Manila Standard - 2020 January 10 - Friday

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TRUMP PULLS BACK FROM THE BRINK

PRESIDENT Donald Trump pulled back from the brink of war with Iran on Wednesday, saying that Tehran appeared to be “standing down” after firing missiles—without causing casualties—at US troops based in Iraq.

In a televised address to the nation from the White House, Trump emphasized there were “no Americans harmed” in the ballistic missile salvo aimed at two bases.

While he promised to immediately impose “punishing” new economic sanctions on Tehran, Trump welcomed signs the Islamic republic “appears to be standing down” in the tit-for-tat confrontation.

The comments cooled what threatened to become an uncontrolled boiling over of tensions after Trump ordered the killing last Friday of a top Iranian general, Qasem Soleimani.

In New York, the Nasdaq stock market index surged to a record high of 9,129.24.

However, the US president, facing both an impeachment trial in Congress and a tough reelection in November, defended his targeting of a man seen by many as Iran’s second most influential official.

Soleimani, a national hero at home, was “the world’s top terrorist” and “should have been terminated long ago,” Trump said.

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VOL. XXXIII • NO. 330 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020 • www.manilastandard. net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DEVOTEES, IN THOUSANDS.

The image of the Black Nazarene is taken Thursday on a procession along Ayala Bridge corner Palanca St. in San Miguel, Manila as Catholic devotees flock around to mark its feast day. (Story below) Norman Cruz

PH cancels repatriation bid OFWs in Iran, Lebanon may stay but evacuation from Iraq pushed

‘Iraq will remain zone of conflict past de-escalation’ BAGHDAD, Iraq—Arch-foes Tehran and Washington may be temporarily calling it even after Iranian missiles targeted US forces in Iraq, but analysts predict violent instability will keep blighting Baghdad.

“Iraq will remain a zone of conflict,” said Randa Slim of the Washington based Middle East Institute.

Early Wednesday, Iran launched 22 ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq hosting American and other foreign troops, in a calibrated response to the killing of a top Iranian general in a US air strike last week.

Iran warned Iraq about the raids Next page

EX-LAWMAKER FROM BATANGAS, TWO OTHERS FOUND DEAD NEWS A2

By MJ Blancaflor, Vito Barcelo and Joel E. Zurbano

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HE government has called off the mandatory repatriation of Filipinos in Iran and Lebanon following what appeared to be a de-escalation of tensions between Washington and Tehran.

PULLING BACK. US President Donald Trump, at the Ground Foyer of the White House in Washington, DC on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), pulls back from the brink of war with Iran, saying Tehran appeared to be ‘standing down’ after firing missiles at US troops based in Iraq, stressing ‘no Americans (were) harmed.’ AFP

Crisis Alert Level 4 remained in effect in Iraq, however, which means mandatory evacuation will push through for at least 1,600 Filipino workers there, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said.

The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, moreover, will still not process any application for deployment of workers to Iran and Lebanon.

“Initially, the level of alert for Iran,

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Traslacion draws thousands of barefoot believers US Senate puts

By Mikhail Flores and Vito Barcelo SWARMS of barefoot believers thronged a revered icon of Jesus Christ on Thursday in Manila for a slow-moving and raucous procession considered one of the world’s largest shows of Catholic fervor.

As the sun rose, hundreds of thousands of faithful were packed along the route for the procession of the so-called Black

Nazarene, which they believe grants miracles.

Devotees clamber over one another to touch the life-size statue, wipe a towel on it or even just lay a hand on the ropes attached to its metal float.

“We believe that if you pull the carriage, the Lord will cure all your diseases,” 50-year-old vendor Boyet Lara said.

“Nothing is impossible if we believe.”

Scores of the barefoot faithful pass out

and suffer cuts or bruises in the crush around the statue, and in previous years believers have died.

“In 2016, the rope pulling the statue wrapped around my head and I nearly choked to death. But I managed to survive,” said devotee Crisostomo Belarmino, 52.

“I cried that time and said ‘Thank you Nazarene for giving me another life,’” he Next page added.

Pinoys see Trump New law grants wage hike to 1.4-m public servants Blancaflor in positive light ByandMJMacon Ramos-Araneta FILIPINOS still have the highest confidence in US President Donald Trump― even as his ratings have remained low internationally.

The US-based think tank Pew Research Center showed in its latest survey that 77 percent of Filipinos in 2019 were confident about Trump’s actions on world affairs.

The Philippines joins the ranks of countries with a generally positive perception of the president’s views―71 percent in Israel, 65 percent in Kenya, 58 percent in Nigeria and 56 percent in India―all comprising a median of 29 percent who are confident in Trump.

Of the 33 countries surveyed, the perceptions on Trump are largely negative.

A median of 64 percent say they do not

Iraq, and Lebanon are the same at Alert Level 4. Although it was unofficial, I was informed yesterday that the alert level in Lebanon was put down to level 2 and I understand that there’s no more alert level in Iran,” Bello said in a statement.

Environment Secretary and former special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu said now is the most opportune

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a measure that will increase wages of government workers in a bid to encourage them to work “doubly hard.”

More than 1.4-million civil servants, including public school teachers and nurses, are expected to benefit from Re-

‘Sex tech’ grapples

with negative image

public Act No. 11466 signed by the President Wednesday.

The salary adjustment will be carried out in four tranches from 2020 to 2023.

The law also grants salary increase to those in the legislative and judicial branches of government, as well as those in local government units, for the purpose of “creating an atmosphere which would further promote excellence in the ser-

vice,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Thursday.

“The Palace hopes that this latest round of salary adjustment will motivate everyone in the public sector to work doubly hard and put more dedicated and competent service in their respective jobs,” Panelo said.

A performance-based incentive scheme Next page

Harry, Meghan quit royal front line

SEX toys are for relaxation. For education. For healing after childbirth. For long-term or long-distance relationships. For women’s emancipation.

And also... for pleasure.

But manufacturers aiming for

PRINCE Harry and his wife Meghan stunned the British monarchy on Wednesday by quitting as front-line members--reportedly without first consulting Queen Elizabeth II. In a shock announcement, the couple

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its foot down on De Lima jailers

THE United States’ Senate has passed a measure seeking sanctions for Philippine officials involved in alleged extrajudicial killings and the detention of opposition Senator Leila de Lima.

Senate Resolution No. 142 was “passed/agreed to in Senate” on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), according to the website of the upper chamber.

It calls on President Donald Trump to deny US entry to and block all USbased transactions in property and interests of “members of the security forces and officials of the Government of the Philippines responsible for extrajudicial killings... and responsible for orchestrating the arrest and prolonged detention of Senator De Lima.”

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Ex-Batangas lawmaker found dead A The body of former Rep. Edgar Mendoza, 60, who also served as Immigration commissioner, and the two other victims were in the partially burned vehicle that was found in Tiaong, Quezon.

Police reports said residents reported the presence of a burning vehicle in Barangay San Francisco before dawn, where the authorities discovered the remains of the victims inside the vehicle after putting out

the fire.

In Pangasinan, a former provincial police director was shot dead by still unidentified motorcyle-riding suspects Thursday afternoon.

Police Gen. Marlou Chan was declared dead on arrival at the Villaflor Dagupan Doctors Hospital.

Malacañang on Thursday condemned Mendoza’s murder.

“This is an outrageous act of barbarism.

The perpetrators of this heinous crime will be pursued until they are placed behind bars,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

“As the Palace condemns this recent felony, we express our deep condolences to the family, loved ones, colleagues and constituents of the late former Congressman Edgar Mendoza.”

The Justice department said it will order the National Bureau of Investigation to do a parallel probe of the circumstances surrounding the death of the victims.

“I will order the NBI to assist the police in investigating and finding the perpetrators of this horrible crime,” Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said in a text message to reporters.

“The NBI’s forensic experts will also

PH... time to move out the Filipinos in Iraq as tensions diffuse.

“This is the time to get out while there are no military operations,” said Cimatu, who is bound for Qatar where he would oversee the evacuation efforts.

“We have to be ready in case there are incidents,” Cimatu added.

Speaking on the ANC news channel, Susan Ople, a former labor undersecretary and head of non-profit overseas Filipino workers advocate group Blas F. Ople Policy Center, said the government needs to update its contingency plans.

“A massive repatriation may not be necessary but it’s also good for the crisis committee of the Palace, DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment), DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) to keep abreast of what’s going on,” she told ANC’s Early Edition.

“This can be a good opportunity... to update

existing contingency plans, develop a network of influencers in the community that embassies can tap in case a crisis does erupt, and for our crisis managers to touch base with the leaders of these host government.”

The Bureau of Immigration said it was bracing for the possible influx of returning workers if the crisis in the Middle East worsens.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente has ordered all BI personnel at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and other international ports to prepare and be ready for any eventuality should the conflict escalate further.

BI port operations division chief Grifton Medina instructed airport heads to ensure that all terminals are fully manned to ensure the smooth processing of possible repatriates.

Manila International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal on Thursday alerted his men and ordered them to be prepared for the expected influx of workers from the Middle East.

“We will support government efforts the

best we can. We shall provide holding areas where OFWs can be processed and given briefings. We are also ready to deploy our medical team at the holding areas for those who may need medical help upon arrival,” the MIAA chief said.

The airport authority is part of the interagency team in repatriation and has been involved in previous mass repatriations that the government has undertaken in previous years.

Cimatu on Thursday urged Filipino workers to move out of Iran and Iraq immediately.

“We are preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best,” he said.

He said the situation in Iran and its neighboring countries is “unpredictable,” and that “the worst might come.”

“We have to move them out. We won’t go wrong if they move out,” he added.

“The nature of the situation is unpredictable. Anything can happen in the form of of attack or missile... The problem is [also] the time of the attack. There is still time to repatriate while some airports are still open and the roads, [too],” he said.

President Rodrigo Duterte has designated Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as head of a new government committee overseeing the repatriation of citizens from the conflict areas, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

He said National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has been designated as the vice chairman of the Committee.

Others members of the Committee were Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr., Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año, and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.

The chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee on labor, Rep. Eric Pineda, on Thursday supported the order of President Duterte to repatriate Filipino workers in Iraq.

“I call upon our 4,000 overseas Filipino workers in Iraq to closely coordinate with our diplomatic post so that they may be able to facilitate moving them from harm’s way,” Pineda said. With Maricel V. Cruz

Traslacion...

Trump...

Just hours into the procession the Red Cross reported giving first aid to some 300 people at the procession, in line with previous years.

The statue is named for its charred appearance and is accompanied by many difficult to prove stories, including that it survived a fire while en route to the Philippines in the 17th century.

Critics call the procession a mish-mash of superstition and unnecessary risk for the scores of people who cram into the procession route each year.

However, the defenders in the Philippines’ powerful Catholic church call it a vibrant expression of faith.

Many devotees swear the Black Nazarene has brought them help when they needed it most.

“When my husband suffered a stroke two years ago, even if I didn’t ask for financial help, I got it,” vendor Angeline Mara, 43, said.

“Every time I hear the song for the Nazarene, I feel like I’m about to cry,” she added.

Though authorities did not report any specific threat to this year’s procession, there was a typically massive presence of thousands of police on Manila’s streets.

At least 218 persons were injured during the Traslacion of the Black Nazarene on Thursday, where more than two-million devotees joined the procession of the venerated icon of the Jesus Christ carrying a cross.

The Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office estimated that 2.3-million people joined the procession of the Black Nazarene, which started at the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta and back to its home, the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo.

The devotees, most walking barefoot in maroon and yellow shirts, push and shove every year to touch, or wipe with white towels The black wooden image of Jesus Christ believed to have miraculous powers.

Thousands of policemen and military personnel tried to control the huge crowd of devotees who surged forward like a wave to get near the relic right after the Mass officiated by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle at the Quirino Grandstand.

The Black Nazarene was carved by an unknown Mexican from a dark wood in the 16th century in Mexico and then transported to the Philippines in 1606.

It was housed in several churches near Manila in the early decades, arriving in Quiapo Church in 1787 where it has been enshrined ever since.

With MJ Blancaflor and AFP

And although Trump ended his remarks with a call for peace, he opened by stating that he would never allow Iran to procure a nuclear weapon.

It was Trump’s 2018 withdrawal from a multinational agreement aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and the reimposition of crippling economic sanctions against Tehran, which began an intensification of tensions between the two countries.

Missiles blast bases Iran’s missiles targeted the sprawling Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq and a base in Arbil, both housing American and other foreign troops from a US-led coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State jihadist group.

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who earlier promised “revenge” for Soleimani, called the missiles a “slap in the face” against the United States.

He indicated there was more to come.

“The question of revenge is another issue,” Khamenei said in a televised speech.

Iraq’s military said it also sustained no casualties. But the strike highlighted the difficult position of Iraq, caught in an ever-

deepening conflict between Trump and Iran.

The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, dismissed suggestions that Iran did not mean to kill Americans with the missile barrage.

“I believe, based on what I saw and what I know, is that they were intended to cause structural damage, destroy vehicles and equipment and aircraft and to kill personnel.

That’s my own personal assessment,” Milley told reporters.

Iraqi President Barham Saleh rejected Iraq being a “battlefield for warring sides.”

At the United Nations, Iran’s ambassador said in a letter to Secretary General Antonio Guterres that despite the missile firing, Iran respects Iraq’s territorial integrity.

Iran has powerful militia allies in Iraq and they said they intended to take revenge for Friday’s US drone attack, in which top Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis died alongside Soleimani.

Muhandis was the deputy head of Iraq’s Hashed al-Shaabi, a military network incorporated into the Iraqi state whose factions are backed by Tehran.

Late Wednesday two rockets, fired by unidentified forces, landed in the supposedly high-security Green Zone, where US and other embassies are located, security

sources said.

AFP correspondents heard two loud detonations.

Unusual brazenness The brazenness of Iran’s ballistic missile strike was unusual.

But as the dust settled, it appeared that Iran’s attack—coming soon after the burial of Soleimani at a funeral in front of vast crowds—might have been more symbolic than anything.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif indicated Iran was satisfied for now.

“Iran took and concluded proportionate measures in self-defense,” Zarif said on Twitter.

Reflecting deep concerns among Trump’s domestic opponents, the Democratic-led US House of Representatives scheduled a vote for Thursday on limiting the Republican president’s ability to wage war against Iran without congressional approval.

“The president has made clear that he does not have a coherent strategy to keep the American people safe, achieve de-escalation with Iran and ensure stability in the region,” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said.

But US Defense Secretary Mark Esper insisted the United States has restored some deterrence against Iran in the wake of the Soleimani killing. AFP

The government will earmark a total of P130.45 billion for the implementation of the law.

The President sped the approval of the measure when he certified it as urgent, allowing swift passage of the bill on second and third reading before the Congress adjourned sessions for the holidays.

Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, who defended the Salary Standardization Law-5 (SSL-5) during plenary debates at the Senate, said the biggest increases would apply to employees with salary grades 11 to 13 or the professional level, who will see a 24.1 percent jump in their compensation in 2020 and to 30.7 percent in 2023.

The sub-professional levels or employees with salary grades 1 to 10, will see increases of 17.5 percent in 2019 to 20.5 percent in 2023.

Angara said the law was a fulfillment of the President’s promise to increase the salaries of public servants.

Under SSL-5, the lowest salary grade level employee, who is receiving P11,068 a month, will enjoy an increase in his compensation to P11,551 in 2020, to P12,034 in 2021, to P12,517 in 2022, and to P13,000 in 2023.

Salary Grade 11 employees, which includes the entry-level teachers, will receive an increase from P20,754 a month to P22,316 (2020), P23,877 (2021), P25,439 (2022), and P27,000 (2023).

While the teachers will already enjoy pay hikes under SSL-5, Angara said he will continue to push for further increases in their compensation, “in recognition of the very important role they play in development of our children and nation.”

President Duterte’s extrajudicial killings.

What did that lead to? Her arrest and her being sentenced and imprisoned for three years in jail for speaking out against the current President of the Philippines,” he said.

Durbin also read an excerpt of a letter that De Lima sent to him, which gave details about the current human rights situation in the Philippines.

“As you can imagine, I may be the one currently in detention but I’m not the only victim suffering in the situation,” he quoted the purported letter as saying.

“So are the victims of extrajudicial killings and their families. So are all defenders of human rights and ultimately, so are all of us all over the world who defend democracy and the rule of law.”

In the Senate, Senator Vicente Sotto III strongly reacted to the entry ban imposed by the US government on Philippine government officials involved in the extrajudicial killings and de Lima’s detention.

Sotto said he would like to think they (US officials) were misinformed because it’s an affront to the Philippine Justice System. Macon Ramos-Araneta

respectability tend to save this argument for last.“Sex toys have an extremely negative connotation,” said Jerome Bensimon, president of Satisfyer. “So we’ve rebranded ourselves as a ‘sexual wellbeing company.’”

The company has gained attention for its pressure wave technology used for clitoral stimulation, and has plans to launch a smartphone app for controlling sex toys, in particular by using voice commands.

At its booth at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, vibrators and Ben Wa balls sit alongside mini vibrators shaped like ice cream cones.

After some ups and downs, “sex tech” is testing the waters this year.

As recently as last year, the display likely would have been banned.

At the 2019 show, the Consumer Technology Association, which runs the expo, stripped the Ose massager of an award for innovation, saying it was disqualified for being “immoral,” “obscene” and “profane.”

After an uproar, the CTA reversed itself and returned the prize to Lora DiCarlo, the company which manufactures the Ose. AFP

Pinoys...

says.

“As in previous years of his presidency, trust is lowest in Mexico. Argentines and Brazilians generally lack confidence in the president as well.”

Perceptions of Trump were only generally positive in the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East and Africa.

The Philippines and Israel are also the most favorable toward the US, with an 80 and 83 percent rating, respec-

tively.

“Views of the US are generally positive across 33 countries surveyed in 2019, as a median of 54 percent say they have a favorable opinion of the US compared with 38 percent who have an unfavorable view,” the survey says.

The results for the survey are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted from May to October 2019, totaling 36,923 respondents.

By Maricel V. Cruz

FORMER congressman from Batangas and two still unidentified people were found dead on Thursday in Quezon province in a vehicle that had been set on fire. The victims also bore gunshot wounds.

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‘Iraq...

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shortly before they happened and in their immediate aftermath, foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran had concluded its “proportionate” retaliation.

US President Donald Trump, too, said Iran “appears to be standing down” and even suggested Tehran and Washington

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would also be implemented to reward exemplary employees and organizations that perform well, according to the law.

“The compensation of all civilian personnel shall generally be competitive with those in the private sector doing comparable work in order to attract, retain, and motivate a corps of competitive and dedicated public servants,” the law reads.

About P34 billion was allocated in the P4.1-trillion 2020 national budget for the scheduled salary increases this year.

The minimum basic salary of a government employee with Salary Grade 1 would now be raised from P11,551 to P12,224 under the first tranche of pay hike.

US...

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At the same time, in a speech on the US Senate floor, Illinois Democratic Senator Richard Durbin said De Lima’s fearlessness to speak out against President Duterte’s alleged extrajudicial killings had cost her freedom.

“Sen. De Lima is a former head of the National Human Rights Commission of the Philippines, and an internationally-recognized human rights champion critical of could work towards a nuclear deal while cooperating against jihadists.

That hinted at a common desire to contain the fallout, but analysts say it would not be enough to spare Iraq. (READ: Trump pulls back from war with Iran) “Both sides are so mobilised in Iraq, which has become such symbolic terrain for hitting out at the other,” said Erica Gaston of the New America Foundation.

AFP

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have confidence in the American leader.

“Majorities in the Philippines, Israel, Kenya, Nigeria and India have confidence that the president will do the right thing in world affairs. Yet few in Japan, Australia, Lebanon, Tunisia and Turkey share this view,” the survey

be of great help in identifying the victims.”

Initial investigation showed that Mendoza left his residence to attend a meeting in Calamba City, Laguna, on Wednesday.

He was with his driver and an aide when he left his house.

Mendoza’s family reported him missing when he failed to get home on Wednesday night, investigators said.

Mendoza, a lawyer, once served as Immigration Commissioner during the Arroyo administration.

He represented the Second District of Batangas in the 11th Congress from 1998 to 2001.

The Quezon police have launched a manhunt for the killers while investigators are still determining the motive for the killings.

With MJ Blancaflor and Rey E. Requejo

Gaerlan joins 10 other Rody appointees to high court

By Rey E. Requejo PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s appointed magistrates to the Supreme Court rose to 11 following his appointment of Court of Appeals Associate Justice Samuel Gaerlan to take over the seat vacated by Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, who was promoted as the 26th Chief Justice on Oct. 23.

That means President Duterte’s appointees now constitute more than a majority of eight among the incumbent justices. That is on top of his appointment of Peralta as top magistrate following the retirement of Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin.

However, Peralta says the judiciary’s independence will remain even if majority of the justices are Duterte appointees.

“Every Supreme Court magistrate and those in the lower courts vow to preserve the independence of the judiciary, adhere to the tenets of the Constitution, and uphold the Rule of Law,” Peralta said earlier.

“Once a magistrate takes his or her oath, his or her fealty is to the Constitution, not to the appointing authority.”

Peralta will lead the judiciary until he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 70 on March 27, 2022.

The 10 other presidential appointees are Associate Justices Andres B. Reyes Jr., Alexander G. Gesmundo, Jose C. Reyes Jr., Ramon Paul L. Hernando, Rosmari D. Carandang, Amy C. Lazaro Javier, Henri Jean Paul B. Inting, Rodil V. Zalameda, Mario V. Lopez and Edgardo L. Delos Angeles.

Harry,...

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said they would spend time in North America and rip up long-established relations with the press.

Media reports said the Duke and Duchess of Sussex made their bombshell statement without notifying either Harry’s grandmother the monarch, or his father Prince Charles.

The surprise news follows a turbulent year for the couple, who have openly said they have struggled in the spotlight and grown apart from Harry’s brother Prince William. They have also reacted badly to negative news coverage.

“We intend to step back as ‘senior’ members of the royal family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support Her Majesty The Queen,” they said in a statement released by Buckingham Palace.

“We have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new role within this institution,” they added.

“We now plan to balance our time between the United Kingdom and North America.”

The announcement appeared to catch the royal family by surprise.

Buckingham Palace put out a second statement an hour and 40 minutes later, saying discussions with Harry and Meghan were “at an early stage.” AFP

Sex tech...

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

PH, Japan to enhance partnership for peace

By Rey E. Requejo

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HE Philippines and Japan on Thursday vowed to enhance cooperation to maintain peace and security, stability and rule of law in the region despite ongoing maritime disputes with China.

“We committed to continue our cooperation—bilaterally and in all possible forums—to maintain peace and security, stability, and the rule of law in our region,” Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said, in his speech during a joint press briefing with visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu.

Locsin admitted he had “candid exchanges” on various issues, including the situation in the West Philippine Sea, with Motegi, in Manila for a two-day visit.

Manila is locked in a longrunning maritime dispute with Beijing over parts of the country’s exclusive economic zone, while Japan has ownership dispute with China over Senkaku island.

Locsin admitted the Philippines and Japan held bilateral discussion on defense and security cooperation.

Tokyo even committed to provide maritime assets to Manila, he said.

“I thank Japan for supporting our acquisition of new air and maritime assets and equipment to enhance our maritime domain awareness and capability as well as law enforcement and humanitarian responses,” Locsin stressed.

The Foreign Affairs secretary also said that both countries have discussed future acquisitions “in aid of the modernization of our armed forces and maritime forces.”

Locsin said the country’s relations with Japan had entered a “golden age” and Motegi’s visit added “further luster” to that friendship, “which remains one of the region’s closest and strongest.”

For his part, Motegi described the Philippines as “an important strategic partner that holds the key to realizing the free and open Indo-Pacific concept advocated by Japan.”

“Secretary Locsin and I were able to deepen our discussion from such perspectives and agreed to deepen bilateral cooperation in wide areas

including security and enforcement of the laws of the seas,” Motegi said.

President Rodrigo Duterte maintains close ties with China despite tensions in the South China Sea. China claims most of the contested waters, including the West Philippine Sea, and has rejected a ruling from a UNbacked international tribunal that invalidated its assertion to the Sea. Besides China, Philippines, four other countries—Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam and Taiwan—have territorial claims over disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, which is believed to be Asia’s next potential flashpoint for a major armed conflict.

Locsin and Motegi said they also discussed moves to strengthen economic cooperation between two countries, particularly the implementation of some infrastructure projects, including Japanese investment in the country’s mas railway system.

According to Locsin, Japan’s construction of the Philippines’s first subway and the NorthSouth Commuter Railway “will see the revival of the age of rail” in the country.

During the bilateral talks, Locsin and Motegi also signed and exchanged notes on Japan’s provision of additional 4.4 billion yen or about P2 billion to fortify the earthquake-prone bridges of Lambingan and Guadalupe.

“I welcomed Minister Motegi’s pledge of continued, substantial financial and technical support, under the most concessional terms as only Japan can offer, as the Duterte administration goes into the final push in our infrastructure drive,” Locsin said.

Philippines-Japan strategic partnership “has been a positive force” not just for the country’s development and security, but in the best interest of the region, Locsin stressed.

CHR looks into ‘strip search’ gripe of kin

By Rio N. Araja THE Commission on Human Rights is now looking into a complaint of a “strip search” of those who would want to visit their relatives at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.

Lawyer-spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said the agency had received a complaint letter from a certain Jimmylisa Badayos, who detailed how she went through a strip search despite feeling degraded just so she could see her partner—Calixto Vistal—at the maximum security compound last Dec. 29.

“Relative to the complaint, CHR is committing to look into this allegations of human dignity being violated, further checking the details of the allegation toward improving safety protocols, in the national penitentiary and jails elsewhere in the country,” she said.

“As such, we remind the government, especially the officers and personnel at NBP and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, to strictly enforce its own guidelines in conducting body searches for jail visitors, most especially in ensuring that such searches are reasonable and carried out with utmost respect to human dignity,” she added.

Citing the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners or the Nelson Mandela Rules, strip and body cavity searches must only be done if completely necessary, and that these should not be used to harass, intimidate or unnecessarily intrude upon a prisoner’s privacy, De Guia said.

Only qualified health-care professionals or those trained by health-care professionals must be the ones to conduct body cavity searches, she cited.

She, however, said a body search is important to ensure the safety of persons deprived of liberty and the other persons inside the jail facility, and to prevent the entry of contrabands.

BAREFOOT DEVOTEES. Thousands of policemen form a protective shield for the carriage of the statue of the Black Nazarene at the start of the annual religious procession in its honor in Manila on Thursday. Thousands of barefoot devotees joined the religious procession in Manila, hoping to touch a centuries-old icon of Jesus Christ, called the Black Nazarene, which is believed to have miraculous powers. AFP

DOLE submits bill to end illegal contractualization

By Vito Barcelo THE Department of Labor and Employment on Thursday said it had submitted a new draft of a bill seeking to end illegal labor contractualization to Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said that stakeholders, workers, labor groups and employers were consulted in drafting the new version of the SOT bill.

President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier

tasked Bello to revisit and craft a clearer version of the Security of Tenure (SOT) he vetoed in July 2019.

Under the new bill, hiring seasonal and project-based employees are legal under the “legitimate job contracting scheme,” Bello said.

Bello said the President instructed him to coordinate with Secretary Medialdea, saying “that’s why when we finished the draft, I submitted it. It’s already in the hands of Secretary Medialdea.”

He said the new version of SOT might be submitted to Congress once session resumes.

Bello said it is up to the Palace if it will adopt it, or make some modification of the proposed SOT. Ending Endo is a campaign promise that helped President Duterte secure popularity and votes in 2016.

Endo is end of contract or the practice in which employers scrimp on wages and benefits by shuffling workers with work contracts for less than six months.

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Opinion

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

The rise of China SOME 1.6-million Chinese tourists have visited the Philippines in 2019.

Another one-million Chinese are in the country as POGO (Philippine offshore gaming operation) players or gamblers. Their presence artificially jacked the prices up of condos, houses, and real estate in districts where POGOs thrive—Pasay, Makati, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, and Taguig.

Our giant neighbor has coped with tremendous challenges before.

In 2019, China registered its lowest economic growth in 27 years—a paltry 5.8 percent; 6 percent at best. The World Bank, however, thinks Chinese GDP will grow by 6.1 percent in 2019.

The Philippines is also expected to grow its 2019 GDP (output of goods and services for the year) by 5.8 percent; 6 percent at best. The PH GDP growth will be the lowest in 10 years, since the 1.1 percent of 2009.

2019 was a milestone year, a year of celebration. Of course, what would have been a glorious year was marred by three things: One, the devastating Typhoon “Lekima” (“Hanna” in the Philippines) on Aug. 4, 2019 which killed 55 people and caused $9.26 billion in damage; two, the Hong Kong protests that began on June 9, are still continuing with even greater vigor and already have caused an unheard of recession; and three, the trade war with the United States which threatens an already modest global growth.

China has coped with even more tremendous challenges before, so there is no question Beijing can grap-

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

ple, successfully, with these three modes of defiance—defiance by nature, defiance by Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters, and defiance by America.

“In recent months, our hearts have been concerned about the situation in Hong Kong,” conceded President Xi, stressing, “Hong Kong's prosperity and stability is the wish of Hong Kong compatriots and the expectation of people of our motherland.”

In 2019, China made history. It marked 20 years of Macao’s return to the motherland (proving the success of “One Country, Two Systems”), 40 years after Deng Xiaping opened up China to the world, 40 years after Beijing established relations with the United States, and 70 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China under communist rule. It was a year to tout past and present achievements, stir up nationalist and patriotic sentiment, rally the people to a common cause and a shared vision, and to tell the world that the Age of China has finally arrived. At the same time, President Xi has been able to build a cult following around himself, someone better and greater than Mao himself. Xi has become the most powerful leader China has ever had.

In the West Philippine Sea, China has asserted its dominance and its claim that it owns more than 90 percent of the 3.5-million sq.km. of waters vital to up to 40 percent or at least $3 trillion of world trade. The sea is rich with fisheries and is believed to contain huge reserves of oil, gas, and minerals.

In July 2016, the Philippines won a unanimous arbitral award from the Permanent Court of Arbitration which concluded that there was "no legal basis for China to claim historic rights over the nine-dash line.”

The tribunal also criticized China's land reclamation projects and its construction of artificial islands in the Spratly Islands, saying that it

No need to panic

T

HE Philippines is one of the many countries most vulnerable to any tension in the Middle East region.

It heavily depends on oil imports from the region and large remittances from Filipinos working in that part of the world.

A Middle East war will result in the steep rise in world oil prices once shipping lanes and supply routes are disrupted in the strategic Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The full-blown conflict will endanger the lives of millions of overseas Filipino workers and cause global economic recession.

President Rodrigo Duterte has quickly responded to an emerging crisis in the Middle East. He ordered all government agencies to repatriate some 4,000 Filipino workers in Iraq after a US drone attack killed a top Iranian general in Iraq on Jan. 3. Iran retaliated a few days later

when it launched dozens of missiles on Iraq’s al Asad Airbase, home to American troops.

The brewing crisis, however, should be viewed with caution and not alarm. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno called for prudence and a rational assessment of the situation.

The country’s chief banker cited that world oil prices did not spike much in the aftermath of the US drone attack. Global oil prices climbed by over 4 percent following Pentagon’s confirmation that an airstrike in Baghdad international airport on Jan. 3 killed top Iranian

commander Qasem Soleimani.

Brent rose 4.4 percent to $69.16 per barrel, while WTI increased 4.3 percent to $63.84.

But oil prices retreated later when market speculators quickly cashed in on their gains. It seems global market players are more concerned on the US-China trade war and its resolution than the US-Iran tiff.

The US-Iran standoff also may not make a dent on foreign exchange remittances from the Middle East. The bulk of remittances come from Saudi Arabia and other emirates in the region.

Any political tension in the Middle East is a cause for worry, especially with the Philippines given its millions of workers in the region and the volatile character of world oil prices. But prudence should guide the government in dealing with the emerging situation.

Turn to A5

Wanted: A reformist police chief WHY is it taking so long for President Duterte to appoint a permanent head of the Philippine National Police?

News reports said he postponed making such a decision after PNP Chief Police General Oscar Albayalde went on non-duty status ahead of his retirement in November last year. This was amid allegations that he protected “ninja cops," or police officers recycling prohibited drugs, years back when he was still the Pampanga provincial director.

Duterte has instead appointed Police Lieutenant General Archie Gamboa, who used to be the second in command of Albayalde, as officer-in-charge of the PNP. This January, Duterte still could not make up his mind and designated Interior Secretary Eduardo Año as overseer of the PNP, with marching orders to institute the necessary reforms in the organization.

Duterte has said he is still looking for someone who is really competent and honest to lead the PNP. Año himself had recommended three names for the top police post, but Duterte refrained from designating anyone as permanent Chief, PNP. If Duterte has been hesitant in appointing a permanent head of the police, we can conclude that he isn't ready to put his trust in the three names submitted to him as possible replacements. It is likely he wants more time to search for the right man with the requisite competence and honesty, rather than mere seniority, for the top police post.

A competent and honest PNP chief, if Duterte indeed finds one, should have the resolve to implement meaningful reforms in the 150,000-strong institution tasked with maintaining peace and order throughout the country.

He should be able to ferret out misfits and scalawags, whether they are ordinary policemen or high-ranking officials, and mete out the proper disciplinary move if they are found guilty of criminal activities and violations of the rules.

Meantime, Año will have his hands full in fighting corruption in the PNP. It is good to know that since July 2016, the PNP has already dismissed from the service a total of 3,280 police officers due to various grave offenses such as kidnapping, extortion and involvement in the illegal drug trade. Among them are 467 policemen who were kicked out of the PNP for drug-related offenses.

One crooked cop is one too many.

To be fair, we believe there are many honest and upright cops who uphold the PNP motto of "to serve and protect." In so doing, they deserve the badges they wear and bring honor to the institution.

But it is also true that there are a handful in the 150,000-strong organization who live double lives and engage in wrongdoing and illegal activities while trying to appear clean and honest. They deserve to be booted out to preserve the integrity of the entire institution.

While Interior Secretary Año exercises overall supervision over the PNP as Duterte's alter ego and as part of his concurrent capacity as chairman of the National Police Commission, he leaves the day-to-day running of the organization to OIC Gamboa.

“I will just closely supervise the organization and institute reforms that will improve further its efficiency and effectiveness,” Año said recently.

We will have to wait and see if Turn to A5

Climate change threatens Afghanistan’s crumbling heritage

By Pierre Celerier AFTER bearing the brunt of jihadist dynamite and looting by thieves, the archaeological treasures of Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province are facing a new and possibly more daunting threat: Climate change.

Nestled in the heart of the Hindu Kush mountains, the Bamiyan valley's picturesque cliffs—where centuries-old Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001—still contain a network of caves housing temples, monasteries, and Buddhist paintings.

The valley is also home to the silkroad era Shahr-e Gholghola fortress and the Shar-e Zohak citadel to the east.

Experts say that a pattern of dry spells followed by heavy rain, and larger than usual spring snowmelts is putting this historic art and architecture at risk of destruction.

Afghan officials warned in a 2016

United Nations report that the structures "may collapse and suffer from severe erosion" due to conditions directly linked to climate change.

"The erosion processes are much faster, the rains more devastating and the wind erosion stronger, which has an extremely harsh impact on the sites," Philippe Marquis, the director of the French Archaeological Delegation in Afghanistan, told AFP. Marquis—who has explored and worked in the region for decades—explains that Afghanistan "is very fragile geologically, especially as vegetation cover has greatly diminished" due to deforestation.

French imaging company Iconem concurred, saying Shar-e Zohak is "very fragile" due to erosion that has increased considerably over the last 30 years.

For Baqe Ghulami, 21, who hails from Saikhand district in northern

Bamiyan, climate change has long been a reality residents have had to confront.

"The weather is changing, now summers are warmer and winters colder," he says, while overlooking the empty spaces where the two towering Buddha statues once stood.

Many of the artefacts pre-date the arrival of Islam to the region but despite the fact they come from another religion, the residents who spoke with AFP proudly defended the area's history as their own.

Erosion is increasing From the empty caves, visitors can see the Cultural Center, which began construction in 2015 but has yet to be completed.

It aims to educate visitors about the urgent need to preserve the area's heritage.

"There is no benefit if people just see Turn to A5

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Opinion

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

Manong Rolly CROSSROADS

J.A. DE LA CRUZ MANONG Rolly was former Sultan Kudarat Vice Governor Rolando Recinto, a very good friend, counselor and the acknowledged leader of Ilocanos in the province. An energetic leader and a kind soul, he was ambushed and mercilessly killed by riding-in-tandem gunmen while on his way back home from the provincial capital, Tacurong City, to his hometown of Lambayong.

Like most politicians of the old school, he considered public service as a vocation and was friendly to one and all, including known political opponents. He did not bear any grudge on anyone nor did any kind of harm.

So trusting was he that he chose, as has been his way for years, to be going around town driving alone. On that fateful Tuesday, his trusting nature did him in. They got him as he drove alone back to Lambayong. Grabe.

Known far and wide in the then undivided Cotabato province as a friendly counselor and mentor to thousands of residents from all walks of life rather than as an astute politician which he really was, Manong Rolly had a ready smile and an engaging presence which endeared him to his constituents. To them, he was the ever helpful and patient "Uncle" ready to be of assistance in whatever way he can. But he also had his limits and is considered a disciplinarian in the truest sense of the word. Even after he has retired from politics and just tended his farm, politicians of all sizes and colors continued to take his counsel.

That was not surprising at all.

After all, most people now acknowledge that his giving in to his then fel-

low mayor, Datu Pax Mangudadatu, instead of engaging him in the gubernatorial race in the elections after martial law, which a host of leaders wanted him to do, ushered in peace and progress for the newly created province of Sultan Kudarat. It marked the end of unwarranted wranglings in the province and directed people's energies to making a go of their separation from the undivided Cotabato province. The rest as they say is now history with Sultan Kudarat getting voted as one of the more progressive provinces in Central Mindanao.

My friend now joins the angels.

Manong Rolly was one of our most trusted friends and leaders in Mindanao. His loyalties were well known even before he entered politics. Born to migrant Ilocanos in Lambayong, he earned his keep as a gentleman-farmer joining his family in tilling the lands they had earlier "rescued" from the forested areas in the then frontier areas of the undivided Cotabato province. As pioneers, they were known for their hard work, integrity and loyalty to family and community alike, taking pride in their honest labor and their abiding faith in the goodness of the Almighty. Although far from their Ilocos origins, they maintained their ties with the folks back there. Like all settlers far from home, they took pride in their being from the true North. Which is why when the then presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos came around in 1965 to seek their support they readily gave in. Not just voting for him but organizing, mobilizing and campaigning

Nothing climactic for him as they did in his earlier run for the Senate. And they and their communities were repaid back in terms of better services, infrastructure and peace and stability so they can proceed with lifting themselves and making their areas better places to live and grow.

And grow they did making Mindanao's promise a reality.

Last Dec. 24 just 37 minutes before Christmas Day Manong Rolly texted me "Laglagipen ka nga agnanayon Merry Christmas Apo" (You are always in my thoughts Apo Merry Christmas) which was one of the warmest greetings I received that day. I told him we will be visiting him more often in the new year as part of our efforts to renew ties with friends in the area and pro promote our learning and earning projects to as many local communities as can be. He was, of course, delighted that we will be doing so noting fully well the value of maintaining such ties no matter the season.

I last heard from him on New Year's day when I greeted him best wishes for 2020 and he answered back with a prayer for a better and more peaceful year ahead.

And now he is gone so abruptly and mercilessly.

The least we can do now is to get his killers to justice and ensure that we move with all deliberate speed in bringing about our common dream of a peaceful and progressive Philippines from communities like Lambayong to the big cities to fruition.

Dios ti agngina, (In the Lord's name, thank you) Manong Rolly for living a life of sacrifice and service for family and community. Your good deeds will be forever remembered by the thousands of lives you have so gently touched along the way. Goodbye, dear friend and counselor. You now join the angels in the loving bosom of the Almighty.

Former monk meditates his way to golf’s Masters

By Ross Adkin THAILAND'S Jazz Janewattananond has something special in his bag as he prepares for the US Masters—the Buddhist meditation techniques learned as a monk that have helped him become the talk of Asian golf.

The 24-year-old is Augusta-bound after a huge year when he won the Asian Tour order of merit, with two tournament victories, and impressed at the PGA Championship at Bethpage.

Jazz’s victory at the Indonesian Masters in December saw him safely inside the world top 50, and secured his place among golf’s elite at the Masters in April.

The unassuming Thai is now 40th in the rankings, the second-highest Asian behind South Korea’s Im Sung-jae, and he walked off with four 2019 Asian Tour awards including Players’ Player of the Year.

The former teen prodigy—who goes by the nickname given by his music-loving father—became the youngest player, at 14 years and 71 days, to make the cut at an Asian Tour event in Bangkok in 2010.

But after turning pro at 15, there have been tough moments too and it was after losing his Asian Tour card in 2016 that he spent two weeks living as a Buddhist monk.

He shaved his head and wore saffron robes at the monastery in the northern Chiang Rai region, where the strict routine involved fasting, chanting and learning how to meditate.

Most young Thai men spend time as a monk and the experience had a profound effect on Jazz, who won his first Asian Tour event, in Bangladesh, a few months later.

Play with respect

He has since chalked up another five wins on the Tour and sits higher on the rankings than his colourful countryman Kiradech Aphibarnrat, the established US PGA Tour player

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who he calls his “older brother.”

Jazz turned heads during his Major debut at last year’s PGA Championship, where he was tied for second behind Brooks Koepka after the third round.

The Thai, who stroked a creditable two-under-par 68 at a breezy Fanling in the Hong Kong Open’s first round on Thursday, said meditation remains an important tool as he builds his career.

“I’m still doing it,” he said.

“It’s not all the time, it is stuff I do when I feel like something is off, or I feel like I need to get back to the peace or something is going crazy.”

Jazz will need all his peace of mind to overcome his chequered record on the unusual, challenging Fanling layout, where he failed to make the cut on each of his two previous visits.

“I was a bit too aggressive,” he said of his last encounters.

“You need to play to the course, not overcome it... play with respect.”

Jazz isn’t the only Thai sportsman to spend time in a monastery: Kiradech also had a brief spell as a monk, as did former top-10 tennis player Paradorn Srichaphan.

After dominating the Asian Tour awards, handed out this week at a ceremony in Hong Kong, Jazz said his Players’ Player of the Year prize shows “you’re doing something right.”

“They’ve accepted you,” he said.

As well as the US Masters and playing more on the European Tour, Jazz has his sights on breaking into the world top 30 in the “short-term.”

And if he is playing on the final day at Fanling, he will switch his outfit to orange, the color he wears every tournament Sunday in homage to his Buddhist robes. AFP

JUST as she failed to contribute anything significant when she assumed the post of co-chair of the Inter-agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, Leni Robredo fell short again of her promise to offer something helpful in her “report” on the state of the nation’s anti-drugs drive.

Leni Robredo fell short again.

SO The de facto vice president’s SONATA proved to be just a waste of time and nothing but a miserable litany of allegations on summary killings of street drug pushers by policemen and the authorities’ failure to go after big-time drug lords and cut illegal drugs supply.

The small-time street shabu peddlers that she belittles are the ones that prey on fifth and sixth graders and high schoolers, and used to openly hold pot sessions in “shabu tiangge” in the neighborhood in complicit with barangay officials.

At least 22,000 of 42,000 barangays affected by drugs have been cleared, and only over 200 remain seriously affected.

To get in touch with reality, Manay Leni might as well visit Ozamiz City which has been liberated from the tyranny of a drugs clan that finally met its bloody end in this government’s no-nonsense war versus drug menace. Hundreds of high-profile drug traffickers with international connection have met the same fate.

One by one, she should dig deeper into the criminal records of drug suspects killed in encounters. She would rather have drug dealers and recidivist drug addicts billeted in rehabilitation centers at the expense of the public aggravated by drug-related crimes.

Former PNP chief and now Senator Ronaldo Bato dela Rosa’s Oplan Tokhang and Oplan Double-Barrel significantly curbed the widespread street drugs peddling by street toughies.

She simply did not make any sense at all and tends to undermine the intelligence of the Filipino people who now enjoy a much-improved peace and order situation with the lowest criminal incidence ever.

She should consider what the Duterte administration accomplished through the Philippine Drug Enforcement Authority and the Philippine National Police in three years compared to what the previous five administrations combined in terms of anti-drugs operations and shabu and other illegal drugs seized.

When Manay Leni said illegal drugs confiscated represent only 1 percent of the whole country’s supply, she may be referring to the accomplishment of her cohorts in the previous administration during which shabu trafficking flourished and used even in the Palace. Only during this administration's first three years have the authorities confiscated billions and billions peso worth of drug contraband.

Countless times over the years I have joined PDEA agents in buy-bust and drug raids for a reality TV show back then over at TV5 in which we witnessed the extreme difficulties and danger that anti-drug operatives encounter.

Manay Leni totally has no idea about covert drug operations. How dare she belittle PDEA and PNP's efforts. Such hypocrisy!

It is clear that she merely fulfilled what she had intended to do in accepting President Duterte’s generous offer to designate her ICAD co-chair. With the Yellow media always in tow, she was out to discredit and not to help in the government’s drugs war and sought to validate all the fake news she had been peddling.

In her so-called Report, Manay Leni has shamelessly showcased her expertise in exacerbating falsehood, only to fail to deliver results.

I rest my case.

Wanted:...

From A4

Gamboa is later appointed as permanent PNP Chief. Año had previously recommended Gamboa, police deputy chief for operations Lt. Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan and chief of the directorial staff Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar as the next PNP chief. But it appears that Duterte has chosen to closely monitor the performance of the three contenders for the top police post, specifically in the anti-drug campaign and internal cleansing programs, before he makes a decision on the matter.

The permanent Chief, PNP should be able to assert his leadership over an organization whose image and credibility depends heavily on its performance.

Part of the reform process that should be put in place should include setting higher standards for new applicants and reviewing the training program to weed out those likely to pose a problem to the police force if given the power to make life-and death decisions once they are issued a badge and a firearm.

The police leadership should also set an example of honesty and hard work to the rank-and-file. Despite higher salaries and more benefits for the police since 2016, some cops choose to stray from the straight and narrow path and even engage in illegal activities. One crooked cop is one too many for an organization that is there precisely to keep the citizenry safe and secure whether in their homes and workplaces and out in the streets. ernhil@yahoo.com

The rise...

From A4

had caused "severe harm to the coral reef environment." It also characterized Taiping Island and other features of the Spratly Islands as "rocks" under UNCLOS, and therefore are not entitled to a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

China, however, rejected the ruling, calling it "ill-founded."

In his New Year message, President Xi recited China’s achievements in 2019.

• China is on track to eradicate poverty by this year. In 1990, 750-million Chinese were earning daily less than $2 (in purchasing power parity), the threshold of extreme poverty. In 2017, the number of Chinese poor had fallen to just 700,000. In 2019 alone, President Xi said, 10-million people were lifted out of poverty in 340 impoverished counties.

• In 2019, Chinese GDP exceeded 100 trillion yuan (US$14.365 trillion), enabling China to have a yearly per capita income of $10,000, 200x the 1949 $50 per capita in-

come. Chinese life expectancy has more than doubled, from 36 years in 1949 to 76 today.

• On Oct. 1, 2019, marking its 70th anniversary, China displayed its military prowess and hardware—intercontinental ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons and stealth drones.

“The armed forces have taken on a new look of a strong army in the new era. We held a grand military parade on National Day, celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Navy and the Air Force, and also hosted the 7th Military World Games,” said President Xi. • In December 2019, China launched its first locally made aircraft carrier.

• Technological breakthroughs: Says President Xi: “Our lunar probe Chang'e-4, for the first time in human history, landed on the far side of the moon; the Long March-5 Y3 rocket was successfully launched; the Xuelong 2 icebreaker set sail on its maiden voyage to the Antarctic; the construction of the global network of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System is sprinting towards the finish line; the commercial application of 5G technology is accelerating; the

Beijing Daxing International Airport ‘phoenix spread its wings’... all these achievements are the result of the efforts and sweat of those who strive in the new era, and they demonstrate extraordinary Chinese splendor and Chinese strength.”

In 2018, half of global patents were filed by China.

• In the year of 2019, China continued to open its arms wide to embrace the world. We hosted the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Beijing International Horticultural Exhibition, the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations, and the second China International Import Expo, showcasing a civilized, open and inclusive China to the rest of the world.”

• China now has diplomatic ties with 180 countries. “We have friends in every corner of the world,” said Xi. In 2020, Xi vowed to “finish building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and realize the first centenary goal. 2020 will also be a year of decisive victory for the elimination of poverty.” biznewsasia@gmail.com

Climate...

From A4

[the sites] without information," says Ali Reza Mushfiq, 26, director of the Department of Archeology at Bamiyan University, complaining that a dearth of funding has left many in the dark— including his own students who lack access to books.

The archaeologist readily admits that "erosion is increasing," but believes the real danger comes from "human influence at the site," including looters, who are rampant in Afghanistan.

The Shar-e Gholghola Fortress and other key sites are now guarded to protect against such issues.

The removal of landmines from the area has seen thousands visit in recent years, but the influx of recent visitors has done little to change the reality on the ground.

"We must start training... [the] local people to teach them how not to destroy the site," says Mushfiq, adding that some residents continue to store feed and house livestock in the historic sites.

A stone's throw from the cave of the great Buddha, Ammanullah, 37, says

he and his family have moved into one of the caves, building a home inside made of odds and ends with plastic sheets for windows.

He is not alone, many other poor families have sought shelter next to ancient artefacts and structures.

"There are 18 families here… we didn’t have other options," says Ammanullah.

"We would go if we were given a house."

For Marquis, however, the greatest threat does not come from local residents encroaching on the site or from theft.

"Even if it is dramatic, it is much less damaging than the destruction caused by erosion," he said.

Mitigating the impacts of erosion and the effects of climate change would cost billions of dollars in Afghanistan, but the war-torn country has little ability to shoulder such a burden.

The Global Adaptation Initiative, run by the University of Notre Dame in the US, currently ranks Afghanistan 173 out of the 181 countries it scored in terms of a nation's vulnerability to climate change and its ability to adapt. AFP

2019)

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

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Ban on Fukushima products lifted INC starts decade T with huge aid,

Raise standards, DND chief urges employees, attached bureaus

HE Philippine government has lifted the importation ban on several food products from Fukushima after the 2011 nuclear disaster in the prefecture, the Japanese Embassy in Manila confirmed Thursday.

DEPARTMENT of National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana urged all officials and employees of the DND and its attached bureaus to raise their standards of professionalism and foster an environment that will further the “One Defense Team” concept.

“Let us raise our standards of professionalism, manifest utmost patriotism, and foster a cordial environment to nurture our One Defense Team concept,” Lorenzana said during the traditional joint DND-Armed Forces of the Philippines’ New Year’s Call Wednesday.

Aside from the AFP, some of the attached bureaus of the DND include the Government Arsenal, the Office of Civil Defense, the National Defense College of the Philippines, the Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, and the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation.

“Nurture the trust that has been bestowed on us—by our President, and our people. As the saying goes, ‘Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair’,” he added.

Noting that trust is built on truth, the values of honesty, transparency, and fairness is a must for all, the DND chief added.

“Finally, serve our clientele with genuine empathy and concern,” Lorenzana said.

Also, he lauded all the DND and its attached bureaus for continuously reforming, improving, and enhancing their capabilities and capacities to provide quality service to their stakeholders and to better perform their mandated task.

Other notable contributions of the DND to the attainment of peace in 2019 was the peaceful and honest plebiscite in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, and the conclusion of the Martial Law in Mindanao with the AFP decimating and weakening the terrorist and extremist groups in various areas in the region. PNA Manila

Standard

The embassy said the lifted ban, approved on Jan. 8, covers meat, fruits, and vegetables from areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear incident.

Japan Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, who was with Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. in Makati City, welcomed the move and expressed

Republic of the Philippines

Northern Samar Irrigation Management Office Catarman, Northern Samar

Office Address : Capitol Site, Brgy. Dalakit Catarman, Northern Samar

Telefax No.: Telephone No.:

(055) 251-8274 (055) 251-8274

INVITATION TO BID No. 01- 2020 The National Irrigation Administration (NIA), Northern Samar Irrigation Management Office (NSIMO), through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), hereby invites Domestic Contractors, registered with and classified by the Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB), to bid for the hereunder contracts. Bids received in excess of ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

1.

2.

3.

4.

Approved Budget for Duration the Contract

Cost of Bidding Documents

Catubig IS NSIMO # 04 – 2020 – Construction of Php 15,639,810.82 Concrete Canals and Canal Structures

270

Palapag CIS NSIMO #052020 – Supply/ Delivery & Installation of Steelgates; Desilting of Canals; Remove/ Replace of some portion of Canal @ Main Canal, Lateral A and MFD3; Construcution of Lined Canal and its Related Structures @ SFD3-2, MFD-4, MFD-5 (extension), MFD-6, MFD-8 and MFD-9

Php 9,120,346.91

270

Php 10,000

Catarman- Bobon IP #012020 – Construction of Php 19,577,561.01 Concrete Canals and Canal Structures

270

Php 25,000

Camambanan CIP NSIMO #06- 2020- Construction of Php 21,256,523.37 Lined Canal @ MC, Lateral and On- Farm Facilities Including Its Structures

270

Php 25,000

Php 25,000

SSS calamity aid now ready for ‘Tisoy’ victims in Bicol THE state-run Social Security System announced on Thursday that members and pensioners in Bicol Region who were devastated by Typhoon "Tisoy" last December may now apply for the Calamity Assistance Package.

SSS president and chief executive officer Aurora Ignacio said affected members and pensioners in Naga City and provinces of Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate and Sorsogon may now avail of Ca-

lamity Loan, Direct House Repair and Improvement Loan, and advance three-month pension for qualified pensioners from Dec. 20, 2019 until March 19, 2020, except for the Direct House Repair and Improvement Loan.

“The National Disaster Risk Reductionand Management Council (NDRRMC) has recently declared areas in Bicol region under the State of Calamity (SOC) following the devastation of Typhoon Tisoy in December. Mem-

bers and pensioners who were residents of the said areas may now avail of the CAP as the program specifically caters to those who are placed under the SOC,” Ignacio said.

“I know that most of our members and pensioners in Bicol have been waiting for this good news and we’re glad to inform everyone that SSS is now ready to extend our financial assistance to them especially that they were directly affected by the said typhoon,” Ignacio said.

Fight vs. polio set in Sulu, Tawi-Tawi

The Prospective Bidders should have completed, within five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project whose value must be at least fifty percent (50%) of the ABC. Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of republic Act 9184 (R.A. 9184), otherwise known as the “Government procurement Reform Act”.

Prospective Bidders are not allowed to participate if they have negative slippage in their on-going contracts. Individuals with Special Power of Attorney (SPA) are not allowed to transact and participate in the procurement utilizing another construction firm. The pre-bid conference shall be open only for those who have purchased the Bid documents.

The schedule of BAC activities is listed as follows: PROJECT NAME

Issuance of Bid Documents (Date and Time Schedule)

Pre- bid Receipt & Opening Conference of Bids (Date and Time (Date and Time Schedule) Schedule)

1. Catubig IS NSIMO #04- 202

Starting January 13, 2020 (8AM-5PM)

January 14, 2020 (10AM)

January 24, 2020 (9AM)

2. Palapag CIS NSIMO #05- 2020

Starting January 13, 2020 (8AM-5PM)

January 14, 2020 (10AM)

January 24, 2020 (9AM)

3. Catarman- Bobon Starting January 13, IP #01- 2020 2020 (8AM-5PM)

January 14, 2020 (10AM)

January 24, 2020 (9AM)

4. Camambanan CIP Starting January 13, NSIMO #06- 2020 2020 (8AM-5PM)

January 14, 2020 (10AM)

January 24, 2020 (9AM)

The BAC will issue a complete set of Bidding Documents from the address above and upon payment of its respective non-refundable amount to the cashier.

The NIA reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

(SGD) CESAR R. ECHANO BAC Chairman (MS-JAN. 10, 2020)

assistance event

MORE than 65,000 attendees flocked to the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan at the start of the new decade last Jan. 5 for the relaunching of “Kabayan Ko, Kapatid Ko”, a humanitarian activity of Filipino homegrown church Iglesia Ni Cristo aimed at providing aid and assistance to various local communities.

“We have relaunched Kabayan Ko, Kapatid Ko (KKKK) upon the initiative of our Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo as he leads the church to a greater path of service, a direction we have been taking these past years,” said Glicerio B. Santos, general auditor of the INC. Santos said that the weekend Philippine Arena event drew attendees from various church districts—six from Metro Manila, three from Bulacan, and three from Pampanga.

The INC conducted simultaneous Kabayan events in more than 500 venues in 156 countries spanning six continents on that same day.

According to Santos, a total of 170 INC districts were involved in the worldwide My Countrymen, My Brethren activities.

“While the events were led by INC districts, we also give equal focus and attention to both INC and non-INC members because everyone deserves to receive help and livelihood assistance, especially at the start of the new year,” Santos explained.

The Kabayan Ko, Kapatid Ko event distributed “goody bags” which included five kilos of rice, canned goods and coffee. Food, refreshments and entertainment were likewise provided to participants.

“We’ve also conducted well-attended My Countrymen, My Brethren events abroad, but this one last weekend has been one of the biggest so far. The Iglesia Ni Cristo has most recently offered assistance to several areas in Mindanao CHRISTMAS PAST. Police employees of Camp Crame removed the Christmas decors off their offices’ walls after the holiday after a series of devastating earthquakes season. Manny Palmero struck late inYELLOW 2019.

CYAN MAGENTA BLACK

National Irrigation Administration TODAY (PAMBANSANG PANGASIWAAN NG PATUBIG)

ITEM/DESCRIPTION

hopes for a further increased trade between the two nations.

“Japan welcomes the lifting of the import ban of food products from Japan by the government of the Philippines yesterday,” he said.

“With this lifting, we hope that safe food from Fukushima as well as other

parts of Japan will reach many people in the Philippines,” he added.

Last year, Manila has initially lifted the ban on some fish species from Fukushima Prefecture as a gesture of goodwill during the visit of President Rodrigo Duterte and his Cabinet to Japan.

The ban was introduced following the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, dubbed as the second-worst nuclear disaster in history after the nuclear incident in Chernobyl. PNA

SUSPECT. Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) PIO chief Lt. Col. Jowel Saliba showed reporters the photo of the arrested suspect against Lanao del Sur former vice mayor Jeremy Guiab Galutera in the case of Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Damage to Property.

‘Info’ system on prison records created

By Rey E. Requejo THE government will establish an integrated information system for efficient handling of prison records that may help authorities in going after fugitives.

Justice Undersecretary Markk Perete said various government agencies will sign today (Friday) a memorandum of agreement for the formal launching of the so-called National Justice Information System.

Government agencies involved in the dispensation of justice such as the Department of Justice, that has supervision over the Bureau of Immigration and the Bureau of Cor-

rections; the Department of the Interior and Local Government, that has supervision over the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology; the Department of Information and Communications Technology the Supreme Court, that has supervision over all the courts; and the Dangerous Drugs Board will sign the MOA. “The NJIS is essentially an information of data portal or network where a lot of different systems relating to prisoners, cases being handled by the judiciary, to research materials on criminal and other prosecutions among others will be housed,” Perete said.

COTABATO CITY—The World Health Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund continue their support to the Department of Health in the remote islands of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to reach 488,000 targeted children under 10 years old with the polio vaccine.

Children in BaSulTa are at risk of infection from polio because of low vaccination coverage, inaccessibility, and security issues in the island municipalities and barangays. To offer added protection to children in BaSulTa, one of the priority areas, three more rounds of immunization for poliovirus type 1 targeting all children below 10 years old will be implemented. The immunization schedules are on Jan. 6 to 12 for BaSulTa and Zamboanga City, and Mindanao-wide for Jan. 20 to Feb. 2, Feb. 17 to March 1, and March 23 to April 4, 2020.

DOH announced a polio outbreak in the country last September 19, 2019, with the first type 2 poliovirus case found in Marogong, Lanao del Sur. On November 26, DOH announced the re-emergence of type 1 poliovirus in Maluso, Basilan. On December 6, the first case of polio after 27 years was confirmed in Sabah, Malaysia, and revealed to have genetic links to the polio case found in Basilan.

Sports

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

South’s Bacoor, GenSan, Cebu defeat North rivals in MPBL

BEST JUVENILE HORSE. Elmer de Leon (right), owner of Union Bell, receives the Juvenile Championship trophy from Philippine Racing Commission Executive Director Andrew Rovie Buencamino. They are joined by jockey Jonathan B. Hernandez and the rest of Union Bell’s winning connections. Union Bell delivered an impressive finishing kick to an undefeated season, winning the 2019 Juvenile Championship at the San Lazaro Leisure Park in Carmona, Cavite by five lengths and taking the championship purse of P1.5 million for owner De Leon.

Arellano U starts bid for 4th straight volley crown ARELLANO University begins its campaign for a fourth straight title this Friday in the opening of the NCAA Season 95 women’s volleyball season at the Fil Oil Flying V Centre, San Juan City.

Fans can watch the opening ceremony and matches live via ABS-CBN’s streaming service iWant starting at 11 a.m.

First to test the Lady Chiefs, bannered

by Season 94 MVP Necole Ebuen and Season 94 Finals MVP Regine Anne Arocha, are the Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU) Lady Pirates led

by Monica Sevilla and Mary Joy Onofre at 12 noon.

Following them is the showdown between two former NCAA volleyball champions, Season 94 runner-up University of Perpetual Help System DALTA Lady Altas of Jhona Rosal and Shyra Umandal, and the College of Saint Benilde Lady Blazers of Jewel Lai and Dianne Ventura at 2 pm.

Completing the field this season are Colegio De San Juan De Letran Lady Knights of Marie Charlemagne Simborio, Emilio Aguinaldo College Lady Generals led by Cathrine Almazan, Jose Rizal University Lady Bombers of Dolly Verzosa, Mapua University Lady Cardinals bannered by Lorraine Barias, San Beda University Lady Red Spikers powered by Nieza Viray, and San Sebastian College – Recoletos Lady Stags of Jewelle Bermillo.

On a mission to showcase the inspiring journey of Filipino athletes and help promote the sport of volleyball to the youth, ABS-CBN Sports will carry the entire NCAA 95 women’s volleyball tournament on iWant. Fans in the Philippines can also livestream the matches on the ABS-CBN Sports website (sports.abs-cbn.com) while those abroad can catch the action on TFC. tv. ABS-CBN’s sports channel S+A, meanwhile, will broadcast the semifinals and finals of the women’s volleyball tournament live.

The NCAA volleyball tournament kicks-off the 2020 volleyball season in the Philippines, where the sport continues to grow in popularity. The NCAA has produced volleyball players that played for the country including Grethcel Soltones (SSC-R) and Ces Molina (SBU), and former MVP Johnvic de Guzman (CSB) and Jack KalingKing (UPHSD), who were part of the squad that won the men’s volleyball bronze medal in the recent Southeast Asian Games.

McAloney and Galvez contributed 17 points and 5 rebounds each for Cebu, while Rhaffy Octobre came through with 9 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

Bacoor banked on Michael Canete, Michael Mabulac, Gab Banal and RJ Ramirez to ward off the spirited Shoemasters, who tumbled to 4-9.

Canete scored 19, grabbed 12 rebounds, handed 3 assists and blocked 3 shots, while Mabulac tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds in another double-double.

Ramirez carded 13 points, while Banal, the MPBL Datu Cup MVP, wound up with 9 points, 10 assists and s9 rebounds.

The Shoemasters dropped to 4-9 despite the 35-point explosion of Yves Sazon and the 21-point, 23-rebound effort of Renato Ular.

Former pro Pamboy Raymundo shone for the Warriors with 23 points and four assists, and so did Robby Celiz with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists.

Pasay, which pulled away at 24-9 only to lose steam and suffer its 12th setback against 13 wins, got 16 points from Ronnel Jay Lastimosa, 14 from Axel Inigo, and 12 from Jan Jamon.

Jokic shines as Nuggets top Mavs L

OS ANGELES—Nikola Jokic made a clutch go-ahead layup with eight seconds left and finished with 33 points as the Denver Nuggets outduelled Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks 107-106 on Wednesday.

Jokic also had seven assists while American Jerami Grant scored 15 points and Canada’s Jamal Murray chipped in 14 in the matchup of two of the top young teams in the NBA’s Western Conference.

“We lost one at home against them be-

fore. It was long time ago but we wanted to get this game back. We needed a lot of focus and a lot of energy because it is the last game of our road trip,” said Serbia’s Jokic.

Slovenia’s Doncic flirted with a triple double, finishing with 27 points, 10 assists

Gwon, Malixi close in on National Stroke Play titles MIN Wook Gwon toughened up at the back to salvage a 75 and keep his seven-stroke lead intact while Rianne Malixi hiked her lead to three with a brave 71 in a wind-blown third round of the National Stroke Play Championship at the Riviera Golf and Country Club in Silang, Cavite yesterday.

Playing virtually pressure-free after posting a big cushion halfway through the kickoff leg of this year’s PLDT Group National Amateur Tour, Gwon yielded a number of strokes at the front in a punishing day at Langer but preserved his four-over card with a two-birdie, two-bogey finish for a 39-36, keeping the Korean way ahead of the pack at 216.

That moved the 17-year-old Gwon 18 holes away from re-claiming the crown won by compatriot and now pro tour campaigner Kim Joo Hyung in 2018 as Japanese Atsushi Ueda stood too far behind at 223 after a 72, the best under exacting conditions in men’s division.

“Despite the wind, my game was okay. I hit good putts but had another problem on No. 8, which I double-bogeyed,” said Gwon, referring to the par-3 hole, where he made a 6 Wednesday.

Junior World titlist Aidric Chan dropped to third at 225 after a second 77 in three days while SEA Games bronze medal teammate Sean Ramos shot a 73 to gain a share of fourth at 226 with Ryan Monsalve, who stumbled with a 77.

Carl Corpus also skied to a 77 for joint sixth at 227 with Weiwei Gao, who fumbled with a 79, Davaoeño Elee Bisera carded a 75 for solo eighth at 228 and last year’s champion Gen Nagai hardly improved from two 77s with a 75 for 229 in

and nine rebounds. Dwight Powell, of Canada, scored 16, Tim Hardaway added 15, Seth Curry 14 and German forward Maxi Kleber had 13 for the Mavericks.

Dallas played its fifth straight game without injured starter Kristaps Porzingis, who has a knee injury. The Nuggets were without two starters, guard Will Barton (personal reasons) and Paul Millsap (knee).

Dorian Finney-Smith nailed a three pointer and Hardaway hit a basket to give

Dallas a 106-101 lead late in the fourth.

Jokic then made a shot in the lane and Grant drained two free throws to make it 106-105 with 87 seconds remaining.

Denver got the ball back with 23 seconds left. Jokic drove for a layup with eight seconds left.

The Mavericks called a timeout, but the Nuggets trapped Doncic to force him to pass, and the defence prevented Dallas from getting a shot off before the final buzzer.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE January 09, 2020

REVENUE REGULATIONS NO. 1-2020 SUBJECT : Amending Pertinent Provisions of Section 8 under Revenue Regulations No. 11-2018 TO

: All Internal Revenue Officers and Others Concerned

SECTION 1. SCOPE. - Pursuant to the provisions of Section 244 of the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended, these Regulations are hereby promulgated to amend the pertinent provisions of Section 8 under Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 11-2018, re: Amending Certain Provisions of Revenue Regulations (RR) No. 2-98, as Amended, to Implement Further Amendments Introduced by Republic Act No. 10963, Otherwise Known as the “Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law”.

SECTION 2. AMENDMENT. - Section 8 of RR No. 11-2018 is hereby amended and shall read as follows: “SECTION 8. Section 2.79.1 of RR No. 2-98, as amended, is hereby amended and shall read as follows:

Malixi

a tie with fellow Japanese Kyosuke Yoshida, who hobbled with a 78.

Malixi, meanwhile, continued to stun the field with superb shotmaking and poise rarely seen in a 12-year-old campaigner, holing out with back-to-back birdies to save an even par card for a 214 as she padded her lead to three over Abby Arevalo, who fought back from a 38 start with birdies on Nos. 10 and 11 for a 72 and a 217.

“My shots were better than yesterday (Wednesday). I hope to sustain this kind of game tomorrow (today),” said Malixi, who actually made a butterfly on No. 16 for a double bogey.

That practically set the stage for their head-to-head duel in the final 18 holes as Laurea Duque fell 12 strokes off Malixi at 226 after a 76 for third with last year’s champion and first day leader Lois Kaye Go failed to mount a comeback with a 77 for a 227.

Junia Gabasa and Korean Kim Seo Yun matched 74s for identical 228s, Bernice Ilas recovered with a 74 for a 230, Nicole Abelar skied to an 82 for a 232, Samantha Dizon rallied with a 72 for a 233 and Eagle Ace Superal carded a 76 for a 234.

SECTION 2.79.1. Application for Registration for Individuals Earning Compensation Income (BIR Form No. 1902). - The application for registration of employees shall be accomplished by both employer and employee relating to the following information and other requirements: (A) Employee - xxx (B) Employer - xxx (A) Procedures for the filing of the Application for Registration (BIR Form No. 1902) and/or Application for Registration Information Update (BIR Form No. 1905).

(1) All employers shall require their concerned employees to accomplish in triplicate the Application for Registration BIR Form 1902 (if the employee does not have existing TIN), distributed as follows: (1.1) Original copy- RDO; (1.2) Duplicate- employer; and (1.3) Triplicate- employee The said forms shall be accomplished and submitted based on the following manner: (a) xxx (b) In case of changes in the information data in the Application for Registration (BIR Form No. 1902) previously submitted by the employee to its current employer, such as changes in employment, multiple employment status and amount of compensation income, the employee should furnish his/ her employer a copy of BIR Form No. 1905 duly stamped received by the RDO where the employee is registered. The employer shall then make the necessary adjustments on the withholding tax of the employee based on the new information; (2) Registration and information updates of employees receiving purely compensation income shall follow the existing policies and procedures thereon.”

SECTION 3. REPEALING CLAUSE.-All revenue regulations and other revenue issuances or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of these Regulations are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SECTION 4. EFFECTIVITY. - These Regulations shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in the Official Gazette or in any two newspapers of general circulation, whichever comes earlier.

Serena...

From A1 twice to take the first set.

But from there, she used her considerable experience to ruffle the 15-year-old, forcing her behind the baseline and then drawing her forward with deft drop shots.

“In the first set I had my chances but let it go. So I just tried to keep my level and she started to miss a little bit more, and I guess I just got better and better,” Siegemund said.

As Gauff showed signs of being rattled, she lost the steeliness

SOUTH division teams Bacoor, General Santos and Cebu City beat their North counterparts Wednesday and revved up their playoffs drive in the Chooks-to-Go/ MPBL Lakan Season at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

The Bacoor Strikers thwarted the Marikina Shoemasters, 100-88, while the GenSan Warriors rallied to down the Pasay Voyagers, 76-69, as they kept their 2-3 spots behind the Davao Occidental Tigers in the 15-team South.

The Strikers, who led from start to finish, posted their fifth straight victory and climbed to 20-5, just behind the Tigers (20-3).

GenSan dropped seven straight points to snap the game’s last tie at 65 and improve to 16-8 Cebu Casino Ethyl Alcohol started strong and never let the Quezon City Capitals to recover en route to a 95-89 victory that raised the Sharks to 11-12, within sight of the eighth-ranked Bicol Volcanoes (13-12).

The Sharks zoomed ahead at 39-20 and never wavered behind the guns of William McAloney and Fletch Galvez to pull down the Capitals to 10-16.

she showed when she burst into the limelight last year with a win over Venus Williams on her way to Wimbledon’s fourth round as a qualifier.

Against Siegemund, she finished with seven double faults and 49 unforced errors, which she put down to youth and inexperience.

“I’m still learning and that’s the problem that I have,” Gauff said.

“I didn’t play the right way and if I lost playing the right way it would have been fine, but I don’t think I

was playing the right way.”

Meanwhile, top-seeded Australian Ashleigh Barty was bundled out of the second round of Brisbane International by American qualifier Jennifer Brady on Thursday.

Barty, playing her first WTA tournament in Australia as the world number one, made too many unforced errors against an opponent at the top of her game.

Brady recorded her first-ever win over a top 10 player with her 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win in an hour and a half. AFP

Recommending Approval:

CARLOS G. DOMINGUEZ III Secretary of Finance DEC 11 2019 008780

CAESAR R. DULAY Commissioner of Internal Revenue 03055 Manila Standard – January 10, 2020

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

sports@manilastandard.net

sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

Sports

Magsanoc is 3x3 coach for Tokyo qualifiers

By Peter Atencio RONALD Magsanoc will be the head coach of the Gilas 3x3 men’s basketball team in its coming qualifying stints for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The Philippines will be sending a national squad to the 3x3 OQT in New Delhi, India from March 18 to 22.

Magsanoc successfully handled the national men’s team to the gold medal in the recent 30th Southeast Asian Games.

The lineup then was made up of Philippine Basketball Association players Chris Newsome, Jason Perkins, Mo Tautuaa and CJ Perez.

Magsanoc earlier coached the national 3x3 teams in the 2018 FIBA 3x3 World Cup in the Philippines, the 2018 FIBA 3x3 Challenger in Shanghai and the 2018 FIBA 3x3 under-23 World Cup in Xi An, china.

The Olympic qualifier in India will have teams from 20 countries, divided into four pools of five teams each.

The Philippines is grouped in Pool C with Slovenia, France, Qatar and Dominican Republic.

The choices of players here will include those playing in the 3x3 League and have undergone a training camp under Liman ace and China head coach Stefan Stojacic and Serbian strength and conditioning coach Darko Krsman.

The top two bets in this pool of players are Joshua Munzon and Alvin Pasaol.

Also listed as candidates are Dylan Ababou, Karl Dehesa, Leonard Santillan, Chris de Chavez, Gab Banal, Jaypee Belencion, Leo de Vera and Ryan Monteclaro.

The top three teams in the tournament will gain qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Eaglets edge Bullpups, 1-0 LORENZO Lucindo knocked a goal midway in the first half to lead the Ateneo Blue Eaglets to 1-0 triumph over the Nazareth School-National University Bullpups on Wednesday in the 82nd University Athletic Association of the Philippines Junior Football Tournament at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

Lucindo connected near the 30thminute mark after getting a pass from Stephen Herrera and sending the Blue Eaglets to their second straight victory.

The Blue Eaglets, coached by Dodjie Locsin, will seek to stretch their winning streak to three when they take on De La Salle-Zobel at 1:30 p.m this Sunday at the FEU-Diliman field.

Meanwhile, Far Eastern University started its bid for a 10th straight championship on a bright note with a clinical 6-0 swamping of the University of Santo Tomas Tiger Cubs.

Edmar Adonis tallied a brace in the first period to set the tone for the Baby Tamaraws.

Adonis, a forward, started in place of Tarshish Garciano, who suffered a freak injury during the warm-ups.

Adonis scored goals in the 11th and in the 15th minutes to give FEU a 2-0 advantage early. Peter Atencio

Meralco’s Allen Durham drives to the basket against Ginebra’s Stanley Pringle in Game 1 of their teams’ PBA Governors’ Cup showdown. The Gin Kings took the game, 91-87.

Gin Kings shoot for 2-0 lead

By Arman Carandang

B

ARANGAY Ginebra guns for a 2-0 lead against Meralco as they resume their PBA Governors’ Cup titular showdown today at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena City.

The goal, however, is easier said than done, especially with the way Tim Cone and his Gin Kings managed to escape in Game 1 of the best-of-7 finals series last Tuesday, 91-87.

“I honestly feel this is the way it’s going to be every game. It’s going to be a grind-out, fight-to-the-end, let’ssee-who’s-gonna-go-on-top-in-the-lastminute type of series,” said Cone.

Struggling in the first half, the Gin Kings were able to overcome a 10-point third-quarter deficit, but still found themselves dragged in a tough contest coming home by what Cone described as well-disciplined Bolts.

“Meralco is so disciplined in the way

they play it’s hard to really get them out of their tempo and so you have to play at max tempo all the way and that’s not really a comfortable tempo for us,” said Cone.

The opener, watched by 11,000 fans, was still anybody’s game going into the last 1:43 minutes, with L.A. Revilla’s reverse layup giving the Gin Kings an 86-85 lead.

The Bolts quickly regained the lead on Allen Durham’s two free throws with 1:22 left, 87-86, and could have made it even bigger had Chris Newsome not committed a crucial turnover.

As a result, Justin Brownlee, who fished a foul from Bong Quinto, made

two free throws, while Stanley Pringle added one as Ginebra went up for good, 89-87, 23.5 seconds.

The Gin Kings then sealed the outcome as Japeth Aguilar, who finished with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists, rejected Durham’s drive, paving the way for Brownlee’s two more charities that rounded out the scoring.

That was how tight the endgame was and Cone is expecting the Gin Kings’ 7 p.m. encounter with the Bolts in Lucena and the rest of the series to be no different.

“It really just comes down to each possession, everything’s riding on one possession throughout the game you feel like if you blow one possession you might blow the game. So it’s really a possession by possession game at this point,” stressed Cone, who is looking to steer the Gin Kings to their 12th championship.

The Bolts, meanwhile, are expected to make dramatic adjustments now that defense alone cannot win big games in

AFP Cavaliers, Warriors dispute top seed Games Sunday (Paco Arena) 3:30 p.m. – PITC vs Judiciary 5 p.m. – DENR vs AFP

REIGNING titlist Armed Forces of the Philippines and Department of Environment and Natural Resources dispute the top seeding in the semis at the close of the second round of elims in the 8th UNTV Cup on Sunday at the Paco Arena in Manila.

Expect an animated action in their 5 p.m. showdown as both AFP and DENR intend to close out their elimination campaigns on a winning note in the annual tournament for public servants.

Both teams have advanced outright to the semis on account of their impressive 7-1 marks.

Out to lead the AFP Cavaliers are former Letran star Boyet

Bautista, Willy Casulla and Darwin Cordero while spearheading the DENR Warriors are Ed Rivera and Melvin Bangal.

Rivera and Bangal starred in DENR’s semis-clinching 11093 win over PhilHealth last Sunday in the event offering P4 million to the chosen charity of the champion team.

Equally important is the 3:30 p.m. showdown between streaking Judiciary and PITC with both teams fighting for good position.

With both teams sporting similar 5-3 records, the victor will be claiming the fourth place and the loser staying at fifth.

They will play another round along with No. 3 National Housing Authority and sixthseeded Department of Agriculture in the quarters with the The AFP Cavaliers need Willy Casulla’s inside presence when top two placers advancing to they play the DENR Warriors at the close of the elims on the semis.

Sunday in the 8th UNTV Cup at the Paco Arena

GS Señor 1 claims MCC 10-Stag championship

The winning connections of the champion entry GS Señor 1, led by Barry Crisostomo (4th from left), receive their MCC Championship Trophy. With him are (from left) SLBN Head and Game Management Paolo Guevara; MCC Pitmaster Rolly Ramos; MCC President Jose Ramon Magboo, MCC host Lea Forbes and members of the team.

CARMONA–GS Señor S1 of Barry Crisostomo and Michael Sablan claimed the solo championship of the recent Manila Cockers Club 10-Stag Breeders Festival Mega Derby at the world-class Cockers Arena in Carmona, Cavite.

The winning team scored a total of 9.5 points during the finals, besting KAI JOEPEN of Jun Sosa/ Noel de Ocampo; Red/Blue A of Biboy Sison; and VIVA PEÑAFRANCIA/JLR/CVC Joel & Carlo of Marites Zerrudo, who scored 9 points each. They went head to head with some of the toughest breeders in the competition, which included Wene Romano Jr., Santi Solis/Ruel Lizarda and Percy Burgos/ Anatalio Balbieran, among others.

Over P9.7 million in breeders assistance fund was awarded to the participating breeders with the champion receiving a whopping P4 million (BAF).

The excitement continues in 2020 as MCC announces its coming derby season, namely the MCC

7-Cock Derby Qualifiers 1 on Jan. 15 to 23; MCC 7-Cock Derby Qualifiers 2 on Jan. 27 to Feb. 4; MCC 7-Cock Derby Qualifiers 3 on Feb. 8 to 16; MCC 7-Cock Derby Qualifiers 4 on Feb. 21 to 29; MCC 7-Cock Derby Qualifiers 5 on March 9 to 11; MCC 7-Cock Derby Qualifiers 6 on March 14 to 22; and MCC 7-Cock Derby Qualifiers 7 on March 26 to April 3.

Another 10-Cock Mega Derby is scheduled from April 14 to 28.

Cockfighting fans are invited to visit San Lazaro Leisure Park to watch the action or through MCC’s Off-Cockpit Betting network.

For more information, call the MCC hotline at (02)696 1120 or (63)917 582 2615 or visit website, manilacockers.com for more details. The Cockers Arena is located at the G/F Turf Building of the San Lazaro Leisure Park, Barangay Lantic, Governor’s Drive, Carmona, Cavite.

the PBA. “We didn’t shoot the ball very well particularly from the three-point land.

We normally shoot about 37 percent and tonight (Tuesday), we shot about 21 or in the low 20s,” noted Meralco coach Norman Black.

The Bolts actually hit at a mere 21.9-percent clip, with their top gunners missing shots when needed most.

“We must be more efficient on offense,” said Black. “Our ball movement and shooting must be better as well as our spacing.”

Brownlee, who pumped in 38 big points on top of 16 rebounds, will now be the target of the Bolts’ defense.

“Defensively, slowing down Justin (Brownlee) will be a priority,” said Black.

The Gin Kings and the Bolts are meeting for the third time in the season-ending conference, with the former winning their first two meetings in 2016 and 2017 seasons.

Serena drops set, recovers to make quarters; Barty fumbles AUCKLAND – Serena Williams rallied from a set down to beat journeywoman Christina McHale at the WTA Auckland Classic on Thursday, but said it was just the workout she needed.

With her focus on winning a 24th Grand Slam at the Australian Open, Williams said she needs all the court time she can get after a long off-season since losing September’s US Open final.

It took the top seed two hours to put away the 27-year-old McHale and advance to a quarter-final with Germany’s Laura Siegemund, who ousted teen prodigy Coco Gauff in the second round.

Williams was broken three times before losing the first set 3-6 but recovered to take the next two sets 6-2, 6-3 in the all-American affair.

“I really need to play matches like that to get to my goals,” said the 23-times Grand Slam winner, who is determined to equal the record of 24 held by Australian great Margaret Court.

“Tournament time is super-important, match time is good. After losing that first set I’m just glad to be still in the event.”

McHale used her speed around the court in extended rallies which often produced unforced errors from the 38-year-old Williams in the early stages.

But just as it looked as if Williams was in a slump at 1-4 down after five games, the world number 10 got to grips with the blustery conditions and McHale’s agility and began to take control.

- ‘I’m still learning’ It was the reverse from Gauff, seen as one of the rising stars of tennis, who started strongly against Siegemund but faded as the match wore on.

The 31-year-old Siegemund, who played her first WTA qualifier in 2003 before Gauff was born, was up 5-4 and serving when the American teen broke Turn to A7

IN BRIEF

Pitkin to join Peru exploration drilling

LISTED oil and gas firm PXP Energy Corp. said Thursday the consortium holding the Marina-1 exploration well in Block Z-38 Tumbes Basin, Peru will conduct drilling activities this month.

Pitkin Petroleum Ltd., a 53.43-percent subsidiary of PXP Energy, holds a 25-percent participating interest in Peru Block Z-38 offshore Peru.

PXP Energy said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange the Stena Forth Drillship arrived in the Port of Callao in Lima, Peru on Thursday ahead of the drilling, based on the report of Karoon Energy Ltd., the operator of Z-38 with a 40-percent stake.

“The Stena Forth will remain at the Port of Callao for one to two weeks to refuel and change the crew before continuing on to the Marina-1x well location,” PXP Energy said.

“The well is expected to spud during the last week of January 2020,” PXP Energy said.

Peru Block Z38’s Marina prospect has an unrisked best estimate prospective resource of 256 million barrels, with 64 million barrels net to Pitkin. Alena Mae S. Flores

Business CLSU GOES GREEN. Officials of Central Luzon State University and counterparts from First Gen and PI Energy formally open the solar rooftop power facility in the university’s Central Luzon ICT Research, Development and Training Center. The rooftop solar power project supports CLSU’s program to promote energy efficiency and sustainability, while helping mitigate adverse climate change. At the launching ceremony are (insert, from left) Pi Energy vice president Denardo Cuayo, First Gen vice president Ricky Carandang, CLSU president Dr. Tereso Abella and First Gen vice president Carlo Vega.

PH seeks stronger ties with Japan

FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the government wants a stronger cooperation with Japan, as the East Asian nation plays a very important role in the Philippine economy’s rapid expansion over the years.

Dominguez made the statement during his bilateral meeting with Japanese Foreign Affairs Minister Toshimitsu Motegi at the Department of Finance headquarters in Manila.

“We look forward to every meeting with senior cabinet members of our development partners. Our economy is moving at a fast pace, and we are eager to keep this momentum through increased cooperation with Japan,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said Japan is the Philippines’ leading source of official development assistance which helped the government complete some of the most vital infrastructure projects, beginning with the Japan-Philippines Friendship Highway that links the whole archipelago.

“We appreciate Japan’s steadfast commitment to the Philippines’ development.

Japan’s support, in fact, increased significantly over the past few years. Since President Rodrigo Roa Duterte assumed the presidency in July 2016, we have signed 10 loan agreements with the government of Japan. These loan agreements are to finance big-ticket infrastructure projects crucial to our country’s competitiveness,” Dominguez said. Julito G. Rada

Group pushes law on infra program

A GROUP of construction companies asked Congress to institutionalize the “Build, Build, Build” program to prepare the country for the fourth industrial revolution.

The Philippine Overseas Construction Board, one of the more active groups supporting the BBB program, expressed hope that Congress would pass a law to make the program more stable.

POCB chairman Isidro Consunji said the infrastructure program should be able to transcend administrations and should be long enough to see that the projects were delivered.

“It has been this way that every time there is a new leadership in the government, ongoing programs were discontinued because a new program will be enforced. This is a waste of money and time,” he said.

The Trade Department launched in 2019 the Construction Industry Roadmap to welcome the golden age in infrastructure development and construction.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said the roadmap aimed to ensure that ongoing and pipeline infrastructure projects would be delivered until 2030. Othel V. Campos

DOTr eyes opening of Clark passenger terminal by mid-2020 THE Department of Transportation said Thursday it expects the new passenger terminal of Clark International Airport to be operational by the middle of the year.

It said the construction of the new passenger terminal building had 93-percent progress so far. Site preparation, earth, foundation and substructure and superstructure works, hollow core slab and the roof structure and sheeting were completed.

“Ongoing works which are in various stages of completion include the exterior finishes, ancillary facilities, specialist systems and equipment, as well as the landside works,” the agency said.

Once finished by mid-2020, the new PTB would triple the current passenger capacity of CRK from 4.2 million to 12.2 million passengers annually.

The expansion project is a part of President Rodrigo Duterte’s regional development plan for North and Central Luzon which complements bigticket projects such as the New Clark City, the Subic-Clark Cargo Railway and the North-South Commuter Railway that will connect Clark to Manila and to Calamba, Laguna.

Megawide-GMR won the bidding for the construction of a new passenger terminal when it submitted the lowest financial proposal of P9.36 billion on Dec. 14, 2018.

Clark International Airport is the second main gateway in Luzon. The new 100,000-square-meter terminal will double its capacity to eight million passengers a year, easing the strain on Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City and boosting the development of Central Luzon.

Darwin G. Amojelar

World Bank expects PH to expand 6.1% this year

By Julito G. Rada

T

HE World Bank expects the Philippine economy to grow by more than 6 percent annually over the next three years, as it remains one of the fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia.

It said the gross domestic product growth of the Philippines would pick up to 6.1 percent in 2020 from 5.8 percent in 2019. Growth would be faster at 6.2 percent in 2021 and 2022.

The World Bank, in its January 2020 Global Economic Prospects, revised downward its growth projections for the Philippines from 6.4 percent in 2019, 6.5 percent in 2020 and 6.5 percent in 2021 amid external headwinds.

Its 2020 forecast for the Philippines, however, is still faster than Thailand’s 2.7 percent, Malaysia’s 4.5 percent and Indonesia’s 5.1 percent. Only Vietnam is seen to grow faster this year at 6.5

percent.

“Global economic growth is forecast to edge up to 2.5 percent in 2020 as investment and trade gradually recover from last year’s significant weakness but downward risks persist,” the Washington-based multilateral lender said.

Growth in the Asia-Pacific region is projected to ease to 5.7 percent in 2020, reflecting a further moderate slowdown in China to 5.9 percent this year amid continued domestic and external headwinds, including the lingering impact of trade tensions.

“This outlook is predicated on no renewed escalation of trade tensions between China and the United States and a gradual stabilization in global trade. It also assumes that authorities in China continue to implement monetary and fiscal policies to offset the negative impact of weakening exports,” it said.

Meanwhile, global debt watcher Moody’s Investors Service predicted that the Philippine economy would grow by 6.2 percent this year with the timely signing of the P4.1-trillion national budget.

Moody’s said in a report that the

signing into law of the 2020 budget by President Rodrigo Duterte amounting to P4.1 trillion, equivalent to 20.2 percent of GDP, was “credit positive.”

“We expect the pace of government spending to normalize and, along with residual spending from the 2019 budget, support a significantly larger fiscal expansion in 2020,” Moody’s said.

“We project the Philippines’ real GDP growth will accelerate to 6.2 percent this year from 5.8 percent in 2019, faster than most regional and rating peers and bucking the trend of lackluster global economic growth,” it said.

Moody’s said part of the support to growth would come from budget implementation over the course of a full year.

An impasse between the two houses of Congress led to a delay in passing the 2019 General Appropriations Act. The economy grew by 6.2 percent in the third quarter and 5.8 percent in the first three quarters of 2019, near the low end of the target range.

Economic managers earlier said the GDP should grow by at least 6.7 percent in the fourth quarter to reach the low end of the 6 percent to 6.5 percent target range.

BEST MICROFINANCE BANK. The Bangko

ng Kabuhayan, formerly Banco Rodriguez, is awarded the Best Microfinance and Small and Medium Enterprises Rural Bank in Luzon

by Q Asia Magazine.

Attending the awarding ceremony at Acacia Hotel in Alabang, Muntinlupa City are (from left) awards committee chairman Nestor Lucas, BNK vice president for business operations Manny Inserto, BNK head of credit support department Eden Dela Cruz and Q Asia Magazine president Dr. Andrew Ramirez.

Justice Department files criminal charges vs KAPA officers

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Securities and Exchange Commission said it moved closer to putting the officers and promoters of Kapa-Community Ministry International behind bars with the filing of criminal charges against them.

“We are committed to see the criminal proceedings against KAPA through to the end,” SEC chairperson Emilio Aquino said in a statement.

“We will pursue everyone involved in the investment scam that played havoc with the future of our fellow Filipinos, including those who continue to attempt to perpetuate it,” Aquino said.

The criminal proceedings stemmed from the complaint filed by the SEC on June 18, 2019 against KAPA for alleged unauthorized sale or offering for sale or

distribution of securities to the public.

It said KAPA enticed the public to invest at least P10,000 in exchange for a 30-percent monthly return for life, without having to do anything other than invest and wait for the payout. The SEC said KAPA allegedly employed a Ponzi scheme, an investment program that offers impossibly high returns and pays investors using the money contributed by later investors.

The SEC said the Department of Justice filed separate charges with the Bislig City Regional Trial Court Branch 29 against KAPA founder and president Joel Apolinario, trustee Margie Danao and corporate secretary Reyna Apolinario for alleged violations of Sections 8(8.1), 26.1 and 28 of Republic Act No. 8799 or the Securities Regulation Code (SRC).

The DOJ also indicted Marisol Diaz, Adelfa Fernandico, Moises Mopia and

Reniones Catubigan for alleged violation of Section 26.1 of the SRC. It accused KAPA of “willfully, unlawfully and criminally” engaging in the selling or offering for sale or distribution of securities to the public without a registration statement duly filed with and approved by the SEC. The DOJ also sued Diaz before the Rizal Regional Trial Court for alleged violation of Section 28. It filed similar informations against Mopia and Fernandico with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 93.

“The concerned judges, upon finding of sufficient probable cause for the issuance of warrants of arrest, shall order the arrest of the indicted officers and promoters of KAPA, in accordance with the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure,” the SEC said.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

B1

BSP ready to deal with uncertainties, says Diokno BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno said Thursday the Philippines has enough policy space to deal with external headwinds that may impact the expansion of the economy.

Diokno said in a presentation during the luncheon meeting of the Rotary Club of Manila at Manila Hotel that the economy was poised to further expand this year despite the domestic and global uncertainties.

“The Philippines has sufficient policy space, both monetary and fiscal, to deal with external shocks and their spillovers to the domestic economy,” Diokno said.

“Let us not forget that an appropriate mix of monetary, fiscal and other structural policies is crucial in achieving the government’s macroeconomic objectives,” he said.

He said the economic activity in 2020 would be supported by strong household consumption, robust agricultural sector activity, increased government spending following the timely approval of the 2020 national budget and higher capital spending for the “Build, Build, Build” program and private sector’s capital formation.

Economic growth is estimated to reach the low end of the target range of 6 percent to 6.5 percent in 2019 despite the delay in budget approval last year. With the recent signing of President Rodrigo Duterte of the P4.1 trillion outlay for 2020, economic managers believe that GDP growth would reach between 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent this year.

The Monetary Board, the policymaking body of the BSP, cut the policy interest rate by a total of 75 basis points and the reserve requirement ratio by a total of 400 bps.

Diokno said that in terms of the policy rate outlook for 2020, the BSP would always be data dependent with its decisions. Julito G. Rada

Gov’t to build new road to Sangley airport in Cavite

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE Public Works Department said Thursday it will construct a spur road going to Sangley Point International Airport in Cavite province this year.

Public Works Secretary Mark Villar said the spur road would improve the connectivity of Sangley Point where an international airport would be built as an alternative to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

“We are waiting for the budget this month and hopefully we can finish significantly also this year,” he said.

The provincial government of Cavite earlier bid out the $10-billion international airport in Sangley Point. A consortium led by China Communication Construction Co. and MacroAsia Corp. of tycoon Lucio Tan offered to build the project.

The 1,500-hectare master-planned international airport will be fitted with four runways, airside and landside facilities with an annual capacity of up to 130 million passengers.

It is expected to be at par with Singapore’s Changi International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport and South Korea’s Incheon International Airport as it is positioned to be the next biggest development in air transport innovation in the country.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. also submitted a proposal to the Toll Regulatory Board to build an expressway from Manila-Cavite Expressway to Sangley Point.

Under its proposal, MPTC plans to construct Segment 5 of Cavitex― a 22-kilometer road that will link Kawit to Noveleta to Sangley and then to Tanza also in Cavite.

It expects to start the construction of the first phase of the project―the expressway going to Sangley―by early 2021. Cavitex is a 14-kilometer expressway linking Manila and Cavite province.

B2

Business

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market rallies; Metro Pacific rises T HE stock market climbed Thursday as investors breathed a sigh of relief that tensions between the US and Iran were easing.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index rose 61.40 points, or 0.8 percent, to 7,797.64 on a value turnover of P5.6 billion. Gainers beat losers, 108 to 81, with 43 issues unchanged.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll roads, water and electricity distribution, hospital and infrastructure, advanced 7 percent to P3.80, while PLDT Inc., the biggest telecommunications firm, gained 4.2 percent to P1,089.

Manila Water Co. Inc. added 3.2 percent to 10.44, while electronics firm

Cirtek Holdings Philippines Corp. jumped 20.2 percent to P7.20.

The rest of Asian equities rallied and safe-haven assets including gold retreated Thursday.

Traders rushed back into regional markets, tracking a positive lead from Wall Street, after the two sides dialed down their rhetoric following days of heightened tensions caused by the US assassination of Iran’s top general last week.

Iran on Wednesday launched missile attacks on US targets in Iraq but there were no casualties and the strikes appeared intended to make a statement rather than kill.

Tehran later said it had “concluded” the attacks for now, while Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that the country does “not seek escalation or war.”

Donald Trump announced that “Iran

appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for the world.”

“With President Trump delivering a benign White House address, and in the absence of any further Iranian retaliation, this geopolitical fracas could fade away,” said AxiTrader’s Stephen Innes.

Oil prices, which spiked briefly to four-month highs Wednesday soon after the Iranian attack, dropped back below their start point on the softer tone from both sides, while markets rallied.

The Nasdaq hit another record while the Dow and S&P 500 enjoyed big gains.

And the positive mood continued into Asia. Tokyo rallied more than two percent, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Seoul and Taipei all rose more than one percent and Shanghai finished up 0.9 percent.

Sydney gained 0.8 percent and Singapore added 0.2 percent, while Jakarta and Bangkok also posted gains.

The rush to riskier investments saw safe-haven gold sink more than one percent, having broken $1,600 for the first time since 2013, while the yen lost around 1.4 percent against the dollar since its Wednesday highs.

Oil prices were flat Thursday.

“Assuming Iran-US tensions continue to simmer rather than boil, markets are likely to refocus on the global growth outlook and on trade, with the interim US-China trade deal expected to be signed on 15 January,” said National Australia Bank’s Tapas Strickland.

The lowering of tensions will allow traders to turn their attention to the release Friday of US jobs data, which will provide the latest snapshot of the world’s number one economy, with recent figures indicating it remains robust.

Also in focus is the upcoming earnings season, which kicks off this month.

With AFP

Manila Standard BuSineSS daily StockS review thurSday, January 9, 2020

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

54 85.4 2 153.5 0.89 25 18.4 11.96 3.82 0.68 1.19 850 0.32 64.85 0.79 12.02 34.25 175 58.4 22.3 186 1,840 58.25 1.05

54 86.7 2.1 154.2 0.92 25 18.4 12 3.82 0.68 1.19 850 0.34 65.9 0.82 12.98 34.8 175 58.4 23 187.8 1,850 58.3 1.07

54 85 2 152 0.89 24.8 18.4 11.88 3.8 0.68 1.19 850 0.31 64.85 0.79 12.02 34.05 175 58.4 22.3 185.8 1,840 57.5 1.05

FINANCIALS 54 900 85 1,524,950 2.1 45,000 152 2,852,390 0.92 14,000 24.9 8,600 18.4 100 11.98 58,300 3.8 52,000 0.68 2,000 1.19 1,000 850 780 0.34 550,000 65.9 1,497,840 0.82 9,000 12.5 70,500 34.05 175,300 175 2,230 58.4 20 23 12,000 187 623,150 1,850 610 57.5 11,250 1.07 94,000

48,600 130,208,103.50 93,840 434,855,868 12,490 214,435 1,840 695,448 198,430 1,360 1,190 663,000 173,750 98,005,925.50 7,270 878,090 5,993,075 390,250 1,168 272,510 116,366,270 1,128,370 649,904 98,720

-41,568,545 -134,053,098 24,950 -224,160 127,100 7,656,158 -5,032,965.00 -18,379,792 1,749 -

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

34.15 2.31 13 0.56 1.2 2.97 0.241 1.68 15.2 170 6.2 18 63 72.8 2.15 5.4 9.09 14.2 9.05 7.22 1.58 22.05 66.65 1.4 38 1.95 13.88 7.98 1.33 210.4 3.2 6.29 10.1 11.5 15.62 302 0.16 1.92 4.2 9.86 11.88 32.3 4.85 5.28 2.22 1.01 9.6 83 8.69 0.118 0.96 145 2.41 1.17 14.9 0.89

34.5 2.42 13.06 0.57 1.2 3.13 0.245 1.71 15.24 173 7.3 18.58 63 72.8 2.15 5.4 9.2 14.56 9.49 7.23 1.58 22.35 66.85 1.49 38 1.98 13.9 8.46 1.33 211.8 3.39 6.5 10.64 11.5 15.62 306.6 0.16 1.93 4.25 10 11.9 32.95 4.85 5.28 2.23 1.02 9.65 83 8.7 0.118 1 145.3 2.58 1.19 14.9 0.99

34 2.31 12.84 0.55 1.2 2.95 0.241 1.64 15.1 170 6.2 18 62.7 66.8 2.15 5.4 9.09 14.06 9.05 7.21 1.58 22 66.5 1.38 37.5 1.91 13.8 7.85 1.24 207 3.12 6.29 10.08 11.3 15.38 300.4 0.16 1.92 4.1 9.86 11.8 32.3 4.85 5.2 2.06 0.97 9 80 8.53 0.118 0.96 143 2.41 1.16 14.9 0.86

INDUSTRIAL 34.3 1,783,200 2.41 2,342,000 13 882,300 0.56 921,000 1.2 37,000 3.12 3,872,000 0.245 500,000 1.7 17,933,000 15.24 320,000 173 220 7.2 19,525,800 18.58 1,100 62.7 4,060 66.8 860 2.15 40,000 5.4 1,000 9.1 804,600 14.2 202,800 9.05 226,600 7.23 161,800 1.58 1,000 22.3 2,084,900 66.55 30,000 1.46 33,156,000 37.9 4,900 1.95 3,629,000 13.9 468,500 7.92 1,813,400 1.27 868,000 207 463,590 3.39 14,000 6.5 3,400 10.44 17,146,500 11.4 929,400 15.5 201,600 301 169,040 0.16 980,000 1.92 2,067,000 4.12 3,435,000 10 6,000 11.9 43,700 32.8 156,300 4.85 7,000 5.28 18,200 2.06 3,578,000 1.02 565,000 9.19 2,675,600 80 266,800 8.7 119,400 0.118 500,000 1 94,000 144.3 906,960 2.58 2,000 1.19 1,041,000 14.9 100 0.92 5,118,000

61,085,800 5,542,240 11,505,472 513,120 44,400 11,839,070 121,650 30,165,880 4,861,196 37,840 134,839,879 19,858 255,338 58,048 86,000 5,400 7,361,929 2,855,420 2,058,485 1,167,032 1,580 46,331,475 1,998,143.50 47,921,350 185,000 7,025,810 6,509,776 14,848,322 1,098,970 96,917,998 44,800 21,441 179,597,028 10,583,882 3,125,026 50,937,370 156,800 3,968,820 14,214,820 59,234 518,640 5,105,275 33,950 95,932 7,615,840 567,710 25,181,435 21,403,454 1,031,016 59,000 93,480 130,792,793 4,990 1,221,590 1,490 4,804,750

-27,365,065 33,090 -117,200 -282,470 -682,830 2,875,288 -594,796 2,081,914 -2,434,370 -1,705,305 -186,816 -27,153,685 -1,510,413.50 30,730 -7,560 443,410 -5,053,224 104,710 10,000 -12,465,410 4,493,588 -332,370 -2,398,546 -26,611,452 -3,200 -418,560 -1,224,360 733,190 -33,950 -29,404 -51,400 4,888 -9,659,870.50 4,310.00 -73,568,189 -2,580 11,700 -10,190

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 GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT KEPPEL HLDG A LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV PACIFICA HLDG PRIME MEDIA SAN MIGUEL CORP SM INVESTMENTS SOC RESOURCES SOLID GROUP SYNERGY GRID TOP FRONTIER ZEUS HLDG

0.88 51.85 11.08 0.67 6.4 10.2 0.91 0.93 790 2.99 6.69 7.01 13.1 838 5.2 78.7 5 0.5 3.85 11.6 0.56 3.54 4.08 1.18 160.9 1,057 0.79 1.22 192 202.6 0.195

0.94 51.9 11.22 0.69 6.4 11.48 0.91 0.96 795 3.03 6.69 7.16 13.1 842.5 5.2 80.4 5 0.5 3.87 11.84 0.59 3.8 4.24 1.24 161.9 1,072 0.8 1.22 195 202.6 0.203

0.88 51.05 11.04 0.67 6.4 10.18 0.88 0.9 780 2.95 6.57 6.99 13.1 815.5 5.16 78.4 5 0.49 3.82 11.6 0.56 3.54 4.03 1.17 159 1,054 0.79 1.19 186 202.6 0.19

HOLDING FIRMS 0.93 30,867,000 51.8 1,012,910 11.2 3,780,300 0.69 159,000 6.4 1,000 11 91,400 0.91 1,736,000 0.94 2,057,000 794.5 328,820 2.95 290,000 6.57 1,432,900 7.04 16,576,300 13.1 24,100 819 146,510 5.16 42,300 79.25 1,215,870 5 1,500 0.5 4,000 3.84 636,000 11.84 372,600 0.59 116,000 3.8 40,947,000 4.24 9,000 1.24 172,000 159 323,280 1,072 182,035 0.8 17,000 1.2 374,000 195 620 202.6 2,460 0.203 280,000

28,272,550 52,396,697 42,251,086 106,850 6,400 979,992 1,553,290 1,858,310 260,311,275 866,320 9,510,840 117,296,848 315,710 121,107,240 218,468 96,438,734.50 7,500 1,980 2,450,820 4,377,814 65,290 152,444,940 36,950 204,900 51,648,388 194,038,935 13,550 450,340 116,310 498,396 53,710

-1,572,570 -3,986,536 -10,804,776 -10,540 355,810 -44,451,030 -102,910 -501,548 -3,373,711 -48,033,515 -77,400 -23,755,537 -624,090 -850,762 61,691,900 -25,162,448 70,574,830 24,700

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

14.76 0.69 1.35 0.78 44.05 1.98 4.7 6.7 0.52 0.74 0.85 0.181 0.405 9.41 18.72 0.41 0.1

14.76 0.72 1.46 0.85 45.05 1.99 4.8 6.7 0.54 0.77 0.86 0.183 0.41 9.6 19 0.42 0.101

14.7 0.69 1.35 0.77 44.05 1.98 4.7 6.7 0.52 0.74 0.85 0.181 0.4 9.34 18.4 0.41 0.1

PROPERTY 14.7 585,900 0.71 306,000 1.4 5,000 0.84 4,008,000 45 20,253,300 1.99 217,000 4.75 278,000 6.7 500 0.54 3,178,000 0.77 2,000 0.86 24,000 0.183 320,000 0.41 1,240,000 9.4 435,200 18.42 677,100 0.415 440,000 0.101 240,000

8,627,826 216,890 7,130 3,295,540 900,078,660 431,810 1,331,470 3,350 1,686,450 1,510 20,430 58,020 503,100 4,091,081 12,581,580 182,750 24,030

-288,232 780 -78,982,430 -133,960 -10,600 740 7,650 -1,448,439 1,313,174 -

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE MEGAWORLD MRC ALLIED PHIL INFRADEV PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND VISTAMALLS

1.54 1.19 4.28 0.201 1.19 0.325 2.2 28.1 2.12 3.23 41.5 2.45 1.4 7.45 5.72

1.55 1.19 4.28 0.214 1.2 0.325 2.23 28.2 2.14 3.25 42.2 2.45 1.65 7.55 5.86

1.51 1.19 4.22 0.197 1.17 0.315 2.17 27.5 2.12 3.13 41.45 2.34 1.39 7.45 5.7

1.54 1.19 4.27 0.212 1.18 0.315 2.18 27.55 2.12 3.13 42 2.35 1.58 7.55 5.84

15,723,000 6,000 18,753,000 22,840,000 738,000 100,000 415,000 2,582,300 246,000 14,000 6,251,700 335,000 26,520,000 10,820,000 51,500

24,067,500 7,140 79,972,770 4,722,510 872,170 32,400 912,540 71,429,335 525,800 45,260 261,330,225 807,210 40,795,370 81,603,957 297,569

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

9.52 19.48 11.5 0.4 0.042 18.3 3.5 10.58 86.65 5.31 1.65 8.52 2,010 5.44 440 1.19 1.8 130.2 8.15 6.8 0.101 3.64 1.9 2.51 15.5 0.39 3.29 2.15 0.95 2.48 2.45 7.21 138 2.55 1,046 0.59 0.365 39.8 78.55 9.15 2.63 0.61 0.25 0.62 18.14

9.9 19.9 11.58 0.4 0.046 18.3 3.52 10.6 88.15 5.44 1.78 8.87 2,032 5.46 440 1.34 1.8 134 8.15 7.01 0.103 3.71 1.9 2.63 15.5 0.41 3.29 2.15 0.95 2.48 2.45 7.65 139 2.59 1,089 0.59 0.365 40.2 79.5 9.42 2.68 0.61 0.27 0.63 18.46

9.52 19 11.5 0.395 0.042 18.3 3.25 10.34 86.65 5.23 1.65 8.36 2,004 5.31 430 1.16 1.77 130 8.15 6.8 0.1 3.6 1.9 2.51 15.08 0.39 3.25 2.1 0.95 2.39 2.43 7.21 133 2.52 1,041 0.57 0.345 39.8 78.55 8.9 2.61 0.59 0.25 0.61 18.14

SERVICES 9.6 19 11.58 0.4 0.046 18.3 3.26 10.46 87.2 5.24 1.72 8.5 2,030 5.35 439.8 1.34 1.77 134 8.15 7.01 0.1 3.68 1.9 2.59 15.08 0.41 3.25 2.12 0.95 2.47 2.43 7.5 133 2.53 1,089 0.58 0.35 39.95 79.45 9.05 2.66 0.61 0.26 0.61 18.46

11,900 610,200 610,600 1,290,000 29,300,000 500 1,392,000 8,222,600 434,140 636,600 59,000 60,600 37,870 102,700 560 6,299,000 7,000 1,356,850 100 4,200 840,000 1,378,000 30,000 507,000 721,700 110,000 249,000 264,000 6,000 1,140,000 63,000 6,400 4,320 232,000 203,455 1,734,000 6,510,000 402,900 85,590 6,269,100 2,206,000 631,000 3,590,000 917,000 1,843,700

116,831 11,780,172 7,058,882 515,400 1,294,500 9,150 4,674,310 86,114,218 37,903,719.50 3,357,504 104,110 515,489 76,531,480 556,136 242,424 8,050,170 12,540 179,572,951 815 29,341 84,720 5,029,710 57,000 1,309,800 10,993,380 44,100 813,030 558,010 5,700 2,779,330 153,570 47,002 598,958 589,400 218,667,760 1,006,470 2,280,000 16,097,055 6,781,846.50 57,650,364 5,841,820 382,200 938,450 571,860 33,859,034

ABRA MINING ACE ENEXOR APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK CENTURY PEAK FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MANILA MINING A MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO ORNTL PENINSULA ORNTL PETROL A ORNTL PETROL B PHILODRILL PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON

0.0014 9.56 1.12 2.48 10.94 3.06 1.71 0.2 0.102 0.097 0.0085 0.88 3.15 1.02 0.68 0.011 0.011 0.01 3.25 9.01 21.95 0.0056

0.0014 10.32 1.12 2.5 10.94 3.06 1.71 0.2 0.102 0.104 0.0085 0.9 3.3 1.02 0.72 0.011 0.011 0.011 3.25 10.06 22.1 0.006

0.0014 9.55 1.04 2.48 10.94 2.91 1.65 0.195 0.097 0.097 0.0085 0.88 3.15 1 0.68 0.011 0.011 0.01 3.18 8.89 21.8 0.0053

MINING & OIL 0.0014 293,000,000 9.9 1,718,100 1.1 2,853,000 2.5 287,000 10.94 100 3 1,605,000 1.67 2,312,000 0.198 450,000 0.098 6,610,000 0.103 80,000 0.0085 7,000,000 0.89 45,000 3.3 7,517,000 1.02 11,000 0.71 41,000 0.011 3,900,000 0.011 200,000 0.011 34,700,000 3.21 1,020,000 10.06 1,873,200 22.1 610,500 0.006 9,000,000

410,200 17,214,898 3,075,790 716,460 1,094 4,819,070 3,872,130 88,370 656,580 7,960 59,500 39,790 24,315,140 11,040 28,890 42,900 2,200 363,600 3,268,310 17,920,121 13,438,130 50,000

204,358.00 -170,860 -701,500 -233,480.00 -169,570 -1,030 -8,987,750 688,240 -3,351,626 6,610,495 -

ABS HLDG PDR ALCO PREF C DD PREF FGEN PREF G GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 4 SMC FB PREF 2 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

17.94 100.8 100.4 108.1 989.5 999 99 101 100.5 1,029 997 78.5 75 75.15 75.1 76

18.6 100.8 100.4 111.3 990 999 99 101 100.5 1,030 997 78.5 75 75.15 75.15 76

17.9 100.8 100.4 108 989.5 999 98.5 101 100.5 1,029 997 78.45 75 75.1 75.1 75.95

PREFERRED 18 499,000 100.8 110 100.4 2,000 111.3 1,480 990 5,000 999 2,300 98.5 980 101 5,500 100.5 1,000 1,030 4,005 997 740 78.45 630 75 18,640 75.1 29,500 75.1 1,340 76 160,290

8,987,574 11,088 200,800 160,112 4,949,405 2,297,700 96,580 555,500 100,500 4,122,770 737,780 49,442.50 1,398,000 2,216,450 100,635.50 12,182,015

-3,201,758 4,949,405 86,680 -

LR WARRANT

1.26

1.32

1.26

WARRANTS 1.32 82,000

106,700

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

4.17 10 0.8

4.21 10.4 0.83

4 10 0.79

SME 4.05 10.16 0.82

1,859,040 3,321,066 1,997,100

-8,340 7,380

FIRST METRO ETF

116.2

116.3

115.9

837,543

2,320

MS Trading Summary FINANCIAL

SHARES 8,165,700

INDUSTRIAL

132,599,947

HOLDING FIRMS

103,424,061

PROPERTY

140,158,266

SERVICES

81,093,227

MINING & OIL

375,282,333

GRAND TOTAL

843,964,054

452,000 326,800 2,446,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 116.3 7,210

-4,603,930 -43,148,110 73,500 -22,800 -16,468,225 -7,720,475 -70,500 -50,400 -26,738,218 -1,353,798 9,150 49,500 8,147,566 -9,915,292.50 143,744 -20,980,890 -13,260 30,092,975.00 28,640 4,090 -10,320,778 -94,960 22,090 -134,050 444,802 52,988,130 -354,530 -35,100 -574,280 2,838,745 192,710 -100 4,714,568

-

VALUE 1,810.91 (up) 6.46 856,156,478.20 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 9,418.55 (down) 21.48 1,031,772,218.66 HOLDING FIRMS 7,666.58 (up) 60.38 1,163,155,984.69 PROPERTY 4,139.70 (up) 49.65 SERVICES 1,560.77 (up) 15.84 1,608,455,617.62 MINING & OIL 8,250.05 (up) 166.83 794,731,325.07 PSEI 7,797.64 (up) 61.40 90,415,393.868 All Shares Index 4,612.83 (up) 17.25 5,552,735,994.00 Gainers: 108; Losers: 81; Unchanged: 43; Total: 232

Jollibee plans to issue dollar debt paper to retire old loans

By Jenniffer B. Austria FAST-FOOD giant Jollibee Foods Corp. plans to issue US dollar-denominated debt paper to refinance short term debt from the acquisition The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf.

Jollibee said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday whollyowned unit Jollibee Worldwide Pte. Ltd. tapped Citigroup Global Markets Singapore Pte. Ltd. and J.P. Morgan Limited as joint global coordinators, and Citigroup, Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan and Mizuho Securities as joint lead managers and joint book-runners to arrange a series of fixed income investor meetings in Hong Kong, Singapore and London starting on January 13.

“A Reg S only US dollar-denominated guaranteed Senior Perpetual Capital Securities offering may follow subject to market conditions,” the fast-food company said.

Jollibee plans to use proceeds from the contemplated offering to refinance the short-term debt from the acquisition of CBTL completed in September as well as fund general corporate activities.

Jollibee acquired a 100-percent stake in CBTL for $350 million (P18.3 billion) on a debt-free basis.

The acquisition was done through Java Ventures LLC, a US-based wholly owned subsidiary of Super Magnificent Coffee Company Pte. Ltd. (SMCC Singapore).

The payment for the acquisition of CBTL was funded by proceeds from bridge loans entered into by JWPL with several financial institutions.

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

Jollibee earlier expressed plans to bring in strategic investors to help turn around CBTL. Before acquiring CBTL, Jollibee purchased several global brands in a bid to be among the world’s five largest food operators.

Recent acquisitions include Colorado-based Smashburger and Mexican fast-casual chain based in Chicago Tortas Frontera.

The Jollibee group as of end September was operating 3,238 restaurant outlets in the country—Jollibee brand 1,174, Chowking 602, Greenwich 282, Red Ribbon 489, Mang Inasal 586, Burger King 104 and PHO24. It had 1,451 stores abroad.

PSBank raising P3b from sale of fixed-rate bonds

By Julito G. Rada PHILIPPINE Savings Bank, the thriftbanking unit of the Metrobank Group, is raising P3 billion through the issuance of peso fixed-rate bonds from Jan. 9 to 21, 2020 following its maiden offering in July last year.

The bank said in a statement to the stock exchange Thursday the bonds had a tenor of three years and were priced at 4.5 percent yearly, with and option to increase the size, with interest payments made every quarter and the full principal paid out at maturity in 2023.

The bonds will require a minimum of P500,000 from investors, with increments of P100,000. The bonds will be officially issued and listed on Philippine Dealing Exchange Corp. on Feb. 4, 2020.

“We firmly believe that this bond issuance comes at a most opportune time—at the beginning of an exciting new year and decade, most especially for individual and institutional investors who are looking at new investment alternatives,” said PSBank president Jose Vicente Alde.

“As we continue to diversify our funding sources, we remain to be fully committed to upgrading our industryleading products, services, and offerings for the maximum benefit of our customers,” he said.

The Standard Chartered Bank is the sole arranger and the primary selling agent of the bond offer, with PSBank, Metrobank, and First Metro Investment Corp. as the other authorized selling agents.

PSBank reported a highly successful maiden bond offering in July, which raised P6.3 billion, more than double the planned P3 billion. In just five days, the total order book was four times oversubscribed, prompting the bank to cut the offering period short.

World

B3

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Violent instability predicted in Iraq B AGHDAD―Archfoes Tehran and Washington may be temporarily calling it even after Iranian missiles targeted US forces in Iraq, but analysts predict violent instability will keep blighting Baghdad.

“Iraq will remain a zone of conflict,” said Randa Slim of the Washington based Middle East Institute.

Early Wednesday, Iran launched 22 ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq hosting American and other foreign troops, in a calibrated response to the killing of a top Iranian general in a US air strike last week.

Iran warned Iraq about the raids shortly before they happened and in their immediate aftermath, foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Tehran had concluded its “proportionate” retaliation.

US President Donald Trump, too, said Iran “appears to be standing down” and even suggested Tehran and Washington could work towards a nuclear deal while cooperating against jihadists.

That hinted at a common desire to contain the fallout, but analysts say it would not be enough to spare Iraq.

“Both sides are so mobilized in Iraq, which has become such symbolic terrain for hitting out at the other,” said Erica Gaston of the New America Foundation.

Indeed, US troops and even the embassy in Baghdad had been hit by more than a dozen rocket attacks in recent

months, which have killed one Iraqi soldier and an American contractor.

The attacks went unclaimed but the US blamed hardline elements of the Hashed al-Shaabi, an Iraqi military network incorporated into the state but linked to Tehran.

The strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani outside Baghdad international airport on Friday also killed his top Iraqi aid and Hashed deputy chief Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.

Just because the US and Iran have struck each other directly does not mean the Hashed would now sit on the sidelines, said Gaston.

“The Hashed is closer to the tip of the spear,” she said.

“There isn’t perfect command-andcontrol in the Hashed, which includes a lot of angry militiamen willing to take revenge on the US,” she added.

Bolstered by Iran’s attack, the Hashed said Wednesday it would take its own steps avenge Muhandis’s death.

“That is a promise,” vowed leading member Qais al-Khazali.

Hours later, two rockets slammed into the Iraqi capital’s Green Zone, the highsecurity enclave where the US embassy, other foreign missions and some foreign troops are based.

Hashed factions decided in recent days to unite under a “resistance” coalition to oust US troops from Iraq.

The specter of bloodshed was especially worrisome as there is no evident mediator between the parties, said Slim.

In Lebanon, Iran’s ally Hezbollah has repeatedly clashed with its sworn enemy Israel but the United Nations’ peacekeeping force in the south has usually intervened before the conflict could spin out of control. AFP

IN BRIEF

Flowers, candles for flight crew

BORYSPIL AIRPORT―At Ukraine’s Boryspil airport, flowers and candles were laid out in front of portraits of the Ukrainian crew killed in the Boeing passenger jet crash in Iran on Wednesday.

One couple sobbed, covering their faces with their hands. Squatting down, several flight attendants arranged candles.

Dozens of people―airline staff, passengers and locals-gathered in the departure hall at the airport outside Kiev to pay their respects to the crew, five men and four women.

“I knew them all,” said Artem, a Ukraine International Airlines pilot, who laid a bouquet of red roses by the portraits of his deceased colleagues.

He said he had met the entire crew before their departure for Tehran.

“They were very worried, had a bad feeling,” he said.

The air disaster which killed all 176 people on board took place against a background of severe tension between the US and Iran and shortly after Tehran fired missiles at bases hosting US troops in Iraq, although there was no indication the two were linked.

“I wished them a good flight, they said the same thing to me. And then in the morning I discovered all this. It’s terrible, terrible, they were alive and today it’s over,” Artem added.

Vadym, in his forties, “knew no-one” but came “as a compatriot to express sympathy.” AFP

Guilty verdict overturned

SEOUL―A former prosecutor who was tried following groping allegations that fueled South Korea’s #MeToo movement walked free on Thursday after his conviction was quashed by the country’s top court.

Ahn Tae-geun, 53, was jailed for two years for abuse of power in January last year after being accused of repeatedly groping a female junior colleague at a funeral in 2015.

After Seo Ji-hyun filed a formal complaint, Ahn allegedly had her transferred to a provincial post, significantly impacting her career.

Seo went public with a tearful live television interview in 2018, which triggered a flood of similar accusations against powerful men in fields ranging from art to politics that grew into a South Korean #MeToo movement.

Despite its economic and technological advances the South remains a patriarchal society, and has one of the world’s thickest glass ceilings for women.

Ahn -- who was separately fired for corruption in 2017 -- could not be charged with sex abuse because the one-year statute of limitations had expired.

Instead he was indicted for abuse of power, accused of using his position to pressure senior prosecutors to reassign Seo to a junior position in revenge. AFP

New law faces challenge

SINGAPORE―A Singapore opposition party has mounted the first legal challenge against an online misinformation law that activists say is being used to silence criticism of the government ahead of elections.

The controversial legislation gives authorities the power to order corrections be placed next to posts they deem false.

Since the law came into force in October, several opposition figures and activists have been ordered to place a banner next to online posts stating that they contain false information.

The Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), one of a handful of small opposition groups in the city-state, has now asked the courts to overturn a government order for it to correct two Facebook posts and an article on its website.

The Facebook posts said many Singaporeans had been displaced from whitecollar jobs by foreigners―claims the government said were “false and misleading”.

“We undertake this legal action because, as difficult as it may be, we must stand up for our fellow Singaporeans and fight for what little space we have left in Singapore to uphold our democratic freedoms,” the party said on its website late Wednesday.

The challenge was filed against Manpower Minister Josephine Teo, whose ministry last month ordered the corrections be put up and later rejected an application to withdraw the order.

“Ms. Teo has plunged a dagger into the heart (of) Singapore’s political system already plagued by anti-democratic rules that keep the (ruling People’s Action Party) entrenched in power,” said the SDP, which currently has no seats in parliament. AFP

NEW SOUND. Italian composer Giorgio Moroder unveils his new sound designed for FPT power trains during the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 8, 2020. Oscar winning Moroder debuted a piece created in a collaboration with FPT Industrial to serve as a sound for silent running vehicles such as electric cars that are replacing noisy combustion engines. AFP

Iran attack targeting US troops condemned PARIS―World leaders on Wednesday condemned Iran’s missile attack on Iraqi bases housing US and other foreign troops and urged an end to the escalating confrontation between Tehran and Washington.

Iran said it had acted to avenge the US killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani last week, warning it would hit back even harder if Washington responded.

US President Donald Trump said Iran “appears to be standing down” following the Iranian missile strike.

“All of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases. Our great American forces are prepared for anything,” he said in an address from the White House.

Trump also announced the US would be imposing “additional punishing sanctions” on Iran.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said: “I condemn the Iranian missile attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq.

NATO calls on Iran to refrain from further violence.”

A NATO official said none of its troops in Iraq had been hurt in the strikes. The alliance had said Tuesday it would take some personnel out of the country for safety reasons.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has described Soleimani as Iran’s “terrorist-in-chief”, made it clear Israel would strike back if attacked.

“Anyone who attacks us will receive a resounding blow.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan issued a joint statement following talks in Istanbul.

“We believe that exchange of attacks and use of force by any party do not contribute to finding solutions to the complex problems in the Middle East,” they said.

“We express our commitment to deescalate the existing tensions in the region and call on all parties to act with restraint as well as commonsense and to prioritise diplomacy.” AFP

Candidates woo young voters as election looms Australia bush TAIPEI―Taiwan’s presidential candidates are waging an all-out charm offensive to woo millions of young people in the lead-up to this weekend’s election, conscious their votes could push them over the finish line.

Both President Tsai Ing-wen, who is seeking a second term, and challenger Han Kuo-yu have taken to social media and television with meme-filled appeals for support as they lay out competing visions for the island’s future.

Of the 19.3 million Taiwanese eligible to vote on Saturday, 3.1 million are below 30 years old, and 1.81 million are firsttime voters, according to official data.

Tsai, the front runner in the polls, has appeared the most comfortable winning over youngsters, who tend to be more progressive on social issues and suspicious of China.

Beijing views Taiwan as part of its territory to eventually be united with the Chinese mainland, by force if necessary.

In a move that caused significant social divisions, Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legalized samesex marriage last year -- a first in Asia.

They also portray themselves as defenders of democratic values against

FOLDABLE SMART PHONES.

People look at foldable Samsung smart phones at the 2020 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, on January 8, 2020. CES is one of the largest tech shows on the planet, showcasing more than 4,500 exhibiting companies representing the entire consumer technology ecosystem.

AFP

Beijing’s authoritarianism.

Both issues are drums the DPP have beaten relentlessly in their appeals to young voters.

In a video posted to her Facebook page this week that garnered more than one million views, Tsai invoked the months of clashes between police and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong as a warning for the future.

The clip begins with Taiwanese youngsters going about their lives, playing video games and dancing, before switching to scenes of unrest in the former British colony.

“A few hundred kilometers away, many youths are defending their freedoms with blood and tears,” the narrator says, urging the public to “speak loudly that we choose to stand with democracy, with freedom”.

Another viral video featured veteran pop star Jutopi rapping about issues such as the Tsai government raising wages, legalising same-sex marriage and promoting democracy.

“The government is doing things for us, we are happy, blessed citizens,” raps long-haired Jutopi, wearing a threepiece suit and fedora.

“We do not bow our heads to others. We are not in the hands of others,” he adds.

Analysts say a high youth turnout would likely benefit the 63-year-old Tsai.

But that has not stopped Han’s more socially conservative Kuomintang from courting their vote.

Han, 62, favors warmer ties with China and has built a campaign around accusing the DPP of imperiling Taiwan’s long-term future by provoking Beijing.

He has projected a plain-talking everyman image to appeal to grassroots voters, and has embraced nicknames such as “bald guy”.

In a recent appearance on a talk show popular with younger viewers, Han displayed his characteristic ability to poke fun at himself as he joked about his hair loss and unveiled an ability to walk on his knees with his legs crossed in the lotus position.

The interview has racked up nearly six million views on YouTube.

When the host apologized for constantly making fun of him on the program, Han replied: “Continue. Everyone is happy.

It’s good in a society with a democratic and free atmosphere... Just one request, no jokes about my hairline!” AFP

fires bring new misery

SYDNEY―Bush fires flared in southern Australia on Thursday as a heatwave expected to bring renewed misery set in, and officials warned some areas are “just at the beginning” of the devastating crisis.

Soldiers went door-to-door advising residents to leave the South Australian town of Parndana on Kangaroo Island after a large blaze bore down on the area, with temperatures there soaring to 38 degrees Celsius.

That came less than 24 hours after police evacuated the picturesque island’s Vivonne Bay community, which

by Thursday afternoon was also being threatened by fires that were expected to burn for days to come.

“The conditions are such that it is continuing to present a significant risk to the firefighters who are working hard to control the fires, and to anyone else in the vicinity,” Country Fire Service chief Mark Jones said.

In neighboring Victoria state, officials extended a “state of disaster” declaration for a further 48 hours ahead of scorching temperatures that were due to set in Friday, further stoking massive fires.

“It’s a very dangerous and dynamic situation that will confront us over the next 12, 24 and 36 hours,” Victoria Emergency Management commissioner Andrew Crisp said.

The catastrophic bush fires have killed at least 26 people, destroyed more than 2,000 homes and scorched some eight million hectares―an area the size of the island of Ireland.

Scientists say the drought-fueled blazes are being worsened by climate change, which is increasing the length and intensity of Australia’s fire season.

Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews warned residents to brace for further devastation in what has already been a months-long crisis.

“We’re just at the beginning of what will be a really, really challenging summer,” he said.

Despite cooler weather and rainfall providing some relief in some bushfire-affected areas this week, almost 150 fires were still burning in worst-hit New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, the huge continent’s most populated regions. AFP

LGUs

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

B4

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

BATAAN FAIR.

Bataan officials (from left) Vice Gov. Cris Garcia, Gov. Abet Garcia, Rep. Joet Garcia, and main guest Elvira Medina, a former Transportation assistant secretary and native of Orion town (second from left) lead the ribbon-cutting of the opening of Galing Bataan Trade Fair at tha capitol ground in celebration of Bataan’s 263rd Founding Anniversary. Butch Gunio

Camiguin to rein in visitors C

AGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The provincial government of Camiguin on Wednesday said it will adopt a limit on visiting tourists in the island-province.

Gov. Jurdin Jesus Romualdo said that although Camiguin remains one of the country’s prime tourist destinations, it must ensure that its ecosystem and natural resources remain intact by not overcrowding the island-province with more visitors than it could handle.

With more than half a million tourists visiting Camiguin from January

to September last year, Romualdo said they have implemented the population carrying capacity to address the growing influx of guests.

“We are happy to share that we have started last year first steps towards establishing carrying capacity limits in our eco-tourism sites to be able to determine the maximum number of individuals that can be sustained by the

environment and sustain that number in the future,” the governor told local officials and government employees during his State of the Province Address held at the Camiguin Convention Center in Mambajao town on Tuesday evening.

Carrying capacity means the number of people, other living organisms, or crops that an area can support without environmental degradation.

“Before we wanted to have as many people coming in, but it wasn’t right.

There should be a carrying capacity to sustain all our environments,” he said.

Taking into consideration the 11.56 percent in commercial aircraft movement and a 7-percent rise in airplane passenger traffic last year, Romualdo acknowledged the need to take further actions to protect and conserve the island’s ecosystem.

To concretize the carrying capacity policy, he said the province’s climate adaptation, mitigation, and disaster risk reduction center must ensure that all policies, laws and regulations, and ordinances pertaining to the conservation of the island’s environment and natural resources are enforced. PNA

Taguig launches one-stop hospital service center

By Joel E. Zurbano THE city government of Taguig launched its own one-stop hospital service center where residents can avail medical and financial assistance.

Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano led the launching of Malasakit Center at the Taguig-Pateros District Hospital where patients can access representatives from pertinent government offices and process papers free of charge.

The center, which is an inter-agency one-stop service facility within government hospital, features streamlined processes and, more specifically, the use of a standard form that patients can fill out conveniently.

The inter-agency effort originated in the Office of the President through the Office of the Special Assistant to the President and Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas and also involves the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and local government units like the City of Taguig.

“We continue with our commitment to serve our people with the Malasakit Center, a presidential mandate that has exemplified our very effort to make our services more responsive to the needs of Taguigeños. We always seek to deliver people-centered services, so we had no problem identifying with the center,” said Cayetano.

MUNTI FISHERMEN. Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi meets City Fisheries Aquatic Resource Management Council officials to discuss development projects along Laguna Lake and other livelihood programs. Council president Miguel C. Lopena Jr. expressed his gratitude to the mayor for his assistance in strengthening the local fishing community during a courtesy visit last Jan. 7. Also joining the meeting was Lake Management Office Acting Head Hermie dela Cruz.

MAYOR Toby Tiangco has invited the public to experience the week-long Pangisdaan Festival in Navotas.

As the Fishing Capital of the Philippines, Navotas celebrates the Pangisdaan as a tribute for a year of bountiful catch of fish and seafood, the main source of livelihood of Navoteños.

The festival is also in line with the celebration of the city’s 114th founding anniversary themed “Sama-sama tayo tungo sa mas magandang bukas.”

“We encourage everyone to come to Navotas and get to know our rich history and culture. We have lined up exciting events and activities that would make sure your visit would be worthwhile,” Tiangco said.

Among Pangisdaan’s must-see is the Street Dance Competition on Jan. 10.

By Butch Gunio BALANGA CITY—The provincial government recently distributed stipends to 1,280 beneficiaries of the Iskolar ng Bataan program studying outside the province.

Vice Governor Cris Garcia spearheaded the distrbution of the cash refund at the People’s Center in the capitol compound.

“Dont allow this opportunity to finish college slip,” Garcia told the beneficiaries. “Education is your passport to achieving your dreams.”

Iskolar ng Bataan coordinator Ramon Canas said a total of P6.552 million was distributed to scholars studying outside Bataan.

Each college scholar from the province receives P5,000 per semester. However, each scholar from Balanga City gets P7,000 per semester, and from Morong town P6,000 per semester.

Canas said new scholars got their allowance last December 10 and old scholars on December 12, respectively.

About 200 “poor but deserving scholars” got an additional P5,000 each, he added.

“The choosing of poor but deserving scholars is through the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction, which is a Strategic Initiative of the Iskolar ng Bataan program,” Canas explained.

Earlier, the Top 30 students per municipality for the 2nd semester of 2018-2019 were rewarded with P5,000 cash each, with a total of 360 bright scholars rewarded.

In addition, the top scholar in each town received P5,000, and the overall topnotcher in the province another P5,000.

DENR reports completed road, bridge projects for Nueva Vizcaya

By Ben Moses Ebreo BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—Officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources have announced that three road and bridge projects have been completed in the province.

Edgar Martin, Provincial Environment

Public invited to week-long Navotas Pangisdaan festival

By Jun David

Iskolar ng Bataan studying outside province get funds

The showdown among six public junior high schools features dance routines, props, costumes and production designs that promote the rich history, culture and tradition of Navotas.

Another highlight is the Araw ng Mangingisda on Jan. 11, which pays homage to Navoteño fisherfolks. The city government will recognize Top Ten Outstanding Fisherfolks for their good standing in the community, securing education for their children and providing for their family through responsible fishing.

Awardees may nominate a child or a relative for the NavotaAs Ulirang Pamilyang Mangingisda Scholarship.

The Araw ng Mangingisda also includes races of Navobangka, the fiberglass boats given by the city government as livelihood assistance to qualified registered Navoteño fisherfolks. Winners may take home as much as P30,000.

and Natural Resources officer, said the completed projects were the P19-million construction of the Lower Ammueg Bridge Reinforced Concrete Deck Girder in Ambaguio town, the P11-million Pallas-Nansiakan Tire Path, and the P18-million NurseryCapacnaan Tire Path in Kayapa town.

“These projects, which were awarded

contracts in 2018, were already turned over to the concerned local government units,” Martin said.

He said the 60 lineal meter Ammueg Bridge will benefit 15,300 upland farmers in Ambaguio, while the tire paths will ease transport burdens of 1,800 villagers in Kayapa.

These projects were funded by the DENR under the Agroforestry Support Facilities component of the Forest Management Project.

“These projects will improve the agroforestry productivity of our partner people’s organizations and uplift their economic status,” Martin added.

Koronadal now powered by Globe at Home Fiber

Territory Sales Head at Globe at Home Danilo Arancon; Junior Area Sales Head at Globe at Home Arnel B. dela Cruz; Koronadal City Mayor lawyer Eliordo “Bebot” Ogena; Area Sales Head Richard Galicha;Territory Sales Head at Globe at Home John Cleifel Castolo; and Koronadal City Councilor Bert Hinay (from left) grace the public announcement of the availability of Globe at Home Postpaid Fiber.

IN LINE with its vision of connecting more Filipino homes, Globe at Home struck a milestone partnership with the local government of Koronadal City, South Cotabato in providing its residents highquality Internet connectivity.

The partnership was formalized through a recent public announcement and motorcade led by Koronadal City Mayor lawyer Eliordo “Bebot” Ogena and City Councilor Hon. Bert Hinay.

Present at the event were representatives from Globe at Home such as Territory Sales Head John Cleifel Castolo; Mobile Territory Sales Head Danilo Arancon; Area Sales Head Richard Galicha; and Junior Area Sales Head Arnel B. dela Cruz.

With a partnership in place, Globe at Home GoUNLI Fiber plans is now available in Brgy. Caloocan, Brgy. Gen. Paulino Santos, Brgy. Santo Niño, Brgy. Morales, Brgy. Zone I, Brgy. Zone II and Brgy. Zone IV. Plan offers start at 1699 per month with speeds of 5Mbps to 100Mbps with no data cap.

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife

YOUNG LIFE

@MStandardLIFE FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

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New year, new promises CLEAN SLATE. A new year offers a chance to begin on a new canvas, a clean slate. Another chance to start anew, try again, be better. Don't be hard on yourself, though, when you fail last year.

By Diana B. Noche

F

OR most people, the last day of a year is the turnaround phase. Say goodbye to the bad old days.

Depending, as the tired caveat goes, on circumstances, we wake up the next day with a mind that—cross fingers and touch wood—will create a difference in the new year and probably till the few coming years.

Change is not always an easy thing to do. We have been weaseling and flipflopping on old resolutions. We have, for many times, found ourselves in the core of what is a pussyfooting habit of procrastination.

With the beginning of year 2020, many of us resolve to go in search of new and better ways to improve our daily lives. We feel the urge to continually reinvent ourselves, keep us challenged

and stay steadfast to face them, be on the edge, and walk away from laziness.

We do idiotic things from time to time. We speed through yellow lights.

Say things better left unsaid. We are hung up with the difficulty of forgiveness. We pride ourselves on being congenitally candid, and we wield our tongue like a sharpened truncheon. The year 2019 has been quite a spree.

The best New Year’s resolutions are the ones we can keep. Each start of a new year is a tradition for resolving to continue a positive conduct, have nothing to do with an undesirable trait, stick to an achievable goal toward one’s personal improvement.

To travel more, as in discover new places and acquire new experiences, is a popular New Year's resolution.

Gym attendance is high in the beginning of a year as many promise to become fitter and healthier.

Winter wonderland at this mall where huge ice sculptures are on display.

A New Year’s resolution is a private promise to change things that need to be changed.

New Year’s resolutions can either be objectives for the current year and over it, or over a period of time, i.e., saving money for a new car, house, or travel abroad with the family.

Most women’s New Year’s resolutions are focused on health consciousness: stick to a sound diet and eat healthier, exercise more, lose weight, eat less junk food. Drinking less alcohol is high on men’s lists. The list also often includes: quit smoking, find a

new job, and learn a new skill.

More common New Year’s resolutions are: spend less on non-essentials, devote more quality time with family and friends, change bad habits. Avoid couch “potatoism,” get up and out of the comfort zone, build up some muscles, get rid of the ugly flabs. Do more volunteer work for the community.

Think more of recycling non-biodegradable. Have much ado about something right for you. Make yourself a place in history.

There are risks inherent in every decision. We get sidetracked by bad luck

working overtime. C’est la vie.

Life is like a rose; it has thorns. Lollipops turn sour every now and then.

Most New Year’s promises are not of the one-size-fits-all quality so do not get an ulcer over a resolution that results in zero success.

Even Janus, a mythical god of ancient Rome after whom the month of January (when most resolutions are made) was named, had two faces— one looking forward and the other looking backward—which allowed him to look back in the past and look forward toward the future.

Kids build their own snowmen at the snow art workshop.

Baby, it’s cold inside (the malls) THE Philippines may not have a white Christmas but that doesn’t mean we cannot enjoy a cool, “snowy” holiday season.

Straight from Disney’s cold Kingdom of Arendelle, Elsa and Anna met with the eager kids at an exclusive meet and greet session at The Block in SM City North Edsa. Little kids donned in sparkly Frozen-inspired costumes were all smiles as the two queens gave them big warm hugs.

Elsa and Anna also shared their love and magical spirit with the kids of Child Haus and Make a Wish Philippines.

The event was a joint collaboration between Toy Kingdom and Disney with support from SM City North Edsa as part of their Christmas campaign, a Frozen Magical Holiday showcasing the well-loved Oscar-winning animat-

ed musical film.

Over at SM City Baliwag in Bulacan, ice sculptures of classic Christmas symbols such as Santa Claus, reindeer, snowman, as well as monuments only seen in movies and winterscapes abroad, were exhibited for everyone to enjoy.

The Glittering Ice Fest showcased the exceptional talents of local ice carvers from Paete, Laguna, who amazed the crowd with live ice carving demonstrations with blocks of ice skillfully transformed into towering sculptures some as tall as 5-feet.

Kids fulfilled their dream of building a snowman during the snow art workshop.

Experiential ice sculptures as tall as the 4-feet like eskimo, reindeer face, and angel wings were installed They may come from a cold kingdom but queens Elsa and Anna share their warmth and love with the children for fun photo ops. from Child Haus.

Victoria Serrah in her glittery Queen Elsa costume.

Entertainment

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020 nickie.standard@gmail.com

‘Joker’ leads Britain’s BAFTAs with 11 nods

Joaquin Phoenix won the best drama actor prize at the Golden Globes for his radical turn in ‘Joker.’

NOMINATIONS were unveiled for this year’s BAFTAs on Tuesday, with the dark comic book drama Joker, starring Golden Globes winner Joaquin Phoenix, leading the pack.

The original story of the Batman series villain secured 11 nominations for Britain’s showpiece film awards, including Best Film.

It is up against Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic The Irishman and Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood, which both received 10 nominations each.

Sam Mendes’ 1917, a tale about two British soldiers which earned the coveted best drama Golden Globe, received nine nominations, including in the best film category.

Last year’s golden mask statuette was scooped up by the Netflix black-and-white production Roma, which went on to win three Oscars but fell short in the best film category.

This year’s BAFTAs include all the Oscar favorites, including Once Upon A Time star Leonardo DiCaprio and Renee Zellweger, who portrays US singer and actress Judy Garland in the romance drama Judy.

The full list of leading actor nominations are DiCaprio, Adam Driver, Taron Egerton, Phoenix, and Jonathan Pryce.

Jessie Buckley (Wild Rose), Scarlett Johansson (Marriage Story), Saoirse Ronan (Little Women), Charlize Theron

(Bombshell) and Zellweger are up for leading actress.

The best director nominees are Sam Mendes for 1917, Scorsese, Todd Phillips for Joker, Tarantino and South Korea’s Bong Joon-Ho for Parasite.

The six nominees for Outstanding British Film are 1917, Bait, For Sama, Rocketman, Sorry We Missed You, and The Two Popes.

The award ceremony takes place on Feb. 2. AFP

Starla’s starriest night

T

Joem, Yeng start 2020 right

HE screen is fading out to black on ABS-CBN’s Starla, after three months on air.

Top-billed by Judy Ann Santos with Joel Torre, Joem Bascon, Meryll Soriano, Raymart Santiago, Enzo Pelojero, and Jana Agoncillo in the cast, the family drama premiered on Oct. 7 and will have its final episode tonight.

“When they presented Starla to me, it was really meant to be just a one-season TV series. I think people are getting tired of drama series that are too long,” Judy Ann said during the program’s launch.

Meanwhile, during the series’ finale press conference, the lead star talked about how she looked forward taping for Starla.

“It was a very light environment. It motivates you to work especially that everyone was cooperative and talented. And of course, Joel Torre is in the series.

He’s the main reason why accepted this project,” she shared.

“And what I like about ABS, with Dreamscape, they are able to give you out-of-the-box character that challenges you as an actor.

That’s what happened to me in this series that’s why I consider this as a memorable project,” she added.

In the final episodes, Teresa, Mang Greggy (Joel Torre), and Buboy (Enzo Pelojero) face a new challenge as Dexter (Joem Bascon) holds Starla (Jana Agoncillo) captive after having finally confirmed that she is the real reason behind the mysterious and inexplicable miracles in Barrio Maulap, which hindered his previous plans.

Desperate for the baby wishing star to follow his orders, Dexter resorts to blackmailing and cooks

Dreamscape’s ability to give actors out-of-the-box characters made Judy Ann Santos decide to accept the series she currently stars in.

The cast of ‘Starla,’ (from left) Meryll Soriano, Joel Torre, Judy Ann Santos, and Joem Bascon, with child actors Enzo Pelojero, and Jana Agoncillo, pose for the cameras during the series finale press conference held at ABS-CBN’s executive dining restaurant, 9501.

up yet another evil scheme as he threatens to endanger Buboy’s and Mang Greggy’s lives.

With just only five wishes left from her initial 50, the baby wishing star has to carefully weigh up the dangerous situation to ensure the safety of her adoptive family on Earth and the whole Barrio Maulap.

Meanwhile, after painfully re-

flecting on her actions and forgiving her father, a renewed Teresa plans to repent and to confess to the whole town her wrongdoings and original plans of revenge.

Will the townspeople be able to forgive or will they now truly turn their backs on her? To what lengths will Teresa go to correct her mistakes? With Dexter’s evil plans looming over the horizon, will the

Zellweger has been nominated for a BAFTA for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the romance drama ‘Judy.’

heart’s purest wishes prevail over its own selfish desires in Starla?

Will Starla be successful with her mission and turn into a wishing star? Or will she grant a bad wish and become a black hole?

“That’s what the viewers need to find out in the finale,” the seasoned actress said.

Follow the final fight for hope, forgiveness, and love for family as

Judy Ann’s character and her family scramble to make things right in the primetime program’s last starry night.

Starla written by Dindo Perez, and directed by Onat Diaz, Darnel Villaflor, and Jerome Pobocan, has brightened viewers’ nights nationwide as it imparted lessons and good vibes to kids and the whole family since its premiere.

STAR Magic actors Joem Bascon and Yeng Constantino happily ushered in the New Year by winning Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress awards respectively at the recent Metro Manila Film Festival for their film Write About Love.

Joem, who also appears in the MMFF entry Culion, shared that it was his first time to attend the Gabi ng Parangal and he didn’t expect to win the award.

“Sobrang saya ko na nanalo ako. Di ko kasi talaga ineexpect namanalo, talagang pumunta lang ako to support yung dalawa ng entry ko and support the Manila Film Festival. Kasithis is my firt time na pumunta ng awards night. As in unang beses ko to kasi nung first time ko na nag MMFF nasa States ako, so this time, nandito na ako.” Joem shared.

Joem also related he had to audition for his role in Write About Love.

“Tamang tama lang talaga siguro yung emotions ko nung audition, na nagawa namin ni Direk Cris (Aquino) na pinagawaniya mismo sa akin doon sa pelikula.

Very clear kasi angvision ni Direk Cris, which is to give tribute sa mga writers na di nakikilala.

And I’m so happy na na-create ko ng may process si Marco, which is my character. It was a fun movie to do, it was great to work with all my co-stars,” he said.

The actor is also very thankful to Yeng, whom he knows gave her all to giving life to her character Joyce.

“Yeng was very eager to learn tapos naiintindihan niya yung mga scenes namin, so nabigay niya ng may puso yung mgaeksena. Kaya sobrang saya namin na nanalo din si Yeng. Naramdaman nila siguro yung love story namin ni Yeng dun sa pelikula, nabigyan ng justice yun characters. I’m happy kasi ‘di magwowork si Marco kung wala si Joyce. Hindi ako magiging effective kung wala yun character ni Yeng at kung ‘di kami nagbigayan sa isa’t isa.

So masaya ako at narecognize yun ng jurors.”

Meanwhile, Yeng said she was pleas-

antly surprised learning about the news because she spent the holidays abroad.

“Nasurprise ako! I was in Thailand Airport pauwi ng Manila nung nalaman kong nanalo ako. I opened my Twitter tapos ang daming nag-congrats na mga supporters ko. Ako naman ‘What? Totoo ba to?’ Medyo lutang yung feeling kasi ‘di ko inasahan talaga. Yung makapasok lang sa MMFF panalo nakami ng team Write About Love eh. Pero may pa-bonus pa na awards so super happy and grateful talaga,” Yeng related.

On her experience in doing the film, Yeng said she has mixed emotions about it.

“Ang sarap na mahirap. Masarap dahil new experience at mababait lahat ng nakatrabaho namin. Mahirap kase may konting pressure during nung ginagawa yung pelikula. Pero lahat sulit dahil ang ganda ng kinalabasan ng pelikula.”

The singer turned actress then admitted that acting has a special place in her heart now.

“Sana po ay mas dumami pa ang acting projects dahil napamahal narin po sakin yung craft na ito,” she stated.

A new Cinemalaya project, Angkas will be kicking off Joem’s schedule in 2020 while Yeng will be working on a new album and hopefully a major concert, and will continue with her duties as a Tawag Ng Tanghalan judge and mentor of Your Moment.

‘Write About Love’ was a big winner at MMFF 2019, earning Best Supporting Actress for Yeng Constantino and Best Supporting Actor for Joem Bascon.

Motoring

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

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CHINA-MADE TESLAS

First crack to Shanghai buyers Manila

Standard

TODAY

E

LON Musk says Tesla plans to establish a China design and engineering centre.

Musk presented the first batch of made-in-China cars to ordinary buyers on Tuesday in a milestone for the company’s new Shanghai “giga-factory”, but which comes as sales decelerate in the world’s largest electric-vehicle market.

The eccentric entrepreneur danced awkwardly, gave out highfives, and mugged on a stage as sleek Model 3 sedans—the company’s mid-price, mass-market offer—were driven up one by one and presented to buyers who jumped into the back seats before being driven away at the plant.

The factory is the company’s first outside the United States and a key step forward in Musk’s strategy of going global.

Musk said it was just the start of what will be a growing investment in China by the California-based electric-vehicle pioneer.

“We intend to continue making a significant investment and increasing that investment in China, making the Model 3 and the Model Y, and future models also in China,” he said.

Musk, 48, said Tesla also planned to establish “a China design and engineering centre to actually design an original car in China for worldwide consumption.”

Tesla has said the multi-billion-dollar plant is producing more than 1,000 vehicles per week. It has already delivered a small batch of Model 3s on December 30 to employees who had pre-ordered them.

Those being driven away at Tuesday’s event were the first for regular consumers.

The giga-factory is unusual for China, which typically requires foreign automakers to forge manufacturing joint ventures with domestic firms, which means sharing profits and technology with local partners.

Sales slowdown But amid sustained US pressure on China to open its markets, that requirement was waived for the Shanghai assembly line, which is wholly-owned by Tesla and believed to be the first to enjoy that status.

Musk has said that the plant would eventually have an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles, and has billed it as the solution to the company’s perennial struggles with production delays and failure to keep up with demand.

Tesla’s output woes in the US are easing however, with the company reporting that 2019 deliveries surged 50 percent year-on-year to 367,500.

But China’s auto market has slowed significantly since plans for the Shanghai factory began to take shape more than 18 months ago.

After surging to become the world’s largest automotive market, sales fell last year for the first time since the 1990s amid a slowing economy, US trade tensions, and a Chinese credit crackdown that has crimped car-financing channels.

Sales of “new-energy vehicles” such as electric models have particularly suffered, plunging nearly 44 percent in November, the fifth straight month of contraction, after the government slashed subsidies for such cars earlier last year.

A number of automotive analysts have said Tesla could struggle to measure up to Musk’s promises for Shanghai output.

But at more than $450 per share, Tesla’s stock is at record highs, having more than doubled since June on improving output and earnings.

Morgan Stanley said in late December that Tesla shares were positioned for a “potential surge” through the middle of 2020 due to the Shanghai factory coming on line and other potentially positive catalysts. AFP

Tesla CEO Elon Musk

Manila

Republic of the Philippines Standard

TODAY REGIONAL TRIAL COURT National Capital Judicial Region Branch 104, Quezon City

ROBERTO V. ROBES Plaintiff, -versusSUMMONS BY PUBLICATION R-QZN-15-07407-CV ANTHONY DE ZUZUARREGUI, ENRIQUE DE ZUZUARREGUI, and PACITA JAVIER, doing business under the name ROYAL ACE GOLF DRIVING RANGE, Defendants. x---------------------------------------x TO : ANTHONY DE ZUZUARREGUI Don Antonio Drive, Old Balara, Quezon City and ADEZ Realty, 51 Quezon Avenue, QC ENRIQUE ZUZUARREGUI Don Antonio Drive, Old Balara Avenue, QC and ADEZ Realty, 51 Quezon Avenue, QC PACITA JAVIER Don Antonio Drive, Old Balara, Quezon City And ADEZ Realty, 51 Quezon Avenue, QC GREETINGS: You are hereby required, within ninety (90) days after the last publication of this summons and the complaint, to file with this Court and serve upon the plaintiff/s, your answer to the complaint of the plaintiff/s. If you fail to answer within the time fixed, the plaintiff/s will take judgment by default and may be granted the relief applied in the complaint.

WITNESS my hand under the seal of the Court, this 22nd day of October, 2019.

(Sgd.) LOWELL FREDRICK A. MADRILEÑO

Clerk of Court V

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION QUEZON CITY,BRANCH____ ROBERTO V. ROBES, Plaintiff, -versus

R-QZN-15-07407-CV Civil Case No. _____ For: Specific Performance and Damages

ANTHONY DE ZUZUARREGUI, ENRIQUE DE ZUZUARREGUI, and PACITA JAVIER, doing business under the name ROYAL ACE GOLF DRIVING RANGE, Defendants. x----------------------------------------------------------x

COMPLAINT Plaintiff ROBERTO V. ROBES, by counsel respectfully states:

I PARTIES 1.1 Plaintiff ROBERTO V. ROBES is Filipino, of legal age, and with address at No. 333 Sto. Cristo, City of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan. He may be may be served with notices and other processes of the Honorable Court through undersigned counsel at its address below.

1.2 Defendant ANTHONY DE ZUZUARREGUI is Filipino, of legal age, and with address at Don Antonio Drive, Old Balara, Quezon City, where he may be served with summons and other processes of the Honorable Court. Anthony de Zuzuarregui is the successor-in-interest of Antonio De Zuzuarregui, Jr., and is currently doing business under the name ROYAL ACE Golf Driving Range, which business is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Department of Trade and Industry.1 1.3 Defendant ENRIQUE DE ZUZUARREGUI is Filipino, of legal age, and with address at Don Antonio Drive, Old Balara, Quezon City, where he may be served with summons and other processes of the Honorable Court. Enrique de Zuzuarregui is the brother of Antonio de Zuzuarregui, Jr. 1.4 Defendant PACITA JAVIER is Filipino, of legal age, and with address at Don Antonio Drive, Old Balara, Quezon City, where she may be served with summons and other processes of the Honorable Court. Pacita Javier is the mother of Antonio de Zuzuarregui, Jr.

II ALLEGATIONS COMMON TO ALL CAUSES OF ACTION 2.1 Defendant ANTHONY DE ZUZUARREGUI (“ Anthony”) is engaged in the business of administering and operating the ROYAL ACE GOLF DRIVING RANGE (the “Driving Range”) as well as its allied activities. The Driving Range is located at Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City.

2.2 The business was borne out of a Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993 (the “JVA”)2 earlier entered into between plaintiff ROBERTO V. ROBES (“Robes”) and Antonio de Zuzuarregui, Jr. (“Antonio”), defendant Enrique de Zuzuarregui, and defendant Pacita Javier. The salient provisions of the JVA are as follows: 2.2.1 The parties agreed to establish, operate, and administer a driving range3 as well as its allied activities (i.e., restaurant/ coffee shop, professional shop, any other business connected with the Driving Range).4 2.2.2 The Driving Range was to be built on a five-hectare portion of a parcel of land located at Don Antonio Drive, Quezon City,5 which was owned by the de Zuzuarreguis.

The use of the area was for a minimum period of five years, renewable for another five years.6 2.2.3 The establishment and development of the Driving Range (i.e., the construction and installation of buildings, structures, facilities, and improvements) w’ere to be undertaken by Robes.7 2.2.4 The buildings, structures, facilities, and improvements introduced by Robes on the driving range complex were to be exclusively owned by him.8 2.2.5 The administration, management, and operation of the Driving Range and its allied activities were to be exclusively undertaken by Robes.9 2.2.6 The allied activities were to be operated or leased by Robes, at his sole option, as part of the general operation and management of the driving range complex.

2.2.7 The parties agreed to share in the net profits10 from the operation of the Driving Range and its allied activities under the following terms: TIME PERIOD

DEZUZUARREGUI’S SHARE

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

60% 65% 70% 70% 75%

ROBES’S SHARE 40% 35% 30% 30% 25%

* Net profits was defined as profits after taxes, operational and other expenses have been deducted from gross income.

2.2.8 After the expiration or termination of the agreement, Robes may remove the improvements he introduced in the driving range complex.11 2.3 In accordance with, and pursuant to, the JVA, Robes constructed all the buildings, structures, facilities and other improvements, and provided the necessary equipment and fixtures (collectively, the developments”) on the driving range complex, expending the amount of P4,868,935.70 therefor.

2.4 Robes also caused the registration of the business ROYAL MARU Golf Driving Range, a sole proprietorship, under his name, and, accordingly, single-handedly established and operated the business.

2.5 The business took off thereafter, and made use of the developments introduced by Robes. The parties divided the profits in accordance with the JVA. 2.6 Upon the expiration of the original term of the JVA in 1998, the same was extended for another five years, or until 2003 (pursuant to Section 3.3 of the JVA), and under the same terms and conditions. The only change was that the profit sharing scheme was set at an 80-20 ratio (80% for the de Zuzuarreguis, and 20% for Robes).

2.7 Even after the lapse of the extended term in 2003, the JVA was extended yet again, as Robes and Antonio complied with all the terms and conditions thereof, and with the profit sharing scheme still set at 80-20.

2.8 This arrangement continued until the year 2008. In other words, during the period 1998 to 2008, the parties respected and complied with the terms of, and their respective obligations under, the JVA. Specifically, during that period, Robes received 20% of the net profits per month, per the agreement of the parties.

2.9 In early 2008, however, Robes signified his intention to discontinue the business. Thus, Robes gave notice in writing of his intention to pull-out the developments from the Driving Range. However, Antonio persuaded Robes not to do so and, instead, continue with their contract. Consequently, the business went on in accordance with the JVA, and the developments introduced by Robes were still utilized for such purpose.

2.10 Meantime, Antonio passed away, and his interest

in the business was passed on to his son, herein defendant Anthony.

2.11 In an act of sheer malice and utter bad faith, in October 2008, Robes was eased out of the business, and was denied any hand in its day-to-day operations. Anthony took on the management and operation of the Driving Range, for himself and for the other defendants. Worse, Robes was denied any share in profits for the use of the developments, as well as access to information regarding the business’s profits, notwithstanding the continued use of the developments in the business’s operations. Thus, defendants effectively terminated the JVA, which, up to that point, was honored, respected, and followed by Robes and Antonio. To this day, the developments introduced by Robes are still being used in the Driving Range.

2.12 Attempts to resolve the dispute amicably proved futile, as Anthony and the other defendants refused to meet with Robes.

2.13 Further, the business’s name was changed from “ROYAL MARU Driving Range” to “ROYAL ACE Golf Driving Range” (which business name is not registered with the appropriate government agencies). This change was made without the consent and approval of Robes.

2.14 Thus, on February 26, 2014, Robes (through previous counsel, Atty. Lenito T. Serrano) sent to Anthony a demand letter,12 asking for the following: • To be allowed to remove the developments from the Driving Range; • To be provided with an accounting report of the business’s earnings from October 2008 to December 2013; and • To be paid his share in the net earnings of the business for the period October 2008 to December 2014.

2.15 Anthony failed to respond to demand letter, and to comply with the just and valid demands of Robes.

2.16 Thus, on February 2, 2015, Robes (through undersigned counsel) sent to Anthony a final demand letter,13 asking for the following: • To allow the removal of the developments introduced by Robes within the driving range complex; and • To pay to Robes the amount of P5,173,504.91, representing his 20% share in the business’s net income, including the tax provision, covering the period of October 2008 to December 2014.14

VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION AGAINST FORUM SHOPPING I, ROBERTO V. ROBES, of legal age, with address at No. 333 Sto. Cristo, City of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan, after having been sworn in accordance with law, hereby depose and state: 1. I am the plaintiff in the captioned case, and I caused the preparation and filing of the foregoing Complaint.

2. I have read and understood the contents thereof, and I attest of my personal knowledge, and on the basis of authentic records available to me, that all the allegations of fact in the Complaint are true and correct.

3. I have not commenced any other action or proceeding involving the same issues in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the divisions thereof, or any other tribunal or agency, and to the best of my knowledge, no such action or proceeding is pending in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the divisions thereof, or any other tribunal or agency.

4. If there is any other action or proceeding which is either pending or may have been terminated, I shall state the status thereof; and if I should thereafter learn that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, the divisions thereof, or any other tribunal or agency, I undertake to report that fact within five (5) days therefrom.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hand this _ day of AUG 17 2015 at Makati City.

(Sgd.) ROBERTO V. ROBES Affiant SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this ___ day of AUG 17, 2015 at Makati City, affiant exhibiting to me his Tax Identifiction No. 132-415-046-000, issued on July 6, 1998, and valid until ______.

2.17 The final demand letter was delivered by hand to Anthony on February 2, 2015. However, Anthony refused to receive the same. Thus, the final demand letter was tendered to him, and later served by registered mail.

2.18 Needless to say, Anthony failed to respond to the final demand letter, and to comply with the just and valid demands of Robes.

2.19 Ultimately, defendants’ breach of the obligations deprived Robes not only of revenues and profits, but also use of the developments owned by him, and tarnished his reputation in the business industry. This caused Robes anxiety, mental anguish, and sleepless nights.

Doc. No. 37; Page No.9; Book No. I; Series of 2015.

ANNEXES ANNEX “A”

ANNEX “A-1”

III FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION: SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE (REMOVAL OF THE DEVELOPMENTS) 3.1 Robes repleads by reference all the foregoing allegations insofar as they are material and pertinent.

3.2 Robes has exclusive ownership over the developments introduced within the driving range complex. This is expressly provided and recognized under Section 6.2 of the JVA, thus: 6.2 Ownership of the building structure and/or any of the improvements introduced by Robes in the development of the driving range shall exclusively be retained by Robes.

3.3 Further, Robes has the right to remove the improvements introduced within the driving range complex after the expiration or termination of the JVA. This right of removal, under the JVA, was not subject to any condition or qualification. This is expressly provided and recognized under Section 6.3 of the JVA, thus: 6.3 After the expiration and/ or termination of this agreement, Robes may, remove the improvement he introduced in the development and establishment of the driving range complex.

Robes shall be given 60 days within which to remove the improvements he introduced.

3.4 To reiterate, following a series of renewals, the ]VA was effectively terminated in October 2008, when Anthony and the other defendants eased Robes out of the business and denied Robes any hand in its day-to-day operations, and refused to give Robes his rightful share in the profits for the use of the developments.

3.5 Thus, pursuant to the JVA, Robes is entitled to remove all the improvements introduced within the driving range complex, without any condition or qualification, after the termination of the JVA. Despite repeated demands, defendants refused to let Robes remove the improvements introduced within the driving range complex.

ANNEX “B”

ANNEX “B-1”

ANNEX “B-2”

ANNEX “B-3”

IV SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION: PAYMENT OF REASONABLE COMPENSATION 4.1 Robes rep leads by reference all the foregoing allegations insofar as they are material and pertinent.

4.2 Despite notice given by Robes to pull-out or remove the developments he introduced within the driving range complex, Anthony refused, and defendants continued to use the same.

Thus, Robes has the right to demand payment of reasonable compensation for defendants’ use of Robes’s property.

4.3 This “reasonable compensation” is equivalent to 20% of the business’s net income, including the tax provision, which was the last standing agreement of the parties for the use of the developments and improvements, prior to the termination of the agreement in 2008.

4.4 This “reasonable compensation” is to be computed from October 2008 (when Anthony continued to use the developments owned by Robes), until such time Robes completely removes the improvements. As of December 2014, the amount is computed at P5,173,504.91.

4.5 The JVA recognized and confirmed Robes’s ownership over the improvements during the subsistence of the contract, and even after its termination. Defendants disallowed Robes from removing the improvements. Defendants have been using the developments even after the termination of the JVA, and have immensely benefitted and profited therefrom, without paying any compensation to Robes. Defendants cannot be allowed to unjustly enrich themselves at the expense of Robes.

ANNEX “B-4”

ANNEX “B-5”

ANNEX “C”

ANNEX “C-1”

ANNEX “D”

ANNEX “D-1”

V THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION: DAMAGES 5.1 Robes repleads by reference all the foregoing allegations insofar as they are material and pertinent.

5.2 Robes is entitled to moral damages in the amount of at least P100,000.00, on account of the anxiety, mental anguish, and sleepless nights, as well as damage to his reputation, which he painstakingly built over the years.

5.3 By way of example or correction for the public good, defendants should be held liable to Robes, by way of exemplary damages, in the amount of at least P100,000.00, since they acted in bad faith and in a wanton, fraudulent, reckless, oppressive, or malevolent manner.

5.4 In view of defendants’ unlawful acts, Robes was compelled to litigate or to incur expenses to protect his interest.

In accordance with Article 2208 (2) of the Civil Code, Robes is entitled to recover from defendants the cost of attorney’s fees and expenses of litigation in the amount of at least P200,000.00.

PRAYER WHEREFORE, plaintiff ROBERTO V. ROBES respectfully prays that the Honorable Court RENDER JUDGMENT: 1. ORDERING defendants to allow the REMOVAL by plaintiff of the buildings, structures, facilities, and improvements constructed and installed in the driving range complex; 2. ORDERING defendants to pay plaintiff the amount of at least P5,173,504.91, representing reasonable compensation, covering the period of October 2008 to December 2014, and additional payments from December 2014 until plaintiff is actually allowed to remove the buildings, structures, facilities, and improvements constructed and installed in the driving range complex; 3. ORDERING defendants to pay plaintiff the following amounts: a. At least P100,000.00 by way of moral damages; b. At least P100,000.00 by way of exemplary damages; and c. At least P200,000.00 as attorney’s fees and costs of litigation.

Plaintiff prays for such other reliefs as may be deemed just or equitable.

Makati City, August 17, 2015.

PONCE ENRILE REYES & MANALASTAS Counsel for Plaintiff Roberto V. Robes 3rd Floor Vernida IV Building 128 Leviste Street, Salcedo Village, Makati City Email address:pecabar@pecabar.ph Telephone nos. 815-9571 to 80 By: (Sgd.) JOSEP B. SAGANDOY, JR. PTR No. 4756335; 1-7-2015; Makati City IBP No. 979645; 1-5-2015; Baguio Roll No. 43218 MCLE No. IV- 0021729; 15 August 2013 (Sgd.) MARFORTH T. FUA PTR No. 4756338; 1-7-2015; Makati City IBP No. 979648; 1-5-2015; Manila III Roll No. 55381 MCLE No. IV- 0018195; 23April2013 (Sgd.) MERCEDES ISABEL B. MAYORALGO PTR No. 4756344; 1-7-2015; Makati City IBP No. 981603; 1-5-2015; RSM Roll No. 60945 MCLE No. IV- 0013939; 13 March 2013

ANNEX “D-3”

ANNEX “E”

Copies of the Certifications of Non-Registration issued by the Department of Trade and Industry dated May 22, 2015 are attached as Annexes “A” and “A-1”; 2 A copy of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993 is attached as Annex “B”.

3 Refer to the recitals of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993, p. 1 (Annex “B”).

4 Refer to Section 5.1 of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993, p. 3 (Annex “B”).

5 Covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 48862 (Register of Deeds-Quezon City).

6 Refer to Section 3.3 of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993, p. 2 (Annex “B”).

7 Refer to Article II of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993, p. 2 (Annex “B”).

8 Refer to Section 6.2 of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993, p. 3 (Annex “B”).

9 Refer to Section 1.3 of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993, p. 1 (Annex “B”).

10 Refer to Article IV of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24,1993, p. 3 (Annex “B”).

11 Refer to Section 6.3 of the Joint Venture Agreement dated May 24, 1993, p . 3 (Annex “B”) 12 A copy of the demand letter dated February 26, 2014 is attached as Annex “C”.

13 A copy of the final demand letter dated February 2, 2015 is attached as Annex “D”.

14 A copy of the statement of account of the 20% share of Robes based on the average income of the driving range for the years 2006 to 2008, multiplied by 75 months, covering the period of October 2008 to December 2014, including the tax provision thereof, is attached as Annex “E”.

(MStandard-Jan. 10 & 17, 2019 1

RAMON L. TOMELDAN Editor

C4

FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 2020

Motoring

NISSAN’S ARIYA CONCEPT

The future of mobility L

AS VEGAS—Nissan is bringing a touch of Japanese hospitality to CES 2020, which runs until January 10 in Las Vegas, with exhibits that show the brand’s vision for the future of mobility, from the Ariya Concept electric crossover to a zero-emission ice cream van and a self-sinking golf ball.

The Nissan Ariya Concept is making its North American debut at the Las Vegas trade show. Bringing together advanced technologies on an all-new EV platform, the zero- emission crossover embodies Nissan Intelligent Mobility, an expansive lineup of vehicle technologies and services that deliver an innovative, future-thinking driving and ownership experience for the customer, today and tomorrow.

“The Ariya Concept highlights Nissan’s promise of an entirely new driving experience that’s just on the horizon,” said Takao Asami, senior vice president

for research and advanced engineering at Nissan. “This zero-emission crossover isn’t a concept car based on far-off ideas; it’s a showcase of technologies available in the very near term.”

To show they’re real, Nissan has also taken these technologies out of the car and developed new, creative uses for them. Nissan is showing these at CES so our guests can experience them through fun, everyday activities.

To welcome CES visitors, the design and layout of Nissan’s booth—and even the fragrance (a subtle scent of bergamot and green tea)—reflect traditional Japa-

nese hospitality and attention to detail.

“Omotenashi is a Japanese philosophy of hospitality that manifests in careful attention to detail that may be undetectable to guests, but contributes to the most memorable experience possible,” explained Alfonso Albaisa, senior vice president for global design at Nissan. “That’s what we want to offer our customers, and of course our guests at our booth. We’ve tried to create an immersive experience that gives you the same feeling of hospitality, excitement and Japanese craftsmanship that you will feel behind the wheel of our latest vehicles and technologies that bring the future to life today!”

Highlights of Nissan’s CES exhibit include: • The Nissan Ariya Concept electric crossover. At the Nissan Intelligent Mobility Corner, technology experts will give demonstrations of Ariya Concept features such as the ProPILOT 2.0 advanced driver assistance system, twin-motor all- wheel-control system,

Lenovo-Ducati partnership gets a reboot TWO years ago, Lenovo brought its designers fresh perspective is good. We has a luxurious feel with the Ducati logo smarter technology to the racetrack by had to invent a way to add those authentic atop a chameleon silver metallic-colored becoming the key technology partner of Ducati racing stripes in the right shade of lid with a red bottom. When the laptop is Ducati. red with the same precision and quality unboxed for the first time, the customer At Ducati Corse the saying goes, “The that Ducati’s artisans use in crafting their gets all the feels – like when they saw faster the computing power, the faster higher-end products. their first Ducati bike. the motorbikes.” Ducati has undergone Ducati’s variety of bikes offers endless This premium 14-inch Windows 10 a transformation of its own; computer design attributes that can be expressed. laptop has a lot of get-up-and-go and up technology and artificial intelligence are The colors chosen for the notebook come to 12 hours of battery life1 with Rapid reshaping motorsport in unprecedented from one of the Panigale street bikes, but Charge2 for speedy battery pit-stops. Unways. it’s the naked frame structure of the Duca- der the hood users will discover fast reLenovo’s branding can be seen on ti Monster that surrounds the bottom air sponsiveness with up to 10th Generation Ducati racing bikes and MotoGP riders’ intake vent.

Intel Core i5 processors, Intel integrated uniforms, and now, for the first time at Typeface used to stamp individual se- graphics, and upward-facing speakers CES 2020, the world’s biggest consumer rial numbers on the bottom laptop covers and Dolby Audio for clearer sound withelectronics show, superfans will get to and on the commemorative cards is the out distortion. see Ducati’s branding featured on special same one Ducati uses to mark its collecImpress your buddies when streaming edition thin and light laptop: the Lenovo tor edition bike parts. Something fans can races with lightning-fast WiFi 6 connecDucati 5. look forward to is the BIOS chime that tivity and the immersive clarity of the A shared love for customers inspired sounds like the buzz of MotoGP riders Lenovo Ducati 5’s 14-inch Full HD (1920 the next frontier of product develop- racing around the circuit with the Duca- x 1080) display with razor-thin bezels ment for this successful Lenovo-Ducati ti logo front and center on the bootup for wide-angled viewing and in-plane partnership, built around making an screen. switching (IPS) up to 300 nits bright. emotional connection between the two Even the boxes are special; the gift box Check out the cutting-edge USB-C brands. These are fans who value port capable of fast transfer high performance in motorsports speeds up to 10 Gbps.3 as well as in their personal devices Get optional white backlit and want to express their connection keyboard and even more to Ducati both on and off the track. winning features includFor this laptop, the same passion ing an integrated fingerfor Ducati design was harnessed, print reader in the power considering all the details, to deliver button supported by Winfans a PC they could love as much dows Hello for faster log as their bike. in, HD webcam with an With wrap-around racing stripes, integrated privacy shutter, colorful gift box and companion and supercharged memory carrying sleeve with an emblazoned (with 8 GB DDR4) and Ducati shield, there’s no other PC storage (1TB SSD PCIe). quite like it in the world.

With its sleek lines, These devices feel special, alpremium metallic chasmost custom-built. And with only sis components, and 12,000 machines in this limitedstandout Ducati deedition model, it’s tailored for sign, the new Lenovo the biggest Ducati fans. WorkDucati 5 is a fun deing with Ducati on figuring vice to race around out how to make something town with weighnew and different has been ing just 3.48lbs a lot of fun. Any creative (1.58kg) and 0.66 LIMITED EDITION. Only 12,000 of the Lenovo-Ducati 5 laptops will be exercise that gives our PC made available. inches (16.9mm) thin.

acoustic meta-material and Smart Route Planner.

• Nissan’s zero-emission ice cream van: Chill out with ice cream served from a concept van that combines an all-electric drivetrain, second-life battery storage and renewable solar energy generation. Based on the 100% electric e-NV200 light commercial vehicle, the ice cream van’s motor is driven by a 40 kilowatt- hour battery. A portable power pack, which uses lithium-ion cells recovered from early first-generation Nissan electric vehicles, powers the on-board equipment.

• The ProPILOT golf ball: Inspired by the ProPILOT 2.0 advanced driver assistance system, Nissan has created a golf ball that always manages to find the hole.

At the booth’s putting green, an overhead camera will detect the position of the golf ball and hole. Sensing technology and an internal electric motor will ensure the putt stays on course until reaching the cup – just as Nissan cars

equipped with ProPILOT 2.0 can maneuver along a predefined highway route.

• Power Selfie: CES visitors won’t be able to drive the Formula E race car on display at Nissan’s booth, but they can recreate the exhilarating experience. With the help of high-powered fans and special effects, the Power Selfie booth records a short video to mimic the acceleration of the 100% electric race car from 0 to 100 kph in a mere 2.8 seconds. Guests will be able to create a GIF that looks as if they’re racing down the track.

• Formula E race car: Nissan, the first Japanese carmaker to join the all-electric Formula E street racing championship, will show its new, Japan-inspired livery for the new season.

• The Nissan LEAF e+: Nissan LEAF e+ electric vehicle features a powerful motor, long range, advanced technologies including the ProPILOT driver assistance system (called ProPILOT Assist in the U.S. marketplace) and the innovative ePedal mode for one-pedal driving.

HEAVY DUTY. Fifty Hyundai

Universe bus units add to the brand new luxury fleet of Victory Liner.

Hyundai beefs up Victory fleet THE Philippines’ No. 1 Korean automotive company, Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. has strengthened its longtime partnership with one of the largest provincial bus companies in the country, Victory Liner, Inc. (VLI). HARI recently delivered 50 brand new luxury Hyundai Universe buses as part of the bus company’s upgrading program.

Both HARI and VLI firmly support the government’s thrust to modernize the country’s public transport system.

HARI President & CEO Ma. Fe PerezAgudo said, “It has been our great pleasure and privilege to be Victory Liner’s key transportation partner. We are grateful for their continued trust and support in Hyundai since we first forged our partnership. Our tried-and-tested buses such as the Hyundai Universe provide a safer, faster, and more comfortable mode of mass transport for Filipinos.”

“Victory Liner’s mission is to move people better, safer by providing timely, cost-efficient, and quality transport services. Working closely with Filipino-owned companies such as HARI brings us one step closer to our goal,” Victory Liner, Inc. President Johnny T. Hernandez added.

The Hyundai Universe is a heavy-duty bus that combines dynamic performance and luxurious style. Manufactured in one of the biggest plants for commercial vehicles in the world, it is durable and has high quality thanks to Hyundai’s cutting-edge

technology on automatic welding utilizing robot and cathodic electrodeposition system. Hyundai Universe is powered by a 12.3-liter Euro 4-compliant electronic diesel engine with 380ps max power for better fuel efficiency resulting to maximized business profits and cleaner emissions. The ride on a Hyundai Universe is comfortable with its 49 +1 seating capacity and secure, thanks to its highly rigid monocoque body.

The Hyundai Universe Bus belongs to HARI’s Commercial Vehicle line-up that provides various mobility solutions for people and goods to spur economic activity.

Hyundai buses make-up almost a third of Victory Liner’s 1,100 bus fleet that move thousands of Filipinos daily. Hyundai commercial vehicles are supported by a 3-Year, 200,000-kilometer Mileage Warranty (whichever comes first). Additionally, Hyundai supports its business partners with programs such as the Call for Service Inspection (CSI) that bring in highly-trained technicians to repair Hyundai Trucks & Buses fleet right at the customer’s doorstep.

Hyundai’s Commercial Vehicle segment continues to drive the company’s business growth. In the first 11 months of the year, HARI’s CV business grew by nearly 80%.

This segment is expected to significantly gain with the introduction and deployment of Hyundai Modern Jeepneys.