation contract

Sales of automotive importers fall slightly

SALES of vehicle importers rose 5 percent to 7,320 units in October from the September level of 7,000 units, the Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors Inc. said Friday.

Ten-month sales, meanwhile, slipped 3.3 percent to 71,396 units from 73,809 units year-on-year.

AVID remains optimistic the automotive industry’s performance would make headway in the last two months of the year.

“Lower inflation, interest rates, and fuel prices coupled with increased consumer spending with the start of the holiday season could boost industry performance. Increased government spending on key infrastructure projects and the jeepney modernization program will further bolster demand, especially for light and heavy commercial vehicles,” said AVID president Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo.

Sales of passenger cars segment rose 2 percent month-on-month to 2,591 units in October from 2,544 units in September.

Hyundai kept its industry leadership in the segment with 1,457 units sold in October, followed by Suzuki with 690 units.

Othel V. Campos

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

JEEPNEY LOANS. State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines grants a P60.8-million loan to a Mandaluyong-based transport cooperative for the purchase of modern jeepneys that will serve major routes in the city as it ramps up support to the national government’s Public Utility Vehicle Modernization Program. DBP executive vice president Jose Gabino Dimayuga (third from left) shakes hands with Mandaluyong Transport Service Cooperative chairman Artemio Beluan Jr. after the loan agreement signing ceremony held at the DBP head office in Makati City.

DOTr to break ground on Tagum-Davao-Digos rail project in Q1

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE Department of Transportation plans to break ground on the Tagum-Davao-Digos segment, or Phase 1 of the Mindanao Railway Project, by the first quarter of 2020.

DOTr Secretary Arthur Tugade said board approval of the National Economic and Development Authority the brought the Mindanao Railway Project closer to realization.

“This builds on the dream of President Rodrigo Duterte to generate development in Mindanao through an efficient rail system that will not only move people throughout the island of Mindanao, but will also generate needed economic growth,” Tugade said.

The MRP-TDD is the first phase of the proposed 830-kilometer MRP Loop. It

aims to establish a 74-km at-grade and 26km elevated (viaduct) commuter railway from Tagum City in Davao del Norte to Digos City in Davao del Sur. Phase 1 will have eight stations located in Tagum, Carmen, Panabo, Mudiang, Davao, Toril, Sta. Cruz, and Digos.

Department of Public Works and Highways Secretary and Government Infrastructure Cluster head Mark Villar positively noted the NEDA board’s decision.

“This project will surely benefit those who call Mindanao their home, and also those doing business in the island. As the first railway to be built outside of Luzon, the MRP will transform the socio-economic landscape of Mindanao,” Villar said.

Presidential Adviser for Flagship Programs and Projects, Secretary Vince Dizon stressed the President’s vision of spurring

economic growth throughout the country through infrastructure development.

“The BBB Program has one clear aspiration, that is, to spread development not just in major urban centers but throughout the country. The Mindanao Railway Project as a major transport infrastructure development is part of the realization of this goal,” Secretary Dizon stated.

Phase 1 of the Mindanao Railway Project is designed to accommodate around 130,000 passengers a day in its first year of full operations. Once fully operational, travel time between Tagum City to Digos City will be reduced from current 3.5 hours to just 1.3 hours.

Partial operations of the Tagum-Davao line are scheduled by the second quarter of 2022 while full operations of the Tagum-DavaoDigos line will be in the fourth quarter of 2022.

SM PRIME Holdings Inc., one of the biggest integrated property developers in Southeast Asia, officially bagged the 360-hectare Pasay reclamation project.

SM Prime said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Friday it received from Pasay City a notice to proceed with the proposed reclamation project within the city’s municipal waters.

“We have complied with all the requirements of national agencies and secured all the required permits and clearances to enable SM Prime to commence with the reclamation project.

We expect thousands of job opportunities to be generated in the process, and to also contribute significantly to both local and national development,” said SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim. The planned reclamation project in Pasay City will be connected to the Mall of Asia Complex, which is also a project of both parties and has turned into a vibrant business district featuring world-class mall, offices, residences, entertainment arena, 5-star hotel and convention center.

As the Pasay City’s joint venture partner, SM Prime will develop the actual raw land reclamation and do horizontal development works. The company has finalized the selection of consultants and contractors from a roster of reputable companies with proven global reclamation and dredging experience to ensure proper and responsible implementation of the project.

SM Prime in 2014 bagged the 300hectare Pasay reclamation project. It committed at that time to spend a little over P50 billion for the project.

Aside from the Pasay reclamation, SM Prime also has a pending 300-hectare Parañaque reclamation project worth over P50 billion.

The property firm had contracted AECOM, the world’s largest engineering design firm, to do an integrated master plan on the two projects.

SM Prime reported a nine-month net income of P27.60 billion in the first nine months of the year, up 18 percent from P23.44 billion year-on-yer.

Ayala Group acquires 100% of Healthway AYALA Healthcare Holdings Inc., a wholly-owned unit of conglomerate Ayala Corp., acquired 100 percent of Healthway, one of the leading clinic networks in the country, for an undisclosed amount.

Ayala Corp. said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Friday it bought Healthway from Hong-Kong based HKR International (HKRI) Ltd., a diversified company with investments throughout Asia in real estate, hospitality and healthcare.

“We are very pleased to welcome Healthway to AC Health and the Ayala group. The Healthway name has become synonymous with quality healthcare and has been well-regarded among patients and medical professionals. We intend to build on this further, as we integrate Healthway with our AC Health portfolio,” said Ayala president Fernando Zobel de Ayala.

AC Health said Healthway’s seven mall-based multi-specialty clinics and 40 corporate clinics would expand the group’s clinic portfolio that included 70 FamilyDOC community-based primary care clinics and 10 corporate clinics.

“We at Healthway are very proud to join the AC Health family. Over the years, we have worked hard to establish Healthway as one of the leading and most preferred healthcare providers in the country, and we look forward to becoming even stronger now that we are part of a broader network,” said Sidney Hui, president and chief executive of Healthway Philippines.

Since it began operations in 1998, Healthway has served over two million patients. It has a network of around 800 doctors across different specialties.

Its branches are located in SM North EDSA, Festival Mall, Alabang Town Center, Adriatico Manila, Shangri-La Mall, Market-Market and Greenbelt 5. Jenniffer B. Austria

B2

Business

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks up slightly; SM Prime gains

T

HE stock market rose slightly Friday to snap a three-day decline on optimism over the USChina trade talks.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 10.81 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,801.72 on a value turnover of P5.7 billion. Losers, however, edged gainers, 85 to 81, with 59 issues unchanged.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. of the Sy Group climbed 2 percent to P40.80, while PLDT Inc., the biggest telecommunications firm, advanced 1 percent to P1,052.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll roads, water and electricity distribution, hospitals and infrastructure, fell 3.7 percent to P3.66, while Universal Robina Corp., the larg-

est snack food maker, declined 3 percent to P136.

Meanwhile, optimism over the ChinaUS trade talks kept Asian markets buoyant on Friday, with investors betting the two will eventually sign a partial deal, though they remain nervous as next week’s deadline for fresh tariffs draws closer.

Sentiment across trading floors has ebbed and flowed through the week as observers try to gauge the state of play in the long-running negotiations, with both sides making positive, then negative comments on the outlook.

Donald Trump caused upheaval by saying he would be happy if a pact was not signed until after next November’s elections, reimposed tariffs on Argentina and Brazil and threatened France with 100 percent levies over a digital tax.

The passage of a House of Representatives bill in support of minority Ui-

ghurs in China also riled a Beijing still angry at Trump’s decision to pass a law backing Hong Kong protesters.

But talks appear back on track after reports US officials were hopeful an agreement would be signed, while the president said Thursday things were “moving along well.”

The latest soundings allowed investors to return to the buying that has helped propel global markets for weeks, sending Wall Street to multiple records.

China on Friday offered its latest olive branch, saying it would waiver tariffs on “some” imports of key US soybean and pork imports, providing extra support to traders.

Hong Kong climbed more than one percent, Shanghai and Sydney added 0.4 percent, while Tokyo, Singapore, Wellington, Bangkok and Jakarta each gained 0.2 percent.

Seoul jumped more than one percent

and Taipei edged up 0.1 percent but Mumbai slipped 0.4 percent.

“It’s been rather a strange week for global equity markets,” said Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK. “Moving from an expectation that we could well see some movement on trade between the US and China in the next couple of weeks, to the prospect that any solution may well not happen until after the next presidential election.

“As a result of these mixed signals investors appear to be taking a more cautious view as to what may happen next.”

Traders remain on edge just over a week until December 15—the day on which the US is due to impose tariffs on more China goods.

“Things are looking modestly positive, but that can change on a dime,” Michael Reynolds, investment strategy officer at Glenmede Trust, told Bloomberg News. With AFP

Manila Standard BuSineSS daily StockS review Friday, deceMBer 6, 2019

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING),

FINANCIALS 54 1,430 89 5,655,130 1.91 1,000 156.5 1,580,770 0.96 288,000 25 54,800 7.95 300 18.46 4,200 12.86 698,400 4.05 23,000 0.59 1,000 0.37 290,000 67.95 1,027,080 0.8 118,000 13 4,700 35.8 1,065,600 173.6 240 58.05 800 24.3 71,300 195.8 1,538,920 1,771 15 58 167,740

77,182.50 499,614,553.50 1,910 248,896,710 276,210 1,368,720 2,095 76,532 8,972,930 93,170 590 108,200 69,492,277 94,400 61,100 38,489,275 41,666 46,405 1,738,865 301,745,399 26,455 9,729,954.50

70,777.50 -30,165,107.50 -5,504,477 -862,170 -36,000 -729,782 59,700 17,738,332 -16,800 -5,686,085 3,480 -1,342,865 -55,814,144 -6,602,577.50

34.15 2.4 13.5 0.57 2.97 0.226 2.11 15.3 164 4.9 18.58 26.65 2.06 5.19 5.33 8.47 14.62 10.3 7.15 23.7 73.55 1.42 39 2.05 13.56 7.57 1.3 200.8 3.36 8.14 16.22 12.06 16.7 318 5.5 1.3 4.1 4.2 9.5 10.74 33 4.97 5.4 2.01 0.91 10.26 86.95 7.83 0.115 1 136 2.6 1.1 0.91

INDUSTRIAL 34.6 349,800 2.41 2,099,000 13.72 1,199,300 0.57 507,000 3.03 2,137,000 0.237 180,000 2.17 350,000 15.34 107,500 164.1 800 5 329,000 21.4 369,200 28.9 11,600 2.06 14,000 5.19 72,000 5.33 4,100 8.48 1,312,500 14.62 97,500 10.3 98,100 7.19 20,411,500 24.75 1,714,500 73.55 33,080 1.43 18,229,000 40.85 11,400 2.08 2,265,000 13.88 102,800 7.7 45,900 1.4 11,000 202 330,360 3.55 8,000 8.14 100 16.3 1,765,100 12.1 57,600 16.7 36,200 326 99,740 5.5 200 1.35 4,687,000 4.1 15,000 4.2 1,268,000 9.6 60,400 11.28 105,000 33.15 558,700 4.97 2,043,900 5.43 20,500 2.08 8,821,000 0.95 358,000 10.36 16,900 88.7 95,380 7.9 73,500 0.117 200,000 1.05 6,000 136 3,160,110 2.6 1,000 1.12 2,220,000 0.93 576,000

12,094,460 5,065,940 16,415,428 293,380 6,447,960 41,000 755,600 1,649,054 132,148 1,643,400 7,860,430 319,710 28,840 373,680 21,884 11,143,467 1,425,524 1,010,434 145,966,100 42,205,475 2,433,400 26,474,890 456,390 4,684,820 1,426,484 354,538 14,400 67,035,386 27,120 814 28,828,942 696,600 605,384 32,154,502 1,100 6,271,710 61,500 5,347,900 579,830 1,182,482 18,588,560 10,218,241 110,767 18,562,990 332,020 176,624 8,362,371.50 581,871 23,380 6,160 437,815,978 2,600 2,471,210 534,440

-4,391,350 -592,600 -14,223,912 42,170 54,230 763,950 53,152 -39,780 -208,100 -165,700 -3,329,918 -76,024 -23,690 -145,835,788 33,147,350 -682,654.50 -44,330 -43,910.00 -83,390 -163,812 9,724 -3,147,724 -7,481,800.00 -297,384 5,691,368 57,370 -2,143,120 -86,770 -9,999,980 -69,120 -181,000 18,400 -157,964 -1,584,117.50 -145,916,809 -8,960 10,110

0.76 52.8 11.24 0.72 6.89 12.3 0.93 0.95 830.5 3.41 7 6.27 13.28 0.228 902 5.41 78.9 5.22 0.5 3.88 11.58 0.56 3.96 6.54 1.38 160 1,080 0.83 1.24 536.5 218.8 0.214 0.218

0.73 51.05 11.04 0.7 6.6 12 0.91 0.94 821.5 3.33 6.82 6.05 12.96 0.228 881 5.4 76.9 5.21 0.485 3.75 11.4 0.56 3.66 6.2 1.31 158.6 1,064 0.83 1.23 439 210.2 0.214 0.216

HOLDING FIRMS 0.75 1,723,000 52.8 1,801,070 11.12 3,764,800 0.71 376,000 6.6 600 12.12 14,000 0.92 748,000 0.95 429,000 828 392,450 3.33 275,000 6.9 3,394,700 6.05 20,122,100 13 41,900 0.228 10,000 900 97,710 5.41 4,662,100 78.9 1,387,810 5.21 2,100 0.5 3,000 3.75 1,128,000 11.5 1,839,600 0.56 63,000 3.66 53,370,000 6.2 80,600 1.37 138,000 159 284,020 1,078 136,840 0.83 3,000 1.23 88,000 500 4,460 217.8 250 0.214 50,000 0.216 60,000

1,279,670 94,138,199 42,017,848 266,450 3,989 169,094 685,850 405,540 324,709,050 924,680 23,458,973 123,507,504 543,642 2,280 87,832,050 25,221,911 108,298,637.50 10,947 1,485 4,325,270 21,116,710 35,280 201,520,150 506,601 184,470 45,142,960 146,973,475 2,490 108,260 2,259,856 52,820 10,700 13,020

14,800 -37,795,733.50 -475,892 208,040 -32,209,020 -239,280 -10,187,525 -40,459,823 -529,288 25,412,745 -54,050 -4,933,008.50 -2,967,670 1,758,584 -57,369,620 125,000 -9,834,680 -27,447,780 -12,720 -

14.86 0.75 8.9 1.5 0.84 45.7 1.98 4.8 6.47 0.56 0.86 10.36 19.6 1.52 1.2 4.37 0.203

14.8 0.75 8.9 1.48 0.81 45 1.97 4.68 6.15 0.54 0.84 10.3 18.9 1.49 1.18 4.27 0.196

PROPERTY 14.8 284,100 0.75 2,000 8.9 2,000 1.48 4,000 0.83 845,000 45.5 5,186,200 1.98 266,000 4.76 527,000 6.47 8,400 0.56 3,581,000 0.84 23,000 10.32 77,500 18.9 158,500 1.51 5,689,000 1.18 720,000 4.27 25,236,000 0.197 12,590,000

4,215,248 1,500 17,800 5,960 695,170 235,685,275 525,770 2,500,260 52,532 1,975,280 19,340 801,876 3,037,980 8,562,790 851,760 108,838,250 2,501,040

-860,162 -64,717,760.00 -360,130 94,560 -647 1,035,530 -1,835,110 1,205,230 29,237,590 11,820

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

54 88.15 1.91 157.5 0.95 25.05 6.5 18 12.9 4.04 0.59 0.375 67.5 0.8 13 36.7 175 57.7 24.5 197.9 1,760 58.25

54 89.35 1.91 158.2 0.96 25.1 7.95 18.46 12.92 4.1 0.59 0.375 68 0.8 13 36.75 175 58.05 24.5 198.9 1,771 58.3

53.25 87.6 1.91 156.5 0.95 24.9 6.5 18 12.8 4.04 0.59 0.37 67.15 0.8 13 35.8 173.5 57.7 24.3 195 1,760 57.8

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

34.5 2.44 13.5 0.58 3.03 0.237 2.14 15.4 167.2 5.08 18.58 26.75 2.06 5.19 5.39 8.61 14.62 10.3 7.17 23.8 73.55 1.42 41 2.08 13.56 7.9 1.3 205 3.41 8.14 16.9 12.06 16.86 320 5.5 1.36 4.1 4.25 9.6 10.98 33.5 4.99 5.4 2.06 0.97 10.4 89 8 0.115 1 140.3 2.6 1.1 0.94

34.95 2.44 13.72 0.6 3.08 0.237 2.19 15.4 167.3 5.08 24 29.35 2.06 5.19 5.39 8.61 15 10.32 7.19 24.75 73.85 1.48 41 2.09 13.88 7.95 1.4 205.2 3.55 8.14 16.9 12.12 16.86 326 5.5 1.36 4.1 4.25 9.6 11.28 33.75 5 5.44 2.17 0.97 10.5 89 8 0.117 1.05 143.6 2.6 1.12 0.94

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

0.73 51.95 11.06 0.7 6.89 12.26 0.91 0.94 830 3.41 6.94 6.14 13.26 0.228 902 5.41 78.8 5.21 0.5 3.88 11.46 0.56 3.85 6.31 1.38 160 1,080 0.83 1.23 476.8 210.2 0.214 0.218

8990 HLDG A BROWN ANCHOR LAND ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEB LANDMASTERS CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITYLAND DEVT DM WENCESLAO DOUBLEDRAGON FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED

14.84 0.75 8.9 1.5 0.82 45.4 1.97 4.79 6.15 0.55 0.84 10.3 19.1 1.51 1.18 4.33 0.203

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING),

PHIL ESTATES PHIL INFRADEV PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND VISTAMALLS

0.42 1.34 0.33 2.02 25.55 2.15 40 2.5 1.24 7.52 5.5

0.42 1.34 0.33 2.02 25.8 2.15 41.2 2.52 1.27 7.58 5.5

0.42 1.3 0.33 2.01 25.15 2.1 39.85 2.47 1.15 7.4 5.2

0.42 1.31 0.33 2.01 25.8 2.15 40.8 2.48 1.26 7.58 5.5

10,000 293,000 30,000 216,000 455,800 111,000 11,795,900 66,000 25,235,000 7,205,000 151,400

4,200 385,420 9,900 434,220 11,656,275 238,360 481,684,440 164,030 29,499,620 54,364,927 831,027

-217,285 221,440 89,054,215 -64,600 -21,349,596 -

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ALLHOME APC GROUP ASIAN TERMINALS BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY CEBU AIR CHELSEA EASYCALL GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN BRIA HARBOR STAR INTL CONTAINER IPEOPLE IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM JACKSTONES LBC EXPRESS LEISURE AND RES MACROASIA MANILA BULLETIN MANILA JOCKEY METRO RETAIL METROALLIANCE A NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PH RESORTS GRP PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

9.9 16.78 11.52 0.46 18 3.6 10.34 92.8 5.55 8.7 1,934 5.25 423 1.29 118 7.6 4.8 0.1 4.07 2.27 13.9 2.7 17.3 0.395 3.38 2.13 0.99 2.79 2.48 7.74 4.44 135.1 2.72 1,051 0.6 0.45 39 74.75 8.97 2.45 0.67 0.28 0.6 19

9.9 17.48 11.52 0.47 18 3.79 10.5 92.8 5.75 8.96 1,950 5.28 448 1.33 120.9 7.6 5 0.103 4.25 2.27 13.9 2.73 17.4 0.42 3.38 2.14 1 2.98 2.5 7.74 5 145 2.72 1,084 0.61 0.455 39.1 74.75 9.14 2.48 0.67 0.285 0.6 19

9.8 16.78 11.48 0.455 18 3.45 10.12 91.2 5.55 8.6 1,934 5.17 419 1.2 117.1 7.56 4.8 0.1 4.07 2.27 13.9 2.7 16.94 0.39 3.37 2.12 0.99 2.79 2.46 7.5 4.44 135 2.65 1,045 0.59 0.435 38.5 73.7 8.95 2.45 0.65 0.275 0.6 18.4

SERVICES 9.8 17.36 11.52 0.47 18 3.73 10.12 92 5.56 8.6 1,944 5.28 425 1.22 120 7.6 4.9 0.103 4.2 2.27 13.9 2.71 17.2 0.405 3.37 2.13 0.99 2.95 2.5 7.63 5 145 2.7 1,052 0.6 0.44 38.9 73.7 9.14 2.47 0.66 0.28 0.6 18.42

4,700 237,000 2,571,400 1,470,000 2,000 3,787,000 4,219,400 65,620 379,200 21,200 9,400 181,100 42,570 2,863,000 797,190 60,800 37,000 20,000 5,479,000 2,000 5,000 140,000 940,600 280,000 104,000 475,000 44,000 19,090,000 142,000 6,400 46,000 340 327,000 123,065 2,003,000 5,670,000 1,262,200 171,900 15,300 1,672,000 1,979,000 2,310,000 317,000 2,533,600

46,435 4,079,722 29,616,704 680,500 36,000 13,824,540 43,256,942 6,033,929 2,124,156 183,386 18,247,140 943,526 18,414,786 3,616,990 94,762,375 462,040 178,850 2,030 22,973,480 4,540 69,500 379,000 16,071,290 111,450 350,540 1,010,760 43,640 54,942,210 352,880 48,678 224,340 46,102 873,080 130,229,715 1,201,730 2,522,750 49,095,590 12,773,339 137,102 4,115,380 1,290,300 648,550 190,200 47,571,390

322,460 -13,800 36,000 -22,393,652 1,111,492 -78,773 15,516 1,882,330 67,100 -50,586,988 154,600 1,026,570 56,520 -4,717,798 -171,490 -74,400 -23,980 5,734,190 -1,010,320 381,250 -17,645 -2,242,343 1,633,260 -654,820 176,400 -2,602,848

ABRA MINING AC ENEXOR APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK CENTURY PEAK DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING

0.0015 7.7 1.05 2.38 11.08 2.57 7.36 1.5 0.21 0.096 0.103 0.93 2.98 1.04 0.012 0.013 0.011 3.11 9.2 20.8

0.0015 8.21 1.05 2.38 11.08 2.58 7.58 1.53 0.21 0.096 0.106 0.94 3.04 1.04 0.012 0.013 0.011 3.11 9.6 21

0.0015 7.69 1.03 2.38 11.08 2.57 7.36 1.47 0.202 0.096 0.103 0.93 2.92 1 0.011 0.012 0.01 3.09 9.2 19

MINING & OIL 0.0015 15,000,000 8 254,100 1.04 289,000 2.38 60,000 11.08 100 2.58 442,000 7.58 200 1.52 2,593,000 0.21 70,000 0.096 290,000 0.106 60,000 0.94 113,000 2.98 3,819,000 1.04 15,000 0.012 16,100,000 0.012 26,700,000 0.01 29,500,000 3.1 166,000 9.25 580,800 20 4,472,200

22,500 2,036,715 301,010 142,800 1,108 1,138,360 1,494 3,908,700 14,620 27,840 6,230 105,630 11,422,590 15,170 193,100 320,900 310,000 514,810 5,379,639 89,198,037

172,076 -31,010 746,600 18,600 905,030 -74,540 -633,231 -44,187,680

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B2R ALCO PREF B FGEN PREF G GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B PCOR PREF 3A PCOR PREF 3B PNX PREF 4 SMC FB PREF 2 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2I

15.9 504 101.5 108 5.03 971 995 1.03 101 1,026 1,030 1,055 1,028 997.5 78.05 75.95 77 76

16.3 506 101.5 108 5.04 971 1,000 1.03 101 1,026 1,030 1,055 1,028 997.5 78.05 75.95 77 76

15.8 504 101.5 108 5.03 971 995 1.03 100.1 1,026 1,030 1,055 1,026 997.5 78.05 75.95 77 76

PREFERRED 15.9 348,500 505 5,000 101.5 660 108 14,180 5.04 164,000 971 830 1,000 6,000 1.03 1,000 100.1 930 1,026 8,050 1,030 960 1,055 10 1,028 795 997.5 50 78.05 7,160 75.95 8,400 77 50 76 10,200

5,571,242 2,524,960 66,990 1,531,440 826,540 805,930 5,997,100 1,030 93,224 8,259,300 988,800 10,550 816,820 49,875 558,838 637,980 3,850 775,200

-664,978 -101,000 -816,480 9,975 -

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

3.99 11.02 0.86

3.99 11.2 0.88

3.87 10.32 0.86

3.87 10.6 0.87

999,380 6,688,962 756,320

-

FIRST METRO ETF

116.7

117.1

116.6

377,172

33,832

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2

10.3 10.28

10.3 10.3

10.3 10.28

60,770 66,664.40

-

MS Trading Summary

SHARES

FINANCIAL

13,539,163

INDUSTRIAL

78,971,295

HOLDING FIRMS

97,248,213

PROPERTY

112,624,703

SERVICES

63,371,225

MINING & OIL

100,525,126

GRAND TOTAL

468,035,289

SME

255,000 629,100 867,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 116.8 3,230 10.3 10.3

DDS

5,900 6,480

VALUE 1,874.61 (down) 14.87 1,277,073,758.50 FINANCIAL 9,555.43 (down) 73.92 INDUSTRIAL 1,006,640,677.14 7,750.82 (up) 35.59 HOLDING FIRMS 1,407,174,443.66 PROPERTY 4,099.88 (up) 31.95 1,499.35 (down) 3.65 SERVICES 1,237,364,463.36 7,517.51 (down) 65.06 MINING & OIL 662,059,236.70 7,801.72 (up) 10.81 PSEI 115,063,953.82 All Shares Index 4,645.96 (up) 5.33 5,714,203,264.62 Gainers: 81; Losers: 85; Unchanged: 59; Total: 225

San Miguel bares new plan to ease SLEX traffic

By Darwin G. Amojelar SAN Miguel Corp. said the management of South Luzon Expressway is introducing a new scheme to further ensure a much smoother flow of traffic with the ongoing construction of the Skyway Extension Project.

“We’ve seen a big improvement in the flow of traffic at the SLEX this past week. Traffic moves quickly even during peak rush hours, and there is no longer a sea of cars on the SLEX,” San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said.

The 180-meter, two-lane ramp, which has a capacity of 5,000 vehicles an hour, and the reopened at-grade lane, has effectively increased the number of northbound lanes from the Alabang viaduct to five from just three.

“Nevertheless, I have directed all our personnel to continue to closely monitor the traffic situation so we can make necessary adjustments quickly, particularly in areas prone to heavy traffic,” he added.

The new ramp, Ang said, had the “advantage of flexibility.” Its configuration can be changed to either two-way traffic, or single-direction traffic depending on traffic conditions.

Both lanes during peak or rush hours in the morning can be opened for northbound use. During peak or rush hours in the afternoon, both lanes can serve southbound motorists.

Motorists are advised that the Alabang-Zapote Road Elevated On and Off-Ramp near Bunye South Station will be closed from Monday to Saturday, starting December 9.

For northbound vehicles, the road will be closed from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m and southbound from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

During these times when the Alabang-Zapote Road Elevated On-Ramp is closed, motorists headed to the northbound elevated Skyway must use the ramp before the Sucat area.

Meanwhile, southbound motorists must use the new ramp at the Alabang viaduct. Motorists headed to Alabang or the Alabang-Zapote road can exit at the Filinvest Toll plaza.

ABS-CBN says sales of TVplus sets increasing ABS-CBN Corp. said it sold 8.9 million digital terrestrial television device as of November, increasing the penetration of digital TV in households across the country.

“With the rapid rise of TVplus in homes nationwide, digital TV is fast becoming the standard in television viewing in the Philippines,” said ABS-CBN head of Access Charles Lim. Since 2015, the company has been at the forefront in complying with the government’s mandate to shut down analog broadcast and shift to digital. Digital television is capable of better picture and sound, giving users an enhanced viewing experience.

Data on digital terrestrial television penetration in November 2019 from Kantar Media showed that the number of non-cabled homes in Metro Manila that have TVplus had risen to 81 percent from 72 percent in August 2018, while the number of non-cabled homes in Mega Manila with TVplus grew to 75 percent from 65 percent.

In the suburbs, that number rose to 69 percent from 57 percent.

ABS-CBN in June this year gave Filipinos on-the-go the chance to watch ABS-CBN TVplus’ shows as it introduced the mobile version of TVplus called ABS-CBN TVplus Go, which turns Android smartphones into pocket television devices.

ABS-CBN TVplus currently has 16 coverage areas, including Metro Manila, Bulacan, Batangas, Nueva Ecija, Pangasinan, Rizal, Laguna, Pampanga, Tarlac, Benguet, Cavite, Metro Cebu, Cagayan De Oro, Iloilo, Bacolod and Davao.

The media and entertainment company owned by the Lopez Group earlier reported a net income of P2.26 billion in the first nine months of the year from P1.48 billion year-on-year.

ABS-CBN generated consolidated revenues of P32 billion from advertising and consumer sales, up 8.6 percent on year.

Advertising revenues increased 15 percent, attributable to both political placements and growth in regular advertising. Excluding political placements, regular advertising rose by 5.6 percent on year. Darwin G. Amojelar

B3

World

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

HK’s protesters take stock after six months of sacrifice

SMOGGY IN NEW DELHI. An elderly

man walks along a street near India Gate in heavy smoggy conditions in New Delhi on December 6, 2019. AFP

HONG KONG―Some of them have lost their jobs, suffered life-changing injuries and even fled overseas. But six months into Hong Kong’s demonstrations, pro-democracy protesters say they aren’t backing down.

The unprecedented movement was born on June 9, when an estimated million people took to the streets to protest a proposed bill allowing extradition to mainland China.

With Beijing taking a hard line, it has since broadened into a call to halt authoritarian China’s attempts to erode freedoms in the city.

Six months on, the Beijing-backed government has offered few concessions and protests have turned increasingly violent, exacting a heavy toll.

Raymond Yeung, a liberal studies teacher at the elite Diocesan Girls’ School, joined the movement early and was there on June 12 when a massive protest descended into violence.

Protesters broke into the forecourt of the city’s legislative building, throwing

IN BRIEF Ebola vaccine in human trial TOKYO―Japanese scientists will begin the country’s first human trial for a new vaccine against the deadly Ebola virus this month, they said Friday.

The vaccine, which has previously been tested in monkeys, uses an inactivated form of the virus that can only effectively replicate in artificial cells.

Scientists hope that will make it safer than other treatments, the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Tokyo said in a press release.

“We think there’s high hope for a new, safe vaccine which can be produced effectively,” Yoshihiro Kawaoka, a professor of infectious diseases at the university who helped developed the vaccine, said in the release.

The university will begin the clinical study later in December, injecting 30 healthy adult men with two doses of the vaccine, four weeks apart.

They will be monitored for side effects and whether they have developed immunity to Ebola.

The Ebola virus is passed on by contact with the blood, body fluids, secretions or organs of an infected or recently deceased person.

The death rate is typically high, ranging up to 90 percent in some outbreaks, according to the WHO. Several Ebola vaccines exist, including rVSV-ZEBOV and a new formula produced by a Belgian subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson that went into use last month in the Democratic Republic of Congo. AFP

Major US, global cities are slowing

W

ASHINGTON―The blockbuster growth in the world’s major cities in recent years will slow sharply in 2020 and 2021 as the global trade slowdown takes its toll, according to new research.

Nine of the top 10 biggest global cities will slow next year, with the stars of the US Silicon Valley showing the most dramatic signs of slamming on the brakes, Oxford Economics researchers found in a report provided to AFP. Looking further ahead, while China’s metropolitan areas have borne the brunt of the trade conflict, they will bump US cities out of the top 10, the latest annual Global Cities Outlook said.

“The current slowdown in the global economy is impacting on the world’s major cities,” the report said. “Of the top 900, we expect that just under two-thirds, 586, will experience slower growth in 2020-21 than in the past five years.”

And Richard Holt, head of Oxford’s Global Cities Research team, said the

trade war’s impact and slowing commerce overall goes beyond manufacturing.

Many cities are hit indirectly because “anytime anyone does a trade deal... there’s a good chance an insurance deal will be done related to that in either New York or London,” Holt told AFP. “It’s a combination of China slowing down for its own reasons and the trade war, and in the short-term the problem in European manufacturing, and in particular the German car industry, are all coming together simultaneously,” Holt said.

Some cities, such as Munich and Beijing, are cooling due to domestic economic factors.

London is the lone top-10 city expected to post a modest improvement, after fall-

ing sharply due to Brexit concerns. The report projects it will recover slightly to 2.1 percent a year in 2020-21 “from its sub-standard growth of 1.5 percent a year in 2018-19.”

Most of the cities are tracking growth rates of their national economies, and Oxford economists use country-level GDP to calculate city growth rates, while factoring in demographics and other issues particular to each municipality.

Oxford projects the US economic growth to slow to 1.6 percent next year, and 1.8 percent in 2021, while China dips to 5.7 percent and 5.6 percent, and the UK to 1.0 and 1.9 percent.

American high tech cities, which have outstripped US growth in recent years, will be the hardest hit by the cooling expansion.

San Jose will see its growth rate cut in half in coming years from 8.6 percent in 2017 to 3.2 percent in 2020, the report projects.

Nairobi governor ordered arrested NAIROBI―Kenya’s chief prosecutor on Friday ordered the arrest of the governor of the capital Nairobi for economic crimes, the latest top official to come under scrutiny in a bid to crack down on corruption.

Governor Mike Sonko and other country officials are accused by public prosecutor Noordin Haji of having benefited from irregular procurement and payments of $3.5 million (3.1 million euros).

Haji said he had sufficient evidence to prosecute Sonko and other officials for “unlawful acquisition of public property, money laundering and other economic crimes.”

“I have therefore ordered for the immediate arrest and arraignment in court of the Governor of Nairobi Hon. Mike Mbuvi Sonko and other persons,” Haji said in a statement.

It was seen as a maverick move when, in 2017, the ruling party chose populist Mike Sonko as its candidate for Nairobi’s gubernatorial poll, a controversial politician who has spent time in jail and has had to deny allegations of illegal activities, including drug trafficking. AFP

However, for Silicon Valley, the issues go beyond the global trade war.

Rising housing prices have pushed up wages and made other areas such as Austin and Portland more attractive.

In Asia, China’s largest four metropolitan areas (Shenzhen, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai) grew by more than 10 percent a year in the past decade, but growth rates will slow to around six percent in the next two years.

India’s booming cities remain at the top of the heap, with the fastest growth rates on the globe, but they are also much smaller than other major cities.

Looking ahead to 2035, six of the current cities in the top 10 by GDP will still be there, and the top four—New York, Tokyo, Los Angeles, and London—will all retain their places, the report says.

But Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will knock out Osaka, San Francisco, Dallas and Washington, although all will stay within the top 16. AFP

Pelosi okays drafting of articles of impeachment

23 kidnapped from rehab clinic IRAPUATO, Mexico―Gunmen kidnapped 23 people from a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts in central Mexico, later freeing 13 of them, some with injuries, officials said Thursday.

Witnesses said the large group of gunmen arrived at the rehab clinic in Irapuato, in the state of Guanajuato, in several vehicles on Wednesday and stormed the facility.

“We have the names of 23 [victims], of whom 13 have since reappeared and 10 are still missing,” Guanajuato prosecutor Carlos Zamarripa told journalists.

“Some of them are injured and have, understandably, been very reluctant to talk about what happened.”

Guanajuato, an industrial and tourism hub, has been increasingly hit by the violent crime sweeping much of Mexico.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has been struggling to rein in the violence, largely blamed on Mexico’s powerful drug cartels.

His government has suffered a string of bad news on the security front recently, including the massacre of nine women and children from a US-Mexican Mormon community and a botched attempt to arrest the son of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman. AFP

objects including metal bars at police.

Officers responded with rubber bullets, bean bag rounds and tear gas against their aggressors, but then turned their weapons on the huge, peaceful crowds outside the complex, igniting anger that has fuelled the protests for months.

Yeung was hit in the face―to this day he’s not sure if it was a rubber bullet or bean bag round―and his glasses shattered into his eyes.

He was left with a serious injury to his right eye that means he now has just 30 percent vision. He was also arrested for rioting, though he was later released.

Six months on, he has no regrets.

“There’s not a day that passes when I don’t think about how I can contribute more to the cause,” he told AFP. “Money and material enjoyment are important, but no longer that important.”

Ryan, a 19-year-old student, feels the same way and has abandoned the football matches and video games that he once enjoyed with friends. AFP

BALANCING ACT. In this photo taken on December 5, 2019, a girl leaves her house at a floating village in Cambodia. AFP

France hit by second day of massive strike PARIS―Travelers across France endured a second day of chaos on Friday as unions vowed to keep up their strike until President Emmanuel Macron backs down on controversial pension overhauls.

Rail operator SNCF said 90 percent of high-speed TGV trains were again canceled, and several airlines dropped flights including Air France, EasyJet and Ryanair.

Nine of the capital’s 16 metro lines were shut and most others severely disrupted, sparking some 350 kilometers of traffic jams in the Paris region, well above the usual 200 km, the traffic website Sytadin reported.

Many employees were unable to get to work and several schools again provided only daycare, though fewer teachers were on strike compared with Thursday when some 800,000 people demonstrated across the country according to the interior ministry.

Bike paths were crowded with bikes and electric scooters, with metro operator RATP sponsoring special deals for

commuters with a range of ride-hailing companies and other transportation alternatives.

The walkout is the latest test for Macron after months of protests from teachers, hospital workers, police and firefighters as well as the “yellow vest” movement demanding improved living standards.

Unions say his “universal” pension system, which would eliminate dozens of separate plans for public workers, forces millions of people in both public and private sectors to work well beyond the legal retirement age of 62.

Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said Friday that the government had “heard” the protesters’ anger and would meet with union leaders to discuss the reform on Monday.

The government has yet to lay out the details of its plan, and Buzyn told Europe 1 radio that “there is indeed a discussion going on about who will be affected, what age it kicks in, which generations will be concerned -- all that is still on the table”.

Yves Veyrier, head of the hardline FO union, warned Thursday the strike could last at least until Monday if the government did not take the right action.

But it remains to be seen if the protests will match the magnitude of the 1995 strikes against pension overhauls, when France was paralysed for three weeks from November to December in an action that forced the government to back down.

Macron, a former investment banker, has largely succeeded in pushing through a series of controversial reforms, including loosening labour laws and tightening access to unemployment benefits.

But this is the first time the various disgruntled groups have come together in protest.

So far Macron has not spoken publicly on the stoppages though a presidential official, who asked not to be named, said Thursday that the president was “calm” and “determined to carry out this reform” in a mood of “listening and consultation.” AFP

WASHINGTON―Top US Democrat Nancy Pelosi gave the green light Thursday to draft articles of impeachment against Donald Trump, as the embattled president vowed he would “win” the coming fight.

By asking the House Judiciary Committee chairman to draw up the charges, Speaker Pelosi signaled that a formal vote on impeaching the 45th American president is all but assured.

With a majority of the Democraticcontrolled chamber already expressing intent to back the divisive procedure, Trump is likely to become just the third president in US history to be impeached by the House of Representatives.

“Sadly, but with confidence and humility, with allegiance to our founders and a heart full of love for America, today I am asking our chairman to proceed with articles of impeachment,” Pelosi said in a televised statement.

Trump “has engaged in abuse of power, undermined our national security and jeopardized the integrity of our elections,” she said, adding “the president leaves us no choice but to act.”

A defiant Trump dared Democrats to press ahead with impeachment “now, fast”—so he can have a “fair trial in the Senate” where his party holds power and he is confident of being exonerated.

“The good thing is that the Republicans have NEVER been more united,” Trump tweeted. “We will win!”

Pelosi’s address was short and somber. But America’s most powerful female politician, facing a high-pressure moment of reckoning, concluded a follow-up press conference by showing flashes of anger when a reporter asked if she hated the president.

“I don’t hate anyone,” she fired back, pointing at the journalist in an extraordinary confrontation.

“I pray for the president all the time.

So don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that.” AFP

B4

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019

Joel D. Lacsamana, Editor jdlacsamana@gmail.com

SHOP FOR A HOUSE THIS DECEMBER. The last leg of the Lamudi Housing Fair will kick off this December 14, with some of the most trusted names in real estate to guide property seekers and home buyers. To be held at the SM Mall of Asia music hall, the fair is the place to visit for property seekers coming back to the Philippines to spend their holidays with their families.

Property seekers can visit the booths of exhibitors PA Properties, Damosa Land, Inc., BPI Family Housing Loan, Robinsons Land Corporation, RCD Land, CDC Holdings, Inc., MyCitiHomes and more, to know their housing and real estate investment options.

For those interested in saving money when buying real estate, the UnionBank auction of foreclosed properties would be hard to miss. The one-day event is also a place for brokers and agents to network and find potential clients. It is also a day for learning: development coaches from Lamudi Academy will be sharing pointers on converting online leads to sales and improving online strategies. Visit lamudi.com.ph/housing_fair for more information.

THE GOOD LIFE BECKONS. The Grand Midori Ortigas offers an opportunity to enjoy high-rise living in Ortigas Center, amidst the dynamic vibe that attracts businesses, developments, and individuals in pursuit of high-quality living. For real estate developer Federal Land, Inc., creating value means ensuring that home buyers get the most out of their choice and investment. This philosophy is salient in Federal Land’s latest offering. This two-tower condominium is a sequel to The Grand Midori Makati, an award-winning development known for delivering homes with Japanese inspirations in design and construction. Japanese architectural firm Tange Associates, designer of the project, creatively incorporated Japanese values, workmanship, and aesthetics into the overall look and feel of the property. Priced at an average of P232,000 per square meter, The Grand Midori Ortigas is one of the most sought after condominiums in Ortigas Center, aimed at business executives, retirees, students and families looking to upgrade their lifestyle.

THEOutgoing MANchairman WITH A PLAN Jeffrey Ng, SHDA close in on goal: A home for every Filipino PASSING THE BATON. Jeffrey Ng congratulates incoming SHDA president Raphael Felix.

By Hector Zabala

F

OR Jeffrey T. Ng, the real estate game came much later compared to his other, more established businesses.

BOOMTOWN SAN FERNANDO. People are taking an increasingly keen interest in Pampanga, a province north of the metro, now known as the business and financial core of Central and Northern Luzon regions, and the next central business hub outside Metro Manila. San Fernando, the Pampanga capital, is morphing into a truly progressive city, making it a magnet for foreign investors who wish to set up facilities in the country and a prime contributor to Pampanga’s economic growth.

Amaia Scapes San Fernando. is a conveniently situated house and land development, close to the city proper. There are attractive options among its units of single home, twin homes, twin pod, bungalow pod and multi pod. Unit prices range from Php 1.3 million to Php 2.8 million, with properties having an estimated 5% annual increase in value. Amaia Land offers convenient payment modes such as cash, deferred cash, and bank financing.

Cathay Land Inc. (CLI) was founded in 1994, the Ng family’s entry into the real estate business. But Ng, CLI’s president, already saw the potential of the Sta. Rosa-Silang area way back in the 1990s. He foresaw that the growing gridlock in Metro Manila would lead to the expansion of the metropolis, and spur development in the south area.

Ng began land banking an initial 250 hectares in the Silang area, which eventually became the 1,500 hectares that comprise Cathay Land’s holdings in the Laguna-Cavite area.

Running a real estate business opened Ng’s eyes to the housing situation in the country. Developers were investing in tracts of lands in the hope of addressing the housing needs of Filipinos.

But things were not as simple as buying a parcel of land, declaring it for housing use, subdividing the lots and selling them to aspiring homeowners.

Draconian laws, convoluted (and sometimes conflicting) bureaucratic processes, and the spiralling cost of land and materials, made it difficult to get developments underway. For one, conversion of land alone from

agricultural to residential/mixed-use, took a minimum 24 months to process.

Ng joined the Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA) and helped fire up fellow developers into working towards a more conducive business environment for industry players. SHDA is the biggest national housing organization, with 138 members from Metro Manila, 179 from eight regions, and 32 affiliate members.

DAUNTING BACKLOG SHDA has one mandate: address the country’s housing backlog. Now estimated at 6.7 million, it is projected to mushroom to 12.3 million houses by 2030.

Ng rationalized that with each Filipino household having an average of four members, this translates to about about 26.8 million. In a nutshell, roughly one fourth of the country’s 100 million population do not have their own home. One out of four rents, lives with their parents, shares a dorm, or worse, squats.

Ng took a more active role in the organization and his efforts culminated in his being elected as first vice president in 2017, president the following year, and finally chairman of the board of the SHDA in 2019.

“We want to decrease, if not totally eliminate the housing backlog in 10 years, and this requires active involvement, not only of the private sector, but also of the government and other business organizations,” Ng said. “We want our members to be more dynamic and involved, to help coordinate with the proper

government agencies and other business organizations, so that we can make the housing industry grow faster and bigger.”

NEW LAWS, NEW AGENCIES In February of 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte signed into law the creation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, a one-stop agency that will oversee, coordinate and align the operations of the HUDCC and HLURB. The department acts as the primary national government entity responsible for the management of housing, human settlement, and urban development.

It is also the main policy-making, regulatory, program coordination, and performance monitoring body for all housing, human settlement, and urban development concerns.

HARD WORK AHEAD With the possibility of more raw land available for development, the faster processing of land conversion projects, and having just one agency to deal with, Ng hopes that the simpler process will entice more housing developers to develop projects for the low- and middle-income sector.

Over time, with more inventory and with more Filipinos buying their own homes, the backlog will be dented, and perhaps, arrested, he believes.

“I have done my best for the housing sector,” Ng averred. “I’m stepping down as chairman but confident that the other officers, like president Raphael Felix and first vice president Rosie Tsai, will do an even better job in working with other sectors to decrease the backlog in housing.

HOUSING DEVELOPER TAKES TO THE FAIRWAY.

IN TOTO. Bathroom supplier Toto recently unveiled its newest showroom at the Robins design center in Meralco Ave., San Antonio, Pasig City. The showroom offers Toto’s latest offerings, equipped with their suite collections. It also serves as a one-stopshop for those who want state-of-the-art bathroom products. During the launching event, TOTO presented its signature product, called the Washlet. First released in the 1980s, this innovative toilet seat utilizes a water-cleansing system, that features a lid that opens and closes automatically by motion-sensor, and adjusts its temperature to match its user’s preference. It is also equipped with a tornado flush that generates a vortex force for better cleaning and stronger evacuation of waste, a ceramic glaze called cefiontect for a refined smoothest surface, a deodorizer that eliminates bad odor without the use of an exhaust pipe, a motion sensor that alerts when the Washlet is about to be used, and an ultra violet light. TOTO is a Japanese company, founded in 1917 by Kazuchika Okura. At the launch were (from left to right): Tsutomu Kinoshita, sales and marketing manager, Toto; Robinson Robins, executive director, La Europa Ceramica; Henrieta Robins, executive director, and Michael Suqui, interior designer.

Over 100 golfers headed to Manila Southwoods recently for the 10th Pelagio A. Alvarez Foundation (P.A. Foundation), a yearly event to raise funds to support the foundation’s initiatives, including feeding programs, disaster relief operations and environmental activities, to name a few. Kicking off this year’s tourney were Masahiko Toda, general manager, overseas business division, Hankyu Hanshin properties corp. ; Gustavo Tambunting, congressman, 2nd district, city of Paranaque; Romarico “Bing” Alvarez, chairman, P.A. Properties; Laos ambassador Songkane Luangmuninthone; Vietnam ambassador Ly Quoc Tuan; and Jonathan G. Lu, president, P.A. Properties. P.A. Properties has built some 19,000 housing units in Laguna, Batangas, Bulacan, Cavite, Pampanga, and Metro Manila. It plans to build 25 more housing communities in the next five years.

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife @MStandardLIFE

ARTS AND CULTURE

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019

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Color of the year 2020:

Classic Blue for simplicity and stability ENDING AND BEGINNING. Pantone selects Classic Blue, the shade of blue reminiscent of the sky at dusk, as the color of the year 2020 to offer an enduring and dependable hue that anchors the world as another decade ends and a new one begins.

By Bernadette Lunas

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S A new decade begins with anticipation and uncertainty, the world is in dire need of a stable foundation that offers dependability, or at least a sense of peace and tranquillity.

This is exactly what the next year’s color aims to offer.

Pantone on Dec. 4 announced that Classic Blue is the 2020 Color of the Year. Pantone 19-4052, the color institute said, is a shade reminiscent of the sky at dusk.

“The reassuring qualities of the thought-provoking Classic Blue highlight our desire for a dependable and stable foundation on which to build as we cross the threshold into a new era,” Pantone said in a statement.

Pantone’s pick comes at a time of instability that grips nations across the globe, as well as the advancement of technology that “continues to race ahead the human ability to process it all.”

“We are living in a time that requires trust and faith,” said Pantone Color Insti-

tute executive director Leatrice Eiseman.

“It is this kind of constancy and confidence that is expressed by Pantone 19-4052 Classic Blue, a solid and dependable blue hue we can always rely on. Imbued with deep resonance, Classic Blue provides an anchoring foundation,” she added.

Elegant and simple, pleasing to the eye and calming, the shade reminds one of, in addition to sky at dusk, blueberries, oceans, plush sofas, and accent walls— something familiar and non-aggressive, but also deep and intriguing.

“A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic Blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective, and open the

flow of communication,” said Eiseman.

The year 2020 color recalls the first color chosen 20 years ago by the Color of the Year franchise, Cerulean—another shade of blue. Lighter than Classic Blue, Cerulean Blue provided a calming visual amid Y2K anxieties.

Since 1999, Pantone’s Color of the Year has influenced product development and purchasing decisions in multiple industries, including fashion, home furnishings, and industrial design, as well as product packaging and graphic design.

The color institute chooses which color will best represent each year based on thoughtful consideration and trend analysis.

To arrive at the selection each year, Pantone’s color experts comb the world looking for new color influences. These can include the entertainment industry and films in production, traveling art collections and new artists, fashion, all areas of design, popular travel destinations, as well as new lifestyles, playstyles, and socio-economic conditions.

Iris detachable earrings with sapphire, blue topaz, and quartz (Tim Tam Ong)

Cashmere scarf (Corala Cashmere)

Knit cardigan blazer (Zalora)

Bring it into your life

Classic Blue possesses calming, reassuring, and boundless attributes, which the world needs in time of uncertainty.

CONCERT

The UST Singers will perform at the annual Christmas Concert at The Pen on Dec. 8.

The Pen’s holiday concert features movie soundtracks THE Peninsula Manila ushers in the holiday season with its annual “Christmas Concert at The Pen” featuring music from well-loved movies.

Happening on Dec. 8, the holiday concert headlines “Asia’s Golden Girl” Gerphil Flores, Spanish tenor Miguel Lobato, the UST Singers, and violinist Coke Bolipata, with the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Maestro Ruggero Barbieri. The concert is directed by Freddie Santos.

The “Christmas Concert at The Pen” is a heritage production of The Peninsula Manila along with partners SSI Group Inc., Philippine Tatler, and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) in cooperation with co-sponsors the Cultural Center of the Philippines and Lexus Philippines.

The concert doubles as a fundraiser for the Hope for the Philippines advocacy of the hotel that benefits the educational and livelihood projects of families living in The Peninsula - Gawad Kalinga (GK) Village in Tanauan, Leyte.

“Part of our holiday musical repertoire this year includes music from The Godfather, Evita, Ben Hur, the James Bond series, Wizard of Oz, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, and many others played live by the PPO,” said The Peninsula Manila general manager Masahisa Oba. Ticket is priced at P2,300 per person (with a set festive merienda) or P32,000 for a table of 10 (with a set festive merienda menu and two bottles of Moët & Chandon Champagne).

Call (02) 8887-2888 extension 7410 or email diningpmn@peninsula.com for inquiries.

Because it is classic and thus familiar, it’s quite easy to inject year 2020’s color into one’s lifestyle.

Paint a room with a classic blue color.

Because of its calming and thought-provoking attributes, it works well in bedroom, living area, and home office.

Not yet ready to commit to the color?

Pick a few furniture items such as accent chair or ottoman or nightstand; or accessories like throw pillows, vase,

candle, or artwork.

A tailored suit in this color is a classic. Jewelry pieces with precious and semi-precious stones such as sapphire, lapis lazuli, and zircon are ideal to wear in formal occasions—and casual, too, when subtly worn.

The color can also be worn as scarf or watch strap. Classic blue cardigan and pencil skirt pair well with other neutral colors.

No wonder blue jeans are such a classic.

Filipino artworks on display at Art Basel Miami Beach Fair THREE paintings by politician-turnedartist Sal Ponce Enrile is currently on display at the 2019 Art Basel Miami Beach Fair in Florida, USA. The show, which opened on Dec. 4 and runs until Dec. 8, is the US edition of the international contemporary art fair with over 268 galleries from 35 countries showcasing works by more than 4,000 artists.

Enrile’s artworks—“Village,” “Dreamers,” and “Redemption”—are mounted at booth 315 under the Red Dot Miami exhibition, one of Art Basel Miami’s leading satellite shows, which attracts over 38,000 visitors, majority of whom are high net worth collectors.

Talking about her artworks displayed at a beautiful gallery-style venue in the heart of Miami’s Wynwood District, Enrile said “Redemption” was the result of purging all negativity she initially experienced as an emerging artist.

“As I was planning my first solo exhibit, I approached several galleries and realized it was difficult to penetrate the local art scene. I was rejected by several galleries, so I decided to try my luck abroad, which worked out for me,” she related.

She added, “I painted ‘Redemption’ while encouraging myself not to give up, hoping that this artwork would someday be my redeeming piece. I have been keeping ‘Redemption’ for myself since it holds so much meaning and personal value to me. I poured out all my frustrations and disappointments on this piece of work.”

Enrile’s latest international show follows her successful exhibit at the prestigious Artexpo New York held at Agora Gallery in April. Afterwards, she staged her second solo art show “Journey: Sal Ponce Enrile,” at Art Cube Gallery, Makati in June. Her painting “Journey”

From left: ‘Dreamers,’‘Village,’ and ‘Redemption’ by Sal Ponce Enrile

Sal Ponce Enrile exhibits three of her paintings at Red Dot Miami.

was the centerpiece of the art show.

She is an artist-in-residence at Rossocinabro Gallery in Rome, and is represented by Dragon Art. Proceeds of her works go to charities she’s supporting. Go to salponceenrile.com to view her artworks.

Life

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

Immerse in art on water WATER SHOW. ‘Water Scrolls: Genpei Yashima Battle’ by Sisyu and teamLab, a dynamic historical tale drawn on water, is showcased on a 100-meter wide waterscreen display at Globe Lakeside in Nuvali.

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RT merges with water in one dynamic show at the Globe Lakeside in Nuvali.

Ayala Land has teamed up with world renowned art collective teamLab to present the first-ever interactive water show that features artworks projected on a waterscreen display spanning 100 meters wide and 15 meters high.

The 30-minute show premiered on Nov. 22 and is ongoing every Friday to Sunday at 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Some of the artworks are interactive as it is co-created in real time by visitors through the teamLab smartphone application.

“As guests participate in the artworks, working with one another to create a new world together, an interactive relationship between the viewers and the artwork are formed and each become an integral part of the art,” Ayala Land said in a statement.

Interactive art aims to enhance the presence of the audience in the same physical space and to explore a continuity without boundaries between people and the world around them.

The show creator, teamLab is a digital art collective composed of artists, scientists, animators, and more. The team has had multiple exhibitions all around the world over the past years including New

York, London, Paris, Singapore, Silicon Valley, Beijing, Taipei, and Melbourne among others.

For its first major exhibit in the Philippines, teamLab features four different artworks.

“Born from the Water, a Loving and Beautiful World” by Sisyu and teamLab is an interactive work where visitors can select their favorite characters on their smartphones, swipe them towards the water screen, and see the worlds that those characters embody create a single world.

The “teamLab Interactive Fishing Party: Spin your Fishing Reel–Water Screen” is another interactive digital installation where viewers can use their smartphones like a fishing reel and work with others to catch a variety of fish in the pond.

According to the creator, when a fish is hooked, people with the same-colored reel spin their reels together. If everyone spins enough, that colored line will catch the fish. If people don’t spin enough, the fish will escape. Information for the fish they catch will be imported to their smartphone, and they can start their own fishing catalogue.

‘Water Scrolls: Genpai Yashima Battle’ featured during the Kabuki Festival 2016 at the Bellagio, Las Vegas. (Photo by Panasonic UK)

Meanwhile, “Water Scrolls: Genpei Yashima Battle” is a beautiful and dynamic historical tale drawn on water by Sisyu and teamLab as well.

“Reversible Rotation in Water” features a Spatial Calligraphy written on the water that rotates in the artwork space. Every aspect rotating in the same direction, but depending on a viewer’s perception, it can appear to be rotating either clockwise or counterclockwise.

Spatial Calligraphy is calligraphy

written in an abstract space, which teamLab has been working on since its founding. The artwork reconstructs Japanese sho (calligraphy) in threedimensional space and expresses the depth, speed, and power of the brush stroke. The calligraphy shifts between two and three dimensions.

Ayala Land welcomes this interactive water show to the 2,290-hectare ecocity, which both residents and visitors can enjoy.

“One of our goals in Ayala Land is to always find ways to give back and spread cheer to the community. From our signature light and sound show, art fairs, wellness and other community events across our estate developments, we continuously think about how we can create new and memorable experiences for the whole family, especially this holiday season,” said Cathy Bengzon, Ayala Land corporate brand and estate group marketing head.

Young writers take charge in fight against misinformation

Ballet Philippines perform at the launch of ‘Alice Reyes & Ballet Philippines: A 50-Year Legacy in Dance.’

National Artist Alice Reyes

chronicles Ballet Philippines’ legacy BALLET Philippines marks its 50th anniversary with the launch of the coffee table book Alice Reyes & Ballet Philippines: A 50-Year Legacy in Dance.

The new volume, published under ABS-CBN Books, casts a spotlight upon National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes, who founded Ballet Philippines and is now back as its artistic director.

It features seven personal essays that trace the legacy of Reyes, who started Ballet Philippines back in 1969, and serve as a testament to her pioneering vision that gave birth to a professional dance company known all over the country and abroad for its brilliant fusion of ballet and modern dance.

Alice Reyes & Ballet Philippines also chronicles the yesteryears of the premier ballet company with photographs of impressive shows that have been produced since it started out as a summer dance workshop at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

National Artist for Dance and Ballet Philippines founder Alice Reyes

Moreover, it pays tribute to former artistic directors, who have all helped inspire and shape the cultural institution into what it is today, and celebrates the craft that artists have mastered and generously shared to the world.

Alice Reyes & Ballet Philippines: A 50Year Legacy in Dance will be available soon in leading bookstores.

“AT A time when spreading of misinformation is getting common, what can you do to help people, especially the youth, search for the truth?”

This was the question participants in Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Kabataan Division Essay and Sanaysay categories had to answer in their pieces. The topic reflected the current proliferation of fabricated news and data in the country.

As Ann Jeline Pablo, third prize winner in the Kabataan Essay category, pointed out, it seems that in today’s society there is an ongoing battle between opposing news on which is to be considered real.

“The fact that we allow fake news to spread and that real news still has to fight for its place to be regarded credible causes people to be blindsided by the important things and the issues at hand,” she said.

Meanwhile, Sanaysay category second prize winner Mark Pedere opined, “One of the biggest effects of rampant misinformation is the cultivation of ignorance. Amid changing the mindset of the masses, it may also weaken its critical thinking. One may immediately believe fake news and may lead to the misunderstanding of what is really happening in our society.”

At just 16 to 17 years old, the six winners in the Kabataan Division of the 69th Palanca Awards represent the youth who are conscious of the truth in society.

Marielle Calicdan, first prize winner in the Kabataan Sanaysay category, said that as an editorial writer, she felt it necessary to use her ink to speak for the minority.

On the other hand, Criscela Racelis, second prize winner of Kabataan Essay, shared her way of helping search for the truth today when the Internet makes it easy to distribute anything: “I hope to overcome that (misinformation) by writing works that can educate my audience whilst also being entertaining and well-

Kabataan Sanaysay first prize winner Marielle Calicdan

Kabataan Essay first prize winner Enrico Miguel Perez

written enough to keep them interested and engaged—even through little steps such as posting a few paragraphs on social media.”

As the public encounters countless information every day, receivers have to be mindful and responsible enough to question the information before filing each one under fact or fiction.

Kabataan Sanaysay third prize winner Adrian Pregonir believes that successfully distinguishing real from fake news involves cross-referencing with different kinds of news sources, especially since inaccurate information are easily spread on social media.

“I refer to various sources, from social media posts to news publications,

and navigate the faults in each article through reading into the texts.”

“Truth remains elusive,” states Enrico Perez, first prize winner in Kabataan Essay category. “Misinformation is something of our own making because so long as people are capable of thought, they are capable of perspective, which, incidentally, makes some of them capable of writing.”

Named after businessman and philanthropist Don Carlos Palanca Sr., the Palanca Awards continuously seeks to cultivate Philippine literature by providing incentives for writers and serving as a treasury of these literary gems.

Go to www.palancaawards.com.ph for complete list of winners.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019 nickie.standard@gmail.com

JOSEPH MARCO

Acoustic weekends at Assembly Grounds at The Rise

Kapamilya actor Joseph Marco lands a role in HBO Asia's 'The Bridge,' a series that will air in 2020.

makes international acting debut

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CTOR Joseph Marco is the latest Filipino talent to make waves abroad as he soon stars in an international series, which will air on HBO Asia.

The Kapamilya star shared his career milestone on his Instagram account and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work abroad.

“It’s my first day of shooting here in Kuala Lumpur.

Feels very surreal doing my first ever acting stint abroad.

It’s such an overwhelming experience to be able to work with international production and I really am grateful for

Jospeh Marco with the cast of 'The Bridge.'

it,” he said in his caption.

ABS-CBN international production and co-production revealed that Joseph is indeed part of the cast of the second season of the hit series The Bridge, which is produced by Double Vision.

The Bridge follows the quest of international police agencies in finding the truth behind the murder of a person, whose body was cut in half and left at the border of two neighboring countries. The series will air in 2020 in 24 territories.

Before bagging the role for the anticipated international series, Joseph was recently seen as one of the lead stars of the hit afternoon series Los Bastardos, which aired for a year.

Boom or bust?

IS BARBIE Forteza’s, my favorite relatively young actress, career has the possibility to go bust?

Let me answer the question later. But first, let me answer why I adore Forteza first?

I believe that this Kapuso loyalist is one fine, if not one the most talented actresses in the roster of talents currently being groomed in Kapuso talent factory.

Film directors, namely Antoinette Jadaone and Jerold Tarog, are vocal about their desire to have Forteza in their future film projects.

Even the fiery and often times ferocious Barbie Forteza Bianca Umali to a fault fandom collectively billed as Noranians, they know that this GMA Romero and the late Nida Blanca. of the career scale, is the devastatingly darling cannot be simply dismissed or This Serna-Soriano starrer was one of the beautiful Bianca Umali. frowned upon knowing the fact that her “bread-trip kind” and insignificant projects that All the public perception that she is nothing performance, together with that of the the two did when they did not know any better more but a starlet and whose claim to fame is superstar Nora Aunor’s, in Derrick and their fanatics and supporters did not mind being the significant other of Ruru Madrid, Cabrido’s Tuos, received praises and for as long as it satisfied their idol cravings. she may say good riddance and farewell to recognition.

Frankly speaking, if the career planners it all.

Of course, a little cause of concern to of Forteza want her to further blossom The young miss’s career is pushed to most of her fans, if we talk about the state of and bloom, they should have realized and stellar heights as she headlines the HBO Asia her career, is the nagging reality that despite suggested to the powers that be, that some series Half Worlds. all the heaps of praises of her being a force of the best artistic and film collaborations About to shoot their third season here in to reckon with in terms of acting, to a score of La Serna and La Soriano were Mel the Philippines, Half Worlds is a dark fantasy a movie that will reign supremely in the Chionglo’s Teen Age Marriage, Ishmael thriller that highlights the lives and denizens of cinemas continues to be an elusive dream.

Bernal’s The Graduates and Carlos Siguion an underground society comprising of mythical Most of the time, Forteza played the lead Reyna’s Inagaw Mo Ang Lahat Sa Akin. characters and creatures from Asian Folklore. in convoluted and mawkish melodramas.

Umali will play the character of Alex, If these film classics were made Perhaps that was their way to push her reincarnated as the fresh projects of Barbie, a half-human and half-engkanto. The marketability and versatility as an actress. then we all know that it will be a treat for all. maverick Mikhail Red directs whose Now, it quite a puzzlement with the Thus, I cannot help but wonder, though film Dead Kids currently makes ripples and announcement that not only is she set to star Forteza and the rest of the cast are ecstatic waves on Netflix. but they have already started taping for the with this forthcoming primetime comedy Another Filipino actor, Sam television incarnation of a Snooky Serna- show, is there a possibility that her career Concepcion is also part of the series.

Maricel Soriano movie of yore, Anak goes bust with this latest caper of hers? My Thus, we no longer need to wonder, and it ni Biday versus Anak ni Waray, which answer is as good as yours – Y-E-S. is a no brainer that Bianca Umali’s career is also starred former movie queens Gloria Without a doubt, on the “boom” side an affirmative boom, boom, boom!

Extra......

From C4

The rapper has the second-most top albums in the history of Billboard’s rankings chart with 14, bested only by The Beatles, who have 19.

“Happy Birthday, Hov,” Spotify tweeted Wednesday, using a nickname of the rapper born Shawn Carter, who grew up in one of Brooklyn’s most notorious housing projects.

There was no indication how long JayZ’s flow would remain available on Spotify, which has often come under fire from prominent artists including Prince, Taylor Swift, andThom Yorke for its royalty system, which many musicians say leaves them underpaid.

In June, Forbes declared Hov rap’s first billionaire, estimating $100 million of his vast fortune came from Tidal.

As of 2016, Tidal said it said it had 3

million users. Today, Spotify says it has 248 million users, including 113 million who pay for premium service. AFP ***

First glimpse of latest Bond film goes online

Car chases, machine gun fire and love interest: fans of James Bond on Wednesday got their first taste of the upcoming film featuring the fictional British superspy, No Time To Die. A trailer on the official 007 Twitter account shows sharp-suited Bond, played

by British actor Daniel Craig, evading capture in his Aston Martin sports car and jumping off a viaduct.

Making a return alongside the suave secret agent is actress Lea Seydoux, whose character Madeleine Swann provided the obligatory love interest in the last film, Spectre (2015).

The 25th installment of the British spy saga, due out in April, sees Bond drawn out

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of retirement in Jamaica by his old friend and CIA agent Felix Leiter. He is asked to embark on a treacherous mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist, according to Universal Pictures.

Rami Malek, who won a best actor Oscar for his depiction of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, plays the villain in the long-awaited movie. AFP

NORTH Makati (NOMA) has been new wave, OPM, and pop hits. He busks known for its vibrant music scene. It’s not only to help express his creative side, where music junkies converge to but also for charity. discover up and coming acts and On Dec 13, Aubrey Cayanan will their favorite musicians. perform. Get ready to be charmed NOMA’s newest hangout is no

by Aubrey’s sweet voice and take exception. Assembly Grounds at you into a tropical paradise with The Rise, along Malugay Street, her mad ukulele playing skills. is giving promising musicians Expect her to perform jazzy songs the spotlight to share like Norah Jones’ “Don’t their talent and entertain Know Why” and a repertoire NOMA residents. of OPM faves like Juan Assembly Grounds Karlos’ “Buwan.” at The Rise is featuring Located a few minutes some of the metro’s away from the bustling well-loved buskers and Makati CBD, Assembly acoustic acts. Sit back Grounds at The Rise is and relax right after a the two-story boutique busy Friday or on a slow mall integrated into The Saturday night with some Rise combining world-class up and coming acts this architecture and interior December. design, with a good mix of Performances kicked off restaurants, cafes, services, with Eloisa Jayloni on and essential stores that Dec. 6. Eloisa is a serve residents and its singer-songwriter and neighbors—all carefully an avid busker known curated with their urban for her folksy pop lifestyle and discerning taste in music. She was one mind. of the participants of For inquiries, call 8-298theNational Songwriting 8000 loc. 4 or visit www.

Bootcamp in 2015. A year assemblygroundsattherise.com. after, she produced her debut Follow Assembly Grounds on album, Pangarap ni Eloisa.

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter: Tonight, Tek Cortez takes @assemblygrounds. centerstage. Tek, a human resources manager by profession, is a street performer who uses a looper to showcase his own takes on blues rock,

Magpakailanman...

From C4

Looking forward to an exciting new life as an OFW, Rens is clueless that a life-threatening experience awaits him as 12 of his fellow OFWs, who have been subjected through years of physical and psychological abuse from their Arab employers, all conspired to escape. Rens gets entangled in the scheme and is accused of being their leader. When he decided to escape as well, the pursuit of their employers and the Arab police for all 13 of them begins.

Pageant Concept...

From C4

The 5-foot-7 Santos, a former actress and TV host, was named runner up in ABS-CBN Pinoy Big Brother: Celebrity Edition 2 in 2007.

Santos, like Pia Wurtzbach, experienced controversy when she competed at Miss Universe Canada in 2013 where she was wrongfully declared as first runner-up due to typo-error in the ratings sheet, but was eventually corrected, just like Steve Harvey did at the 2015 Miss Universe pageant.

Also, at last year’s Miss Global 2018 pageant, held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila, where Miss Hong Kong Sophia Ng won the crown, host Ethan Salvador also committed a mistake of announcing Miss Canada Amber Lynn Bernachi as 2nd runner up instead of Miss Uzbekistan Tamila Khodjaeva. *** Zamboangeña vies for World Top Model International title An air of positivity pervaded during the send-off press conference for World Model Philippines 2019 April May Short. The event also served as victory homecoming for Cyrille Payumo’s title conquest in the recent Miss Tourism International 2019 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the fifth winner from the Philippines.

“It’s an early Christmas gift for the Filipino people and pageant aficionados,” said Cory Quirino, president of Mutya Pilipinas organization, who presided the twin celebration event held at CWC Interiors BGC, Taguig City recently.

“It feels so good to be back home with the crown on my head and I’m happy to bring so much pride for our country,” Payumo said even as she thanked all who have supported her in her quest.

Short, on the other hand, is a 25-year-old,

Coco Martin...

From C4

'No Time To Die' is likely to be Daniel Craig's last outing as 007

ABS-CBN also emerged triumphant in all time blocks in November. In the primetime block (6:00 p.m. to 12:00 mn), it logged 44 percent share, beating GMA’s 30 percent. For the afternoon block (3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.), ABS-CBN got 43 percent, compared to GMA’s 33 percent; 40 percent in the noontime block (12:00 nn to 3:00 p.m.), versus GMA’s 31 percent, and 38 percent in the morning block (6:00 a.m. to 12:00 nn), in contrast to GMA’s 25 percent.

Likewise, the Kapamilya network

Meanwhile, back home, unbeknownst to Rens, his wife has begun an illicit affair with another man.

Will Rens end up in jail along with the other OFWs or will he manage to save their lives and return home to his now broken family?

Joining Dennis in the suspensedrama episode are Lito Pimentel, Ina Feleo, Paolo Paraiso, Lui Manansala, Ricky Pascua, David Remo, Seth dela Cruz, Karl Medina, and Richard Quan.

Under the helm of esteemed director Zig Dulay and writer John Roque, #MPK’s two-part anniversary special airs after Daddy’s Gurl.

5-foot-10 Zamboanga native. She is the first Filipina to compete at the prestigious World Top Model International 2019 in Monte Carlo, Principality of Monaco.

The statuesque model earned the right to represent the Philippines after winning World Top Model Philippines 2019 at the 51st Mutya Pilipinas search last August.

Short, former Miss Zamboanga 2018, Top Model 2013 and Top 15 Bb. Pilipinas 2019 semi-finalist, holds a BS Accountancy degree from the University of Zamboanga and is pursuing a Masters of Business Administration at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University. She loves dancing and plays the guitar and banduria.

Short has worked for various local designers and has undergone training with the Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP) in preparation for the Monte Carlo modeling competition that will run from Dec. 11 to 14 at Fairmont, Monte Carlo, Salle de le Mer. The grand winner of World Top Model International will receive a cash prize of Euro 200,000 ($225,260) and a guaranteed modeling contract with MAJOR Models Management in Paris, Milan, New York, Miami, and Munich.

April May Short is representing the Philippines in a modeling competition that will run from Dec. 11 to 14 at Fairmont, Monte Carlo, Salle de le Mer.

was also victorious in Metro Manila in November as it recorded 40 percent share, beating GMA’s 26 percent. In Mega Manila, ABS-CBN also got 34 percent, while GMA only clinched 31 percent.

In Total Luzon, ABS-CBN got 38 percent, versus GMA’s 32 percent. It also won in Total Visayas with 52 percent, in contrast to GMA’s 23 percent, as well as in Total Mindanao with 47 percent, trailing GMA’s 28 percent.

Multinational audience measurement provider Kantar Media uses a nationwide panel size of 2,610 urban and rural homes that represent 100 percent of the total Philippine TV viewing population.

Entertainment

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

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SATURDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2019

‘MAGPAKAILANMAN’ airs two-part suspense drama anniversary special GMA Network’s award-winning drama anthology, Magpakailanman, hosted

by GMA News pillar and Kapuso Foundation Founder and Ambassador Mel Tiangco, celebrates its anniversary with a two-part suspense drama special entitled “OFW Most Wanted” airing tonight and next Saturday, Dec 14. .Throughout its run, the show has grown to be a household name among its viewers and a trending topic among netizens every Saturday night. It has brought relevant and real-life inspirational stories that have touched the lives of many Filipinos and promoted good family

values to its viewers.

For its anniversary, Magpakailanman turns over a new leaf as #MPK to create a fresh and more interactive storyline with the new breed of viewers in today’s digital age. The weekly anthology continually innovates and finds creative ways to showcase uplifting narratives of ordinary and famed personalities while shedding light on existing social issues.

And with #MPK, viewers and netizens alike are welcome to instantaneously be part of the narrative by getting involved with their comments and sharing their experiences.

“For years now, Magpakailanman has always

'Magpakailanman' host Mel Tiangco

been true to its mission of being a ray of hope to Filipinos. Through these stories of people from different walks of life, the show hopes to ignite values and convey a sense of belongingness among its viewers. We wanted to present real life stories that will not only be relatable to people my age but to younger generation as well,” Tiangco said.

In “OFW Most Wanted”, actor Dennis Trillo takes on the thrilling yet inspiring travails of Rens Tuzon, a DJ, writer, and painter, who decided to work in a furniture company in Saudi Arabia in hopes of building a better future for his wife and son. Continued on C3

Former PBB housemate wears Philippine sash at Miss Global 2019 Miss Universe 2013, FIL-CANADIAN was handpicked to Riza Raquel Santos succeed Miss Global will represent the Philippines 2018 Mary Philippines at the Eileen Gonzales.

Miss Global 2019 Santos, born in international pageant Calgary, Alberta and to be held in Oaxaca, raised by her FilipinoMexico on Jan. 18 as officially announced byPauline Sofia immigrant parents, is a graduate of the University of Calgary’s Laping, national director & CEO Schulich School of Engineering of Miss Global Philippines. and presently works as vice Santos, a 30-year-old president of Argyle Fox pageant veteran who Inc., a technology represented Canada at firm based in Calgary the Miss Earth 2006, Alberta. Continued on Miss World C3 2011 and

. TV star Carmina Villaroel in a scene from the MMFF 2019 entry 'Sunod' directed by Carlo Ledesma.

Next generation

F Fil-Canadian Riza Santos is wearing the Philippine sash at the Miss Global 2019 international pageant happening in Mexico next month.

Jay-Z marks 50th birthday with return to Spotify RAP mogul Jay-Z celebrated his fiftieth birthday and surprised fans Wednesday by putting his catalog back on streaming giant Spotify, after a two-year hiatus.

The billionaire artist, who owns rival streaming service Tidal, had pulled the majority of his discography from Spotify in 2017, months before dropping his 4:44 album exclusively on his own upstart platform.

The introspective album prompted a surge of interest in the paid subscription service Tidal—which also exclusively carries his megastar wife Beyonce’s much-touted visual

Jay-Z, who is married to Beyoce, was born Shawn Carter and got his childhood nickname 'Jazzy from his neighborhood kids in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., for his rapping skills.

album Lemonade—briefly becoming a top downloaded app.

Fans can now stream 4:44 on Spotify for the first time, along with classics like “The Blueprint,” “American Gangster” and “Watch the Throne.” Continued on C3

Coco Martin’s ‘Ang Probinsyano’ still on top ABS-CBN continued to capture the hearts of Filipinos who have relied on it for comprehensive news and valuesoriented shows as the Kapamilya network registered an average audience share of 42 percent in November, versus GMA’s 30 percent, according to data from Kantar Media.

FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano (34.8 percent) is still king as it remains on top of most watched programs, followed closely

by The Voice Kids (34.7 percent) that ended another season on a high note.

TV Patrol (28.9 percent) kept its

position as the most watched primetime newscast, Starla (27.4 percent) climbed two spots higher, and weekend fantasy show Parasite Island (27.2 percent) secured the fifth spot.

Completing the list of the top ten shows are breakthrough 2-in-1 reality show Your Moment (24.9 percent), weekend magazine program Rated K: Handa Na Ba Kayo (23.8 percent), sitcom Home Sweetie Home: Extra Sweet (23.1 percent), and the awardwinning drama anthology Maalaala Mo Kaya (22 percent). Continued on C3

ILM director Carlo Ledesma wanted to reach a new generation of horror fans with Sunod, which marks his feature directorial debut.

The horror drama also serves as his love letter for the Call Center industry, which, according to him, remains a strong contributor to the country’s economy.

“ We wanted to honor this generation in terms of what they are doing for our country. So from logistics to terminology, we tried to be authentic. The film wanted to kind of honor the generation that it caters to,” Ledesma, who co-wrote the Metro Manila Film Festival 2016 entry Saving Sally and directed the 2007 Cannes Film Festival Mini Movie Channel Award for Best Short Film The Haircut, told the press during the films media launch last week.

“It’s a next generation horror film because hopefully we could get new horror fans. As you know in MMFF, there are kids that come in to watch the movies. I grew up being a horror fan, so hopefully, we could encourage more audience to watch horror films like this.

My dream is for the young generation to appreciate the horror genre,” he added.

More than a scream fest, Sunod also tackles intriguing issues.

“The film shows a modern-day profession amid an old structure so the result is a more interesting and atmospheric setting,” explained Ledesma In the process, the young director 'Sunod' marks Carlo Ledesma's feature directorial debut

HORROR FILM The cast and director of 'Sunod' during the film's media launch.

uncovers the unique world of the Business Process Outsource (BPO) industry.

“Sunod is an exploration of the mental state that call center operators go through,” he shared.

Sunod, a Ten17P and Globe Studios coproduction is described by Ledesma as a chilling film that combines the thrill of technology and the mystery of tradition.

In the movie, which an official entry to the MMFF 2019, stars Carmina Villarroel with Mylene Dizon, Freddie Webb, Susan Africa, Kate Alejandrino, Krystal Brimner, Rhed Bustamante, and JC Santos completing the cast.

In the film, Carmina plays a single mother named Olivia who accepts a highpaying but demanding job at a call center so she could pay for her sick daughter’s medical expenses. The new office is located in an old building in Manila.

As Olivia tries to adjust to the strange environment, she also experiences a series of spooky events.

When the pressures mount and affect her daughter’s behavior, Olivia is forced to uncover the mystery behind the office walls.

“She’s someone who will do anything to keep her child alive,” Carmina said of her character.

Carmina is very at home in the genre since she’s starred in Shake, Rattle & Roll XI, Shake Rattle & Roll II, Regal Shocker, Tiyanak and many other horror flicks. ***

Kate Valdez returns on ‘iBilib’ This

week

on

iBilib, young actress Kate Valdez returns to the program with wonder boy Raph Landicho in tow. They cooperate with host Chris Tiu, and James & Roadfill in producing a dynamic lava lamp-like display out of mint candies dropped in a vat of oil and dark soda in one of the show’s science experiments.

They also see the wondrous effect of light refraction which magically turns a colored illustration into black and white.

In “Bilibabols,” two teams race in decorating a Christmas tree, using Christmas balls passed relay-style via bowls on their heads.

Meanwhile, the “Street Genius” team discovers the outcome of making a kerosene-filled can spin fast within a chamber, as well as the result of dropping antacid into hydrochloric acid, to illustrate how our stomach works.

Lastly, in “Huling Hirit,” the gang makes a Christmas stocking from an old jute sack as the latest addition to the Christmas décor-making tradition.

All these on GMA this Sunday morning on iBilib.