Manila Standard - 2019 July 30 - Tuesday

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ROLLING ON. House Majority Leader and Committee on Rules Chairman Martin Romualdez (right) presides over the special meeting of the Committee to discuss with members the suggested floor agenda during a session at the House plenary. (Story below) Ver Noveno

‘Endo’ bill gets second chance

By Joel E. Zurbano and MJ Blancaflor

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 166 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DOH workers go on 24-hour duty in Batanes, CV

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Department of Health put its workers on 24-hour duty in Batanes and Cagayan Valley in the wake of a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in Itbayat that killed nine people and injured 63 others on Saturday.

More than 200 aftershocks were recorded as of Monday. A total of 911 families (2,963 persons) were affected in five barangays in Itbayat, Batanes and are currently accommodated in one evacuation center at the Itbayat Plaza.

A six-person mental health and psychosocial support team from the Mariveles Mental Hospital was sent to Itbayat Monday.

Damage to health facilities include cracks in Itbayat’s District Hospital and its Municipal Health Office. Due to the continuous aftershocks, its district hospital and the rural health unit are no longer functional with estimated damages worth P47 million.

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SENATOR Joel Villanueva on Monday refiled the Security of Tenure bill that was vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte.

With minor changes, Villanueva said his bill was the “same measure that was certified as priority and urgent by the

By Rey E. Requejo, MJ Blancaflor, Joel E. Zurbano, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Maricel V. Cruz

C

HIEF Justice Lucas Bersamin on Monday ordered an inventory of all cases involving the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office amid allegations that some judges benefited from corruption at the agency.

Bersamin issued the order after receiving reports that some courts were quick to issue temporary restraining orders or writs of injunction against the PCSO to stop it from disciplining its erring agents.

Judges and clerks of first and second level court are required to submit summaries of the status of their PCSO cases since 2018, including information on whether TROs or injunctions were issued.

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ASEAN cautioned on US-China war

By Joyce Babe P. Pañares ELEGANT WOMEN. On Sept. 10 at 6.30 p.m., the Ten Elegant will be presented at Diamond Hotel, the ‘Home of Elegant Women.’ Above shows the members of the committee of the Elegant Women: Marga Nograles, Tingting Cojuangco, Audrey Zubiri, Fortune Ledesma, Anna de Ocampo, Zelda Keinle, Ana Rufino, Small Laude, Arnel Papa and Albert Andrada. Contributed Photo

House vows to double up on tax, economic bills

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives will work double time to enable the chamber to pass President Rodrigo Duterte’s tax and economic reform measures by the end of the year, Majority Leader Martin

LUCIO TAN PICK NAMED NEW PAL PRESIDENT/COO BUSIENSS B1

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SC goes after judges linked to PCSO mess

SAF 300 deploy for Negros action PHILIPPINE National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde on Monday ordered the deployment of more than 300 Special Action Force troops to Negros Island to help the police there following the spate of killings in Negros Oriental.

“I have ordered the deployment of more than 300 SAF troops to Negros Island to augment local police units in anti-criminality and internal security operations against elements and dissident terrorist groups operating in the provinces of Negros Oriental and Negros Occidental,”Albayalde told reporters in Camp Crame.

“The regional director [Brig. Gen. Debold Sinas] told us that their pursuit operations together with the AFP are continuing and that they are looking into all these killings.”

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President himself.”

He said he filed the exact copy of the original proposal to find out from the Executive branch what particular provisions are supposedly problematic.

A number of senators, including Villanueva, expressed disappointment at the President’s veto of the bill that seeks

Gamer wins $3m in Fortnite WC

NEW YORK—American Kyle Giersdorf, alias “Bugha,” became the first Fortnite world champion in the solo division, winning $3 million at age 16 on Sunday.

Originally from Pennsylvania, the young gamer took the lead in the first of six games and never looked back.

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Romualdez of Leyte said on Monday.

Romualdez said the approval of the President’s legislative agenda at the soonest possible time would propel the country’s economic growth. “If we can sustain this, we might go to greater heights never seen before,” said Romualdez.

Some of these measures are alcohol taxes; property valuation; and capital Income Tax. “Lifting Filipinos out of poverty is the top priority of President Duterte in the next three years and we need everybody’s Next page

BANGKOK―Member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations must not get caught in the ongoing trade spat between the United States and China, which analysts have likened to a prolonged war of attrition between two economic superpowers.

“ASEAN has been told to choose between one country over the other. But we don’t have to choose,” said Pornpimol Kanchanalak, adviser to Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, during the third Asean Media Forum held here in Thailand, the current chairman of ASEAN. Next page

As loud as rock concert STAROSEL, Bulgaria—Smilyana Zaharieva knew she had a gift when she saw her audience tremble or cry during her performances.

Now an official Guinness world record confirms that the Bulgarian singer has one of the most powerful voices on the planet, which can stay pitch perfect despite being Next page as loud as a rock concert.

A2

News

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DOH workers...

From A1 An eight-man trauma team from the Cagayan Valley Medical Center was deployed Monday, composed of five doctors, a nurse, and two health emergency management staff.

Some P711,053 worth of logistics have been sent to Basco and Itbayat, including intravenous sets, trauma supplies, tetenus vaccines and serum, hygiene kits (150), water purification tablets, water containers filled with potable water and essential drugs and medicines.

Itbayat residents camped in makeshift tents in the town square as aftershocks continued to jolt the town.

Batanes Gov. Marilou Cayco told radio dzMM that President Rodrigo Duterte, who conducted an areial inspection of the damage on Sunday, refrained from landing in town to keep the tents from being blown away.

“People weren’t standing when I arrived.

They just looked at me. They are still in shock even now,” she said in Filipino. “Nobody is going back to their homes because the aftershocks are strong up to now.”

Leaders of the House of Representatives on Monday filed a resolution expressing sympathies and condolences to those affected by the twin earthquake and aftershocks that hit Itbayat, Batanes, on Saturday, July 27.

House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez of Leyte led the principal authors of House Resolution 139 that also expressed gratitude to those who immediately responded to the disaster and extended help.

Also on Monday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the military will play a major role in ongoing relief and rehabilitation efforts in Itbayat, Batanes.

“For the Itbayat victims of the recent earthquake, the following will be provided by the DND and military: 1. Search and rescue of the victims. 2. Transport of the victims from Itbayat to the Hospital in Basco. 3.

Transport of relief goods and other supplies from Manila and elsewhere to Basco and then to Itbayat,” he said. With PNA

Coast Guard told: Patrol Batanes P

By MJ Blancaflor and Macon Ramos-Araneta

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday ordered the Philippine Coast Guard to patrol the waters of Batanes to ensure that those islands will remain in the territory of the Philippines, in the wake of Chinese reclamation activities in South China Sea. President Duterte, during a situation briefing with Batanes officials directed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to deploy Coast Guard vessels in the northernmost islands of the country.

“You might want to ask the Coast Guard to go here, stay a bit, switch every now and then, to patrol the island from time to time.

Not everyday but just to assure that those islands will remain ours,” he said.

“And whatever is ours...it should be very clear to everybody that it is ours. You are no longer ready to go into that style the way China did it. It was not really something that we give freely,” he added.

During the meeting, Duterte raised con-

cerns that China and Taiwan, two of the claimants in the South China Sea, are near the Batanes Islands.

Lorenzana said he would deploy the Coast Guard to patrol the area.

“In a couple of weeks, they will be there,” he said in a television interview on Monday.

Lorenzana added that the military has established a presence on Mavulis Island, the country’s northernmost island, where the government also built a fisherman’s shelter.

The Defense chief suggested that a Coast Guard station be built in the municipality of Basco.

Duterte also said he wants to extend the runways in two Batanes airports for “national security.”

“It could be a very crucial factor in the

Duque denies hand in family deals; Go pushes probe STRESSING he divested his shares from his family-owned company in 2006, Health Secretery Francisco Duque on Monday rejected allegations about his role in getting government contracts.

But the Senate’s health committee chairman, Senator Christopher Go, said he will conduct an investigation of the conflict-ofinterest allegations against Duque if such allegations were “proven sufficiently.”

Go said his committee, if needed, would investigate allegations that a company owned

by Duque’s family had been awarded contracts worth millions of pesos at the Health department that Duque now heads.

“If there’s a conflict of interest, I will investigate it. If it will be proven sufficiently that there is really a conflict of interest in his work as sec-

retary, if it needs to be investigated, it would be investigated,” Go told reporters.

In a privilege speech delivered Monday night, Senator Panfilo Lacson said Duque’s company bagged two government contracts to supply medicine to public hospitals after being appointed Health Secretary.

He said two supply contract that Doctors Pharmaceuticals Inc. got lasted until October 2017, when President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Duque.

However, Duque said he “had nothing to do with all of these contracts” because he divested from the company in 2006.

“I divested, so how can there be conflict of interest? That is pure conjecture and speculation. For me, it’s under the law that you have to divest if you know there is a potential conflict of interest,” Duque said.

He said DPI had a contract with Philippine

International Trading Corp. Pharma Inc., which he said was under the Department of Trade and Industry and not the Department of Health.

But he said he would have to check the dates of the DPI’s contracts with PITC Pharma Inc. Duque also said he was not involved in the affairs of the family firm during his time as a private citizen as he was “too busy” managing his family’s university in Dagupan.

“I’m too busy in Dagupan. We have A university in Dagupan where I served for almost two and a half years that consumed my time.

This is in Taguig, so there was no time,” he said.

According to Lacson, the discovery of the ownership of the building in Dagupan being leased by PhilHealth had opened up yet another Duque-owned can of worms. It is called DPI, a drug manufacturing company located at #8 Veterans Center West Bicutan in Taguig City owned by the Health secretary.

Judges have until Aug. 15 to comply with the order.

On July 26, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the closure of all PCSO gaming operations due to “massive corruption.” By Sunday, police had shuttered more than 21,000 gaming outlets, including 5,187 lotto stores; 13,320 small town lottery kiosks; 2,194 Peryahan ng Bayan outlets; and 472 Keno shops.

On Saturday, President Duterte said he would not honor any order from the courts that would stop the government’s “desire” to investigate the “massive corruption that is existing in the PCSO.” On Monday, Rappler.com, citing a source close to the President, reported that what drove Duterte to issue a new directive was a report that allegedly corrupt officials and employees of the agency were fighting a PCSO board decision to reassign them to another sector.

Duterte read the report on Thursday, July 25, prompting him to summon new PCSO general manageer Royina Garma for a meeting the next day, the news website said. Some hours later, Malacañang aired his verbal order stopping PCSO’s gaming formats.

The report included documents showing that Remeliza Gabuyo, Assistant General Manager of the Branch Operations Sector, resisted a board decision to transfer her to the office of the General Manager of the Management Sector, the Rappler report added.

The letter, dated March 14, informed PCSO chairman of the board and then officer-incharge Anselmo Pinili that Gabuyo’s transfer cannot be enforced since she had appealed it before the Civil Service Commission.

In another Rappler report, Pinili had also raised concerns over the cases in a Feb. 12 letter to the high court’s Office of the Court

Administrator. Pinili claimed that writs of preliminary injunction were issued to Small Town Lottery agents whose agreements with PCSO had been terminated.

Court Administrator Midas Marquez then issued the circular on Monday after discussing with Bersamin “serious allegations of massive corruption involving small town lottery and other gaming franchises issued by the PCSO, some of which have supposedly reached the courts,” the news site added.

Marquez had also issued a memorandum to judges of the Regional Trial Court of Mandaluyong City, some of whose branches have delivered TROs and injunctions against PCSO. Meanwhile, over 300,000 workers of the STL system are in limbo following the suspension of the PCSO’s gaming operations.

Documents obtained by Manila Standard showed that the STL system alone “generated a total of 314,596 jobs for organic employees, sales supervisors and sales agents/representatives nationwide” for the year 2018.

These workers―most of them former collectors of the illegal numbers game “jueteng” which the STL was built to combat―temporarily lost their jobs as the gaming agency has yet to announce what it plans for them.

Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo Benavidez said in a press conference Monday that affected PCSO workers who are members of the Social Security System could apply for unemployment insurance under Republic Act 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2019 (See related story on A3).

Also, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go revealed it was PCSO general manager Royina Garma who sought President Rodrigo Duterte’s help in curbing the alleged corruption in the agency.

The President made the announcement stopping PCSO’s gaming operations two hours after his meeting with Garma, according to Go. The order was purely the President’s deci-

sion, not Garma’s, the senator said. Go also said Duterte had ordered the legal team of the Office of the President to review all contracts entered into by PCSO. “Actually this is how it happened: The new general manager Garma reported that she really needed the President’s help because she really found it hard to fight the corruption in the PCSO, and to stop the huge losses of the agency in the past few months,” Duterte’s erstwhile assistant told reporters at the Senate on Monday.

This is not the first time the Supreme Court has acted on the controversy hounding the PCSO. In March, Court Administrator Midas Marquez issued a memo calling on judges in the Mandaluyong Regional Trial Court to be more circumspect in granting TROs and WPIs in cases involving PCSO franchises.

The Court Administrator reminded judges to follow the requisites in granting TROs and WPIs after receiving a complaint from the PCSO chairman about a court issuance favoring a small town lottery operator whose agency agreement with the PCSO had already been terminated for non-remittance of funds.

A lawmaker, meanwhile, said the President should have followed due process before ordering the closure of the PCSO outlets.

Speaking to ANC’s Early Edition, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said the President’s order was “too drastic and too immediate.”

“Everybody agrees that what the President did was laudable because he’s really fighting against corruption. [But] I believe the President should have really given due process, especially with those who already have a contract,” he said.

He added that police power was not applicable in this case.

“The obligation of contracts is always protected by the Constitution.It can only be set aside through due process,” he said.

Rodriguez said PCSO outlet franchise owners may appeal through the courts, even

though the President had said he will not honor any court order.

“We still have to have our courts to be the arbiter of questions on constitutionality and executive actions,” he said.

Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate on Monday said President Duterte’s order to stop gaming operations of the PCSO was “unfair and illegal.”

“If the corrupt people involved are President Duterte’s appointees then he should have sacked these officials and overhaul the said office. But what is happening now is that he is punishing everybody, including the people who rely on PCSO for help for their medical needs, Zarate said.

“The question now is who will benefit from these uncharitable sweep operations?”

The Palace on Monday said the President is thoroughly investigating corrupt activities in the PCSO and would identify the culprits “in due time.”

“Right now, the President said he will investigate it thoroughly. He will identify everyone,” Panelo said in a radio interview.

The Palace spokesman also said the PCSO will not resume operations until the government finishes its investigation.

“He said there is a grand conspiracy between the players, participants, and gaming corporations.

In other words, there is massive corruption and the courts are involved,” Panelo said.

Panelo said the President did not make a hasty decision in suspending PCSO’s gaming operations.

“The President met with officials and the new PCSO head before he announced it, a few hours before. In fact, they were together at the time,” he said.

Panelo was referring to Royina Garma, former Cebu City police director, who became PCSO’s general manager, replacing Alexander Balutan who was fired by the President over allegations of corruption.

Gamer...

From A1

‘Endo’ bill...

From A1

“It’s insane,” the young millionaire said after the final, during which he scored almost double the points of his closest opponent (59 to 33).

Aside from the second of six games, Bugha was remarkably consistent despite playing in the first world cup final, with millions of dollars on the line, in the Arthur Ashe stadium, where the US Open tennis tournament takes place.

“This morning he was worriless, energetic, having fun to make sure he wasn’t stressed at all,” his best friend Colin Bradley told AFP after the final.

In the game, users are dropped onto an island where they must search for weapons and other resources while eliminating other players—all while trying to stay alive.

A sense of placement, a talent for building, brilliance in close combat and rock solid self-control -- Bugha had it all in the final.

“He’s one of the smartest players. He knows when to attack, when not to attack, to stay high ground. He’s a strategic player,” Bradley said. AFP

to prohibit abusive practices in the hiring of contractual workers.

“Unfortunately, profit wins again with the veto of the SOT bill,” said Villanueva, who chaired the Senate labor committee.

President Duterte vetoed the bill after the National Economic and Development Authority suggested that the bill needed “tweaking”—and after major business groups urged the President to reject the measure.

“I sympathize with [Senator] Joel [Villanueva] who had worked hard on this bill. This was not an easy bill to write. Joel made sure that it was a balanced one. It was a tightrope act under stormy conditions,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, who suggested that the Executive branch should write its own version and send it to Congress with an attached presidential certification as to its urgency.

“If it has changed its mind, then the version it now wants must be in black and white, so nothing will be lost in translation.

This is needed because the veto message did not cite the specific provisions that

triggered the veto. Let the burden of proposition fall on them this time. But this will be for the information of Congress only, and should not mean that it must be the one passed en toto,” he said.

The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines commended Villanueva for refiling the same SOT bill at the Senate.

The group said in a statement that they will also refile the same SOT bill in the House of Representatives through TUCP Party-List Rep. Raymond Mendoza next week.

“If we read and examine the bill carefully, the SOT bill that President Duterte already vetoed, the proposed measure already contains the provisions that he wanted to have,” TUCP spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said.

The SOT bill, once enforced, gives management the prerogative to hire contractual and outsource seasonal workers, Tanjusay said.

The group also appealed to President Duterte to “ignore the misinformation” and “scaremongering” from some of his economic managers and foreign and local business groups.

“We urged the President to also listen to workers, Tanjusay said.

Senator Risa Hontiveros said Duterte’s decision to veto the security of tenure bill is

not surprising, describing his commitment to end labor contractualization as “wimpish and wishy-washy.”

On Sunday, the President defended his veto.

“You do not make it hard for the capitalist also to move,” Duterte said.

“The security of tenure should also provide the security of the capital. It should not be that way because it’s difficult to give [jobs]. This is a democracy. It should be fair,” he added.

Duterte vetoed the bill last week, citing the need to strike a balance between the interests of businesses and workers.

In his letter addressed to the Congress, he also said that many businesses would cease operations if there is no “definite classification” of the companies that are covered by the law.

If the enrolled bill was passed into a law, many Filipinos will lose their jobs, he said.

Duterte on Sunday said he is thinking of resubmitting the bill to Congress to introduce provisions that would balance the interests of stakeholders.

The Chief Executive said lawmakers should have followed what was agreed upon regarding the bill, which he had certified as urgent in September 2018.

SC...

From A1

As loud...

From A1 Zaharieva says she burst into tears when she received the official Guinness world record certificate last month, confirming she had achieved the loudest mezzo-soprano vocal note.

“When I saw the monitor reading 113.8 decibels, it surprised me,” the 48-year-old told AFP of her record-setting attempt last September.

Irish teacher Annalisa Flanagan holds the world’s loudest shouting record with 121 decibels (dB), but there was no previous singing record.

The lively Bulgarian from the southern

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

city of Plovdiv faced a series of tough requirements.

Zaharieva had to sing in a quiet studio and go over 110 dB, the average human discomfort threshold, with the sound meter placed 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) away from her while also holding the note for a minimum of five seconds.

According to popular noise level charts Zaharieva’s achievement of 113.8 dB roughly amounts to the same loudness you would hear at a rock concert, a symphony orchestra or an emergency vehicle siren.

“The Bulgarian folklore voice is characterised by its power,” says Dora Hristova, the longtime choir master of the world-famous The Mystery Of The Bulgarian Voices. AFP

House...

From A1

support for this mission. The numbers now are good. All poverty indicators are at all-time low. We just need to stay on the course and make sure that all the programs and policies are in place for the next phase of the war against poverty,” Romualdez said.

Also in the House, Deputy Speaker Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur said the chamber would focus on four important measures, among others, in support of the President’s legislative agenda.

He said the measures included the three bills calling for the creation of three departments, and the one mandating an increase in the salary of government workers.

Under the stewardship of Romualdez, the House is expected to prioritize deliberations, specially now that Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III has said the government has enough funds to implement another salary adjustment.

Given this, Villafuerte, deputy speaker for finance, said there was more reason for the Congress to approve a measure amending the Salary Standardization Law to clear the way to another pay increase.

days to come. Not in our generation, but you wouldn’t know. It would be good to prepared so that if we have to defend those islands there, you have to have a launching deck somewhere here,” he said.

China has been asserting its ownership of almost the entire South China Sea based on “historic rights.” It has also refused to observe the 2016 arbitral ruling that dismissed their claim in favor of the Philippines.

Duterte said the extension of runways in the province will also ease the delivery of relief supplies for those who were affected by the twin earthquake that jolted the islands Saturday morning.

There are two runways in the province the Basco Airport on the main island of Batan and the Itbayat Airport or Jorge Abad Airport which is used by small planes.

SAF 300...

From A1

Meanwhile, the Integrated Bar of the Philippines has called on the authorities to get the killers of lawyer Anthony Trinidad who was murdered in Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental, on July 23.

In a statement, IBP national president Domingo Egon Cayosa said law enforcement agencies should redouble their efforts arrest the killers of Trinidad, a “good and selfless lawyer” who chose to forgo a lucrative career in Manila and Dumaguete City to settle in his hometown of Guihulngan.

“Filipino lawyers and our country demand that the law enforcement, investigating and prosecuting agencies of government do their job well and with dispatch, lest everyone lose trust and hope in our justice system and government,” the IBP said.

Albayalde said President Rodrigo Duterte never mentioned putting Negros Oriental under martial law amid the recent spate of killings there.

He said President Duterte only ordered security officials to end the insurgency in the area as the communist rebels were responsible for the series of killings.

The killings occurred after four intelligence operatives of the police were tortured and killed in Barangay Mabato in Ayungon town on July 18.

From July 23 to July 28, a total of 13 people were killed, including a lawyer tagged as sympathetic to the NPA in Guihulngan City, a former mayor of Ayungon town, an incumbent councilor of Canlaon City, a barangay captain in Canlaon City, a school principal and his sister and a barangay captain also in Guihulngan City.

“There is also that possibility that the four police officers were tortured and summarily executed and there is also a scheme on the part of the CPP-NPA where they sacrifice their own and then blame government forces for alleged human rights violations.

They are also pointing to government forces for these killings,” Albayalde said. PNA with Rey E. Requejo

ASEAN...

From A1

“The [trade war] does not necessarily make it harder for ASEAN, but it forces us to be smarter. You can’t do it business as usual. As Mao Zedong said, ‘there is great chaos in the heavens, and the opportunity is excellent.’”

China is ASEAN’s biggest trading partner for more than a decade now, while the regional bloc became Beijing’s second largest trading partner in the first half of the year, overtaking the United States.

On the other hand, ASEAN is the fourth largest trading partner of the US. The trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing are scheduled to resume in Shanghai today, Tuesday, as observers await breakthroughs in the year-long spat involving the imposition of additional tariffs.

The prospects of a comprehensive trade deal, however, remain unclear, with prolonged uncertainty weighing down the global economy.

According to Suthad Setboonsarng, an ASEAN specialist and a board member of the Bank of Thailand, all member-states of the regional bloc stand to lose if they start choosing between the US and China.

“We cannot allow these two big guys to keep on swatting at each other. They have the resources: If they want to prolong this trade war, they can, but the world may not be able to cope,” Suthad said.

“If we get caught in this and start taking sides, we will all lose. But if we integrate, we will have something that will result in a win-win situation. We should not allow ourselves to be dragged into one side.”

Suthad warned that “more skirmishes are yet to come” as the US tariff hike is expanding to cover more countries, including the European Union and India.

Duterte earlier issued an executive order amending the SSL by modifying the salary schedule to authorize a fourth pay increase since this law was signed by then President Aquino in 2016.

A former vice chairman of the House committee on appropriations, Villafuerte said the chamber would also put on the front-burner the President’s SONA proposals on the establishment of the Department for overseas Filipino workers along with the Departments of Disaster Resilience and of water resources, as Dominguez had also said the creation of these new line departments would not cost the government so much.

News

A3

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Kapa officials reject SEC raps; want case dismissed

By Rey E. Requejo OFFICIALS of Kapa Community Ministry International Inc. on Monday asked the Department of Justice to dismiss the criminal charges against them as they denied the allegation made by the Securities and Exchange Commission that they were involved in investment scam.

Four Kapa officials led by founder and president Pastor Joel Apolinario submitted their joint counter-affidavit to the investigating panel seeking to dismiss the complaint for violation of Republic Act 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code filed by SEC last month.

Apolinario was joined by Kapa corporate secretary Reyna Apolinario and officers Rene Catubigan and Catherine Evangelista in the joint answer submitted to the panel of prosecutors through their lawyers.

However, the respondents did not appear before the DOJ for security reasons.

It was also agreed that the Kapa executives would subscribe to their answers before the office of the provincial prosecutor in Sarangani due to security reasons.

The lawyers did not grant media interviews after the hearing and refused to share copies of the counter-affidavits.

Only one of the respondents, Moises Mopia, was present during the hearing.

He asked for more time to answer the charges, and was given by the panel chaired by Assistant State Prosecutor Zenamar Machacon-Caparros until the next hearing on Aug. 5 to submit his counter-affidavit.

Three other respondents—Margie Danao, Marisol Diaz and Adelfa Fernandico—also did not appear before the DOJ panel.

In its complaint filed last June 18, the SEC accused the respondents of perpetrating an investment scam by violating Sections 8 and 28 of the SRC. Section 8 of the SRC prohibits the sale or distribution of securities without a registration statement duly filed and approved by the SEC. Section 28, on the other hand, prohibits any person from engaging in the business of buying or selling securities in the country as a broker or dealer, or act as a salesman, or an associated person of any broker or dealer unless registered with the SEC. The SEC also found that respondents violated Section 26 of the law that prohibits Ponzi scheme, an investment program that offers impossibly high returns and pays investors using the money contributed by other investors.

LOTTERY. Members of Online Lottery Agents Association Inc., ask President

Rodrigo Duterte that while the National Bureau of Investigation is investigating the alleged rampant corruption in the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, that they should be allowed to continue their operation during a press conference at the National Press Club. Inset photo shows some of the association. Norman Cruz

BI denied entry to 2.3k aliens in first half of 2019 T

By Joel E. Zurbano

HE Immigration bureau barred more than 2,300 foreigners, mostly Chinese nationals, from entering the Philippines during the first half of the year in line with the government’s campaign to stop the entry of undesirable aliens.

In a report to Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente, port operations division chief Grifton Medina said a total of 2,351 aliens of various nationalities were denied entry in different ports of the country.

Most of these foreigners were prevented at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport while the others were stopped at the airports in Mactan, Clark, Kalibo, Aklan and Davao.

“They were turned back after undergoing primary and secondary inspection by our immigration officers and were declared unfit for admission

into our country for a variety of reasons.

They were issued exclusion orders and booked on the first available flight to their ports of origin,” Medina said.

Morente commended BI port personnel for their accomplishments even as he stressed that the sovereign right of every country like the Philippines can deny entry to aliens deemed as undesirable and inadmissible.

He reminded his men “not to relax your guard and be always vigilant in discharging their duties as gatekeepers of our country.”

Statistics from the BI-POD’s travel control and enforcement show that 1,129 Chinese nationals topped the list of excluded aliens, followed by 106 Indians, 87 Americans, 52 Taiwanese, and 67 Koreans.

The list includes registered sex offenders, wanted fugitives, suspected international terrorists, and blacklisted and previously deported aliens.

Most the aliens that were excluded were without visible means to support themselves, and whose purpose of coming here are doubtful.

Some were turned back for being rude and disrespectful towards immigration officers, and for having incomplete travel documents.

“Our immigration officers are working hard day and night to protect our borders from these threats,” said Morente.

“We are serious in our drive against illegal aliens, and we are doing the best so we can to stop them from entering the country,” he added.

Calida rejects 1-m case backlog claim, lawyering for Bongbong SOLICITOR General Jose Calida has denied allegations made by Vice President Leni Robredo on the supposed one million-case backlog of his office and his participation in the preparation of the sedition charges purportedly to benefit former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. Calida described as “ill-advised” Robredo’s allegation that the Office of the Solicitor General has a backlog of over a million cases since 2017 because it has been busy running after critics of the Duterte administration.

The Solicitor General said that the insinuation was based on a Commission on Audit report for 2017 and 2018, which is a mischaracterization of the actual status of the pending cases as “backlog.”

“These figures do not refer to cases that have not been acted upon by the OSG. These figures simply refer to cases which are still pending before various courts and quasi-judicial bodies,” Calida said, in a statement.

According to Calida, Robredo is appar-

ently unaware of “functions and internal workings of the OSG.” The chief state lawyer explained that ‘backlog’ only applies to courts and bodies mandated to hear and resolve cases.

“To be clear, pending cases handled by the OSG are not and should be considered as ‘backlog.’ The OSG is not a court of law, which is mandated to resolve cases. The number of pending cases that the OSG currently handles cannot, in any way, translate to ‘backlog.’ As they should have known, the OSG is the principal law office of the Government, its agencies, and instrumentalities. Its main function is to render legal services, which includes representing its client-agencies before courts and quasi-judicial bodies.

The OSG does not ‘resolve’ cases,” Calida said.

Calida also debunked Robredo’s claim that his office helped in preparing the sedition charges against her over the alleged plot to oust Duterte as a ploy to deflect looming defeat of Bongbong Marcos’ electoral protest. Rey E. Requejo

Gonzalo Duque appointed as PCA chief PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has named Social Security Commission Commissioner Gonzalo Duque as Philippine Coconut Authority administrator.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo on Monday confirmed Duque’s appointment as the new PCA chief in a text message to reporters.

“Confirmed, as Administrator,” Panelo said.

Duque is the brother of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III. Prior to being SSC Commissioner, Duque served as a Vice Governor of Pangasinan from 1987 to 1992, Panelo said.

He was also designated director and later promoted to deputy administrator

at the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration.

Moreover, Duque was active in the academe as he has served the Lyceum Northwestern University for 17 years as Chancellor, Executive Vice President, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, and fourth President.

“With his credentials, we expect a man of competence and integrity in the likes of Mr. Duque to champion the cause of the Filipino coconut farmers,” Panelo said in a statement.

Duque’s appointment comes after Duterte named former Philippine Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Galileo Gerard Kintanar as head of the PCA board on December 2018. PNA

Recto files bill on ‘Timbangan Ng Bayan’ for all markets A BILL mandating the placement of a Timbangan ng Bayan in all public and private markets, including supermarkets, has been filed in the Senate.

This “tamper-proof, heavy duty, constantly calibrated, conspicuously displayed” weighing scale will provide both buyers and sellers a “standard instrument for setting and validating weights,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, the bill’s author.

Recto said the mere presence of a Timbangan ng Bayan will deter the proliferation of defective weights.

“It will avoid those ‘tinimbang ka ngunit kulang’ moments for consumers who have been wittingly or unwittingly sold underweight goods,” he said.

Recto said that while most merchants are honest and use accurate weighing scales, there are still a few who resort to selling underweight products.

In some cases, faulty weighing scales are borne out of the absence of a standard that will verify their reading. “Minsan naman, hindi alam na sira ang timbangan kasi nga walang official weighing scale na pagbabatayan,” Recto said.

Recto said the Timbangan ng Bayan can also validate the claimed weight of products packed and canned in factories.

DAR improves, streamlines ‘critical services’

By Rio N. Araja

VETOED. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III explained the provisions of the Anti-Endo Bill , which was recently vetoed by President Rodrigo Duterte during a news conference at the Labor Department Office in Intramuros, Manila. Ey Acasio

‘Lotto workers may seek help from DOLE’ AN OFFICIAL of the Department of Labor and Employment on Monday urged workers, who will be displaced due to the closure of all gaming activities of Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office upon the order of President Rodrigo Duterte, to avail of unemployment assistance.

Labor Assistant Secretary Benjo Benavidez said affected workers who are members of the Social Security System could apply for unemployment insurance under Republic Act 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2019.

“I’m sure they know the Social Security Reform Act which was enacted into law this year. One of its provisions is the unemployment insurance. Workers who were involuntarily displaced by reason of economic causes can avail of this benefit,” he said in a press conference.

With this, the DOLE official noted that affected workers have to secure certification that they have lost their jobs involuntarily.

“They need a certification that says they lost their jobs due to involuntary

termination such as redundancy, retrenchment or closure or cessation of business operation,” he said.

Benavidez added that they are coordinating with the SSS to hasten the processing of the benefit for the affected workers.

Last February, President Duterte signed into law Republic Act 11199, which provides involuntary separation benefits for SSS members that could help them while looking for another source of income.

Under Section 14-B of RA 11199, a member who finds himself/herself involuntarily unemployed can claim an unemployment benefit equivalent to 50 percent of his average monthly salary credit for a maximum of two months.

The member should not be more than 60 years of age and has paid at least 36 months contributions, 12 months of which should be within the 18-month period prior to the involuntary unemployment or separation. The law is authored

by Senator Richard Gordon. PNA

THE Department of Agrarian Reform on Monday thanked the Anti-Red Tape Authority for recognizing its effort to streamline and improve its critical services.

In a July 4 letter, director general Ernesto Perez, ARTA officer in charge, “commend(ed) the efforts of DAR” to speed up and simplify its processes.

“We commend the efforts of DAR in implementing changes in support of the implementation of R.A. 11032 or the ‘Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Delivery of Government Services Act of 2018,’” Perez told Undersecretary Lucius Jun-Jun Malsi of DAR’s Finance, Management and Administration Office.

According to Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones, the actions required in availing of the agency’s critical services in its central and regional offices have been reduced by up to eight steps.

Because of this, DAR was able to achieve a faster turnaround by up to 65 days.

Steps in the application for land use conversion under the regional land use conversion committee of DAR’s regional offices have been reduced by half, down to eight from 16.

The expected completion is now pegged at 26 days from 42 days.

The processing of land use conversion for lots with over five hectares, which is under the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance of the central office, shall now take only 30 days from 90.

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Opinion

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

The system breeds corruption PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte pointed to massive corruption as the reason for his order to close all outlets of Lotto, Peryahan ng Bayan, Keno and Small Town Lottery.

It was a drastic move on the part of the President—but it had to be done.

The government is being cheated of its share in gambling. Worse, jueteng lords have taken over the STL operations, perpetuating illegal gambling which the government has sworn to eradicate.

It was truly drastic that operators were banned in one fell swoop, after they had to shell out at least P500,000 to secure licenses from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

It can swallow even the most honest person.

I have been told that to get permits to operate even small outlets, once has to deal with fixers as well and shell out between P300,000 and P500,000.

The move was necessary. The PCSO is perceived to be a graft-ridden agency.

Who are involved? The President has promised to name them in due time.

Why is graft and corruption so embedded in government? As a journalist of almost 70 years, I can only write about what I have witnessed. I can say it is present in places where human discretion and intervention takes place. For example, for some time I was assigned to cover the Bureau of Customs. We all know its officials and employees get involved in the entry of imports, examination and valuation of duties and taxes.

Similarly at the PCSO, human discretion and intervention are involved in the grant of licenses.

Do you know why there is continued infighting among PCSO directors and officials such that even a well-known Chinese gambling lord is supposedly behind the release of permits?

This is why there have been proposals to privatize the PCSO. The corrupt system soon enough swallows even the most honest and well-intentioned reformists. If one is appointed to an agency known as corrupt, he or she must be a “team player” who will choose to remain deaf, dumb and blind to what is happening. Sadly, government is no place for honest people.

I remember that during the first years of the Marcos regime, thenPress Secretary Joe Aspiras and noted columnist Ka Doroy Valencia visited me in my PhilamLife Homes in Quezon City. They told me that they were sent by Marcos who wanted an Ilo Ilocano as the next press secretary. As Aspiras was quitting so he could run for Congress. They told me Mr. Marcos wanted me for the job.

“How much is the salary,” I asked.

“P19,000 a month, with many other perks,” was the answer.

“In that case,” I said, “I could not accept the offer. The amount will not be able to sustain me and my family.”

“We’ll take care of that,” they said. In other words, I stood to earn more from “other sources.” I understood this to mean that I would be compensated with graft money.

I discussed the matter with my wife, who said I should reject the offer. She was worried she might not see me anymore as I would be at the beck and call of the Palace. So I turned down the offer.

Ka Doroy saw us again, and he told my wife: “You are a foolish woman.

Don’t you realize what your husband

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

A familiar trap

I

N RECENT weeks, traditional and social media have been awash with news about new local government executives displaying political will in reforming their respective areas. ters: One can have a visual proof of his early achievements, he hails from the ranks of the poor and downtrodden, conducts himself in an intelligent, respectable manner and has also professed respect for the rule of law and for human rights.

Domagoso seems to have his priorities straight—good for him and the city.

This early, however, people should get hold of themselves. No, this is not a Messiah in the making.

This habit of pinning our hopes on a single person to deliver us out of poverty, corruption or any other ill has brought upon decades of misery and frustration among Filipinos. The pattern is almost always the same—we are unhappy with our current state, a politician who seems to be a game-changer appears in the horizon, and we tell ourselves this person might be “it.” Whether it’s political pedigree, charisma, good looks, a folksy style or affectations of compassion, Filipinos are quick to latch on to the idea that one person can magically make our troubles disappear. We accord that person, not re-

First to come to mind is the 44-yearold mayor of Manila, Francisco Domagoso—known also as Isko Moreno, his name from his show business days. In less than a month, Domagoso appears to have succeeded where his supposedly veteran predecessors have all failed: Cleaning up sidewalks, making heritage parks a priority, and doing away with the blight that has accumulated over years of neglect and corruption.

Domagoso’s latest achievement is meeting with the country’s top tycoons and encouraging them to invest in the city’s formerly glorious business district, Escolta. Investments will provide jobs to residents and help curb street crime.

Escolta was Manila’s premier attraction decades ago but has decayed into its current state.

This is just the latest of Domagoso ’s wins. He either has a good public relations team, is remarkably getting things done, or both. This early, there is talk about him being a feasible presidential candidate in 2022. He is regarded well by many quar-

spect or deference, but adulation.

Soon, however, when that individual has been installed in power, we find he or she has feet of clay, and is not as fit for the office as advertised. And then we think we made a mistake and begin looking for alternatives.

This is also the thinking that has fed the megalomania of not a few politicians who themselves genuinely believe they are God’s gift to their fellowmen.

Public office is a high-profile, consequential, difficult job. At the end of the day, however, it's a set of expectations and deliverables that are best carried out by someone who has the right qualifications, values and attitudes, and who very clearly recognizes he or she has a finite amount of time to deliver results.

It’s heartening to hear about promising stories of Domagoso and many others like him. We hope they can sustain the good work they are beginning.

We hope, most of all, that voters would know that the business of governance is best carried out by those who have good hearts and minds, and who do the work decisively, consistently, and in good faith. Anything else is for show.

Turn to A5

The Legal Education Summit I WELCOME the Legal Education Summit that is being convened this week.

The purpose of the Summit, according to Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin, is to “update the basic law curriculum for purposes of admission to the bar and adopt the best practices to develop students to become practice-ready lawyers.”

To prepare for the summit, regional consultative meetings have been held focusing on four (4) main topics, namely, the Bar Examinations, law curriculum, law instruction and law administration.

Group discussions have tackled the current state of the Philippine Legal Education system to identify the different problems and the challenges faced by legal education in the Philippines; gather ideas from different stakeholders that would address the problems and challenges; and propose recommendations that would remedy and improve our legal education.

One topic has been the proposed amendments to Republic Act 7662 or the Legal Education Reform Act of 1993 which created the Legal Education Board. The independent government agency responsible for the regulation of the legal education. Among others, the LEB conducts the Philippine Law School Admission Test, a nationwide law school aptitude exam.

Overall, I think the LEB is a good idea.

Certainly its first chairman Justice Hilarion Aquino did an excellent job in establishing the Board and setting forth its initial policies and procedures. Its second and current chairman Emerson Aquende (disclosure: He was my student in the University of the Philippines College of Law and I personally like him) has also not been remiss in fulfilling LEB’s mandate. However, because the current LEB is perceived as too aggressive and encroaching on the autonomy of law schools, there has been a strong pushback from several stakeholders. In fact, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court questioning many of LEB’s decisions, including the constitutionality of the law itself. Among others, the Supreme Court has issued a Temporary Restraining Order against the PhilSAT which some observers consider as an indication of the Supreme Court thinking on the LEB. Whatever the decision of the Supreme Court is on the current petition, I hope we find a to way preserve the best outcome so far of having a LEB—that law schools have begun benchmarking with each oth-

er, that we are aligning our curriculums, and that professors are being required to upgrade their teaching, among others.

My hope is that the LEB will be able to eventually find the right balance—setting standards and benchmarks for law schools but still allowing law schools to innovate and not feel too constrained by excessive regulation. The LEB should also stay away from issues that are not within its competence, like determining that JD degrees are equivalent to PHDs, an equivalence which made our profession a laughingstock among our non-law academic colleagues. Nor should it be too prescriptive and unrealistic in its expectations especially from provincial law schools.

As for me, as an educator for 38 years (I started teaching philosophy in 1981 as a Jesuit Volunteer in Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro) and a law professor for 29 years (I currently teach in 10 law schools, two of which are graduate schools of law and two are provincial law schools), I have clear ideas on what needs to be changed in legal education.

No to ‘Sir, yes Sir’

We need more lawyers, specifically lawyers who are competent and ethical.

First, the Bar examinations must be fundamentally changed as the way these exams are framed and administered determines how law schools teach the law— both in terms of content and process.

The Bar exams should be designed as nothing more than a licensure exam, where knowledge of the basics of law would be sufficient. Thus there must be fewer subjects that should be included in the exam—in my view, these are political law, civil law, remedial law (which should include ethics), and criminal law.

Labor, commercial, and tax law are all specializations. Perhaps special exams can later be administered for those subjects (commercial law can be broken up to as many specializations as possible) and can be required for those who will practice in those fields of law.

I agree with Chief Justice Bersamin and Justice Marvic Leonen that we should get rid of Top 10 or Top 20 examinees lists.

Although I did well myself and ranked third in the 1989 exams, I am convinced that the Bar exams should be a pass-orTurn to A5

Love of country?

I don’t think so.

THOSE who were made to suffer two years of Preparatory Military Training and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps know the drill: Every Saturday, they would have to march in formation with mock Garand rifles under the hot tropical sun and utter ‘Sir, yes Sir,’ to every command of their officers, and grudgingly do push-ups for actual or imagined breaches of rules and discipline.

If I remember right, the compulsory military training for students was embodied in the 1935 Constitution, with the framers working under the shadow of the First World War and war clouds in the horizon, with the Japanese invasion and occupation not too far away. Given that situation, mandatory military training for Filipino youths may have been justified.

After the Second World War, PMT and ROTC continued, until the 1990s when these were abruptly halted following the death of a UST ROTC cadet who had complained of widespread corruption.

Now, at least two senators are pushing for the revival of mandatory military

training for Grade 11 and 12 senior high school students.

Their main justification, marching in formation with mock rifles under the hot tropical sun, shouting, ‘Sir yes Sir’ at the top of their lungs and having to do strenuous push-ups on the whim of sadistic officers, would teach students “love of country.”

I don’t think so.

I absolutely hated going through PMT and ROTC. These did not teach me love of country at all.

What mandatory military training did, far as I was concerned, was to look at it with fear and loathing as it was a big waste of time, energy and money.

Who, after all, would benefit from mandatory ROTC and laugh all the way to the bank? For one, school administrators and military officials who stand to benefit from overpriced ROTC uniforms for hundreds of thousands of students whose already hard-up parents will have

to scrape up extra money for uniforms, transportation fare for an extra day at unschool, and sundry expenses while un dergoing hardship in the hands of selfentitled ROTC officers and their AFP handlers.

What ROTC does is to inculcate blind obedience to orders from above. I don’t believe there’s a smidgen of truth in the claim that mandatory military training for the youth would automatically make them patriotic or nationalistic.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, main author of the ROTC revival measure in the 17th Congress and wants it fasttracked by the 18th Congress, claims that his bill, once approved, will teach patriotism and nationalism and will strengthen our country because our youth will have more skills. We want to strengthen the skills of our youth and ROTC is one way to impart those skills,” he said.

Gatchalian has found a staunch ally in his crusade in former police chief and now Senator Ronald “Bato” de la Rosa, who parrots the oft-cited line that it would promote patriotism among the youth.

De la Rosa offers a carrot to those who complete the basic ROTC program, saying they would be eligible for lateral entry and enlistment in the PNP, Armed Turn to A5

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Opinion Self-renewal LAST Friday, the President took to the airwaves to announce that he was suspending all gambling operations of the PCSO, including Lotto, Keno, Peryahan ng Bayan, and the Small Town Lottery which was intended to supplant the illegal numbers game of jueteng.

It’s not clear how permanent this order will be. One might say that the word “suspension” inherently means it will be lifted someday. And in fact the President singled out collusion between gambling operators and corrupt PCSO officials as the proximate reason for his action. The Commission on Audit has also weighed in with the disclosure that over P8 billion of dividends have not yet been paid by PCSO to government.

Whenever these issues are settled, gambling might resume.

But one might also argue that President Rodrigo Duterte had no choice but to simply suspend, since a permanent end to PCSO’s gambling operations would require amending its corporate charter or some other form of enabling legislation. In the end, as with everything else he plans to do, the permanence of this action will boil down to what is truly in his heart about what’s best for his people.

The long-term ramifications go well beyond the statutory. The biggest one is what will happen to the billions of pesos worth of charity doled out every year by PCSO from its gambling revenues. Upon reflection, though, one might argue that the bulk of that charity going to the poor is actually being funded by the same poor who make up the bulk of PCSO’s smalltime gamblers. Money that doesn’t go into bets is money that becomes available for medical emergencies.

Other critics claim that this suspension discriminates against poor gamblers in favor of the well-off local and foreign patrons of the casinos run or overseen by PAGCOR. Some personal favoritism has also been alleged in light of Duterte’s repeated praise during his SONA for PAGCOR chairman and CEO Didi Domingo, his alphabetical seatmate during his years in Congress.

This criticism begs the question of whether it’s a good or a bad thing to limit a social vice like gambling to the rich who can afford it, while keeping it away from the poor who cannot. And in any case, as in Singapore, government can always grant special permits to local residents who want to rub shoulders with foreign gamblers.

The most pernicious criticism claims that gambling is a necessary vice for the poor who have little else in life, which is why it has become such an ingrained fix-

No to...

From A4

Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and the Bureau of Fire Protection.

The former police chief rues the declining number of reservists and believes that those who completed the basic ROTC program would not only be summoned in the event of a war, but would also be asked to assist in rescue and relief operations in times of disaster.

“We have to prepare. If warranted, we have to muster fighters, warriors, soldiers from the reserve force. They should be available anytime,” De la Rosa said.

The insistence on mandatory military training as breeding ground of patriotism and nationalism is completely baseless.

The system...

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could be getting monthly?”

I think graft and corruption is embedded in government because of the deterioration of Filipinos’ values. Many believe that the government is a milking cow. It was not like this before the Second World War. Then, people were honest. I guess the Japanese Occupation made Filipinos what they are today. *** Metro Manila traffic has always been a problem for motorists and

The Legal...

From A4

fail endeavor. There is no value to society or to the legal profession of having a Top 10 or Top 20 list. It engenders false competition among law students and schools and makes the Bar exams even more important than it really is.

The bar exams should also be easier to administer, and that won’t happen if we retain the essay-based system.

Such a system is also inherently arbitrary—which is another reason for not having a Top 10 or Top 20 list where landing a slot includes an element of luck. For sure, topnotchers are brilliant and hardworking law students, but that’s a pool of

ture of the culture. This kind of patronizing permissiveness is also what underlies self-serving opinions that the poor are somehow “entitled” to do drugs because their lives are so hard, or that Filipino husbands are somehow “allowed” to philander because of our machismo.

If Duterte intends to root out smalltime gambling for good as part and parcel of the moral corruption of the grassroots that he railed against in SONA, then— as I said in these pages last week—it’s

It’s in joint action, not in theology, where common ground can be found.

costs are key in competing with rivals all over the world.

If the unions truly want to improve wages and benefits of their members, they might wish to look into my suggestion some weeks back to limit the number of paid holidays—either by legislation or by constitutional amendment—to just one a month or 12 a year. This brings us down from our current 21-22 holidays a year to the global average of just 11.

In a trillion-peso economy like ours, I calculate that the additional production from those extra days can cover even the fantastical minimum wage demand of P16,000 per month being pushed by the leftists.

It boils down to what we’re willing to do by ourselves in order to earn a better life for ourselves. Can we agree to work an extra day a month? To forego gambling and instead save up more against future emergencies? To continu improve our job situations by continually improving and learning more on the job instead of forcing employers to keep us on board whether or not we’re good enough, whether or not the business is doing well?

These are questions even the President can’t help us answer. We have to decide for ourselves whether or not we’re willing to work as hard and as smart as our neighbors whom we love to envy. *** All three readings today speak of the Lord’s righteous anger as the companion in justice of His compassion and mercy.

In Exodus 34: 5-9, Moses appeals to God to pardon “the wickedness and sinfulness of His stiff-necked people.” And at the beginning of Psalm103, David sings of both the Lord’s slowness to anger, for “He knows how we are formed, remembers that we are dust.”

In the Gospel (Matthew 13: 36-43), Jesus’ parable of the weed warns that the weeds in the field are “the children of the evil one” who will be “thrown into the fiery furnace at the end of the age.” In earlier verses, though (24-30), the master of the field also cautions his servants not to pull up the weeds yet because they might also uproot the wheat. “Let them grow together until harvest,” when the wheat is gathered into the barn but the weeds are burned. Let us wait until the end of the age.

There is no choice for God but to be merciful to us, as any father has no choice but to be compassionate even with his errant children. But no good father can be infinitely compassionate if he also wants to teach his children right from wrong. We are continually being taught this difference every day, if we listen to the Father, and if in the end we are burned and not gathered into the barn, that will be our undoing and not His doing.

a crusade that ought to be supported by moral exemplars like the Church, no matter what’s divided the two before.

It’s in joint action, not in theology, where common ground can be found. *** Also last weekend, the President dropped another bombshell by vetoing the long-pending bill to end contractualization of labor, or endo. It was a decision that had the fingerprints of his economic team all over it.

Predictably, the labor unions, the reds and yellows, and like-minded activists are up in arms over this veto. And again, their criticism will be rooted in what is merely ideological or sentimental, and not what is sound economic thinking.

Guaranteed permanent employment, as well as guaranteed minimum wages, contribute to what’s been called rigid or inflexible labor markets. And in today’s global economy where both capital and labor are unprecedentedly mobile, an inflexible labor market in our country only helps push foreign—and even, not surprisingly, local—investors to set up shop instead in our neighbors.

The right to fire can never be separated from the right to hire. An employee’s productivity and fitness for continuing employment can never be determined until he’s actually spent enough time on his job. And there is no lack of special situations where the labor requirement is only temporary, or transient, or seasonal—from one-off projects of consultants and contractors, to Christmas holiday shopping for retailers, to emergency situations of all sorts.

Millennials are a lot more accustomed than their elders to the impermanence of their future, one where they depend mainly on themselves and their skills and continuous learning to make their way upward, not on the largesse of employers. It’s a world view that also suits the digitally-based businesses of tomor- Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@ row, where nimbleness and flexibility in yahoo.com.

What will instill patriotic fervor and genuine nationalism among our youth, as I see it, is seeing public officials truly adhere to what the Constitution says: “Public office is a public trust. Public officers and employees must at all times be accountable to the people, serve with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and lead modest lives.” How many of our public officers are even aware of this provision? You can probably count with the fingers of one hand those in public service who have taken to heart these basic guidelines for clean and honest governance.

I tend to agree with the legislators and youth groups opposing the bill because it would only teach blind obedience.

Take the case of a B-movie actor who voluntarily underwent short-duration specialized military training. He came

away from the experience extolling his rigid training to high heavens, but wishing hell for those who held views contrary to his, telling them to just “stop talking.” Isn’t this reflective of a protofascist mindset? Of course, that’s not ROTC he went through, but it’s still the same military training that in essence emphasizes unswerving blind obedience to orders from above, right or wrong.

In the early 70s, an acquaintance from elementary school revealed that he and his friends in college hated abusive ROTC officers so much that they conspired to burn down the building housing the Department of Military Science and Tactics.

That may have been taking matters in their own hands too far, but not without reason either, given the fervid anti-Establishment temper of the times.

commuters. This is why the proposal to cut the travel time along EDSA is a welcome move. Metro Pacific has proposed to build a P92-billion toll road linking the North Luzon Expressway to the Manila Cavite Expressway.

The Metro Pacific Group has in fact submitted to the Department of Public Works and Highways its proposal.

This is a worthy project that should be supported by Malacañang.

Speaking of big infrastructure projects, San Miguel’s airport project has entered the final phase of the bidding process without any Swiss Challenge.

It’s now all systems go for the New Ma-

nila International Airport to be located in Bulakan, Bulacan on 2,500 hectares of flatlands. *** I cannot predict the outcome of the investigation against Vice President Leni Robredo for sedition and inciting to rebellion. But from the looks of it, it’s just a harassment suit against the critics of the administration.

Now if there is proof, the case must be pursued.

One thing is for sure—this is best resolved soonest.

a hundred or more of the best and brightest. Decimal points separate these students from each other and fortune is the final determinant for placing.

Part of any reforms of the Bar exam is to geographically disperse the venue to take them to as many regional centers as possible. It is a gross injustice to non-Manileños to have to come to Manila for a month to take the bar exams.

Assuming the Bar exams are reformed, Philippine legal education should completely change its pedagogy. The so-called Socratic method we used in law school recitation is an insult to Socrates. It has long been abandoned by the best law schools in the world. It terrorizes students without contributing to their learning. It gives professors many opportunities to abuse students, including sexually, as a

recent decision of the Supreme Court has pointed out.

Based on my decades experience of teaching here and abroad, what works best for legal education are problem-based teaching methodologies and clinical approaches to learning.

Problem-based teaching means students master rules, jurisprudence, policy approaches, and legal philosophy by applying them to solve concrete legal issues in real life situations. These include moot court exercises based on real or imagined cases; negotiation simulations that allow for multiple perspectives and exploration of legal and policy options; drafting of laws, judicial decisions, and legal documents that encourages students to learn while doing; writing of thesis or research papers that allow students to discover a

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To exit Third World, 6% growth inadequate the ‘new normal’ of Philippine GDP growth or whether the economy will recover sufficiently strongly from the growth drop to 5.6 percent in 2019’s first quarter or whether the economy’s entire-2019 growth rate will be higher than 2018’s 6.2 percent. The real point IN THE midst of the continuing joust- is that the Philippine economy thus far ing among economists as to the likely has not achieved annual GDP growth growth of the Philippine economy in of 7 percent or more.

2019, I am reminded of central theWhat I’m driving at is that everysis of MIT (Massachusetts Institute one interested in the rate of growth of of Technology) economics professor the Philippine economy—economists W. W. Rostow in his much-acclaimed from both the government and the pri1960s book “The Stages of Growth.” vate sector—should focus on the numProfessor Rostow’s central thesis ber 7 and 8 and not quibble over the was that the road fraction of 1 perto full economic cent that follows development— the number 6. road from the In other words, What should be Third World instead of specuto th ae First the goal of all lating whether World—requires economic activity in the economy’s sustained high annual growth performance and this country? rate will be 6.1 that a country percent or 6.3 must achieve at percent or 6.5 least 7-percent percent, they GDP (gross domestic product) growth should be looking to annual GDP inin every year for at least 14 years if it is to creases of 7 percent or more. attain developed-country status.

Looking to, and engaging in deBefore “The Stages of Growth” bates about, growth rates lower than came along, economic development 7 percent is a case of setting one’s theorists had simply postulated that sights low. After all, the official annual by steadily pursuing sound monetary, growth target is 7-8 percent. Those fiscal and trade policies developing numbers should be the goal of all countries could attain First World sta- economic activity in this country, not tus. Rostow was the first economist to numbers lower, than 7. put numbers to the theory of economic The government’s Ambisyon 2040 development. plan aims to have the Philippines Seen against Prof. Rostow’s theory graduating to the First World 21 years on the growth requirement of economic from today. That target is not going to development, the ongoing debate as to be achieved if this country’s developthe Philippine economy’s 2019 growth ment planners pay little or no attention rate misses the point. The missed point to Prof. Rostow’s formula for the atis not whether 6-7 percent has become tainment of developed-country status.

Bomb threat at NAIA is no joke IT’S been utterly disappointing and frustrating hearing news of improprieties committed in public by some congressional party-list representatives, especially on my part who strongly supported last elections’ top winning party-list.

I say so although I completely trust that my comrades in the Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support will never be involved in abusive demeanor of any sort.

ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Yap, Jocelyn Tulfo and Niña Taduran are some of the finest fellows I’ve known and they will prove to be productive and relevant lawmakers, as we promised.

But I’m just sick to my stomach hearing another party-list congressman screwing up. Just days before President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address, a party-list representative punched a waiter in Legazpi City, Albay for not recognizing him.

This time, another neophyte lawmaker pulled a bomb-scare at NAIA’s Terminal 2 last week. APEC Party-list Rep. Sergio Dagooc was irked by a Philippine Airlines check-in counter attendant, who asked was in his bag other than clothes, as it exceeded the allowed 11kgs on carry-on baggage.

“Bomba!” Dagooc arrogantly replied, prompting the PAL agent to call the Philippine National Police Aviation Security Group who invited the abusive congressman to the terminal 2’s police station.

To cut the story short, Dagooc claims it was “only a joke” and, through his lawyer, invoked Article 6 Sec. 11 of the 1987 Constitution which states: “A Senator or Member of the House of Representatives shall, in all offenses punishable by not more than six years imprisonment, be privileged from arrest while the Congress is in session.”

PNP ASG station 2 commander P/ Major Querico Tomotorgo said they were compelled to release the suspect despite the complaint of PAL representatives.

love and skill for scholarship; and field trips to museums, historical sites and other places where relevant (like in environmental law).

As for clinical legal education, the recent amendment by the Supreme Court of the student law practice rule is a good thing. All law schools should establish legal aid clinics and some subjects (human rights such as child and prisoner rights, environmental law, etc) could be offered and taught as specialized law clinics. In this respect, I am aware that newly elected Representative Fidel Nograles, of the province of Rizal, will be filing a bill that would mandate and support such legal clinics. That would be good for both legal education and access to justice.

That is good because in the end, this is what is should be about: Does legal educa-

Look, it was clear that Dagooc violated Presidential Decree 1127 titled: “DECLARING AS UNLAWFUL THE MALICIOUS DISSEMINATION OF FALSE INFORMATION OF THE WILLFUL MAKING OF ANY THREAT CONCERNING BOMBS, EXPLOSIVES OR ANY SIMILAR DEVICE OR MEANS OF DESTRUCTION AND IMPOSING PENALTIES THEREFOR.” PD 1127 was issued by President Marcos at a time when national security was threatened by terrorists, as it is now by the communists and Islamic State (ISIS).

Article 6 Sec. 11 does not exempt law violators from criminal charges. Therefore, PAL must pursue the case.

Corporate Communications Department chief Ma. Cielo Villaluna said the flag-carrier leadership takes the matter of bomb pranks as a serious offense as they can possibly cause panic among thousands of travelers at the airport.

It can cause stampede, death and serious injuries to people, among them pregnant women, children, elderly and persons with disabilities.

“Malicious dissemination of false information knowing the same to be false resulted in grave inconvenience to the flight, its passengers and succeeding flight services,” said Villaluna.

I agree with PAL officials who decried the swift release of lawmaker. He is clearly liable for criminal and civil damages, and which case should have been presented to a DOJ prosecutor or fiscal.

The PNP Operations Procedure manual states that an apprehended person shall be subjected to "inquest proceedings" within the time prescribed in Art. 125 of the Revised Penal Code.

In fact, PAL may file a complaint against Dacoog with the Office of the Ombudsman.

Late last year, then-ACTS-OFW Party-list Rep. Aniceto Bertiz was caught on a video showing him not following the screening procedure at the NAIA Terminal 2, flashing his airport access pass and snatching the ID card of the screening officer during their argument.

No wonder congressmen are portrayed in some teleseryes as abusive and corrupt government officials.

tion in the Philippines promote justice for all and not for the rich?

A country that will reach a population of 125 million in a decade or so and a 150 million in a few decades needs more lawyers, specifically lawyers who are competent and ethical.

The Legal Education Summit must come up with the right solutions to problems of the country’s legal education system by exploring and discovering the knowledge, skills and values that a Filipino law student should develop in the law schools. This will enable them not only to competently practice law in the 21st century but to be the sentinels of justice that our oath as lawyers promises us to be.

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TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

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Drilon files cyber libel complaint vs. Mejorada SENATE Minority Leader Franklin Drilon filed Monday a cyber libel complaint against former Iloilo provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada, previously sentenced to jail for libel over an earlier case filed by the senator.

In his complaint before Pasay City Prosecutor Elmer Cris Rillo, Drilon said Mejorada, who served as Iloilo provincial administrator from 2001 to 2010, continued to “maliciously accuse” him of corruption, despite being convicted of libel.

Mejorada published videos on YouTube accusing Drilon of corruption, overpricing, and other anomalies.

“The imputation of these crimes is part of the continuous and deliberate efforts of Mr. Mejorada to injure my reputation and character,” Drilon said.

According to Drilon, Mejorada uploaded to his Youtube account the following videos: • Drilon’s monument of corruption revisited—uploaded on May 27 • Ang pagbaboy ni Drilon ng perang galing sa DAP sa Iloilo Convention Center (Drilon’s travesty for the money from DAP used for the Iloilo Convention Center)—uploaded on May 29 • Disadvantageous, onerous, lopsided ang contract ni Drilon sa (are Drilon’s contracts on) Iloilo Convention Center—uploaded on June 2 • Huli si Drilon sa kanyang kasinungalingan (Drilon was caught for his lies)—uploaded on June 12 Said Drilon: “I was already taken aback by the individual titles of the videos themselves, as these already clearly show an imputation on my person of a crime, or of a vice or defect.”

E-trikes okay in Manila— Domagoso

By Joel E. Zurbano MANILA City Mayor Francisco Domagoso on Monday announced he would allow the operation of electronic tricycles (e-trikes), provided they would be regulated by the local government.

Domagoso said under his watch, the city government would “no longer allow e-tricycles to travel along the city’s major thoroughfares.”

Members of the City Council led by Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna are now preparing measures that will grant franchises for e-tricycle operators. The Council will identify the classification, designated routes, and regulated fares of e-tricycles.

The city government made the announcement following the move of Electric Vehicle Association of the Philippines to reorganize electric tricycles in Manila to address the concerns of Domagoso.

EVAP said in a weekend statement while it was supporting Domagoso’s drive to clean up and put order to Manila streets, he should consider energy efficiency in transportation in support of the policies of the departments of Transportation and Interior and Local Government.

“EVAP, aligned with the policy of DOTr and DILG, also agree that all tricycles, i.e. electric-driven or not, should not be plying national roads, except in the absence of alternative public transport and minor roads and in cases that support national and local strategic agenda, e.g. tourism, logistics,” the group said.

EVAP confirmed that several etrikes were rolled out in some areas in the city of Manila with minimal consideration on its proper operation that eventually created disorder.

WINNERS.

Senator Manny Pacquiao, fresh from another boxing victory, raises the hand of Mayor Francisco Domagoso during the flag raising ceremony at Bonifacio monument on July 29. The boxing icon expressed his admiration for Moreno whose rags -to-riches story gave him an edge over other politicians and hinted at a wider political arena for Manila's chief executive.

CA dismisses amparo lawyers group petition

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE Court of Appeals has dismissed the petition of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers seeking protection against what they claim to be continuing harassment by the military on their members.

In a 26-page decision released on Monday, the CA’s Special 15th Division junked NUPL’s writs of amparo and habeas data petition.

Instead, the appellate court granted the plea of respondents led by President Rodrigo Duterte as commander-inchief of AFP and Chief-of-Staff Gen. Benjamin Madrigal Jr., through Solicitor General Jose Calida, for dismissal of the petition for lack of merit.

After holding hearing on the petition, the CA ruled that there was no substantial evidence of alleged violations or threats to life, liberty and security of petitioners led by NUPL chairman Neri Colmenares and president Edre Olalia.

“We hold that individual petitioners failed to substantially prove that their life, liberty and security are threatened with violation,” stated decision authored by Associate Justice Pedro Corales.

“Even assuming with nary of iota of competent evidence on record,

that the various attacks, harassment, surveillance, and other nefarious acts perpetrated against NUPL members are true as alleged in the petition, such incidents without sufficient corroborative evidence that the same was in fact on account of such membership, do not satisfy on their own the prerequisites for the grant of the privilege of the writ of amparo,” the CA stressed.

Associate Justices Stephen Cruz and Germano Francisco Legaspi concurred in this ruling.

Earlier this month, the CA also denied the plea of NUPL for issuance of temporary protection order against authorities.

The NUPL filed the petition before the SC last April and sought issuance of TPO to prohibit the respondents from the military from “further threatening their lives, liberty and security by any act.”

The group also asked the SC to compel respondents to disclose, sub-

mit and destroy all information gathered about the petitioners.

The NUPL cited in their petition specific incidents where their officers and members experienced the alleged harassment by military officers and “tagged, threatened, vilified or subjected to surveillance.”

The SC remanded the case to the appellate court for hearing of evidence.

The Office of the Solicitor General, as counsel for the respondents, had sought for the dismissal of the amparo petition and argued that petitioners failed to prove or provide factual basis in their allegation that the President and other respondents were responsible for the threats, harassment and intimidation against NUPL lawyers.

The Solicitor General Jose Calida stressed that the allegations of petitioners are “based on amorphous and uncertain ground.”

Lastly, Calida also argued that the petition should be denied because it did not include supporting documents and evidence as required by the rule on writ of amparo, saying petitioners merely raised “baseless and malicious accusations.”

BENGUET TRAGEDY. An SUV

driven by Jonathan Carnaje with five Chinese passengers on their way back to Baguio City after a hiking activity in Mt. Pulag in Benguet plunged Saturday into a 400-meter roadside cliff, killing the driver and injuring his passengers. The Chinese have been identified as Cheng Wei, 22, Yan Kaihua, 39, Tao Wei, 28, Ji Zilu, 25, and Zhu Yazhou, 32. Bokod PNP Photo

Search and rescue operations on to find missing aircraft in Aurora MARIA AURORA, Aurora—Authorities are conducting search and rescue operations for a missing training aircraft in the mountains of Maria Aurora and San Luis, this province.

The missing aircraft, C-152, RPC 3604, that was being piloted by Aaron Dizon, is owned by the Omni Aviation Corporation.

Based on the report from the tactical command post of the 91st Infantry “Sinagtala” Battalion, Philippine Army here, five aircraft landed at the Baler

Airport in San Luis town around 9:38 a.m. Sunday and left for Clark Airport at 3:08 p.m. on the same day.

However, only four aircraft managed to land in Clark.

Lt. Col. Harold Donato, OIC, chief of police of San Luis Municipal Police Station, said there was an unverified report of an aircraft that crashed in the mountains of Maria Aurora and San Luis.

“There is an old man who claimed to have seen an aircraft enter into a cloud

and suddenly disappeared in the part of the Dialatnan mountain,” Donato said.

Lt. Col. Jose Mari F. Torrenueva II, commander of the 91st Infantry “Sinagtala” Battalion, Philippine Army, said the military started to conduct search and rescue operations on Sunday to look for the missing aircraft.

Torrenueva said Sinagtala troopers went up the mountains and have stayed there since Sunday night.

“But as of today, members of the Philippine National Police, Provincial

Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of San Luis and Maria Aurora, Bureau of Fire Protection, local government units as well as volunteers are helping to look for the missing aircraft,” he said.

Torrenueva added that a chopper from the Philippine Air Force has arrived here to help look for the missing aircraft.

“We are also using drone,” he said.

PNA

DENR, K4 sign new collective agreement

By Rio N. Araja THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Kalipunan ng mga Kawani ng Kagawaran ng Kalikasan have signed a new collective negotiation agreement providing for additional benefits to agency workers in the next three years.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said he was honored the new DENR-K4 deal was signed under his term even as he vowed for “continued harmonious relationship between the union and the management.”

“This CNA is a recognition of the fact that the DENR’s strength relies on the unity and well-being of its workers,” he said.

Under the new CNA, DENR and K4 have agreed to extend mutual cooperation and assistance to each other “with the end in view of improving the welfare and well-being of the workers.”

These benefits included provision of hazard pay and accident insurance, establishment of a wellness program and formulation of a comprehensive health insurance.

Those covered by hazard pay and accident insurance are workers engaged in law enforcement activities against illegal logging, mining, and illegal trade and poaching of wildlife species, Cimatu said.

K4 has a total of 16 regional chapters nationwide, and is duly accredited by the Civil Service Commission.

The CNA was a product of a month-long negotiation.

Suspected ASG members held in Mandaluyong SECURITY authorities nabbed on Sunday a suspected member of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group in Mandaluyong City.

Eastern Police District director, Brig. Gen. Nolasco Bathan identified on Monday the suspect as Imran Sala-In Mutahayin, 24, who is based in Basilan.

He was arrested during an operation conducted by police officers in Barangay Barangka Ibaba around 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

Prior to his arrest, Mutahayin was the subject of a manhunt conducted by the Quezon City Police District)District Special Operating Unit in Barangay Kalawaan, Pasig City but he escaped.

Mutahayin has a standing arrest warrant for murder issued by the Basilan Regional Trial Court in Isabela City.

The suspected ASG bandit is detained at the EPD police station for documentation and elicitation of his factual personal identity. PNA

Sports

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TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

NU Bullpups bag 2nd ASEAN School Games title in a row THE NU-Nazareth School Bullpups recorded a rare back-to-back championship feat after defeating home team Indonesia at the gold-medal round of the 2019 ASEAN School Games held in GOR Sahabat in Semarang, Indonesia last July 23. The team registered a dominant 100-51 rout in the finals after also torching the same team three days ago in the elimination round, 87-47.

Terrence Fortea led the way for the Bullpups after an effective 11-of-18 shooting from the field tallying a total of 32 points in just 23 minutes of action.

Gerry Abadiano chalked in 11 markers while Ernest Felicilda wound up 13 markers and dished out seven assists.

The UAAP juniors’ champions competed against some of the best young gunners in the Southeast Asian countries including teams from Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and host country Indonesia.

Meanwhile, nine members from the NU volleyball girls team also introduced themselves in the big stage after settling for silver in the same tournament. The Philippine team led by NU girls’ team Coach Regine Diego faced powerhouse Thailand in the final round showing a gallant effort and pushing the game into a thrilling five-set match, 20-25, 29-31, 25-19, 25-18, 9-15.

This is the highest finish of the Philippine volleyball girls’ team since the beginning of the ASEAN School Games in 2008.

National U squads are looking forward to another strong campaign next year as the Philippines is set to host the annual tournament in Dumaguete City.

Cebu Leylam crowned best 7S team in PH THE Cebu Leylam F.C. Niños claimed the inaugural Philam Vitality KAMPEON 7s Cup crown in style, beating Maharlika F.C. Manila in an intense final showdown, 5-3 during the culminating day of the event Sunday at the McKinley Hill Stadium in Taguig.

Marius Kore set the tone for the Cebuanos, scoring a hat-trick in the first half before the Niños held on for the victory to be hailed the best 7s football team in the country. Cebu bested all-star teams from Manila, Bacolod, and Davao.

Leylam F.C. led 3-nil in the first half before Aly Borormeo finally broke resistance for Manila early in the second half inside the box. Moments later, Anton Del Rosario scored on a volley off a set piece as Manila pulled closer.

But Leo Maquiling found himself with a lot of space in the attacking third for Cebu, rifling in another goal past Manila keeper Cedric Hodreal for Cebu’s fourth goal of the championship match.

Not to be outdone, Hamed Hadjimehdi scored on a penalty kick after being fouled inside the box, as Manila once again cut the difference to 4-3 in the 35th minute mark.

Manila had several chances to equalize in the final minutes, including a volley from Borromeo which went above the crossbar, and a strike by Mateo Yuhico that went wide.

Ultimately, a counterattack from Cebu sealed the victory with an assurance goal from Maquiling, making it a brace from the booter out of Sacred Heart Ateneo de Cebu.

F2 Logistics, Petron try to sustain hot PSL streaks Games Today (Ynares Sports Center)

4:15 p.m. -- Petron vs Sta. Lucia 7:00 p.m. -- F2 Logistics vs Marinerang Pilipina

ON TO THE SEA GAMES. The Standard Insurance Duathlon Team earned the right to represent the country in the 30th SEA Games in November after sweeping the recent Philippine Duathlon Series III at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone. The men’s elite team captured the top three places, while the women’s elite placed first and third for the last qualifying round. The Philippine team is managed by Standard Insurance Group Chairman Ernesto “Judes” Echauz (center) and coached by Melvin Fausto and Bernie Llantada.

Joining them are Robeno Javier, Jarwin Banatao, Doy Comendador, Monica Torres and Pawie Fornea. The team, which recently also swept the Singapore National Duathlon, will see action in the Malaysia Trifactor this September as a tuneup for the SEA Games.

Koepka surges to 3-shot victory at WGC in St. Jude

L

OS ANGELES—World number one Brooks Koepka birdied three of the first six holes on the way to winning his first career WGC title Sunday at the St. Jude Invitational.

Koepka outclassed third-ranked Rory McIlroy in a last-duo duel of four-time major champions, their first ever pairing in a final round, for the victory at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

“It’s so special. It gives me chills thinking of it,” Koepka said. “It’s one of my favorite stops on the tour and to win here is very special for me.”

Koepka, who defended a major title at this year’s PGA Championship, fired a bogey-free five-under par 65 to finish on 16-under 264 after 72 holes and defeat American Webb Simpson by three strokes.

It was the seventh career US PGA title for Koepka, the 2017 and 2018 US Open champion and 2018 and 2019 PGA Championship winner. His other prior US tour wins came in 2015 at Phoenix

and in last year’s CJ Cup in South Korea.

“I’ve been playing so well as of late,” Koepka said. “Everything comes if you wait. If you keep playing well and putting yourself in contention good things will happen.”

The final round brought only more frustration for McIlroy, who missed the cut last week at the British Open in Portrush, Northern Ireland, but had taken a one-stroke lead after firing a 62 on Saturday.

Koepka praised the tournament’s charity, the St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, saying it put the highs and lows in golf into a greater perspective.

“I’ve taken a trip to the hospital. It changed my life,” he said. “It puts everything in perspective, how little golf means, how much life matters.”

Simpson was second on 267 after a closing 64 with Australia’s Marc Leishman third on 268 and McIlroy sharing fourth on 269 with England’s Tommy Fleetwood and Matthew Fitzpatrick.

Spain’s Jon Rahm was seventh on 270 with England’s Ian Poulter another stroke adrift.

Rory misses big early Koepka sank a nine-foot birdie putt at the par-5 third hole to grab a share of the lead at 12-under, with McIlroy then missing a four-footer for birdie.

Dropping another nine-foot birdie putt at the par-4 fifth lifted Koepka atop the leaderboard, then he rolled in a tricky 20-footer for birdie at the sixth to seize a two-stroke lead at 14-under.

Koepka’s uncanny iron shots continued at the par-4 10th when he landed his approach to eight feet and sank the birdie putt for a three-stroke edge on McIlroy, who opened with 11 pars before making a bogey at the par-4 12th. AFP

Nerza, Hallasgo humble MILO Marathon rivals Didal ranks 5th

MARATHON newcomer Anthony Nerza and back-to-back Manila champion Christine Hallasgo stamped their athletic mettle at the MILO Nutri-Up 42K centerpiece event after beating almost 2,000 elite runners at the Metro Manila Eliminations of the 2019 National MILO Marathon this Sunday.

Christine Hallasgo outraced its top competitor April Rose Diaz throughout the race to win the women’s division with a time of 3:06:28, while newcomer Anthony Nerza nabbed his debut marathon win in the men’s top honor with a clocking of 2:32:50.

Around 30,000 runners from the 3K, 5K, 10K, 21K and 42K races gathered to join the country’s longest and biggest footrace series which started and ended at the SM Mall of Asia Grounds in Pasay City. Participants were in high spirits over the overcast weather, making this year’s Manila race a perfect day for a morning run.

Winners Nerza and Hallasgo will each take home the top purse of P50,000.00 in cash and a trophy, and booked their slots to the National Finals in Tarlac City on January 2020 to try and claim the MILO Marathon King and Queen titles.

Despite training for only two weeks, Hallasgo managed to preserve a swift and steady pace against runner-up

in word skate

Shown here are (from left) Lester P. Castillo, MILO Sports Manager; EJ Dee, Consumer Marketing Manager, MILO Philippines; Joey Uy, Senior Vice President, Beverages Unit, MILO Philippines; Solenn Heussaff, Nutri-Up Brand Ambassador; MILO Marathon King Anthony Nerza; MILO Marathon Queen Christine Hallasgo; Willie De Ocampo, Business Unit Manager, MILO Philippines; Hensie Go, Channel and Category Sales Development, MILO Philippines; and Luigi Pumaren, MILO Sports Executive.

Diaz, keeping a cool one-kilometer distance against the latter throughout the race. “Nangunguna po ako simula palang ng gunstart,” said Hallasgo.

“Malayo po ang agwat namin ‘nung sumunod sa akin na si Diaz. Siya at may isa pa po ang naghahabulan pero leading

parin po ako hanggang sa huli,” she said.

Under the mentorship of National MILO Marathon record holder Eduardo “Vertek” Buenavista, Hallasgo kept a stringent regimen regardless of the very short lead time she had to prepare for.

New faces vie in IRONMAN 70.3

Lindsey Lawry

ANTIPOLO CITY—F2 Logistics and Petron seek to protect their blazing streaks when they tackle separate foes in the Philippine Superliga All-Filipino Conference Tuesday at the Ynares Sports Center here.

The Blaze Spikers battle Sta. Lucia at 4:15 p.m. while the Cargo Movers collide with Marinerang Pilipina in the 7 p.m. featured encounter of this prestigious women’s club tournament bankrolled

by Team Rebel Sports, SOGO, Eurotel, PCSO, Cocolife, UCPB Gen, Mueller, Senoh, Asics, Bizooku and One Sport.

After hiring Filipino-American Kalei Mau, the Cargo Movers have yet to lose a single game, piling up 10 straight wins to spark speculations that they have what it takes to complete a sweep of the double-round preliminaries.

But in their previous game against Generika-Ayala, the Cargo Movers displayed traces of vulnerability as they flirted with disaster before eking out a 25-19, 25-27, 25-22, 18-25, 15-13 victory over the weekend at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Mau spearheaded the offensive attack and Majoy Baron and Dawn Macandili imposed their will at the defensive end, but F2 Logistics still had a hard time putting down the pesky Lifesavers, who lost skipper Angeli Araneta in to injury in the crucial stretch of the deciding set.

“Our game against Generika-Ayala should serve as a big lesson for the team,” said F2 Logistics coach Ramil de Jesus. “You just can’t go to the venue and play the game. You also have to be prepared and respect your opponent.”

Against Marinerang Pilipina, F2 Logistics is tipped to go hard to gain momentum needed for the tough grind ahead.

The Lady Skippers will be coming in without injured spiker Chiara Permentilla, but the crew of Ivy Remulla, Caitlyn Viray, Rhea Ramirez, Dimdim Pacres, Cesca Racraquin and Judith Abil are expected to step up to claim their first ever victory in this league that also has ESPN5 and Kapatid TV5 as broadcast partners.

MULTI-TITLED age-group campaigner Justin Ghosh takes crack at the big boys of triathlon as he spearheads the roster of newbies vying in the second Regent Aguila IRONMAN 70.3 AsiaPacific Championships presented by Philam Vitality on Aug. 11 in Mactan, Cebu.

Course familiarity won’t pose much of a problem for the 24-year-old Aussie who reigned at the Shangri-La Mactan Resort & Spa back-to-back from 2014-15 in the 18-24 age division, making him one of the bets to watch in the men’s pro category of the 1.9K swim, 90K bike, 21K run event organized by Sunrise Events Inc. Also out to steal the show from the likes of veterans Tim Reed, a former three-time world titlist from Down Under, and defending champion Mauricio Mendez from Mexico

and Aussie veteran Sam Betten, are Lindsey Lawry, another emerging star from talentrich Australia, and Blake Kappler.

The chase for the women’s pro tiara is also tipped to go down to the last burst in the closing part of the premier endurance race with Francesca Sanjana of Great Britain and Aussie Courtney Gilfillan setting out to upend last year’s winner Radka Kahlefeldt, and regular Phl campaigners Swiss Caroline Steffen and Dimity Lee Duke of Australia.

Completing the men’s cast are Bahrain’s Eric Watson, Czech Jakub Langhammer, Aussies Tim Van Berkel, Luke McKenzie and Mitch Robins and New Zealand’s Terenzo Bozzone while boosting the women’s pro roster are Lauren Wood and Amanda Wilson of Australia and Hungary’s Anna Eberhardt.

Justin Ghosh

ASIAN Games gold medalist Margielyn Didal placed fifth in the Street League Skateboarding World Tour last Sunday.

It was the highest finish that a Filipino athlete has reached in the sport when action ended at the CA Skateparks Training Facility in Los Angeles.

The 20-year-old Didal scored 21.2 in the women’s finals.

Didal, who hails from Cebu City, got a higher score over former world champion and five-time Summer X Games gold medalist Leticia Bufoni of Brazil, who had points.

Her score is expected to increase her Tokyo 2020 Olympics ranking points.

It was 11-year-old Brazilian prodigy Rayssa Leal who claimed the top honors with a score of 23.3.

US bet Alana Smith settled for silver with 22.5, while defending champion Aori Nishimura of Japan fell to 3rd place after outperforming Brazil’s Pamela Rosa off a tiebreak (22.1). Peter Atencio

Gilas women’s coach at Forum GILAS Pilipinas women’s team coach Pat Aquino takes the limelight in the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum Tuesday at the Amelie Hotel-Manila.

Aquino was gracious enough to grace the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation despite just coming fresh from the team’s campaign in the annual Jones Cup. The champion coach is expected to talk about the team’s first-ever stint in the cagefest hosted yearly by Chinese Taipei as well as its coming bid in the FIBA Women’s Asia Cup in India this September. The meet is the first qualification for FIBA Asia and FIBA Oceania for the women’s basketball tournament at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

PSA members are enjoined to attend the 10 a.m. session.

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor sports@thestandard.com.ph; sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

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TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

Blazers face Stags, seek share of lead with Lions Games Today (FilOil-Flying V Sports Center, San Juan) 10 a.m. Arellano University vs Perpetual Help Jr Altas 12 noon Letran Knights vs Mapua Cardinals 2 p.m. Arellano University vs University of Perpetual Help 4 p.m. College of St. Benilde vs San Sebastian College 6 p.m. La Salle-Greenies vs San Sebastian Staglets

Edgar Charcos (3) of Perpetual Help drives pass JRU’s Ry Dela Rosa (11) in a game won by the Heavy Bombers, 71-66, in the NCAA Season 95 men’s basketball tournament at the FilOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City. The squad of Coach Frankie Lim tries to bounce back from three setbacks when they face Arellano University Chiefs today. Dennis Abrina

TNT shoots for PBA finals seat

By Jeric Lopez

ON THE verge of finally returning to the finals after a few years, TNT KaTropa looks to get the job done and finish off defending champion Barangay Ginebra in their bestof-five semifinals tilt in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup. Ahead 2-0 in the series, the Tropang Texters go for the jugular against the Gin Kings when they meet again in Game 3 at 7 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City today.

The Tropang Texters haven’t been in the finals for two years and they are now looking for the breakthrough that they are seeking for quite sometime.

Despite the excitement of being a game away from the finals, TNT is still very much wary of the Gin Kings’ bounce back ability.

“We expect Ginebra to come out strong,” said TNT coach Bong Ravena. “They are the defending champions, we don’t expect them to just give it to us so we need to be prepared.”

TNT followed up its tight Game 1 win with a resounding dominance in Game 2 to take the commanding lead over Ginebra.

Behind some torrid three-point shooting, the Tropang Texters emphatically manhandled the Gin Kings in Game 2, 88-71, last Sunday night.

TNT hit a total of 16 triples as Ginebra was unable to find any answers.

The last time the Tropang Texters made a finals’ appearance was back in the same tournament in 2017 when they lost, 2-4, to then champion San Miguel Beer.

Iriga turns back Taguig, 93 to 91 IRIGA City overcame a 25-point deficit to beat Taguig, 93-91, last Saturday in the National Basketball League Season 2 at the Philippine Christian University gym in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

Jester Olea drilled a triple with 15.7 seconds left after Terence Tumalip pulled off a chasedown block for the game-winning plays and allowing the Oragons to grab a 92-91 lead.

Tumalip and Eric Bernales finished with 17 points each, and Olea had 13 points for Iriga City, which improved its record to 7-4 following the comefrom-behind win in which the Oragons trailed 82-57 early in the fourth period.

The Generals slipped to second place with a 9-3 win-loss record.

Meanwhile, reigning champion Parañaque won its fourth straight game with a 74-67 win over CamSur last Sunday at the Hagonoy Sports Complex in Taguig City.

Noy Bermudes chipped in 14 points, and JR Galit had 13 points, six rebounds, and four steals for the Aces, who now have a 10-3 win-loss record heading into the homestretch of the elimination round.

The Express now have a 7-4 record and are now in a four-way tie for sixth place with the Oragons, Imus, and Dasmariñas.

Tolentino’s main focus: SEA Games preparations

By Peter Atencio

B

UCKLING down to work immediately, newly elected Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino said monitoring the progress of ongoing preparations for the 30th Southeast Asian Games and settling disputes involving the membership of several national sports associations will be among the his several immediate goals.

With SEA Games preparations now on their final stretch, Tolentino hopes to be in touch with the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine SEA Games Organizing Committee to find out about the many minor details that need to be addressed.

“Ang SEA Games, doon talaga ang focus natin. Hindi naman tayo humihiwalay pa. We have to focus on that. It’s barely four months to go,” said Tolentino after the president of the Integrated Cycling Federation of the Philippines became the 12th president of the POC last Sunday.

The country, as host of the biennial meet, is holding 56 sports disciplines that will be staged in 44 competition venues spread around Metro Manila and in Pampanga, Zambales and La Union in the north, and in Batangas, Laguna and

to resolve the membership issues of karatedo with muay thai’s Gen. Lucas Managuelod appointed to replace membership committee head Robert Bachmann.

On Sunday, Tolentino won the POC presidential post against athletics head Philip Ella Juico.

Cavite in the south.

Organizers said construction work of the main stadiums for swimming and athletics at the New Clark City Sports Complex in Pampanga is still going on.

With the oval and pool ready for use, the stadiums are expected to be in full use by August 31.

At the moment, issues concerning the membership of karatedo tops the agenda.

There are two groups in karatedo.

One is Karate Pilipinas, which is headed by Richard Lim, and is said to be recognized by the World Karatedo Federation.

Another is the group of Gretchen Malalad, which has the blessing of the POC. With both groups now seeking recognition, the POC hopes

Tolentino

IN THE last three games, the College of St. Benilde Blazers have managed to limit their opponents’ scoring to 40 percent and below.

With improvements in their inside game, the Blazers will try to hold down the San Sebastian Stags’ point production when they meet at 4 p.m. today in the 95th National Collegiate Athletic Association men’s basketball tournament at the FilOil-Flying V Sports Center in San Juan.

Coach TY Tang said his Blazers have been learning a lot since he took over last year and limiting their opponents’ scoring has allowed them to come with their best start in 14 years.

“I think they are more emotional this time around. There are a lot of lessons learned especially coming out of last season,” said Tang after the Blazers held off the Mapua University Cardinals, 71-67, last Thursday.

The Blazers, who held down the Cardinals to 35.29 percent in their field goal shooting, are seeking their fourth straight win and a share of the lead with the defending champion San Beda Red Lions.

Justin Gutang, who got hurt after getting pinned down during a loose ball situation in the dying seconds, should be back in action.

Gutang, who led with 12 points, five rebounds, and three assists against the Cardinals, has averages of 27 minutes on the floor and norms 12.7 points, 10. 3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.

James Pasturan can back him up with 11.7 points, four rebounds and 2.3 assists.

The Stags (2-2), on the other hand, will seek to bounce back from two straight losses, including their 69-80 at the hands of the Lyceum Pirates.

Earlier, the Letran Knights (4-1) will clash with the winless Cardinals at 12 noon, while the Arellano University Chiefs take on the University of Perpetual Help Altas at 2 p.m.

In the junior division, Arellano University (3-1) meets University of Perpetual Help Junior Altas at 10 a.m., while the La Salle Greenhills Greenies (2-1) mix it up with the San Sebastian Staglets at 6 p.m. Peter Atencio

Work on Romero Polo Field continues AWAY from the main hub of the 30th SEA Games —the New Clark City Sports Complex in Tarlac, works at the Miguel Romero Polo Field in Calatagan, Batangas are going on at feverish pace.

While the field looks great, the Bamboo Pavilion —from the architect’s rendering—is fabulous as it is majestically designed since royalties of Brunei and Malaysia and the rich and famous of the region are likely to watch the matches.

United Polo Players Association Chairman and Rep. Mikee Romero (1Pacman Partylist) yesterday said the that Brunei Sultan - Hassanal Bolkiah—and the Malaysian King—Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah—are expected to watch several matches of the event.

“We’re now excited since works are now in full blast, we want to have a first class field and a first competition,” said Romero. “We want to show that

we—Filipinos—are capable of hosting an event as big as the SEA Games.”

Romero is hoping that the field and other facilities will be completed weeks before the Nov. 25 opening.

Romero is likewise confident that with the election of Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, polo will continue to flourish.

“Sports are now in good hands, since unity is Tolentino’s foremost goal,” said Romero who once headed the shooting and cycling association.

The former “godfather” of amateur basketball also challenged all heads of various national sports associations to focus on winning the overall championship of the biennial meet.

“This year is our time to shine in the sporting arena,” said Romero UPPA is headed by Coco Garcia with Jun Juban as secretary-general, Tonio Veloso as executive-general and Jun Eusebio as vice chairman.

The architect’s rendering of the Bamboo Pavilion at the Miguel Romero Polo Field in Calatagan, Batangas.

PH’s aim to reach Tokyo Olympics’ 3x3 gets boost

The PH rose to no. 24 in the world 3x3 basketball rankings, thanks to an active local scene, such as the Chooks 3x3 Patriots Cup.

THE Philippines now has better chances of achieving its Olympic dream in 3x3 basketball.

After moving up to no. 24 in the world rankings, the Philippines is now a candidate to earn an invitation to Olympic Qualifying Tournaments.

“This is a surprising development even for us,” said Chooks to Go 3x3 Pilipinas league owner Ronald Mascariñas, who is actively pursuing the goal of making the Philippines a qualifier to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Mascariñas added that this is a big improvement after having started the year at 60 in the world rankings.

According to Mascariñas, many said that making it to an Olympic Qualifying Tournament was improbable.

“But with the people who believed in the dream, the team owners, the players, the sponsors, and the hard work of our staff, we were able to crack the Top 24,” said Mascariñas.

The Philippines was ranked no. 28 with 6,257,888 points last month, before the Grand Finals of the Chooks 3x3 Patriots Cup. This moved the Philippines four spots higher, even ahead of the Dominican Republic, Canada, Indonesia and Switzerland.

Besides the local league, the

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas and other private promoters are also pitching in to boost the country’s standings.

This was after the Gilas 3X3 national team recently joined the 2019 FIBA 3X3 Asia Cup. “Our Gilas Pilipinas 3x3 national teams’ participation in international tournaments combined with local activations initiated by Smart Communications and other local promoters have also helped the men’s and women’s rankings in the Open, U-23, and U-18 categories,” said Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas president Alfredo Panlilio.

Peter Atencio

IN BRIEF Meralco power auction draws strong interest

THE competitive selection process or public bidding on the requirement of Manila Electric Co. to purchase 2,900 megawatts of power supply has received strong interest from major industry players.

“Given the number of firms that have expressed interest as of date, we could say that it is a competitive field already.

It’s not really a matter of simply number that we have to really see the level of, or the capacity of this supposed interested bidders to really bid. So it looks like most of the major players are interested, which is a good outcome,” said Meralco president Ray Espinosa.

Meralco has published invitation to bids for the supply of 500 MW of capacity for its mid-merit requirements over a five-year period. Meralco has initially received interest from seven companies to participate in the CSP. It also issued an invitation to bid for the supply of 1,200 MW of power over a 20year period from March 2024.

It published the first invitation to bid for the 10-year supply of 1,200 MW capacity for its base load requirement, which received interest from 11 interested parties. Alena Mae S. Flores

Business

Oil firms support DoF’s fuel marking program

THE Philippine Institute of Petroleum on Monday expressed full support to the fuel marking program of the Department of Finance as a mechanism to fight smuggling and deter revenue leakages.

Members of the PIP include Chevron Philippines Inc., Isla LPG Corp., Petron Corp., Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., PTT Philippines Corp. and Total Philippines Corp.

“As early as last year, our members have been working closely with the DoF to ensure the program’s proper and effective implementation. We support the government’s efforts to curb smuggling which continues to undermine the industry and the government in general,” PIP said.

The DoF consulted PIP member-companies on the draft Implementing Rules and Regulations in June while initial visits were also conducted by the agency, along with implementing bodies Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Internal Revenue and fuel marking provider SICPA SA of Switzerland and SGS Philippines in several PIP-member facilities.

Alena Mae S. Flores

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

B1

By Darwin G. Amojelar

Philippine Airlines chairman and chief executive Dr. Lucio Tan (left) shakes hands with Gilbert Santa Maria, the new president of chief operating officer of the flag carrier after Jaime Bautista retired on June 30.

Stocks of PCSO suppliers plunge after freeze order

By Jenniffer B. Austria

T

HE stock prices of two listed companies that provide technology solutions to state-run Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office fell Monday after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the agency to stop all lottery and gaming operations.

Berjaya Philippines Inc., which has 39.99-percent equity in lotto equipment provider Philippine Gaming Management Corp., saw its stock drop 6.5 percent to P2.44, while the share price of Pacific Online Systems Corp. declined 13.6 percent to P2.53.

PGMC and POSC said in separate disclosures to the stock exchange they were hoping the government would soon lift the suspension of all gaming activities of PCSO while insisting that their transactions with the government agency were all in accordance aboveboard.

POSC said the negative impact of the suspension on the company’s operations was “inestimable” at this time.

The company said, however, that this could have a negative impact on PSCO’s ability to raise funds for its charity works and on the lives of many people whose livelihood were connected, directly or indirectly, with PCSO’s gaming operations.

“The corporation can only hope that the suspension will be lifted sooner rather than later. Further, the corporation is fully confident that, as a listed company, its transactions with PCSO on both lotto and Keno were entered into in

accordance with the law, and are aboveboard and fair,” POSC said.

POSC is the lessor of the online lottery system being used by PCSO for its lotto operations in the Visayas and Mindanao. Its subsidiary Total Gaming Technologies Inc. is the equipment lessor for PCSO’s Keno game nationwide.

Meanwhile, Berjaya Philippines said the suspension of all PCSO gaming activities would only have an effect on the company if the suspension was extended.

“PGMC hopes that the suspension will not be for an extended period of time for the sake of its more than 74 employees,” Berjaya said.

PGMC said that its dealings with PCSO had always been above board.

“PGMC does not hold revenue for PCSO, does not distribute it, is not involved in operations, but is merely the lessor of equipment in the Luzon area,” the company said.

GGDC, Excelsium set to develop 130 hectares in Clark GLOBAL Gateway Development Corp., a developer owned by Udenna’s Clark Global City Corp., tapped Excelsium Inc. to develop more than 130 hectares of remaining undeveloped areas in Clark Global City.

GGDC said the land development and construction project was estimated to cost around P4 billion and would last for 22 months from the signing of the agreement between the parties.

“We are excited to welcome Excelsium as another key partner in the rise of this new premier central business district. Part of the vision for Clark Global City is to make it a suitable place for business, life and innovation that would attract the country’s young labor force,” GGDC chairman Dennis Uy said.

“What can be more appropriate than to partner with a like-minded team known for its engineering innovation,” he said.

Clark Global City president Freddie Placino said: “One of Udenna’s core values is our need for speed. We work with urgency. This is in line with our strategy to fast-track the development of Clark Global City. By joining forces with Excelsium, we can sooner bring to fruition our vision of developing Clark Global City as the new center for business.”

Excelsium is a special purpose vehicle under Excelsior Holdings Inc., a real estate investment company focused on residential, office and commercial developments in Metro Manila and Central Luzon particularly Clark Global City.

The real estate firm is dedicated to exploring opportunities in the growing real estate market inside Clark Freeport Zone. Darwin G. Amojelar

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

PAL appoints Santa Maria as new president

MinDA, Peza push Mindanao ecozones

THE Mindanao Development Authority and Philippine Economic Zone Authority agreed to take steps to speed ip the creation of economic zones in Mindanao, especially agro-ecozones.

Peza director general Charito Plaza and MinDA OIC-Chairman Nathaniel Dalumpines met to discuss Mindanao’s potential economic zone areas, following the enforcement of Administrative Order 18, which seeks to “accelerate rural progress through robust development of Special Economic Zones in the countryside”.

“Local government units (LGUs) which for a long time been host of ecozones like Cavite, Mactan, Baguio City, CALABARZON region, Bataan, Clark, and Subic are very progressive, productive, and rank highest in contributing to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in social progress, and they have the lowest poverty and crime incidences,” said Plaza.

“They enjoy peace and prosperity.

Thus, we want such progress replicated in the countryside, in Mindanao, and other poorer and security-challenged provinces nationwide. We aim to spread economic development and opportunities to more localities,” she added. Othel V. Campos

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

THE board of directors of Philippine Airlines on Monday appointed USbased executive Gilbert Santa Maria as the new president and chief operating officer who will focus on bringing the flag carrier to profitability.

Santa Maria will replace Jaime Bautista who retired on June 30 and will work alongside PAL chairman and chief executive Dr. Lucio Tan and executive vice president Vivienne Tan. The 15-man PAL board, in its regular meeting at the Century Park HotelManila, unanimously approved Santa Maria, a handpicked nominee of Tan. “I call on all PAL executives and staff to support Gilbert Santa Maria.

Let’s work together and help him face PAL’s many challenges,” Tan said.

Santa Maria, an electrical engineer from Mindanao who went on to become a top business process outsourcing executive in the Philippines and the US, said it was a privilege to serve the country’s flag carrier while urging his fellow PAL workers to help him achieve Dr. Tan’s vision of making PAL the airline of choice across all the markets it serves.

“PAL is the airline that meets the needs of local and global travelers by showcasing our brand’s main strength―the passion for safety and service. Maintaining the current level of service is important and of course, profitability. Let us do our share to make PAL reach greater heights.

I will be with you every step of the way,” he said.

“It is important for my father’s vision to be translated into PAL providing consistent quality service to our customers and also, the flag carrier serving as a means to contribute to nation-building. With this new leadership, we will accomplish this further,” said Vivienne Tan who also serves as the chief administrative officer.

Skytrax in June listed PAL as the top 30 airline in the world, rising 19 spots from top 49 in 2018, and a full 60 spots from top 90 in 2013.

Santa Maria, who has BS degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Philippines in Diliman and a Master’s in Public and Private Management from the Yale University School of Management, has three decades of executive management and leadership experience gained across multiple industries in companies around the world.

Meralco’s core income rose 14% in first semester

By Alena Mae S. Flores

AXA-PGH PARTNERSHIP. AXA Philippines, one of the leading insurance companies in the country, signs a strategic partnership with Preferred Global Health Ltd., a global patient organization based in Boston, USA. Through the agreement, AXA Philippines’ clients gain access to Preferred Consultation and Care, which includes expert advice for diagnosis verification and treatment plans from highly experienced Harvard-affiliated doctors from US hospitals. Signing the agreement are (from left) AXA Philippines chief of retail proposition Alok Rungta, AXA Philippines president and CEO Rahul Hora, PGH global director of care management services Andrew Sokolov and PGH Asia CEO Ramneet Walia.

Customs collected P6.5b following rice liberalization policy

THE Bureau of Customs collected some P6.5 billion in duties from rice imports by private traders following the implementation of Republic Act No. 11203, or the Rice Liberalization Act, in March this year.

Collections from the rice imports of private traders would be earmarked for the annual P10-billion Rice Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, which was set up to finance the modernization of the agriculture sector and directly provide farmers with access to credit and training and funds for mechanization, high-quality seeds and fertilizers.

Data showed that as a result of the liberalized rice trade following President Rodrigo Duterte’s signing of RA 11203, the average retail cost of the staple declined by at least P7 per kilogram.

The BoC said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that it collected a total of P6.479 billion from importer-traders under RA 11203 as of July 15. Another P3.103 billion was earned in duties from import permits issued by the National Food Authority since January this year.

The bulk of the collections were from rice import duties under RA 11203 reported by the Port of Subic which collected P1.598 billion, followed by the Manila International Container Port with P1.033 billion and the Port of Manila with P998.77 million.

The BOC said that at an average of P1.4 billion a month, it was on course to collect a minimum of P10 billion needed for the RCEF per year.

Section 13(c) of the Rice Tariffication

Law states that 10 percent of the P10billion RCEF should be made available in the form of credit facility with minimal interest rates and with minimum collateral requirements to rice farmers and cooperatives.

The rest of the RCEF will be set aside for farm machinery and equipment; rice seed development, propagation and promotion; and rice extension services.

Rice importers are required under RA 11203 to secure sanitary and phytosanitary import clearances from the DA’s Bureau of Plant Industry which assumed the food safety regulation function of the NFA under the law.

This requirement will ensure that rice imports are free from pests and diseases that could affect public health and local farm production. Darwin G. Amojelar

POWER retailer Manila Electric Co. said Monday core net income increased 14 percent in the first half to P12.3 billion from P10.85 billion a year ago on higher sales volume and revenues.

Meralco’s said net income was flat in the period at P12 billion. Reported net income excludes the effects of foreign exchange gains or losses, markto-market adjustments and other onetime, exceptional transactions.

Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the full-year financial forecast was driven by sales volume which soared 8.3 percent in July alone.

“We are quite optimistic that core profitability will be better than last year’s P22.4 billion. At least P23 billion this year, to be safe,” Pangilinan said.

Consolidated revenues went up 10 percent in the six-month period to P165 billion from P150.5 billion in the same period last year led by higher charges at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the weakening of the peso versus the dollar and the 5-percent increase in energy sales volume.

Consolidated electricity sales volumes grew 5 percent year-on-year to 22,823 gigawatt-hours, as average temperature registered an almost 2-degree-Celsius increase compared with the same month in 2018.

B2

Business

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market ends flat; SM Prime up T HE stock market closed virtually flat Monday with investors cautious ahead of US-China talks in Shanghai this week.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 4.53 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,188.52 on a value turnover of P4.8 billion. Losers, however, edged gainers, 100 to 91, with 53 issues unchanged.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fast-food chain, gained 0.3 percent to P252.80 after investors dumped the stock last week following its decision to acquire The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, a specialty coffee and tea chain based in Los Angeles, California, for $350 million. Analysts have said market investors turned cautious on Jollibee, viewing the latest purchase as a costly invest-

ment.

SM Prime Holdings Inc., the largest integrated property company, rose 1.9 percent to P38.20. International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator, declined 3 percent to P129, while conglomerate Ayala Corp. fell 2 percent to P963.

Meanwhile, the rest of Asian markets were mostly down Monday, amid more civil unrest in Hong Kong.

Two-day discussions between the US and China begin on Tuesday with a Washington delegation led by White House Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

But analysts are pessimistic about a resolution to the year-long trade dispute between the world’s top two economies that has seen $360 billion in tariffs imposed on bilateral trade.

“Hoping for the best but preparing for the worst best describes my view,” said Vanguard Markets managing part-

ner Stephen Innes. “We are not overly optimistic about a positive Shanghai surprise.”

Seoul fell 1.8 percent amid an ongoing trade spat with Tokyo, which restricted export of materials key to South Korean tech firms earlier this month.

The Nikkei closed down 0.2 percent ahead of a long slate of earnings figures this week, while Shanghai finished 0.2 percent lower.

Hong Kong was among the biggest downward movers on Tuesday with the Hang Seng falling more than two percent after a fresh round of violent protests over the weekend, before paring losses to close one percent lower.

Pro-democracy demonstrators in the financial hub fought a second consecutive day of running battles with police on Sunday evening in a well-heeled residential district, a day after clashes at a banned rally in a town near the border

with mainland China.

Real estate shares were among the biggest losers from the political uncertainty, with commercial property developer Swire down three percent and subway operator MTR down 3.4 percent at the close.

The weekend protests were “factoring quite negatively into the overall risk equation”, Innes said, with traders concerned that Washington may speak in support of the demonstrators.

“If they do, it would not only throw this week’s trade discussion into disarray but could jeopardize bilateral trade negotiations going forward,” he added.

The city’s American Chamber of Commerce on Monday urged officials to address grievances fueling the protests―which have carried on for nearly two months―and “restore confidence” in the city’s reputation as an international business and financial center.

With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, JULY 29, 2019

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 58.5 3,100 89.95 1,861,720 2.25 1,353,000 148.5 1,296,750 1.15 2,000 26.9 67,000 18.7 1,300 12.4 291,700 4.72 11,000 1.34 1,000 0.46 80,000 75.25 1,204,640 1.15 1,198,000 13.2 188,400 21.5 500 49.9 131,300 192 110 59.1 5,920 30 747,300 185 200,980 1,760 80 60.1 23,280

180,934 166,979,080 3,046,250 192,282,758 2,300 1,809,645 24,240 3,616,742 51,570 1,340 37,100 90,883,050.50 1,358,650 2,486,880 10,750 6,570,825 21,120 350,375 22,274,545 37,130,264 141,200 1,398,889

175,681 22,534,747.50 -2,972,210 -29,420,431 -1,231,095 1,870 -397,548 -5,321,204.50 11,200 -1,862,731.50 -1,011,000 18,288,717 -933,654

36.35 13.8 0.77 1.31 0.265 2.81 14.84 16.12 41.75 78.1 93.3 2.03 5.19 6.27 10.36 14.42 10.66 7.45 1.69 26.1 87 58 2.16 13.98 9.45 1.65 242 50 8.85 23.45 14.14 18.64 370.6 0.187 5.5 1.63 4.75 5.59 9 2.5 11.76 38.5 5.08 5.05 1.35 1.06 13.64 100.1 6.7 0.127 1.13 167 2.46 1.22 16.12 1.26

INDUSTRIAL 36.5 911,100 14.26 1,019,300 0.78 813,000 1.31 382,000 0.275 820,000 2.97 18,458,000 15 71,000 16.3 121,300 41.75 500 79.95 5,640 93.3 20 2.08 3,000 5.19 60,000 6.39 103,800 10.38 718,200 14.42 1,391,100 10.98 585,300 7.55 163,000 1.69 1,000 26.45 1,026,600 87.2 66,930 60.85 120,610 2.2 11,458,000 14.04 399,400 9.6 208,200 1.7 160,000 252.8 2,056,700 50 10 8.99 2,000 23.7 1,376,500 14.16 197,700 18.96 940,100 372 176,260 0.187 200,000 5.5 194,400 1.72 4,690,000 4.86 54,000 5.59 651,800 9 52,700 2.52 35,079,000 11.96 12,000 38.75 51,300 5.22 1,900 5.05 70,200 1.42 719,000 1.06 429,000 13.7 102,800 102 75,740 6.75 76,700 0.127 10,000 1.13 209,000 170 745,770 2.48 95,000 1.23 1,121,000 16.12 500 1.32 4,360,000

33,254,960 14,306,952 633,790 500,450 218,750 54,123,340 1,061,528 1,969,000 20,875 442,766 1,866 6,140 311,400 663,129 7,477,268 20,173,794 6,345,380 1,228,368 1,690 27,120,945 5,837,529.50 7,236,521.50 25,152,930 5,597,198 1,985,749 266,620 515,965,352 500 17,728 32,443,170 2,797,894 17,757,674 65,652,392 37,400 1,070,108 7,851,800 261,290 3,654,702 474,800 90,406,530 143,328 1,985,080 9,729 354,914 1,006,900 456,820 1,407,756 7,639,830 524,225 1,270 236,210 126,244,416 233,780 1,374,560 8,060 5,659,060

-15,295,545 422,152 -377,310 11,511,040 155,788 113,400 -385,621 2,321,556 -5,139,548 4,059,070 362,092 12,022,780 -561,449.50 -355,554 6,053,350 531,464 948,150 16,500 93,079,422 -5,160,910 1,207,556 3,972,778 -14,201,388 -2,234,100 -287,037 90,500 1,333,320 -468,025 -303,909 111,300 10,800 643,242 288,135 1,352 -31,845,095 226,340 -63,590 -24,510

1.03 54.25 15.6 0.71 7 16.92 1.3 1.32 959.5 4.24 6.97 10.2 13.8 4.48 0.224 941 6.41 65.15 4.52 14.62 0.68 4.7 0.039 1.39 2.92 174 2.7 998.5 0.85 1.37 259 0.233 0.28

HOLDING FIRMS 1.05 70,794,000 55.5 1,080,020 15.74 2,204,900 0.72 777,000 7 360,000 17 134,500 1.33 1,981,000 1.35 185,000 963 213,690 4.28 6,676,000 7 941,200 10.48 2,081,400 14 10,400 4.48 1,000 0.23 240,000 967 91,620 6.41 20,000 66.95 455,870 4.52 366,000 14.88 2,336,300 0.7 1,879,000 4.78 15,537,000 0.039 8,000,000 1.5 2,203,000 2.92 20,000 175.9 366,060 2.7 1,000 1,020 264,335 0.86 336,000 1.4 103,000 260 60 0.233 200,000 0.285 1,470,000

74,814,770 59,573,173.50 34,539,984 558,710 2,520,140 2,286,592 2,619,570 246,530 206,441,560 28,586,010 6,577,658 21,599,360 145,546 4,480 54,080 87,979,860 128,300 30,092,401.50 1,654,870 34,411,122 1,308,910 74,044,570 312,000 3,231,480 58,400 64,229,327 2,700 267,378,505 288,020 141,160 15,570 46,600 412,250

-257,500 -48,209,040.50 -9,568,924 -1,120,140 174,630 -37,930,425 -6,472,920.00 870,095 -7,846,908 -15,280 -1,364,295 -115,440 -5,654,393 -691,670 -22,331,676 27,182,280 341,790 4,734,183 51,415,392.50 27,400 -

15.6 0.83 2 1.04 50.95 2.19 5.09 6.16 0.6 0.82 0.89 0.238 0.45 10.3 23.8 0.47 0.124 1.92 1.37 6.12 0.335 0.45 1.71 0.4 2.02 27.1

PROPERTY 15.82 221,200 0.85 296,000 2.17 127,000 1.12 25,903,000 51.3 2,742,030 2.23 1,943,000 5.1 667,100 6.16 5,500 0.61 10,224,000 0.82 3,000 0.91 41,000 0.239 290,000 0.455 1,990,000 10.5 724,000 24 227,200 0.475 1,100,000 0.124 210,000 1.93 25,055,000 1.38 1,632,000 6.2 7,244,300 0.345 7,280,000 0.48 340,000 1.73 2,470,000 0.4 650,000 2.04 1,556,000 27.8 1,333,700

3,488,942 247,200 260,120 28,391,360 140,303,653 4,280,300 3,404,567 33,880 6,189,040 2,460 36,970 69,300 897,600 7,597,064 5,467,040 518,500 26,040 48,368,040 2,253,010 44,824,697 2,464,800 154,000 4,277,440 260,000 3,201,610 37,047,080

156,678 850 -67,740 -39,073,583 14,860 25,550 -6,776 3,050 -105,000 1,379,030 -2,889,270 -9,961,343 10,150 317,140 16,486,715

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

58.1 90.6 2.38 148.5 1.15 27.05 18.6 12.3 4.66 1.34 0.46 75.5 1.15 13.2 21.5 50.3 192 59.6 28.5 185 1,770 60

58.5 90.6 2.38 149.7 1.15 27.15 18.7 12.48 4.72 1.34 0.475 75.8 1.16 13.2 21.5 50.5 192 59.6 31 185 1,770 61

58.1 89.25 2.18 147 1.15 26.9 18.6 12.3 4.66 1.34 0.46 75.15 1.1 13.2 21.5 49.9 192 59.1 28.05 182.1 1,760 60

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

36.6 13.9 0.77 1.31 0.265 2.81 14.84 16.4 41.75 80.9 93.3 2.03 5.19 6.27 10.44 14.7 10.9 7.45 1.69 26.8 87.05 59.1 2.22 14 9.47 1.69 254.8 50 8.85 23.55 14.18 18.7 375 0.187 5.51 1.68 4.76 5.61 9.05 2.54 11.94 38.9 5.08 5.09 1.49 1.08 13.84 100.4 6.7 0.127 1.13 171 2.48 1.25 16.12 1.28

36.65 14.28 0.79 1.32 0.275 2.98 15.1 16.44 41.75 82 93.3 2.08 5.19 6.48 10.48 14.7 10.98 7.55 1.69 26.85 87.85 60.9 2.22 14.1 9.6 1.7 257 50 8.99 23.8 14.18 19.06 379.4 0.187 5.53 1.72 4.86 5.65 9.05 2.63 11.96 39.2 5.22 5.09 1.49 1.08 13.84 102.5 6.99 0.127 1.14 171 2.48 1.25 16.12 1.32

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 FJ PRINCE A FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA REPUBLIC GLASS SAN MIGUEL CORP SEAFRONT RES SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

1.04 56.5 15.8 0.71 7.02 17.2 1.3 1.32 971 4.28 6.99 10.38 14.06 4.48 0.226 965 6.43 66.05 4.52 14.96 0.7 4.75 0.039 1.42 2.92 174.8 2.7 1,015 0.85 1.37 260 0.233 0.28

1.09 56.5 15.8 0.74 7.02 17.6 1.33 1.35 980 4.3 7 10.52 14.06 4.48 0.23 968 6.43 66.95 4.53 14.96 0.71 4.8 0.039 1.51 2.92 176.5 2.7 1,020 0.86 1.4 260 0.233 0.285

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

15.8 0.86 2.13 1.06 51.4 2.2 5.1 6.16 0.61 0.82 0.89 0.24 0.455 10.46 24.45 0.47 0.124 1.95 1.39 6.24 0.345 0.45 1.76 0.4 2.11 28

15.86 0.86 2.17 1.13 51.65 2.26 5.13 6.16 0.61 0.82 0.91 0.24 0.455 10.56 24.45 0.475 0.124 1.96 1.4 6.24 0.345 0.48 1.76 0.4 2.12 28

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

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

2.43 3.19 37.55 2.12 6.06 0.81 7.82

2.52 3.28 38.2 2.18 6.16 0.81 7.82

2.41 3.19 37.5 2.1 6 0.81 7.66

2.5 3.28 38.2 2.17 6.1 0.81 7.74

4,477,000 681,000 6,651,100 990,000 159,000 21,000 5,045,400

11,126,430 2,210,620 251,190,575 2,127,100 963,881 17,010 38,990,784

177,510 -228,900 -50,271,765 -21,600 -8,100 -13,166,394

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

10.7 18.6 1.49 0.51 0.048 19.9 2.3 11.5 0.066 95.5 7.19 7.5 2.07 9.61 2,210 5.37 425 2.11 1.84 132 9.7 5.7 0.112 5.5 14.14 3.66 0.91 19.78 0.53 3.5 2.69 1.45 2.56 2 9 2.91 5.59 159.9 3.94 1,139 0.68 0.79 46 78 9.27 3.16 0.74 0.365 5.46 0.81 15.94

10.7 18.7 1.52 0.52 0.049 19.9 2.46 11.64 0.066 95.65 7.19 7.58 2.1 9.96 2,260 5.4 425 2.13 1.9 134 9.7 5.7 0.113 5.5 14.14 3.7 0.93 19.9 0.53 3.5 2.69 1.45 2.64 2.58 9.1 2.91 5.59 160 4.05 1,148 0.7 0.81 46.4 78.75 9.4 3.2 0.76 0.37 5.52 0.81 15.96

10.6 18.4 1.45 0.5 0.046 19.9 2.2 11.4 0.065 95.2 7.19 7.44 2.07 9.61 2,190 5.37 411.6 2.03 1.84 128.2 9.7 5.6 0.112 5.3 14.14 3.5 0.9 19.42 0.51 3.5 2.6 1.45 2.5 2 8.99 2.91 5.02 145.2 3.82 1,133 0.65 0.78 45.25 77.75 9.18 3.16 0.74 0.355 5.46 0.77 15.92

SERVICES 10.6 18.4 1.52 0.5 0.049 19.9 2.44 11.64 0.065 95.5 7.19 7.49 2.1 9.64 2,260 5.38 424 2.05 1.9 129 9.7 5.6 0.113 5.39 14.14 3.62 0.93 19.44 0.51 3.5 2.6 1.45 2.56 2.54 8.99 2.91 5.3 150.3 3.95 1,134 0.7 0.8 46 78.05 9.4 3.17 0.74 0.365 5.52 0.79 15.96

2,400 123,600 13,000 1,074,000 36,900,000 300 3,250,000 833,200 10,780,000 112,350 3,300 690,400 6,000 6,600 26,095 75,000 180 1,646,000 13,000 886,000 300 16,500 300,000 1,850,600 300 3,078,000 266,000 243,000 543,000 2,000 1,633,000 5,000 3,413,000 2,458,000 48,400 1,000 392,500 3,450 14,409,000 77,615 39,649,000 7,285,000 504,400 415,000 31,400 1,339,000 4,253,000 2,890,000 470,100 5,658,000 317,200

25,510 2,299,082 19,170 538,150 1,737,500 5,970 7,616,140 9,573,668 701,030 10,725,628.50 23,727 5,167,861 12,480 63,909 58,509,050 402,957 74,806 3,411,220 24,640 114,866,188 2,910 93,150 33,800 9,966,686 4,242 11,041,520 245,600 4,765,422 278,430 7,000 4,280,070 7,250 8,755,910 5,836,910 435,799 2,910 2,178,092 523,822 56,470,040 88,352,445 26,880,590 5,782,690 23,156,125 32,385,924 289,870 4,247,360 3,161,730 1,049,050 2,583,636 4,396,660 5,058,228

-9,400 66,470 1,612,814 3,168,411.50 683,934 -19,280 -11,705,290 174,250 -40,103,827 139,609.00 142,930 -2,365,608 -118,040 24,450 -140,560 1,968,930 -70,697 1,040,010 -41,867,675 1,695,920 69,640 -12,101,350 -1,505,661.50 -276,840 82,230 1,720,650 -537,110 -90,860 3,007,476

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

0.0017 1.22 12.98 1.14 2.75 0.27 7.7 1.47 0.223 0.107 0.0073 1.09 2.52 1.1 0.53 0.86 0.012 0.013 0.011 5.44 3.44 8.64 23.8 0.0062

0.0017 1.24 12.98 1.14 2.75 0.27 7.79 1.48 0.231 0.108 0.0073 1.12 2.55 1.1 0.53 0.86 0.012 0.013 0.011 6.07 3.5 9.06 24.2 0.0062

0.0016 1.2 12.4 1.14 2.74 0.27 7.56 1.44 0.222 0.107 0.0073 1.06 2.47 1.04 0.53 0.83 0.012 0.013 0.011 5.35 3.44 8.62 23.45 0.0062

MINING & OIL 0.0017 129,000,000 1.23 4,783,000 12.82 14,600 1.14 202,000 2.75 347,000 0.27 820,000 7.6 77,300 1.45 2,008,000 0.226 420,000 0.108 370,000 0.0073 1,000,000 1.1 660,000 2.5 5,767,000 1.07 27,000 0.53 3,000 0.84 1,884,000 0.012 7,500,000 0.013 400,000 0.011 2,700,000 6.07 1,999,400 3.48 379,000 9 4,007,600 23.9 1,517,600 0.0062 2,000,000

212,000 5,832,530 185,094 230,280 951,120 221,400 588,506 2,934,410 93,970 39,600 7,300 717,360 14,411,090 28,870 1,590 1,590,770 90,000 5,200 29,700 11,561,920 1,313,820 35,785,216 36,230,380 12,400

330,880 -230,280.00 612,420 4,146,300 10,010 -1,300 3,504 -186,340 881,392.00 699,875 -

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

17.6 495 99.8 105.3 490 5.28 99.65 1.05 990 1,005 107.4 1.38 985 75 77 75 74.5 74.95 75

17.6 499 100 105.3 490 5.48 99.75 1.06 990 1,012 107.4 1.38 985 75 77 75.2 74.5 75 75

17.6 495 99.8 105.1 490 5.28 99.65 1.05 990 1,005 107.4 1.38 985 75 76.6 75 74.5 74.95 75

PREFERRED 17.6 37,500 499 1,010 99.8 5,610 105.2 82,100 490 10 5.48 23,000 99.75 420 1.06 1,982,000 990 500 1,010 13,860 107.4 20 1.38 1,000 985 550 75 600 76.6 2,290 75 33,030 74.5 13,400 75 8,320 75 662,150

660,000 500,350 559,905 8,636,831 4,900 121,798 41,888.50 2,092,380 495,000 14,018,110 2,148 1,380 541,750 45,000 175,998 2,480,762.50 998,300 623,634 49,661,250

-484,000 -49,900 4,900 -11,814 2,224,150 -

LR WARRANT

1.72

1.74

1.72

WARRANTS 1.74 69,000

119,060

-

ITALPINAS XURPAS

6.61 1.05

6.61 1.06

6.36 1.03

6.5 1.06

13,420,944 2,167,330

628,410 -583,600

FIRST METRO ETF

122.6

122.6

121.8

1,156,688

-

USD DMPL A1 USD TECH B2

10.28 0.99

10.28 0.99

10.26 0.99

101,694 8,910

-

MS TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS

SHARES 9,394,587

92,945,785 122,064,268

PROPERTY

112,355,338

SERVICES

155,962,051

MINING & OIL

170,447,270

GRAND TOTAL

667,336,184

SME

2,078,000 2,078,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 122.6 9,440 DDS 10.26 0.99

9,900 9,000

VALUE 1,848.85 (up) 0.36 584,225,191.17 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,449.21 (down) 18.53 1,31,027,768.76 HOLDING FIRMS 8,008.68 (up) 9.56 1,060,911,702.163 PROPERTY 4,365.85 (up) 18.76 1,635.39 (down) 16.51 651,336,761.94 SERVICES MINING & OIL 7,920.41 (up) 49.44 1,282,273,210.72 PSEI 8,188.52 (up) 4.53 113,111,434.2822 All Shares Index 4,963.04 (up) 7.44 4,839,633,833.20 Gainers: 91; Losers: 100; Unchanged: 53; Total: 244

UnionBank’s net profit rose 46% to P2.6b in 2nd quarter

By Darwin G. Amojelar UNION Bank of the Philippines said Monday net income rose 46 percent to P2.6 billion in the second quarter of the year from P1.78 billion year-on-year, driven by double-digit growth in net interest income and lower operating expenses.

Net profit in the first six months of the year increased 2 percent to P4.8 billion, as the bank sustained the growth of earning assets despite lower margins and strategic investment in its digital transformation.

“The continuous improvement of our margins contributed to our strong topline results. OpEx growth was also kept manageable amid the integration of PR Savings Bank with CitySavings and continued investments in digital transformation,” said Jose Emmanuel Hilado, UnionBank treasurer and chief financial officer.

“We are optimistic that we can sustain this momentum for the rest of the year, with potential upsides to our margins, as interest rates start to normalize.

We are clearly seeing the fruits of our transformation push. Our improved efficiencies enabled us to onboard more retail customers into our platforms. We were able to manage expenses without slowing down on our strategic initiatives,” he added.

Higher fee income from consumer businesses and securities trading gains also contributed to the improved bottom line in the first half of 2019.

Profitability and efficiency ratios were above industry and better than last year’s, with return on equity at 10.6 percent, return on assets at 1.4 percent and revenue-to-expense ratio at 1.7x.

UnionBank’s total assets as of end June this year stood at P704.5 billion, higher by 13 percent year-on-year.

Customer loans amounted to P328.3 billion, with credit cards (+39 percent year-on-year), consumer business (+31 percent year-on-year), and commercial loans (+16 percent year-on-year) driving the portfolio growth.

COL Financial expects volatile bull run in PH

By Jenniffer B. Austria COL Financial Inc., an online brokerage firm, expects the Philippine bull run to be very volatile as global economic outlook remains poor.

COL head of research April Lynn Tan said in a press briefing Monday the global economy was showing signs of slowing down because of policy uncertainty amid the US-China trade war and United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (Brexit).

“Although central banks are loosening their monetary policies, it remains uncertain if they will succeed in addressing economic growth concerns,” Tan said.

Tan said Philippines in the domestic front would continue to suffer from an above average budget deficit and a current account gap.

Tan, however, expects the bull market to likely continue as factors hurting the performance last year such as inflation, interest rates, the peso and foreign fund flows had all reversed in favor of the Philippines.

She expects the Philippine Stock Exchange Index to hit 8,600 points by the end of the year.

Aside from falling inflation rate, Tan said expectations that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas had more room to loosen its monetary policy given a more dovish US Fed was boosting market sentiments.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier pledged to cut interest rates further and lower the reserve ratio for lenders to support the domestic growth.

The passage of the delayed 2019 national budget, meanwhile, is expected to result in faster domestic economic growth in the second half of the year.

Tan said stock prices remain attractive relative to their historical average.

“We currently trading at 17 times P/E (price earnings ratio) which is the low end of five-year PE band. There are still so many stocks at this stage that are trading at a discount,” Tan said.

COL Financial expects corporate earnings this year to grow 13 percent from the initial target of 11 percent, as property and banking sectors are expected to register strong growth.

World

B3

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

US intel chief Dan Coats to leave his post next month

IN BRIEF Three killed in US festival shooting

LOS ANGELES―Three people were killed and at least 15 others injured in a shooting at a major food festival in California on Sunday, police said.

Officers confronted and shot dead the suspect “in less than a minute,” said Scot Smithee, police chief of the city of Gilroy, 30 miles (48 kilometers) southeast of San Jose.

Police said it was “still an active crime scene” at the site of the three-day Gilroy Garlic Festival, one of the largest food festivals in the country.

A search for a possible second suspect was ongoing, Smithee said.

“We believe based on witness statements that there was a second individual involved in some way, we just don’t know in what way,” he told journalists.

Footage showed people fleeing in terror as shots rang out.

A witness named Julissa Contreras told NBC a white man in his 30s armed with a rifle opened fire indiscriminately.

“I could see him shooting in just every direction. He wasn’t aiming at anyone specifically. It was just left to right, right to left,” Contreras said, according to NBC. “He definitely was prepared for what he was doing,” she said.

Smithee said the suspect appeared to have entered the 50-acre festival site via a creek, using cutting equipment to breach the event’s perimeter.

Metal detectors and bag searches were in place as part of “very tight security” at the festival, he said. AFP

China holds military drills near Taiwan

BEIJING―China is holding military exercises in the East China Sea and the South China Sea near Taiwan this week, days after a defense white paper said Beijing would not rule out retaking the island by force.

The China Maritime Safety Administration issued notices on Sunday and Monday warning against entering broad swaths of airspace and waters off the coast of eastern Zhejiang and southern Guangdong provinces due to “military activity”.

The announcements said drills in the East China sea were scheduled to run through Thursday and the ones in the South China Sea would end Friday.

But it did not offer details on the scale of the exercises or which military units were involved.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting unification, even though the two sides have been ruled separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.

The defense white paper published last week stressed Beijing’s willingness to use force to thwart any move towards the selfruled island’s independence.

The drills also come days after the US Navy’s USS Antietam, a guided-missile cruiser, conducted a routine transit through the narrow waterway separating the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Beijing reacted furiously after the US Congress greenlighted the potential sale of $2.2 billion worth of arms to Taiwan earlier this month and threatened sanctions on companies involved. AFP

Sorry for touching nightclub dancer

DEVOTEES. Indian Kanwariyas, Hindu devotees of the Hindu deity Shiva, carry water from the Narmada river for their ritual walk during the holy month of Shravan in Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh state on July 29, 2019. Kanwariyas take part in a journey on foot to carry holy water from holy rivers to temples in their home towns to fulfil wishes and endear them to the Hindu deity Shiva. AFP

China set to weigh in on crisis engulfing HK

B

EIJING― After weeks of increasingly violent protests, China’s top policy body on Hong Kong affairs was set to hold an extremely rare press briefing Monday on the crisis engulfing the financial hub, where dozens of protesters were arrested in weekend clashes with police.

What began as a mass display of opposition to an extradition bill two months ago has morphed into a wider pro-democracy movement that has thrown down the most significant challenge to Beijing’s authority since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

While China has issued increasingly shrill condemnations of the protests in the last two weeks, it has largely left the

city’s pro-Beijing administration to deal with the situation.

So Monday’s highly unusual press briefing in Beijing by the cabinet-level Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office will be closely watched for any hint of more direct intervention.

In an editorial on Monday, the staterun China Daily newspaper signaled the growing concern in Beijing.

“What is happening in Hong Kong is no longer the airing of real or imagined grievances,” the editorial said.

“It is of the same hue as the color revolutions that were instigated in the Middle East and North Africa - local anti-government elements colluding with external forces to topple governments utilizing modern communication technology to spread rumors, distrust and fear.”

Pro-democracy protesters fought a second consecutive day of running battles with police on Sunday evening in a well-heeled residential district of Hong Kong, in some of the most sustained scenes of violence witnessed so far.

The clashes took place close to

GWANGJU, South Korea―Hungarian swimmer Tamas Kenderesi has apologized for “thoughtlessly touching” a nightclub dancer after being arrested on sexual harassment charges during the world championships.

The 22-year-old Olympic bronze medalist has been banned from leaving the country while police investigate the incident at a bar in Gwangju, around 330 kilometers south of Seoul, at the weekend.

Kenderesi has admitted making contact with his accuser but denies charges of sexual harassment.

“After coming back from the toilets and heading towards the dance floor, I touched the backside of a Korean girl who was working as a dancer at the club,” the swimmer said in a statement.

“I did not even stop behind her -- I took only a single, perhaps thoughtless move, which seriously angered this girl who filed a complaint against me.

“Realising the seriousness of the situation, I was absolutely cooperative throughout the entire process,” added Kenderesi, who finished last in the men’s 200 metres butterfly final last week.

“I deeply regret what happened and I wish to beg for the Korean girl’s forgiveness. But I strongly deny that I’m guilty in any kind of sexual harassment.” AFP

the Liaison Office, which represents Beijing in the semi-autonomous territory.

In a statement early Monday, police said 49 “radical protesters” had been arrested for a variety of offences on Sunday saying the crowds were getting “increasingly violent”.

Police said protesters hurled bricks, bottles, paint bombs, corrosive liquids and used a crossbow to fire metal ball bearings. Bows and arrows were also later recovered from the scene, the force said.

Sustained volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets arced through the air to clear the streets with elite units known as “Raptor” squads arresting those left behind, almost all of them young men and women.

Medical authorities early Monday said 16 people were injured.

Sunday’s violence came a day after police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters holding a banned rally against suspected pro-government triad gangs in a town near the border with mainland China. AFP

PRESS CONFERENCE.

Xu Luying, spokesperson for mainland China’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, speaks concerning the ongoing protests in Hong Kong at a press conference in Beijing on July 29, 2019. AFP

Saudi king’s brother dies

RIYADH―Saudi Arabia was gearing up Monday for the funeral of King Salman’s elder brother, the royal court said, after he died at the age of 96.

“His Royal Highness Prince Bandar bin Abdulaziz al-Saud passed away,” the royal court said Sunday in a brief statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

“A funeral prayer will be performed for his soul... on Monday... at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.”

The prince was the eldest surviving son of Saudi Arabia’s founding monarch, King Abdulaziz.

The royal court did not elaborate on the cause of his death, but some local media said he had been ill for several years.

He was not said to be a politically active member of the royal Al-Saud family which counts thousands of members, only a handful of whom wield direct influence over the kingdom.

His sons, however, hold key government positions. Prince Faisal bin Bandar is the governor of Riyadh while Prince Abdullah bin Bandar is the head of the Saudi National Guard.

His death comes as King Salman’s son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman —who sidelined his cousin as heir to the throne—consolidates his grip on power.

AFP

Address protest grievances, AmCham tells HK leaders HONG KONG―Hong Kong’s leaders must address the grievances fueling nearly two months of protests, the American Chamber of Commerce said Monday, as the business community becomes increasingly alarmed by the chaos engulfing the financial hub.

The once stable city is reeling from weeks of anti-government protests that show no sign of abating.

What began as a mass display of opposition to an extradition bill two months ago has morphed into a wider pro-democracy movement that has thrown down the most significant challenge to Beijing’s authority since the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

And there is growing frustration over the seeming inability -- or unwillingness -- of Beijing and the city’s leaders to offer compromises or a solution that might end the political crisis.

Protesters battled riot police firing tear gas and rubber bullets on two consecutive days over the weekend in some of the most sustained and violent clashes since the pro-democracy movement kicked off last month.

The American Chamber of Commerce said “a clear majority” of its members felt Hong Kong’s leaders needed to do more to address core protester demands, including an independent inquiry into the unrest and a permanent withdrawal of the extradition bill.

“The government should take immediate and tangible actions to address the root causes of recent demonstrations and restore confidence in the city’s status as Asia’s pre-eminent international business and financial center,” the Chamber said in a statement released Monday.

AmCham president Tara Joseph said

the administration of city leader Carrie Lam needed to “show clear leadership in meeting the expectations of Hong Kong people and in restoring the city’s international reputation for effective governance”.

“A clear majority of our membership surveyed over the past week said the government needs to address the underlying causes of the protests and not simply to paper over the cracks of social instability with a short-term lawand-order fix,” she added.

The statement follows a similar rebuke from the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce last week which also called for a permanent shelving of the extradition bill and an inquiry.

Lam has faced growing criticism over her response to the crisis, both from opponents but also within the civil service and the city’s pro-Beijing establishment ranks. AFP

WASHINGTON―US intelligence chief Dan Coats will leave office next month, Donald Trump announced on Sunday, after a tenure in which he was regularly at odds with the president.

The departure of Coats―who has, however, sought to avoid direct confrontation with Trump during his time as Director of National Intelligence― is the latest high-profile exit from the mercurial president’s turnover-plagued administration.

Trump tweeted that Coats will leave on August 15, saying he plans to nominate Representative John Ratcliffe of Texas, who serves on the House intelligence, judiciary and homeland security committees, to replace him.

“A former U.S. Attorney, John will lead and inspire greatness for the Country he loves,” Trump wrote, also thanking Coats “for his great service to our Country.”

If Ratcliffe’s nomination is approved, Trump will get an intelligence chief who is more in synch with his views.

In Congress, he has been a staunch defender of Trump and has criticized two of the president’s nemeses, former FBI chief James Comey and special counsel Robert Mueller.

Ratcliffe has also said he has “seen no evidence” that Russian election meddling helped bring Trump to office, has backed the president’s assertion that court-approved surveillance of his campaign amounted to spying, and has supported his hawkish policy on Iran. AFP

1,400 held at Moscow polls protest MOSCOW―Russian police arrested nearly 1,400 people as they gathered in Moscow at the weekend to demand free and fair elections, a monitor said Sunday, the biggest such crackdown in years.

About 3,500 people took part in the unauthorized protest on Saturday according to official figures, after authorities blocked prominent opposition candidates from taking part in municipal elections.

Police used batons on protesters as they tried to gather outside city hall, and AFP reporters at the scene saw demonstrators with injuries.

The rally comes amid wider public frustration over declining living standards that has hit President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings.

A week before, 22,000 took to the streets in a sanctioned protest, calling on authorities to reverse their decision ahead of the September city council vote.

After that demonstration, investigators raided the homes and headquarters of a number of disqualified candidates. Top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny was jailed for 30 days for calling the fresh protest.

On Sunday, Navalny was taken to hospital from jail after suffering what his press secretary said was a “severe allergic reaction”.

His personal physician Anastassia Vassilieva said on Facebook after visiting Navalny in hospital that he was suffering with swollen eyelids and multiple abcesses on his neck, back, torso and elbows.

“We can’t rule out that his skin has been exposed to a toxin and been damaged by an unknown chemical substance from a third person,” she said, adding that Navalny has never had any allergies. AFP Manila

Standard

TODAY

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that FILINVEST LAND, INC., with office address at No. 79 EDSA, Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as an expanding developer of economic and low-cost housing project (8 Spatial Davao Bldg. 5) with a capacity of 216 economic and low-cost housing units on a non-pioneer status with project site at Brgy. Ma-a, Davao City, Davao del Sur. Any person with valid objection/s on the above-mentioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD.) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Officer-In-Charge Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-JULY 30, 2019)

Entertainment

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

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TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

GMA YouTube channel receives Diamond Creator Award

YouTube’s Southeast Asia Director of Content Partnerships and Business Development Vishal Sarin (third from left) with Kapuso personalities (from left) Atom Araullo, Bianca Umali, Michael V., Jessica Soho, and Kyline Alcantara.

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EADING media conglomerate GMA Network celebrates another milestone as the GMA Entertainment channel recently surpassed 10 million subscribers on YouTube, thus joining an elite group of content creators in Southeast Asia that have also achieved such a feat.

From only 1.6 million subscribers at the start of the YT PfP agreement in June 2017, this soared past 10 million in May this year. As of December 2018, the GMA Network YouTube channel’s rank improved from being in the Top 200 in 2017 to being among the Top 50 worldwide.

“We are very gratified that GMA has reached quite an achievement and it is translated into about four times growth [in watch time] year-on-year so that’s enough reason for us to be really happy. This is the work of many people and they are all here as we receive this Diamond Creator Award,” said Gozon.

Meanwhile, YouTube’s Sarin said, “We congratulate GMA for growing their channel to more than 10 million With this accomplishment, subscribers. This is a great the Network formally received milestone as there are only five on July 23 the Diamond Creator media networks in Southeast Award, a recognition given by Asia that have received the YouTube to content creators Diamond Creator Award that have reached 10 million and GMA is one of them.” subscribers.

Of the achievement, Present in the ceremonial Gallares shared, “Our turnover were GMA Network mandate is to lead GMA’s Chairman and CEO Felipe transformation from a media L. Gozon, President and and entertainment giant into COO Gilberto R. Duavit, a dominant multi-platform Jr.;l, Executive Committee content provider worldwide.

Vice Chairman Joel G. YouTube has in recent years Jimenez, Executive Vice been a strategic ally in this President and CFO Felipe S. regard, as it has not only helped Yalong; GMA New Media, Inc. us expand GMA’s online (NMI) President and COO Judd footprint but it has also been Gallares, and GMA NMI Senior key to building preference Vice President and General for the GMA brand. This Manager Dennis Caharian.

GMA Network Chairman and CEO Felipe L. Gozon (right) recognition affirms that we are The Diamond Play formally receives the YouTube Diamond Play Button from on track.”

Button was awarded by YouTube’s Southeast Asia Director of Content Partnerships and Caharian further added that YouTube’s Southeast Asia Business Development Vishal Sarin (left). they were just showcasing the Director of Content Partnerships output of GMA Entertainment and Business Development Vishal Sarin, and Content and how they help in making sure that their content can also be Partnerships Philippines Country Lead Pablo Mendoza.

Through NMI, the Network’s technology arm, GMA forged a discovered online.

Since its launch in November 2006, the GMA Entertainment partnership with YouTube dubbed the YouTube Player for Publishers channel now has 11.8 billion lifetime views. Total subscribers (“YT PfP”) in mid-2017 that has enabled viewers everywhere to are currently at 11.1 million, a million more in a span of less watch official, full episodes of GMA programs online.

The partnership not only supports the anti-piracy efforts than three months.

Other Kapuso YouTube channels include: GMA News for of GMA Network, but more significantly addresses the millennial video viewing habits that demand access to premium daily video clips from the network’s news programs, now with 4.1 million subscribers; GMAPublic Affairs for documentaries, content when they want, wherever they may be.

The YT PfP partnership was an enabler for GMA as it aided docudrama, and news magazine shows, now with 6.1 million strategy for boosting YouTube views and hastening the subscribers; GMA Playlist for heartfelt song renditions from acquisition of subscribers. It also allowed for a more robust various Kapuso stars; GMA Playground for some of the content archive that used to only house show highlights, recaps, network’s child-friendly programs; and GMA Regional TV for the top stories from the regions. behind-the-scene videos, among others.

SHTICKS JOSEPH PETER GONZALES

Jessy Mendiola leaves Star Magic

TV HOST-ACTOR Luis Manzano confirms reports that current steady Jessy Mendiola is no longer with Star Magic, her talent management for the longest time.

“What I know is that she’s not with Star Magic anymore. I guess, it’s best if her camp will confirm it officially if it’s true or not,” he says.

Talks are rife that the one-time FHM’s sexiest woman allegedly inked a contract with Viva Artists Agency where Luis’ manager June Rufino is an executive.

“Well, as it’s best if she’s the one who sheds light on that. At least, it will come directly from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.”

Interestingly, did Jessy ask his advice on her decision to leave her former talent management?

“She sought advice from me. But let me just clarify that I have nothing to do with her final decision. At the end of the day, it’s still her call. She has her own career and own decision to make.”

Meanwhile, theirs is a strong relationship. In fact, they’re running on their third year as sweethearts. What’s the secret behind it?

“It’s true that at this point, I’m really content with how our relationship is going.

For one, we’re so happy. Hopefully, we’ll be able to fly abroad before the year ends for a vacation. It’s in our calendar as a form of relaxation, “ he says.

“As to the secret formula, well, perhaps, it’s the fact that we don’t mind what other people are saying about us. For Jessy

and I, our relationship is just for the two of us. I think that’s the most important thing. We’re already in show business so we don’t want to chronicle every single development in our private lives. It’s enough that people know we’re together and there’s no need to overly flaunt it, “ he adds.

Their fans are waiting as to when he’ll finally propose to his lady love.

“As in being engaged? When it comes to that, let’s just wait and see. If it’s going to happen, then it will happen. That’s our take on that. We don’t want to rush things.”

Meanwhile, Jessy wears a new hairstyle at present which the people rave about.

From being blonde, she cut her hair short.

“Actually, she let me see the style beforehand. I told her it will suit her perfectly. When I finally saw her in person sporting the hairstyle, it’s like wow! I just loved it. One good thing about Jessy, whatever she does with her hair from the cut to the color, it always suits her,” states Luis. *** After Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza, it was learned that Dennis Trillo is the next GMA talent who will do a movie with the film arm of his mother studio’s fiercest rival, ABS-CBN. The material is of the horror genre.

Titled, A Family Ghost Story, the plot is about a couple with two kids who lived in a haunted house. The criticallyacclaimed actor will share the screen with Beauty Gonzalez, Raymond Bagatsing and Alyssa Muhlach. The project is under the helm of Robert Bonifacio.

It can be remembered that Dennis already did a movie with Regal Entertainment, the romantic drama You’re Still the One opposite Maja Salvador.

This is an exciting development for Dennis who is being tagged as GMA’s Drama King. Although his home studio has given him grand projects, top-billing a movie that will be a commercial hit will add premium to his status as a lead male star. This early, many are already excited with the project.

S. Korea’s Queen of ‘SWAGGG’ in Manila THE long wait is over as the “Be Joyful” Lee Sung Kyoung 1st Fanmeet in Manila finally happened on July 27 at the SM Skydome in Quezon City.

Everyone was excited for the first fanmeet. Even Kapamilya actor Alex Diaz, who also hosted the event, couldn’t help but post a Tweet about her visit: “Swaggg!!! Annyeong PH Fairies!! I’m just as excited as all of you to be hosting Lee Sung Kyoung’s PH FAN MEET! gahhh!! I’ll see you all there!”

After winning the hearts of her Filipino fans in the show Weightlifting Fairy Kim Book Joo, she captured everyone’s hearts this time with her angelic voice as she shares her other passion—singing.

Recently, she caught the attention

‘Weightlifting Fairy’ star Lee Sung Kyung holds a press conference in Quezon City on Friday, a day before her first-ever fanmeet in the country.

of Philippines’ Broadway Diva and international performer Lea Salonga for her cover of the Aladdin theme song, “A Whole New World,” which Lea originally sang in the animated film.

In previous years, Lee Sung Kyoung did several collaborations including “I Love You” in 2013 with The Papers; “My Lips Like Warm Coffee” in 2016 with Eddy Kim; and “Last Scene” in 2017 with Psy. Until in 2018, she went solo with her hits “My Only One Person”, “I am What I am” and “Tomorrow Will be a Better Day.”

Your son or daughter may want to be a filmmaker involved as MANY years the subject of back, becoming production. a director on Entries to either television Cinestudyante are or in the movies IVY ROSSINI accepted through seemed like two means: (1) dreaming to Communication be a priest. If someone had the strange obsession or film departments or programs to be a movie or TV director, the first of colleges and universities may question that would come to mind nominate outstanding works of their was, “Do I know or does anyone in my students. Each school can submit family know somebody in the movie/ as many nominations as they deem representative of their best works; and TV business?”

These days, however, to be a director (2) Individual or groups of students seems easier, and kids who want to may submit their works, as long as they see their names on a screen, whether have an endorsement from the Program theatrical or television, need not know or Department Chairperson responsible anyone in the industry anymore. The for their film or broadcasting courses.

Again, students may submit as many key is lug a camera around (even the phone camera, for so long as it’s HD entries as they want but with the proper capable) and start shooting scenes endorsement of their school authorities.

Schools and individual or group you want to show in your movie.

Then search the web for film festival of students certified by their schools websites, fill in an application online, must submit their entries via email to cinestudyante@rockwell.com. and upload the movie you had shot.]

The ease of joining festivals now ph, in the form of links via Vimeo or is due to the sudden shrinking world, YouTube with proper identification thanks to the world wide web or and password. Each entry exceeding five minutes of running time must Internet.

Many young Filipinos now look up be submitted as an individual link. to names like Jerrold Tarog or Zig Clusters of microfilms may be Dulay among others who have made combined to a single link for purposes names for themselves as filmmakers of submission.

There shall be a total of four using the current technology of video clusters that will be programmed cameras and computer-aided editing.

Now, here comes another by the Screening Committee with a total running time of 100 minutes per opportunity for filmmaker wannabes.

The deadline of submission of entries grouping. Each grouping shall include a to Cinestudyante, the first Filipino All- cross-section of all the genres included Student Film Festival, is extended to in the festival. Thus, each cluster can have a minimum of five films or an July 31 (that’s tomorrow.)

The film festival is open to all high undetermined maximum corresponding school and college undergraduate to the completion of the said total running time. These films will be students in the Philippines.

Entries can be in Filipino or a shown in rotating schedules at assigned combination of English and Filipino, or cinemas at the Santolan Town Plaza.

A minimum of 20 films will any of the country’s regional languages be selected from among these (with English subtitles).

Cinestudyante will only accept submissions. A Selection Committee works produced from January 2017 to shall be comprised of the following: June 2019. Films of alumni of a school (1) Festival Director and Chairman of may still be submitted if the film had the Selection Committee; (2) Festival been produced at the time its creators Programmer; (3) Festival Coordinator; were still students. Those that were (4) Two representatives from the completed after the students had been colleges and universities participating graduated by the college are no longer in the festival; and (5) Representative eligible, excepts films of senior high from Rockwell, the major sponsor of school students currently matriculating the festival.

A profit-sharing scheme has been freshmen in any college or university.

All forms of student short films drawn by Rockwell in which a 50/50 will be accepted. These include works share between the cinema and the representing the following genres: (1) students based on the box office receipts short fiction live-action feature; (2) of their films will be implemented. The animated short; (3) mixed media short best performing cluster will be shown films (incorporating animation with on a regular screening at the Power live-action); (4) short documentary; Plant Mall cinemas at Rockwell Center Makati. and (5) experimental short film.

So, now, parents, it’s time to Submissions must have a maximum running time of 20 minutes, inclusive encourage your filmmaker-wanna-be of OBB and CBB (opening and closing son or daughter. The chance to become credits). Short shorts or microfilms great is just around the corner. And (with a running time of three minutes don’t we thank these film festivals and competitions for the opportunities or less) are also accepted.

All documentary film submissions they’re opening to the millions of must include necessary waivers and young boys and girls whose future permits from those directly or indirectly rests upon their success as filmmakers?

COUCH POTATO

Cinestudayante at Powerplant Cinema

LGUs 3 Anniversary rd

Makati OKs cash gift for seniors 90 and older

By Joel E. Zurbano

T

HE Makati City Council has approved an ordinance granting a yearly P10,000 cash gift for senior citizens aged 90 to 99 who have been Blu Card holders for at least five years.

“I am pleased to report that our newly-elected councilors have passed my proposal to give our senior citizens an incentive they truly deserve. We want inclusive progress for our Makatizens, and this is an acknowledgment of their contributions to our city,” Mayor Abigail Binay said.

City Ordinance No. 2019-A-023, which will take effect on July 30, grants the additional incentive for qualified senior citizens residing in Makati from ages 90 to 99, amending City Ordinance No. 2016-A-043. The cash gift will be distributed to them in two tranches: on or before July and on or before December.

Mayor Binay said qualified Blu Card holders who will celebrate their 90th birthday this year will be receiving a P5,000 year-end cash gift in December.

They will continue to enjoy the said benefit until their 99th birthday.

Instead of the P10,000 cash incentive, qualified Blu Card holders will receive the P100,000 centenarian cash gift when they reach their 100th birthday.

Binay said under the new ordinance, qualified centenarians will continue to be given the P10,000 cash gift in two

Makati Mayor Abigail ‘Abby’ Binay, since earning a fresh three-year mandate following the May elections, has made sure ‘Makatizens’ receive the benefits due them.

equal installments upon reaching 101 years of age, and every year thereafter for as long as they live.

Records of the Makati Social Welfare Department (MSWD) show that as of June 2019, there are around 2,096 Blu Card members in the age bracket of 90 to 99. To date,

a total of 57 centenarians have received the P100,000 cash gift to date, with 32 of them during the administration of Mayor Abby.

The city chief executive said that the ordinance was supposed to be approved last year but opposition councilors not only delayed the approval of the 2019 budget but

also did not approve the increase in cash gifts for Blu Card nonagenarians with at least five years of membership.

Meanwhile, the distribution of cash gifts to younger age groups of senior citizens will continue to be given in two equal installments, every July and December, as follows: ages 60 to 69, P3,000 yearly; 7079, P4,000; and 80-89, P5,000.

Binay expressed optimism about fulfilling her pledge to uplift the lives of residents, owing to the strong cooperation of the Council’s majority bloc.

“With a fresh mandate and the support of the new Sangguniang Panlungsod, I am confident that we will be able to pass more projects and programs that will help promote inclusivity among Makatizens and provide the best kind of public service to them,” she said.

At present, over 84,000 elderly residents receive premium benefits from the city, including free medical services and hospitalization, free medicines, immunization, mobility aids, birthday cakes, and unlimited movie passes in Makati cinemas.

They are also pampered with free haircuts, spa services, and field trips to historical sites and popular spots within Metro Manila and in other parts of the country under the Lakbay Saya Project.

Also under the Blu Card program, the city government gives P3,000 burial assistance to the bereaved family when a member passes on.

Early this year, the Ospital ng Makati launched its Palliative and Hospice Care Program to provide special care to patients with chronic or terminal illnesses, including the elderly, and improve quality of life, as well as help their loved ones in taking care of them and coping with the emotional anguish of losing a family member.

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TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019 advertise@manilastandard.net

‘Support reforms, innovations for a better quality of life in Makati’ MAKATI Mayor Abby Binay has exhorted the new members of the City Council to support reforms and innovations being pursued by her administration to raise the quality of life in the city, during the first session of the Sangguniang Panlungsod of Makati this month.

“Given a fresh mandate, I am asking for your full cooperation so that we can continue to promote inclusivity and provide the best public service to the people of Makati,” the mayor said.

The mayor also thanked the people of Makati for their trust and support especially during the eight-month campaign. “Now is the start of a new chapter for us in order to fast-track progress in Makati,” she said.

“We need to push through with the digitalization of Makati for us to be considered as the country’s first certified Smart City that is fully capable of providing efficient, transparent, and firstrate services to Makatizens,” she said.

The mayor expressed optimism that the city government will be able to speed up the implementation of initiatives aimed to fast-track the city’s progress and transformation into a Smart City.

“With the new set of councilors, I am very confident and assured that we are now on the same track. Let us help one another. Sama-sama po nating itaguyod at itaas ang antas ng pamumuhay dito sa Makati,” the mayor stated. (Together let us promote a better quality of life here in Makati.)

She pointed out the need to conceptualize and pass new reforms and innovative ways aimed at improving quality of life as well as raising the city’s competitiveness as a premier investment destination.

“Dito po natin muling umpisahan sa apat na sulok ng Session Hall ang paggawa ng mga reporma, ordinansa, at programa na magbibigay ng labis na ginhawa sa mga Makatizen,” Mayor Continued on C4

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LGUs

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor lgu@manilastandard.net

Blaan tribal museum gets LCF CSR award THE Lamlifew Village Museum, the first of its kind in the country where the indigenous Blaan tribe weaves the exquisite mabal tabih fabric, recently won the Outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility Project in Arts and Culture of the League of Corporate Foundations Guild Awards.

The top tourist spot of Malungon town in Sarangani province, the museum won the prestigious award with the support of ABS-CBN Foundation’s Bantay Kalikasan, which helped craft the Eco-Cultural Experience for tourists and guests.

The museum has a Blaan School of Living Traditions which preserves mabal tabih, considered as the crown jewel of Sarangani’s cultural resources, and is recognized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The community project was also named among the 10 awardees of the BPI Foundation’s BPI Sinag Accelerate in 2017, where it received business-incubation training and seed-funding grants.

Launched in 2007 at the National Museum by the Lamlifew Tribal Women’s Association, it was also hailed by the Department of Tourism Region 12 as the Best in Tourism Product: Heritage Conservation at the first SOX Awards in 2016.

An elderly Blaan tribal woman weaves the exquisite mabal tabih fabric at the Lamlifew Village Museum the first of its kind in the country.

Vietnamese nabbed for rare wood

Joy: I will look after vendors

By Rio N. Araja

Q

UEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte vows to balance the

clear all roads from illegal parking and ambulant vendors, or until the end of September.

According to Belmonte, she does not want to confiscate commodities of the illegal vendors to the prejudice of their families.

“It is not to the best interest if these vendors lose their livelihood. We also do not want to give dole-out,” she said.

The mayor is willing to rent out spaces inside private markets even for the first two weeks, look for vacant lots or open a night market to accommodate sidewalk vendors to be displaced by the clearing operations.

“I cannot allow them to lose their livelihood. If I would allow them to lose it, that would be against my policy of self-reliance,” she said.

BUTUAN CITY―Five Vietnamese welfare of illegal vendors in maintaining order on the roads nationals fell to the authorities for and sidewalks. possessing Agarwood wedges, locally known as Lapnisan in two separate Belmonte said Monday she has start- ocratic and participatory leader,” saying operations here. ed to conduct a series of dialogues with “I want to listen to them.”

Brig. Gen. Gilberto DC Cruz, Posome organized vendors’ associations She said the 60-day timetable is not lice Regional Office 13 director disto guarantee their livelihood, and find a “contest, a 100-meter dash that I am closed that the suspects identified as: sustainable and viable solutions of ille- faster than mayor X or mayor Y.” Nguyên Thi Chung, 40; Diêl Thi Bích gal hawking.

“What is important is I can be able Hòa, 45; and Vū Vãn Trang, 34 were “That is my style of governance to accomplish it in 60 days,” the mayarrested at the Hotel around 11:30 wherein you talk to them (vendors). You or added. p.m. on July 25. appeal to them,” she said.

The Department of Interior and LoThe arrested personalities were in“I am a democratic leader, one who has cal Government, acting on orders of tercepted at the entrance during inthe concern for the people and who gets President Rodrigo Duterte gave the 17 spection of their bags and belongings. their sentiments (first),” the mayor added. mayors from the 16 cities and one muAmong those found during the search Belmonte claimed she is a “very dem- nicipality of Metro Manila 60 days to were estimated 2 kilograms of Agarwood and P1.87 million in cash.

The search was witnessed by the barangay officials and personnel from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office.

In a follow up operation around 5 a.m. on July 26, police nabbed Tu Quoc Vu, 35; and To Tien Phat, 22 at Butuan City Airport. Confiscated from their possession were around 20 kilos of Agarwood and P4 million in cash.

“The 22 kilograms of confiscated Agarwood has an estimated value of P1,082,500. We will make sure that violators will be facing charges for violation of Section 68 of Presidential Decree 705 as amended by Executive Order No. 277.

Our operations remain focused in the protection and preservation our natural resources especially the endangered tree species,” RD Cruz added.

One of the main reasons for the high cost of Agarwood is the depletion of the wild resource. Its fragrant dark resinous wood is used in incense, perfume, and small carv- Brig. Gen. Gilberto DC Cruz, Police Regional Office 13 Director (third from right), together with PNP officers and CENRO officials, presents the merchandise and cash seized from five arrested Vietnamese for illegally bringing in wedges of rare Agarwood trees. Roy Tomandao ings. Roy Tomandao

Region 2 TMC hospital chief reveals projects to expand bed capacity

By Ben Moses Ebreo BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Various infrastructure projects are being done at the Region 2 Trauma and Medical Center as part of its preparation to expand from a 200 to 500-bed capacity medical center.

Dr. Napoleon Obania, R2TMC chief

said the infrastructure projects are improvements and construction of additional buildings such as the Dietary Building, four-storey Training Center Building, two-story Pharmacy Building, Diabetes Control Center, and the renovation of the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Wards.

He said the Pharmacy Building is being built at the back of the Out Patient

Department building while the Diabetes Control Center will be constructed near the TB Dots Building.

The Psychiatry Building which will cater to psychiatric and behavioral patients is now opened at the right side of the OPD building, the hospital chief added.

Obania said the four-story TCB at the left side of the OPD Building is nearing

completion. It will house the hemodialysis, canteen and conference hall at the first floor, staff and visitors’ dormitory on the second floor and an auditorium at the fourth floor.

Also in the pipeline is the construction of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Building and a gymnasium.

Villar SIPAG honors 11 top youth groups THE Villar Social Institute for Poverty Alleviation and Governance through its program, the Villar SIPAG Awards, has honored 11 groups that emerged as Most Outstanding Youth Social Enterprises at ceremonies held at the Villar SIPAG Hall in Las Piñas City.

Senator Cynthia Villar, director of Villar SIPAG, said the program is her “family’s way of recognizing the efforts of the youth in creating positive change in our society.”

“This is our way of supporting empowerment of our young people with the hope of further encouraging them and also inspiring others to significantly contribute to our goals as a nation,” Villar said.

Each awardee received a cash prize of P150,000 to help their projects and initiatives on poverty alleviation.

This year’s award recipients are: 1. The Cultivators 4H Ers Club of Ilocos Sur Prison Jail (Bantay, Ilocos Sur); 2. Quirinian Youth In Action (Qurino, Isabela); 3. 4h Club- Goa Chapter/ Goa Young Farmers Association (Goa, Camarines Sur); 4. Tanay Mountaineers Inc. (Tanay, Rizal); 5. Ulama League for Call and Guidance. Inc. (Bgy. 648, Manila); 6. Saving Innocent Lives Amidst War (Leon, Iloilo); 7.

Youth for Livable Communities (Beverly Hills, Cebu City); 8. Family Help Project (Merida, Leyte); 9. Quiniput 4h Club (Quiniput, Zamboanga); 10. Food Secure Philippines (Midsayap, North Cotabato); and 11. Power Se7en (Limaha, Butuan City).

Now on its third year, the Villar SIPAG Awards is a friendly competition among the Filipino youth whose social ent e r - prises contribute in alleviating poverty in their respective communities.

Pernod dovetails plans with UN SDGs PERNOD Ricard, the second largest producer of wine and spirits in the world, has officially become one of the international companies that have made a commitment to the preservation of the environment, signified by the recent launch of its 2030 Sustainability & Responsibility roadmap.

The roadmap, an integral part of the Group’s strategic plan Transform & Accelerate, sets 8 ambitious but concrete targets in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Revealed at Martell Cognac distillery in France, these commitments will see the Pernod Group take bold next steps in addressing environmental topics, including measures to preserve the terroirs its products come from. The Group is also

taking bold steps in addressing social responsibility issues: particularly the fight against alcohol misuse.

As part of the big reveal, a special film that has been shot with 52 proud employees from Pernod Ricard Spain to launch the new strategy.

Pernod Ricard Philippines, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Pernod Group, was created in March 2006 following the acquisition of Allied Domecq. It includes the following leading international spirit and wine brands in its portfolio: Chivas Regal, The Glenlivet single malt, Royal Salute luxury whisky, Ballantine’s Scotch, Absolut Vodka, Martell Cognac, Jacob’s Creek wines, Mumm & Perrier Jouet Champagnes, Beefeater We aim to bring ‘Good Times from a Good Place,’ says Alexandre Ricard (left), chairman and chief executive officer of Pernod Ricard, as the group announced measures to preserve the terroirs its products come from. gin, Kahlua and Malibu rum.

LGUs 3rd Anniversary

TUESDAY, JULY 30, 2019

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in ACTION Manila Mayor Francisco ‘Isko Moreno’ Domagoso (above left) raises the hand of Senator Manny Pacquiao, who is coming off a big boxing victory over American Keith Thurman, during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday at Manila’s Bonifacio Shrine. Elsewhere (photos from left), Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivares joins Department of Education and Development Bank of the Philippines officials in showing the memorandum giving a P5,000 annual allowance to junior and senior public high school students in the city starting this school year; Makati Mayor Abigail Binay administers the Oath of Reformation to over 1,000 voluntary drug surrenderers at the Makati Coliseum; and Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi joins children with disabilities in the opening ceremony of the the 2019 Muntilympics at the Muntinlupa Sports Center in Brgy. Tunasan. Photos by Lino Santos and Norman Cruz

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New Clark City project improves lives of Aetas N

EW Clark City has opened doors to better economic opportunities for indigenous people (IPs) living in Capas, Tarlac with the employment and livelihood programs initiated by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA).

Jaymar Tiglao of Sitio Kalangitan is only one of more than 300 Aetas who are employed in the construction of New Clark City Phase 1A or the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC).

According to Tiglao, since the start of the development project, many of them in the Aeta communities no longer need to continue planting camote crops in the upland.

Their debts in “sari-sari” stores had already been paid off with the salaries they got from their more stable jobs as laborers in New Clark City. Some of them were even able to purchase motorcycles.

Those without jobs no longer hang around doing nothing and have become more productive, Tiglao said. “Maaga na natutulog ang mga tao dahil maaga na sila nagigising para pumasok. Nawala na ang mga tambay sa aming lugar.”

Tiglao said his life became better because he now has a more stable job compared in the past when he used to plant camote and other crops without any assurance of selling them for profit.

Reynaldo Medrano, chieftain of Sitio Kalangitan, echoed the sentiments of Tiglao.

“Nagpapasalamat kami dahil lahat ng pwedeng magtrabaho, nandoon sila sa New Clark City. Sa akin kasing karanasan, ang magsasaka ay laging bagsak,” said Medrano.

“Yung mga kababayan ko sa Kalangitan, masaya kami na nakikita namin na nandyan sila nagtatrabaho at kumikita…May trabaho, may mga maayos na daan, at masaya ang bawat pamilya dahil may pagkain yung mga bata,” Bayani Sumawang, Aeta tribal leader and former commissioner of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), added.

Because of the roads being built to and from New Clark City, access and connectivity have become possible for everyone, particularly IPs, residents, and farmers for their livelihood. The roads benefit especially those living in far-flung barangays.

BCDA holds regular dialogues with the NCIP and the communities to assure that they are part of the New Clark City development.

Financial assistance packages amounting to P300,000 per hectare or P30.00 per sqm were made available, the highest compensation package provided by government, to project-affected people.

Relocations sites within New Clark City were also provided for those whose residential structures were affected.

BCDA worked with credible institutions, such as the University of the Philippines and the Asian Development Bank, to master-plan, and ensure the sustainability and inclusivity of New Clark City.

AUTONOMOUS BUS. Pictured is a sample design of the COAST P-1 shuttle, an autonomous or “self-driving” vehicle that

will be used to provide transportation services for the athletes during this year’s Southeast Asian Games, which will be held at the New Clark City. The Bases Conversion and Development Authorit is partnering with US-based mobility company COAST Autonomous for the pilot testing of low speed autonomous vehicles within New Clark City at no cost to government.

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Abby said. (Within the four walls of the Session Hall, let us start anew in crafting reforms, ordinances, and programs that will bring greater prosperity to our Makatizens.)

“I know that our job will be difficult, but I believe that if we all work together, we will succeed in achieving more ambitious goals that will accelerate the transformation of Makati into one of Asia’s most progressive cities,” she said.

The inaugural session of the Makati City Council was led by Vice Mayor Monique Lagdameo, presiding officer.

Congressman Luis Campos of the second district, Councilor Cheche Pablo- Santos of Mandaluyong City, City Administrator Claro Certeza, and the heads of the city departments, offices and institutions also attended the session.

The new Sangguniang Panlungsod of Makati is composed of 18 City Councilors, with eight from each of the

two districts, the Liga ng mga Barangay president, and the Chairman of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) Federation of Makati.

From District 1, the City Councilors are Virgilio Hilario, Jr., Anna Alcina Yabut, Luis Javier, Jr., Jose Villena IV, Martin John Pio Arenas, Armando Padilla, Rene Andre Saguisag, and Camille Puno-Ramos.

The City Councilors from District 2 are Kristina Sarosa, Arnold Cruz, Dennis Almario, Benedict Baniqued, Maria Dolores Arayon, Leo Magpantay, Shirley Aspillaga, and Israel Cruzado.

The two other members of the City Council are Liga ng mga Barangay president Maribel Vitales and Makati SK Federation president Rodolfo San Pedro, Jr. Councilor Armando Padilla has been designated as temporary majority floor leader.

In her speech at the session, the mayor also presented the highlights of her first term in office, including recent developments in digital initiatives undertaken by the city through public-

private partnerships (PPP).

She announced that the installation of the fiber optic cable loop in all 27 target barangays has been completed under the PPP-led Makati Public Wi-Fi Project. To date, free Wi-Fi connection is available in 24 barangays, and activation of access points for the remaining three barangays is nearly completed.

“Let us also not forget our legacy to the Makatizens, the Makati Subway, which is expected to be completed in 2025. The construction of this intra-city mass transportation will create 10,000 jobs,” she said.

The mayor also laid out some of the priority projects of her administration in the next three years.

“For this year, we are making significant investments in raising the standards of the public education system in the city to improve the competencies of young Makatizens in various fields. I plan to establish a modern and digital school that has fast and reliable computers and Wi-Fi connection to hone the technical skills of students and teachers,” Mayor Abby said.

Where investments and community care thrive CLARK, not only one of the country’s leading investment hubs, but a community that gives care to those who need it most.

This year, Clark Development Corporation, at the forefront of Clark’s rise, will also look to bolster efforts directly affecting those less-privileged residents in the Metro Clark Area.

And why not?

With 1,038 locator firms that have actual investments of Php154.6 billion, a multibillion-peso income, and the value of exports pegged at $4.7 billion, the significance of these achievements will not amount to anything if communities near the Freeport are neglected.

That’s the reason CDC will raise it’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs to help more indegent communities with programs that contain helpful projects such as health care, education, and livelihood.

“We are willing to explore and encourage more strategic and developmental CSR projects,” said CDC President-CEO Noel F. Manankil in a recent interview.

Likewise, Manankil said that CDC is now leaning towards a more strategic and developmental approach in terms of crafting their projects.

In a report by CDC External Affairs Division (EAD) Assistant Vice President Rommel Narciso and CSR and Placement Division (CSRPD) to Manankil, 4 health-related projects, 7 educational programs, 9 livelihood initiatives, 1 partnership activity, 10 spe-

cial projects were already implemented from January to May 2019.

Health-related projects include assistance to selected indigent communities and Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) from nearby Angeles City and Mabalacat City, medical and dental missions, distribution of hygiene kits, feeding programs and health education activities.

In addition, more than 1,200 indigent and indigenous patients benefited from the medical and dental mission conducted by CDC last year.

Meanwhile, twenty-one students were recognized as CDC Academic Excellence Awardees and were given cash incentives and allowances for the incoming school year.

CDC along with locators and partner agencies teamed up to forefront the Brigada Eskwela with the help of Department of Education (Dep-Ed) that supported 48 schools to give construction materials for the maintenance and beautification of school facilities.

CDC and its partners also donated health and hygiene materials, first-aid kits, and school supplies.

Moreover, Clark locators donated cash assistance to selected schools, while the state-owned firm allotted a total of Php375,000 for the Brigada Eskwela program.

CDC partners who supported the said program are SMK Electronics Philippines Inc., Filinvest Cyberzone Mimosa, Pishon Clark Philippines, CET Cosmo Construction Inc., Joii Philippines Inc., AIW International

CDC, OB MONTESSORI ‘AETA PAGSASARILI PROJECT’. Clark Development Corporation (CDC) Chairman Jose “Ping” De Jesus with the Aeta kids during the launching of the Pagsasarili Family Care Center. The project which was made through the partnership of CDC and OB Montessori will cover 50 Aeta children who will be taught through a non-traditional approach of instruction. (CDC-CD Photo)

BUILDING THE FUTURE THROUGH EDUCATION. Clark Development Corporation (CDC) President and CEO Noel F. Manankil observes one of the Aeta students during one of their activity in the Aeta Pagsasarili Program made possible through the partnership of CDC and OB Montessori.

The project intends to help Aeta children from ages three to four learn useful information on cognitive learning and social development in their formative years. (CDC-CD Photo)

LAUNCHING OF CDC, OB MONTESSORI PAGSASARILI FAMILY CARE CENTER. Clark Development Corporation (CDC) President and CEO Noel F. Manankil (4th from left) with (from right to left) OB Montessori Chief Operating Officer Sara SolivenDe Guzman, CDC Chairman Jose “Ping” De Jesus, DepEd Angeles Division Superintendent Leilani S. Cunanan, O.B. Montessori Center Founder Dr. Preciosa S. Soliven, CDC Director Atty. Ana Liza Peralta, CDC Director Jon Castro and CDC Assistant Vice President for External Affairs Department Rommel Narciso led the ribbon cutting ceremony during the launching of the Pagsasarili Family Care Center at the Clark Skills and Training Center Compound. (CDC-CD Photo)

Development Corporation, Nuesmart Inc., APAC Medical Equipment, Clark Premiere Industrial Park, Inc., La Rose Noire Foundation Inc., Alliance Mansols Inc., Task Us, HBF International Corporation, Coex Incorporated, AGX Express Philippines, ITM Force Manpower Corporation, Intertech Marketing Sales and Services Inc., Oak Leather Clark Inc., Prudence Development and Management Corp., People Support Labor Services Cooperative., Fontana Golf Club Inc., Starboard Manpower Services Inc., Evertrust Business Solutions, and Aviation Security Group and

Philippine National Police in this Freeport.

On another note, over 1,300 has benefitted from different livelihood projects of CDC that include the bi-annual jobs fair, local recruitment activities, agricultural livelihood and livelihood assistance among others. A total of 20 Kabuhayan Mobile Karts were also distributed to residents of Angeles City to help them start their own small businesses.

While CDC also partnered with two more locator companies to conduct trainings for individuals from nearby communities for language and call center proficiency and BPO readiness.

This project is intended to match the skills of talent pool to their potential employers and the growing number of BPOs inside the Freeport. As of May 2019, a total of 50 individuals were already employed under the same companies after having completed the said trainings.

O&G Leather, another locator, also hired 17 trainees after completing the Skills Training and Employment Program for the Underprivileged Persons (STEP -UP) initiated by CDC. Aderans Philippines Inc. is also a partner locator of CDC that conducts wig making training for individuals from nearby areas.

Add to these, CDC’s Special Projects have benefited 1,222 individuals from three barangays of Porac, Pampanga for victims of the recent 6.1 magnitude earthquake.

Furthermore, an annual outreach program was also conducted in partnership with Solaire Resort and Casino benefitting 170 Aeta students from Haduan Negrito Elementary School.

CDC also provided sponsorships to nine schools near this Freeport namely; Brightwoods School, Sta. Ines Elementary School, three Day Care Centers from Mabalacat City; Lourdes Day Care Center, Sta. Maria Homesite Day Care Center, Aguso Day Care Center, and Buensuceso Elementary School in Arayat, Pampanga.