Manila Standard - 2020 January 24 - Friday

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Virus epicenter shut-off Another city near Wuhan also on lockdown; death toll in China now 17

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HINA banned trains and planes from leaving Wuhan, a major city at the center of a virus outbreak, seeking to seal off its 11-million people to contain the contagious disease that has claimed 17 lives, infected hundreds and spread to other countries.

A second central Chinese city, ing Wuhan, authorities said Thursday.

Huanggang, is also being put on lockThe train station in Huanggang, down to help control the spread of a vi- which has a population of 7.5 million rus epidemic that broke out in neighbor- and is 70 kilometers from Wuhan,

will be suspended until further notice from midnight—all vehicles will be checked, and bars and cinemas will be closed, said city authorities.

The railway station in a third nearby city, Ezhou, which has a population of over 1 million, will also close, though no other measures were announced.

Authorities in Wuhan, a major transport hub, also suspended public buses

and subways, and said residents should not leave “without a special reason.”

More than 570 people have been infected with the virus across China—with most cases found in Wuhan, where a seafood market that illegally sold wild animals has been identified as the epicenter of the outbreak.

The coronavirus has caused alarm Next page

Economy expands by 6.4%—PSA

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From bats to humans? Analysis shows possible sources of virus A NEW strain of coronavirus that The theories are based on examiemerged in China may have origi- nation of the genome sequence of the nated in bats or snakes, according to virus released by authorities in the genetic analysis of the virus that has wake of the outbreak, with two studies so far killed 17 people.

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VOL. XXXIII • NO. 344 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Public warned: No cure for n-CoV; only hygiene • Flights to/from Wuhan suspended; ports on alert • Coast Guard activates medical units nationwide

By Joel E. Zurbano, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas THE Health department said Thursday there are no drugs that will work on the new strain of the coronavirus as it underscored the need for the public to boost one’s immune system by observing proper hygiene. “[There is] no medicine for it except

for the so-called supportive treatment, the medicines for fever and hydration.

We make sure the patient is nourished and naturally, you can clear the virus from your system,” Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo said.

Domingo also conceded that the country has no capability to detect 2019 n-CoV since it is a novel strain of coronavirus, which was just identified.

“There should be a test kit to be developed for each virus, the test kit like primer and reagents are not yet availble in the Philippines. They are only available in China and some referral centers of the World Health Organization (WHO) like that one in Japan and Australia,” Domingo said.

He cited the case of a 5-year-old Next page

Phivolcs sees lesser chance of eruption

By Rio N. Araja, Julito G. Rada, Maricel V. Cruz and Benjamin B. Chavez

PRECIOUS BREAST MILK. An unidentified health volunteer transfers milk to a plastic

bag donated by more than 400 mothers during the Breastmilk Letting at the Lakeshore Tent in Lower Bicutan, Taguig City Thursday to donate breast milk to babies affected by the Taal Volcano eruption this month. Norman Cruz

THERE is now a 30-percent probability for Taal Volcano’s explosive eruption from its previous 50 percent chance to do so, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said Thursday.

PHIVOLCS director Renato Solidum said volcanic activity changes from day to day.

“Actually, day(s) ago, it was 50-50 percent due to high emission of sulfur dioxide,” he said. “The condition of the volcano can change, especially when the magma has reached the surface.”

He said that a 30 percent probability is still high, particularly within the 14-kilometer high-risk radius from the volcano’s main crater.

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Duterte: Nyet to US visit; ‘VFA scrapping’ crops up

By MJ Blancaflor

Nations in Las Vegas in March as he In an exclusive interview with RT, threatened to terminate a joint military a Russia-based television network, PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said he pact with America if Washington does President Duterte was asked if he will skip the summit of the United States not correct the cancellation of Senator would go to the United States following and the Association of Southeast Asian Ronald dela Rosa’s visa within a month.

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SHIAWASENA SHUNKAN. Or happy moments, shared by House Majority Leader and

Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (left) with Takako Okada (2nd left), representative and director, Okada Holdings; Monaco Consul Agnes Huibornhoa (2nd right) and Monaco Consul General Fortune Melta Ledesma (right)during the birthday celebration of Philconsa Chairman and CEO Justice Manuel Lazaro at Okada Hotel in Parañaque City. Ver Noveno

New law hikes taxes on vapes, alcohol, wines; P22-b tax seen PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has signed a new law imposing higher taxes on alcohol, heated tobacco and vapor products that is expected to bring billions in revenues that will be used to implement the Universal Health Care Law. The President on Wednesday signed Republic Act 11467, which amends the National Internal Revenue Code of

1997, to impose heavier levies on alcohol products and e-cigarettes.

About 22 billion in incremental revenue for the first year will be raised with the law signed by President Duterte, said Sin Tax Coalition co-convenor Anthony Leachon.

Health Undersecretary Eric Domingo, who considered the signing of the Next page

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News

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

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400 moms donate milk to Taal babies The milk-letting activity was in response to the appeal of the Batangas provincial government for breast milk donations for the families who had been displaced by Taal’s eruption. It also followed the Health department’s advisory encouraging breast milk donations to the areas affected by the disaster.

“Nobody will dispute that breast milk is best for babies. But what do we do when, for some reason, a mother cannot provide that for her baby?” Cayetano said.

“There are moms who breastfeed but during a state of stress, their milk supply gets affected. That’s why we are trying to help out to those in need.

“That is my challenge to all nursing mothers in Taguig and other places, that I hope they can contribute. For those who have reached out and expressed interest to donate, we will assist. If we can collect the milk from different mothers, we will do so.”

Meanwhile, Cayetano also said that all donated breast milk collected from the

event will be pasteurized.

“We want to be sure that the donated breast milk will be in good condition for the babies who will receive them, Cayetano noted.

A breastfeeding advocate, Cayetano authored the Expanded Breastfeeding Act (RA 10028), which encourages health institutions to establish human milk banks.

Cayetano also authored the Children’s Emergency Relief and Protection Act (RA 10821), which requires breastfeeding areas to be set up in evacuation centers to enable mothers to feed their babies in private.

“I have been a breastfeeding advocate for over 10 years now. I did my very first milk bank activity in Makati, and we're done it in Cebu and other places, including Taguig.

I also personally breastfed my children, Cayetano said.

“It would also be great for other LGUs to have similar activities like this. Even if there are no calamities, breast-milk letting remains a good practice.”

because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.

Like SARS, it can be passed among people through the respiratory tract.

Wuhan residents shared their anguish on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform, with one describing being on the “verge of tears” when the de facto quarantine was announced.

“We are feeling as though it is the end of the world,” said another on Weibo, voicing concerns about shortages of food and disinfectant.

“We really need everyone’s help.”

Wuhan’s train station was almost empty except for workers and about a dozen people lining up for taxis, all of whom were wearing masks, the Agence France-Presse reported.

The first case of the new virus was confirmed on Dec. 31, and it has since been detected in Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and the United States.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday delayed a decision on whether to declare a global health emergency—a rare instrument used only for the worst outbreaks.

The emergency committee will meet again on Thursday, after its chair, Didier Houssin, said the experts were split over declaring a public health emergency.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more information was needed but he also praised China’s “very, very strong measures.”

“By having a strong action not only will they control the outbreak in their country but they will also minimize the chances of this outbreak spreading internationally,” Tedros said when asked about Wuhan’s transport shutdown.

With hundreds of millions of people traveling across China this week for the Lunar New Year holiday, the National Health Commission announced on Wednesday measures to curb the disease nationwide —including sterilization and ventilation at airports and bus stations, as well as inside planes and trains.

Wuhan’s special anti-virus command center said the quarantine measures were meant to “effectively cut off the virus spread, resolutely curb the outbreak and guarantee the people’s health and safety,” according to state media.

While departures were banned, trains and planes were still allowed into the city.

On one inbound train, the few passengers aboard heading ahead of the Lunar New Year were wearing masks.

“I wanted to go home,”a 28-year-old man surnamed Fang on a train from Shanghai to Wuhan said.

The city’s tourism and culture department canceled all group tours until Feb. 8, according to state media.

The city has also canceled large public events for the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts Friday.

Authorities made it mandatory to wear a mask in public places in the city.

“Those who disregard the warning will be punished according to relevant laws and regulations,” the city government warned.

Animals are suspected to be the primary source of the outbreak, with Chinese health officials saying that the virus originated from the market where wild animals were illegally sold.

Studies published this week suggest that the virus may have originated in bats or snakes.

The WHO has confirmed that the virus can be passed between people, at least those in close contact, and Chinese health officials said Wednesday it could mutate and spread further.

And authorities have conceded they do not yet know the full extent of the crisis.

“There are many unknowns to address in this event including clinical severity and the true extent and nature of disease transmission,” said Michael Ryan, head of the WHO’s health emergencies program.

Chinese authorities on Thursday reported dozens of new infections, bringing the confirmed total to 571. About 5,000 people remain under medical observation.

Countries have intensified efforts to stop the spread of the pathogen—known by its technical name 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV).

Passengers are facing screening measures at five US airports and a host of transport hubs across Asia.

European airports from London to Moscow have also stepped up checks and Nigeria, which has many citizens working in China, said it would start checks at entry points.

In Australia, passengers on one of the last flights out of Wuhan said they were met by biosecurity officials who briefed them on

the symptoms of the virus.

Tedros, the WHO chief, on Wednesday indicated the situation was not escalating out of control, saying there was “stability” for the moment.

“We don’t see any significant variation but at the same time we also believe that we have to be cautious,” he said.

Tedros also praised China’s openness about the outbreak as “commendable.”

But a senior US State Department official said Washington was “still concerned” about transparency in the Chinese government.

During the SARS epidemic, the Chinese government took months to report the disease and initially denied WHO experts access to southern Guangdong province, where it originated.

One of the last flights out of the epidemichit Chinese city of Wuhan was met by biosecurity officials as it landed in Australia on Thursday, as a global effort to contain the outbreak ramps up.

Mask-wearing passengers said they were questioned by health officials who briefed them on the symptoms of the novel coronavirus and handed out leaflets explaining how to respond if they noticed symptoms of the contagious disease.

“They suggested (that) everyone wear their masks, and actually everyone (already) wear their masks ... even the flight crew,” said Kevin Ouyang, a 40-year-old father of two who was returning to his Sydney home after a business trip to China.

Australia’s chief medical officer, Brendan Murphy, said no ill passengers had been found on the flight, which left Wuhan shortly before Chinese authorities placed the city under quarantine and barred all departing aircraft.

In Hong Kong, officials announced they would convert two holiday parks to isolate any potential cases while they await test results.

“We will have a full team of staff to operate the quarantine camps,” Wong Ka-hing, the director of the Center for Health Protection, told reporters.

Wong said three people who had come into close contact with the two confirmed cases would be taken to a camp in rural Sai Kung district later Thursday.

Another holiday camp, a former British military barracks on Hong Kong island, was being prepared to serve as a quarantine facility. AFP

ate host,” but a second study published Wednesday in the Journal of Medical Virology identifies snakes as the possible culprit.

“To search for (a) potential virus reservoir, we have carried out a comprehensive sequence analysis and comparison. Results from our analysis suggest that snake is the most probable wildlife animal reservoir,” the paper says.

The researchers caution that their conclusions require “further validation by experimental studies in animal models.”

Neither study explained how the virus may have been transmitted from animals to humans.

But they could offer clues to Chinese authorities as they hunt for the source of the outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people in the country and has been confirmed as far afield as the United States.

The food market where the deadly virus surfaced offered a range of exotic wildlife for sale, including live foxes, crocodiles, wolf puppies, giant salamanders, snakes,

rats, peacocks, porcupines, camel meat and other game.

Gao Fu, director of the Chinese center for disease control and prevention, said in Beijing on Wednesday that authorities believe the virus likely came from “wild animals at the seafood market” though the exact source remains undetermined.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, was linked to Chinese consumption of civet meat.

Many exotic species are still widely consumed in China or other Asian countries where they are considered a delicacy—like the civet or some rats or bats— or for purported health benefits unproven by science.

As China locks down the city at the epicenter of a new viral outbreak, countries around the world are scrambling to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

While most patients are in Wuhan, cases have been detected across China and a few abroad. AFP

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

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BOUT 400 nursing mothers came together in Taguig City on Thursday to donate breast milk for the babies affected by Taal Volcano’s eruption.

Senator Pia Cayetano, in partnership with the Human Milk Bank of Taguig City, conducted a day-long breast-milk-letting event on Jan. 23 at the Lakeshore Tent in Lower Bicutan, Taguig.

The event, “Breast Milk Ko, Alay Ko,” was made open to all volunteer breastfeeding mothers, including residents and non-residents of the city.

Meanwhile, in a bid to lessen the emotional and mental stress of the evacuees in Batangas, the Health department in CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon) distributed 32-inch LED Television sets to the evacuation centers.

Regional Director Eduardo Janairo, who

led the distribution of the TV sets, acknowledged that some evacuees were suffering from emotional and mental stress daily while they remained in their makeshift shelters waiting to return to their homes.

He also noted that others had nothing to go back to due to the damage to their homes caused by Taal’s eruption.

The donated milk will be stored and processed by the Taguig City Human Milk Bank and delivered to the different evacuation centers in Batangas.

“The essence of this is mothers helping other mothers,” Cayetano said during an ambush interview with reporters on the sidelines of the event.

13-m Filipinos rate themselves as poor—SWS

Virus...

By MJ Blancaflor MORE Filipinos considered themselves poor as of December last year, a Social Weather Stations survey showed Thursday.

Around 13.1-million Filipino families or 54 percent labeled themselves as poor in a Dec. 13 to 16 SWS poll, higher than the estimated 10.3-million families or 42 percent in September.

Among them, 9.7 million classified themselves as “always poor,” 1.8 million were “usually poor,” and 1.6 million were “newly poor.”

The latest self-rated poverty rate was the highest since the 55-percent figure recorded in September 2014.

The self-poverty rates were highest in the Visayas and Mindanao with 67 percent and 64 percent, respectively. Those was followed by Luzon with 47 percent and Metro Manila with 41 percent.

The quarterly 12-point rise in nationwide self-rated poverty was due to sharp increases in all areas.

Metro Manila and Luzon saw the highest increase with 16 and 13 points, respectively. These were followed by Mindanao (11 points) and the Visayas (8 points).

The poll also revealed that the self-rated poverty threshold―or the minimum monthly budget poor families needed for home expenses in order not to be poor― was P12,000 in December 2019.

The same survey also showed that selfrated food poverty rose to 35 percent in December 2019, six points higher than the 29 percent in SWS’ September 2019 survey.

This figure of food-poor families translates to 8.6 million families in December and 7.1-million families in September.

The poll involved 1,200 adults nationwide and had a sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages.

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pointing to the likely role of bats in the outbreak.

One study, published Tuesday in the journal Science China Life Sciences, which is sponsored by Beijing’s Chinese Academy of Sciences, looked at the relations between the new strain and other viruses.

It found the coronavirus that emerged from China’s Wuhan was closely related to a strain that exists in bats.

“Bats being the native host of the Wuhan CoV [coronavirus] would be the logical and convenient reasoning, though it remains likely there was intermediate host(s) in the transmission cascade from bats to humans,” the researchers from several institutions in China wrote in the paper.

That study did not speculate about which animal could have been an “intermedi-

Duterte:...

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the invitation of American President Donald Trump.

“No. No,” Duterte said in the interview, a portion of which was posted on RT’s Youtube channel on Thursday afternoon.

In a curse-laden speech in Leyte, the President said he will scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement and bar US senators from entering the Philippines should they fail to “correct” Dela Rosa’s visa status.

“I’m warning you, if you will not correct it, I will terminate the Visiting Forces Agreement. I’ll finish that, son of a bitch,” Duterte said.

“They have to start to talk to us because (otherwise) they have to go. Disrespectful,” he added.

Duterte’s threat came a day after Dela Rosa confirmed his visa has been canceled, acknowledging it “might be related” to alleged extrajudicial killings under his watch as chief of the Philippine National Police

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from 2016 to 2018.

Since 2016, at least 5,500 people have been killed in police anti-drug operations while human rights groups estimate the numbers to reach 30,000 to include those killed vigilante-style.

Senator Imee Marcos said Thursday she heard an unconfirmed report from the police that Washington has also voided the US visa of Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and other military and police officials.

Speaking in Thursday’s “Kapihan sa Senado,” Marcos said there were reports that other officials like Lorenzana had also been blacklisted.

Lorenzana, for his part, denied the information relayed by Marcos.

“I have not applied for a tourist visa. My diplomatic visa is valid,” Lorenzana said.

The Palace on Thursday played down the cancellation of Dela Rosa’s US visa.

“It’s the prerogative and right of any state to disallow or to allow any citizen of any country,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta, Rey E. Requejo and Willie Casas

Phivolcs...

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Ma. Antonia Bornas, Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division head, said they had even considered a high 70-percent probability of having a major eruption due to the moderate to high level of seismic activity.

Solidum said they were looking at different possible scenarios.

“It is possible that there could be a strong eruption, and that would be dangerous… It could also stop,” he said.

“Based on the history ng Taal Volcano, its story does not end just there. Sometimes, its eruption could happen between months or a year, especially now that there is a resupply of magma,” he added.

If the magma is not ejected, it could solidify into rocks, and if it continues to rise, it could push the old ones up, he said.

Alert Level 4 remained over Taal Volcano as of Thursday, meaning a hazardous

Public...

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Chinese boy whose throat samples wére sent to Australia after his laboratory tests from the Research Institute for Tropicl Medicine yielded negative results for SARs-CoV (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) and MERS-CoV (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV).

“He is a person under investigation (PUI) or suspected,” he said, adding that the tests in Australia will determine if he was afflicted with the virus that originated from Wuhan, China.

Meanwhile, all chartered flights to and from Wuhan, China were ordered suspended as part of the government’s precautionary measures against the spread of the coronavirus.

Civil Aeronautics Board director Carmelo Arcilla announced the temporary suspension following a meeting with Transportation department and board officials on Thursday.

He said there are eight flights a week between Wuhan and other points in the Philippines.

Transportation hubs in the country have also implemented safety measures to prevent the infectious disease.

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade urged vigilance in all ports of entry to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus strain.

“Please adopt all measures necessary and expedient to address the issue on coronavirus, considering world developments and the influx of passengers expected this Lunar New Year,” Tugade said.

Airport personnel were also advised to exercise extreme vigilance in handling passenger arrivals and to strictly monitor those who are possibly infected by the virus.

Airport frontline personnel have been advised to observe precautionary measures such as the wearing of face masks, maintaining proper hygiene, and regular hand washing.

Manila International Airport Authority general manager Eddie Monreal said they are in full coordination with the Bureau of Quarantine in support of their safety protocols.

Orders have also been given out to all ports operated by the Philippine Ports Authority to coordinate with the quarantine office and implement strict passenger screening at arrival areas, PPA general manager Jay Santiago said.

Santiago said that stringent security measures are also in place especially in areas frequently visited by tourists such as Bohol and Caticlan in Aklan.

The Philippine Coast Guard has also advised all medical units in its 13 Coast Guard Districts to be on high alert to prevent the possible spread of suspected coronavirus.

Strict passenger screening and safety measures are also in place on the country’s land terminals and railway networks to prevent the entry and spread of the virus.

CAAP has reactivated its communicable disease preparedness procedures on all CAAP-operated airports, especially in international gateways such as Puerto Princesa, General Santos, Zamboanga, Davao, Kalibo, Laoag, and Iloilo.

Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation, the operator of Mactan-Cebu International Airport, said it implemented strict precautionary measures against the novel coronavirus. With Darwin G. Amojelar

new law a “win-win” for them, said they were jumping for joy on hearing the news.

Rep. Joey Salceda said the new law would save thousands of lives and result in the collection of billions of pesos more, which could be used by the government to implement the Universal Health Care Law in full.

Here are the new tax rates based on the law: • Distilled spirits such as whiskey, brandy, rum, gin, vodka: P42 specific tax (plus 22 percent ad valorem tax) in 2020; P47 in 2021; P52 in 2022; P59 in 2023; and P66 in 2024, with a 6-percent indexation thereafter.

• Wine: P50 specific tax per liter in 2020 and 6-percent yearly thereafter.

• Beer and fermented liquor: P35 specific tax per liter in 2020 and would increase by

P2 per year until it reaches P43 per liter in 2024. Thereafter, the rate will increase by 6 percent every year.

• Heated tobacco products: P25 specific tax in 2020; P27.50 in 2021; P30 in 2022; and P32.50 in 2023, with a 5-percent indexation thereafter.

• Salt nicotine: P37 specific rate in 2020; P42 in 2021 per milliliter; P47 in 2022; P52 in 2023, with a 5-percent indexation thereafter.

• Conventional/Free Base nicotine: P45 specific tax in 2020 per 10 milliliters; P50 in 2021; P55 in 2022; P60 in 2023; with a 5-percent indexation thereafter.

Tuba, basi, and tapuy were exempted under the law from the higher excise taxes.

Under the law, the medicines for diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol will be free of value-added tax.

The exemption will also apply to medicine and prescription drugs for cancer, mental illness, tuberculosis and kidney disease by 2023. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

eruption is possible within hours to days.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III ordered the Bureau of Customs to donate all of its seized food items fit for human consumption to the swelling number of evacuees from Batangas and Cavite following Taal volcano’s Jan. 12 eruption.

Customs Deputy Commissioner Edward James Dy Buco said the agency immediately turned over to the Department of Social Welfare and Development some 32 pallets containing 180 boxes each of canned Libby’s Vienna Sausage seized at the Port of Manila in March 2018. The canned goods will be donated to the Taal evacuees.

The donation will help feed 53,000 families or around 267,000 evacuees, Dy Buco said.

Dy Buco said the Food and Drug Administration has cleared the shipment of sausages as fit for human consumption.

The deed of donation for the food items has also been signed by Customs Commissioner Rey Leonardo Guerrero and approved by Dominguez to set in motion the

process of sending the food items at once to the evacuees.

Dominguez said he was also informed that Guerrero had already instructed all Customs ports to determine whether other items, aside from foodstuff, can be donated to the increasing number of Taal evacuees.

“We have also coordinated with the Department of Agriculture for them to determine whether several containers of frozen fish seized at the Manila International Container Port and forfeited in favor of the government are fit for human consumption. If found to be okay, the same will be donated,” Dy Buco said in his report to Dominguez.

On Dominguez’s earlier instructions, the BOC had been donating its seized rice shipments to the DSWD for use in its disaster relief operations.

The bureau has also turned over other confiscated items to the DSWD such as emergency survival blankets, bed sheets, blankets and towels, clothes and face masks seized from various customs ports.

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News Immigration agents intercept British, Mongolian fugitives at NAIA

By Vito Barcelo IMMIGRATION authorities intercepted a British national with links to international terror group and a Mongolian woman wanted for beating her husband at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The BI, who refused to identify the Briton due to ongoing investigations, said that they received information on the Briton’s alleged terrorist links.

“Intelligence information received from foreign counterparts described him as being associated with a known terrorist group or being involved in terrorist activity, thus he was included in our alert list,” BIPort Operations Chief Grifton Medina said.

Meanwhile, the 33-year-old Mongolian, identified as Unurjargal Altantsetseg, was intercepted upon her arrival at the Mactan Cebu International Airport from Incheon, South Korea.

Medina said the woman is a subject of a red notice issued by the Interpol on April last year due to a case of assault and maltreatment that was lodged against her before a court in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

The case stemmed from an incident that happened on March 9, 2019 wherein Altantsetseg allegedly beat her husband during an argument, which resulted in the victim becoming blind and sustaining serious physical injuries.

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

SC committee to monitor Bay rehab T

By Rey E. Requejo

HE Supreme Court has reconstituted the Manila Bay Advisory Committee, which is tasked to monitor the implementation of its 2008 decision that directed concerned government agencies, including those in law enforcement, to speed up the cleanup, restoration, and preservation of Manila Bay.

Chief Justice Diosdado M. Peralta, who serves as the chairperson of the MBAC, said the new members are SC Associate Justice Edgardo L. Delos Santos, Court Administrator Jose

Midas P. Marquez, and SC Associate Justice Rodil V. Zalameda as vice chairperson and working chairperson.

The chief magistrate made the announcement of the new members of the

MBAC during the 2nd Manila Bay Task Force Principal’s Meeting and Conference at the Diamond Hotel in Manila.

“MBAC’s main function is to maintain the mandate of the continuing mandamus and to enable the Court to verify the reports of the government agencies tasked to clean up the Manila Bay,” Peralta said.

“The idea is not just to comply with this tall order, but to ensure that we are on track by way of periodic updates on our progress. Concededly, this could take years, but this duty is

‘Public bidding for vaccines needed’ A STRONGER push towards more competitive bidding is key to regaining public confidence in vaccines, said experts from both the public and private sector during a public health forum held at the Manila Hotel last Wednesday.

“It’s always best to have a public bidding, because competition will give you the best price. It is transparent,” noted

Tom Syquija, former Executive Director of Procurement Service- Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System. “You get the same quality but at the lowest price. It’s always best for the public if you have competition,” he added.

The budget for pneumonia vaccines alone is P4.9 billion, allotted for Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines,

which aim to guard against Invasive Pneumococcal Diseases, the largest cause of death for Filipino children under five.

Currently, there are two vaccines available for the government to procure during the next budget allocation, PCV 10 and PCV 13, two vaccines that global health experts claim are comparable in performance.

Du30 oks review of UP-Ayala deal on Technohub

By MJ Blancaflor PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to probe the lease agreement of the UP Ayala Land Technohub upon the recommendation of Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo.

In a press briefing Thursday, Panelo said the Chief Executive has greenlighted the review of the 2006 deal which seeks to develop and convert the 37-hectare land of UP Diliman along Commonwealth Avenue into a commercial lot.

The issue stemmed from Panelo’s radio interview on Sunday, where he said he would recommend the contract’s review since Ayala Land is only paying P22-per square monthly rate to UP, citing figures from an article he “read on the nternet.” Ayala Land later clarified that they were paying P171per square monthly rate.

“I told the President about this, and his reaction was, ‘Then let’s see if the allegations of the article were true.’

So we will investigate. We will review so we will know if that’s true or not,” Panelo told reporters.

This came even if officials from UP and Ayala Land Inc. defended the lease agreement, saying it was not disadvantageous to both parties.

Panelo said he will request a copy of the contract from UP officials.

Under the deal, UP will receive a total of P10.23 billion during the 25year lease—P4.23 billion payment and P6 billion in investments—according to Ayala Land.

Of the total lease payments, P1.1 billion was estimated to have come in from 2008 to 2018 while P3.13 billion would come from 2019 to 2033.

Ownership of the buildings, constructed at P6 billion, will also be turned over to UP at the end of the lease contract, the Ayala Land said.

SECRETARY John Castriciones of the Department of Agrarian Reform on Thursday warned private security agencies that cases would be filed against them for meddling with the work of the agency and obstructing the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

He said he has received reports that

IN BRIEF Resolve cases of slain judges—Gordon SENATOR Richard J. Gordon called on the Philippine National Police—Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to reopen and resolve cold cases of slain judges with accuracy and speed to ensure conviction.

During the second hearing conducted by the Committee on Justice and Human Rights on bills proposing the creation of a Philippine Marshal Service that would ensure security and protection of the members of the Bench, Gordon said the CIDG should work on resolving the killings, some of which have been committed more than a decade ago.

“It would be so inspiring and justice is being made in spite of the years if we can locate the killer of Judge Pattugalan, that’s called cold case? Pati yung iba din. Di ba 31 judges had been killed? (plus two retired judges) include nyo din ‘yang mga cases na ‘yan,” Gordon told PNP-CIDG Director Joel Napoleon Coronel.

The CIDG has reported that 33 judges had been killed since 1999, with 23 cases already filed in various courts. Of the cases filed, 15 are still on trial, there were two convictions and six were acquittals.

The assassination 13 years ago of Judge Nathaniel Pattugalan while on board a public utility jeepney in Quezon City is among the cases that have yet to be filed in court. His wife, Anastacia is one of the resource persons in the hearing. Macon Ramos-Araneta

MMDA rerouts traffic Along Aurora Blvd.

RELIEF MISSION. The common law wife of President Rodrigo Duterte, Cielito ‘Honeylet’ Avanceña, on Wednesday led a relief mission organized by members of the Filipino Chinese community to aid those displaced by the Taal Volcano eruption. Avanceña led the distribution of bags filled with relief goods, including tikoy in celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year on Saturday. She was also seen talking to some of the evacuees. Teddy Pelaez HEALTH CARE.

The St. Luke’s Medical CenterGlobal City is a State-of-theArt HealthCare Center located in Bonifacio, Global city Taguig.

Inaugurated in 2010, SLMCGLOBAL CITY boasts of some of the country’s most advanced healthcare technology and has attained global recognition for its excellence in the field of medicine.

SLMC-GLOBAL CITY is committed to providing its patients with world-class service and care. SLMC also has a branch in Quezon City.

DAR warns private security firms to stop meddling overv CARP implementation

By Rio N. Araja

ours in the present, and we will not relent,” he added.

In 2008, the SC issued a writ of continuing mandamus enjoining several government agencies to undertake a speedy cleanup, restoration, and preservation of Manila Bay. The writ of a continuing mandamus is a Court order that compels the agencies of the government to perform acts which the laws specifically require them to do or to comply as duties emanating from the nature and mandate of their offices.

private security agencies hired by landowners have prevented DAR officials and personnel as well as farmer-beneficiaries from gaining access to farmlands already placed under program.

“Install agrarian reform beneficiaries already awarded with certificates of land ownership award,” he told officials in a verbal order during am ongoing assessment and planning conference in Baguio City.

This was a direct response to strong

clamor from among uninstalled farmer-beneficiaries, some of them reaching out to him through text messaging, demanding immediate installation in their farm lots.

Many farmer-beneficiaries are still not enjoying peaceful tilling of their awarded lands due to continued harassment from the landowners’ alleged henchmen, he noted.

“Identify the security agencies of these

landlords and file cases against them before the Supervisory Office for Security and Investigation Agency of the National Police Commission,” the DAR chief said.

DAR said it would seek police and military assistance to penetrate even the heavily guarded landholdings, while many of the farmer-beneficiaries would even request to put up police detachments to protect them and ensure their rights are safeguarded.

THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority announced on Thursday it will enforce a traffic rerouting scheme in connection with the sevennight closure of the westbound lane of Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City beginning Saturday.

In its advisory, the MMDA public information office stated that the Manila-bound lane of Aurora Boulevard (between Oxford and Imperial Streets) will be closed to vehicular traffic for seven consecutive nights to make way to the replacement of escalator units of the Light Railway Transit Line 2.

The closure will be implemented from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Jan. 25 up to Feb. 1.

This will allow the private contractor of the Department of Transportation to transfer the escalator units from a big truck to the Cubao LRT station using a mobile crane. Transfer would only be done at night to minimize the inconvenience. Joel E. Zurbano

FPIP cheers up Taal evacuees BATANGAS—Employees of Lopezled First Philippine Industrial Park have been making rounds in their host communities to distribute relief goods and provide entertainment for Taal Volcano eruption evacuees in temporary shelters.

Water containers, food and toiletries are being distributed in coordination with the local government units of Tanauan and Santo Tomas where FPIP operates a 550-hectare industrial park employing over 65,000 workers.

But most striking is the presence of clowns and magicians happily greeted by evacuees, especially by the children.

“When you are caught in a volcanic eruption and are forced to leave your home with practically nothing, this can create a lot of anxiety in people, especially the kids. We sent in the clowns as a way to help relieve the tension.

With the positive power of humor, we hope to help them deal with the range of emotions caused by Taal’s sudden activity,” said FPIP community relations officer Marco Amurao.

“More than just a source of entertainment, activities such as magic shows, storytelling and games might help boost their immune systems through uplifted spirits,” Amurao said.

Toys were also distributed to the children to help allay their anxieties.

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Opinion

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Patriot of the Year FRANCISCO “Kit” Tatad, the legendary former press secretary, former Senate majority floor leader, and today’s one of the country’s best journalists and writers, sent a reaction article to the BizNewsAsia issue which declared Ramon S. Ang, Man of the Year for 2019. Here is the article: BizNewsAsia, Tony Lopez’s phenomenal business weekly magazine, has named Ramon S. Ang, president and chief operating officer of San Miguel Corp., Man of the Year for 2019.

Here’s a former press secretary on Ramon S. Ang. None of our major newspapers have awarded this title to anybody else, so RSA is the only Man of the Year in the Philippine media for 2019.

This is a very thoughtful distinction, but I would rather describe RSA as “Filipino Patriot of the Year.” Although half-Chinese by heritage, he is more Filipino than anybody else, no full-blooded Filipino can claim to be doing for the country as much as this one.

The honoree is a man of multiple virtues and achievements, none of which is easy to replicate. In less than 15 years, after he joined his friend and mentor SMC Chairman Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco to run the corporation, he has reengineered and transformed SMC from a food conglomerate into an industry leader in power generation, infrastructure,

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

fuel and oil, premium cars, cement, and others.

It is a stunning feat that has not only contributed to the economy’s long-term growth but also brought so much pride in the entrepreneurial capacity of the Filipino individual.

As the country’s largest corporation, SMC posted P1.1 trillion in revenues last year.

The main reason for this is RSA’s P735.6-billion ($14.4 billion) New Manila International Airport project in Bulacan, which will not only put Manila head to head with all the modern tourist destinations in the world, but in Bloomberg’s words, will “remake” the Philippines.

It is a jaw-dropping game-changer.

It is the biggest infrastructure project in the country, undertaken as an unsolicited private proposal by a single corporate entity, without any government subsidy or sovereign guaranty.

Among Filipino and Filipino Chinese tycoons, the usual gold standard is the Forbes magazine listing of annual dollar billionaires; this is where you find the names of those whose most important distinction is that they have made and continue to make a lot of money.

RSA invites a higher and far more fundamental measure of the value of his wealth creation: Its actual impact on the long-term economic growth and overall advancement of the nation.

It is a function of patriotism.

Bloomberg Business Week, the international business magazine, clearly recognized this when it earlier listed RSA among the 50 most influential people in the world.

Included in this listing are Denmark’s, and the world’s, youngest prime minister Mette Frederiksen, a host of highly celebrated corporate heads from various parts of the world, and the 17-year-old Swedish

Economy defies the odds

T

HE Philippine economy did creditably well in 2019 despite adversities.

The late approval of the 2019 budget, the lingering trade spat between the US and China, as well as typhoons and other natural calamities would have slowed down the economic growth of the Philippines, but they did not.

The Philippines registered a gross domestic product growth of 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago, becoming the second-fastest growing economy in the region. The performance ranked the Philippines behind Vietnam’s 7 percent and ahead of China’s 6-percent expansion.

The economy overall grew just 5.9 percent for the full of 2019, the slowest in eight years and slightly

below the low-end of the 6-percent to 6.5-percent revised target of the government for the year. Still, the growth was respectable as other nations grappled with the global economic slowdown stemming from the slow resolution of Brexit, the nagging US-China trade war and the ban on government construction works leading to the local elections in May. Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia noted that the Philippine economy would have expanded close to 7 percent for the entire 2019 had the budget been passed on time. The delayed approval of the P3.7-trillion 2019 budget resulted in a full percentage point loss in economic growth.

The government had to implement a catch-up spending program starting in the third quarter of the year to keep the economic growth

on target. As a result, public construction jumped 34 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019 to make up for the sector’s slowdown in the first six months of the year following the budget delay. Services recovered with a 7.9-percent expansion in the last three months of 2019, followed by the industry sector with 5.4 percent.

Economic fundamentals are supporting the Philippine economy and shielding it from adverse external factors. A tame inflation, declining interest rates, higher revenue collections and a manageable public sector debt have steadied the ship after a boom-and-bust cycle that prevailed in the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.

With the timely approval of the 2020 budget, the economy is now well-poised to grow 7 percent this year.

Turn to A5

Save Manila Bay THE good news, in so far as the environment is concerned, is the determined effort of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to prioritize the rehabilitation of Manila Bay from now until 2022.

No less than Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said recently that the rehabilitation of Manila Bay will remain the DENR’s top priority in the next two-and-a-half years.

This, I think, is a step in the right direction.

Cimatu chairs the Manila Bay Task Force. He is assisted in this huge undertaking by DENR Undersecretary for Solid Waste Management and Local Government Concerns Benny D. Antiporda, who is on top of the day-to-day operations of the task force.

Cimatu wants to make Manila Bay’s waters fit for swimming by the time President Duterte steps down in 2022. This is one of the concrete targets that the DENR hopes to achieve in its bid to win the “Battle for Manila Bay.” The rehabilitation of Manila Bay follows close on the heels of the successful rehab campaign in Boracay that took six months to complete, and plans to undertake similar rehabilitation programs in other tourism areas in the country, including Baguio, the country's summer capital.

Cimatu is finding out that rehabilitating a heavily polluted body of water is a very difficult task. But he really wants to make a difference and restore water in the historic bay to its once-pristine condition.

Ever since the Manila Bay rehabilitation kicked off with the launch of the “Battle for Manila Bay” in Jan. 26 last year, Cimatu recognizes that “much more needs to be done” to meet the end-goal of making it fit again for

swimming and other purposes.

What has the DENR achieved so far?

Cimatu has reported to Malacañang that “our effort to restore Manila Bay is now in full swing and we hope to sustain the momentum of restoring it to its former glory in the coming years.”

The ongoing rehabilitation program is now on its first phase or the cleanup and water quality monitoring phase.

What has the DENR achieved so far?

The MBTF has identified 44,125 informal settler families living within the Manila Bay area. A total of 51 families, particularly those situated along Estero de San Antonio de Abad, have already been relocated to Caloocan City.

Apart from these, the task force has delineated 547 kilometers of easements in the National Capital Region and in Central Luzon.

As of Sept. 26 last year, the DENR’s Environmental Management Bureau and the Laguna Lake Development Authority had inspected 9,708 commercial establishments around Manila Bay. Of this number, 2,478 were issued notices of violations and 107 were slapped with cease-and-desist orders.

Since the rehabilitation started in January 2019, close to 70,000 volunteers from the NCR, Central Luzon and Calabarzon have collected over 2.3 million kilograms of waste through cleanups, trash boats and garbage traps. That's an awful amount of garbage.

The task force has already monitored a total of 70 stations in the Manila Bay area. This includes 31 bathing beaches, 18 river mouths, 16 drainage outfalls, and five rivers.

To improve the ecosystem, the Turn to A5

The State’s police powers THOSE who are crying foul over President Rodrigo Duterte's orders to review and secure the revision of the MWSS water concessions and various other contracts entered into by government with the private sector by insisting that the same violates the non-impairment of contracts clause under the Constitution are being blind to the inherent powers of the State granted under the same Constitution.

Like the constitutions of other countries, including that of the United States from where we virtually copied our own, there are three such inherent powers which are deemed plenary and rarely questioned to ensure stability, discipline and order in society. These are: a) police power (for public welfare and good); b) power of eminent domain or power of expropriation (for public use) and power of taxation (for revenue generation).

In the case of the water concessions and the other contracts being sought

CROSSROADS

J.A. DE LA CRUZ for review by both the executive and the legislative branches, such acts are guaranteed and provided for under our constitution. The reviews sought by the President, in the case of the

The President is not violating anything. water concessions and, of late, the UP-AyalaTechno Hub deal and the NDC-Chevron land deal in Batangas, and by the legislature in the case of the LRT1 extension, FTI and Trinoma land deals, among others, are all being done within the state’s police powers. Basically, these initiatives

are meant to ascertain whether the contracts entered into by government with the private proponents or users, as the case maybe, promote the public welfare and the public good.

As legally defined, police power is the power of the State to promote public welfare or the public good for the betterment of the health, safety and morals of the people. In so doing, it can compel compliance by restraining and regulating behavior and enforce order by whatever necessary measures provided the same do not infringe on any rights protected under the constitution and are not unreasonably arbitrary or oppressive.

So the question arises, is the President being unreasonably arbitrary or oppressive in ordering the review of what he or his cabinet consider the onerous provisions of the water concessions and the land deals?

Is he by any measure violating the non-impairment of contracts clause Turn to A5

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Opinion Words of the year SEVERAL reputable dictionaries have revealed their respective Words of the Year for the year just past.

For Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word is “they.” It’s not a usual candidate for such a distinction— after all, “they” is a simple personal pronoun. Still, lookups for the word increased by 313 percent in 2019 from 2018, and the evolving use of the word has “been the subject of increasing study and commentary in recent years.”

According to Merriam-Webster, the English language does not have a gender-neutral singular pronoun (we always use he or she); “they” has been used to refer to one person whose gender identity is nonbinary.

In fact, he American Psychological Association, through its blog, has recommended that the singular “they” be preferred in professional writing over “he or she” when referring to a person whose gender is unknown or who prefers “they.”

For the Oxford Dictionary, 2019’s Word of the Year is “climate emergency.” This is defines as a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it.

Oxford says that its Word of the Year is a word or expression that we can see has attracted a great deal of interest over the last 12 months. The Word of the Year reflects the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year and to have lasting potential as a word of cultural significance.

According to Oxford, its research reveals a “demonstrable escalation in the language people are using to articulate information and ideas concerning the climate.”

Related to “climate emergency” is the choice of dictionary.com, “existential.” According to its web site, “existential...captures a sense of grappling with the survival—literally and figuratively—of our planet,

our loved ones, our ways of life.”

The word “also inspires us to ask big questions about who we are and what our purpose is in the face of our various challenges—and it reminds us that we can make choices about our lives in how we answer those questions.”

As a word and theme, “existential” was prominent among global topics in 2019: Climate change, gun violence, and democratic institutions. It also popped up in lighter stories in popular culture, signaling its place in the cultural zeitgeist.

What’s yours?

For Cambridge Dictionary, “upcy “upcycling” is the word for 2019. It is de defined as the activity of making new furniture, objects, etc. out of old or used things or waste material.

Searches for the word rose by 181 percent since December 2011, when it was first added to the online dictionary. In the last year alone, searches doubled. Cambridge says it believes its fans resonated not with “upcycling” the word, per se, but “upcycling” the positive idea behind it.

“Stopping the progression of climate change, let alone reversing it, can seem impossible at times,” the dictionary said. “Upcycling is a concrete action a single human being can take to make a difference.” There is a momentum in individual actions to beat climate change, it adds.

Certainly all of us can appreciate the growing urgency of the things that threaten life as we know it.

There is climate change, of course, and the debates are not going to end anytime soon. Meanwhile, despite the science, decisive action has been lacking. The usual chasm has been between developed and developing countries, but lately the younger generation has taken the older ones to task for not doing anything aside from talking about the problem.

As we go into 2020, the urgency is real and keeps getting close to home.

We observed the fires that consumed a good part of Australia and

The State’s...

From A4

under the constitution? In the same manner is there any legislative overreach as committee hearings are being called to look into another basket of deals.

The answer is a flat NO. The President as chief executive and the legislature are well within their rights in ordering such review and ultimately, the revision of the contracts if in their view the same are not promoting the people’s health, safety, morals and the general public welfare.

The case of the water concessions is instructive.

About six years ago, I joined a group which filed a petition for the recission of such contracts based on at least two grounds: Constitutionality and the illegal and onerous provisions inimical to the public interest. We have emphasized then and we are reiterating now that the provision of water and sewerage services is considered a public utility—a fundamental public need—and should be governed by a legislative franchise.

In this instance, the franchise for such a service was granted to the MWSS not to the two water concessionaires. The agency cannot sub-grant it to its two contractors. The concessionaires themselves admit to that when they so please. If it suits them, they claim they are merely contractors of the MWSS and their acts and other undertakings are as permitted by the MWSS Board and therefore they are answerable only to that board.

However, if they are being asked to pay for their income taxes and are imposed additional fees as private contractors they say they are public utilities and therefore exempt from such impositions. Well, as the President said, they cannot have it both ways. It’s either they agree to revise and reform the contract to do away with its onerous provisions or say goodbye to all that.

In which case, government will take over and start the process of determining the liabilities they may have in-

Save...

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DENR led the planting of native and fruit-bearing tree seedlings as well as mangroves.

It is true that rehabilitation of Manila Bay requires the participation and support of the people themselves. Thus, the department is also

threatened numerous wild species.

And then, last week, Taal Volcano’s eruption took us by surprise. For us observers on relatively safer ground, the main concern is ashfall posing risks to our health and property. For those living within the 14-kilometer danger zone, and especially those closest to it, it’s a complete disruption of everyday lives. They have to stop their routines and leave behind their homes.

As if all these were not enough, we are now confronted with the deadly coronavirus. As of Thursday morning, the Chinese city of Wuhan has been placed on lockdown. More than 500 people there have been diag diagnosed so far, and 17 have died. Peo People have been described as being “in panic mode.” We here in the Phil Philippines are on edge, too, knowing the volume of Chinese tourists and other workers freely going in and out of our borders. We hope authorities are able to contain the virus soon; worst-case scenarios are just so easy to imagine. *** Words of the year, like those above, are supposed to reflect and convey a people’s collective preoccupation.

Individually, it is also possible to pick out that one word or phrase, perhaps not retroactively but going into the future, that will govern how we live our lives this year and thereafter.

There are as many choices as there are nouns, and there is no stopping a person from having a single word, or even runners up, to the words they would choose to define their 2020.

I would imagine that good words to live by in 2020 would be "kindness," "gratefulness," "empathy," "balance," "clarity." “Less” is also a sound mantra, amid all the excesses we see around us.

My personal choice is "boundaries." Boundaries are lines that separate what we can work with or what we put up with, and what is no longer negotiable. Setting boundaries is a good way to practice patience, perseverance and tolerance, while asserting what is good for us.

What’s your word of the year? adellechua@gmail.com

curred during the pendency of their grossly disadvantageous and highly deleterious contracts since 1997.

Or, reimburse them for any capital expenditures they may have incurred in improving and even expanding the water service facilities in the franchise areas so long as these were not included in the rate increases they were allowed to collect over time.

The land deals are similarly situated. In the case of the UP Techno Hub project, a number of onerous provisions have been exposed, starting with the valuation of the land to the sharing of revenues and profits. Additionally, there is the question of the “use of the land” as many observers now think that the original intent of providing a complex for the promotion of technology based enterprises and the enhancement of knowledge based learning has never been achieved.

Or will ever be, given the manner by which UP’s private partner, Ayala Land, appears to have structured its mandated operations.

The UP TechnoHub deal is just one of the many land deals government agencies have entered into not just with the Ayala group but with other big (and even smaller) developers with essentially the same questionable arrangements. Within the Diliman area alone we have the UP Town Center on what used to be the UP IS area, the Trinoma complex which was then hosting a colony of informal settlers and even the Manila Seedling Bank but was a huge “landbank” of the National Housing Administration just waiting to be developed into a vastly profitable mixed use complex.

We can go on and on identifying hundreds of such deals scattered all over the islands with public lands being “conjoined” with well connected and smart developers and transformed into what are now being touted as the priciest pieces of real estate this corner of the world.

Is it any wonder most of the richest Filipinos and their partners are developers or at least have a considerable part of their wealth founded on real estate, a sizeable portion of which on public land?

implementing and information and education campaign (IEC) on the importance of rehabilitating this body of water. So far, the task force has already conducted over 120 seminars, training, and activities with a total of 8,100 participants.

The DENR has also published 3,574 printed materials on the ongoing rehabilitation, as well as nine information campaigns and 43 up-

dates posted on various social media platforms.

Cimatu said the interventions related to IEC will further increase as the rehabilitation progresses. “We hope that communities will imbibe the knowledge that was handed to them in ensuring the cleanliness in areas they live in,” he said.

The DENR also reactivated its coordination with 12 other government

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

A5

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Saving the day for commuters for hundreds of thousands of commuters who otherwise would revert to the agony of chasing jeepneys and jampacked buses daily.

GOOD thing reason prevailed after all the hullaballoo about eliminating the motorcycle taxi services on Metro Manila streets.

The senators proved they know better than the Transportation technical working group (TWG) that would have caused Secretary Art Tugade great embarrassment in its threat to shut down Angkas and the other ridealong taxis.

Tugade, on the recommendation of Senator Bong Go, did just the right thing and directed the TWG to continue instead with the pilot run, and complete with the study to be submitted to the Senate. The DOTr chief also ordered the biker slots for each motorcycle taxi firms.

The glorified casuals in the TWG have wasted time and people's money in its failure to finish its task in a timely fashion, engaging in a childish bickering with the motorcycle taxi firms. What have they been doing all this time to address the ails of mass transport?

To threaten to stop such transport services altogether based on frivolous grounds smacks of insensitivity and stupidity, which did not escape the wiser Senators Bong Go, Imee Marcos, Grace Poe, Joel Villanueva and Raffy Recto.

The motorcycle taxis have proven to be a viable mode of transportation

Thanks to these wiser senators.

The advantage of taking Angkas, JoyRide, Sampa and MoveIt is one gets picked up at any location and gets dropped at the exact destination for much less cost than taking Grab or taxicabs.

That’s the reason why the public welcomed the proposal to legalize the motorcycle taxi operations in the wake of Angkas' months of suspension last year. Who can blame the commuters for suspecting the ulterior motives in the questionable decisions of the TWG officials?

During the suspension of Angkas, commuters merely got back to riding the colorum “habal-habal,” anyway. Ironically, concerned authorities have failed to go after these illegal transport services, reportedly a source of “tong” collection.

I agree with Senator Imee Marcos’ observation that adapting this mode of transportation for now is imperative while the Duterte administration build the mass transportation system and infrastructure that previous administrations miserably failed to accomplish.

Thanks to the wisdom of the senators who saved the day for the metro’s commuters.

Patriot...

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climate change activist Greta Thunberg, who rebuked world leaders at the UN climate action summit in New York last year for their continued neglect of the environment, and who landed on the cover of TIME magazine in 2019 as its youngest Person of the Year and also the youngest nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize. RSA is the only Filipino on that list.

After years of systematic planning and preparation, RSA signed a 50-year concession agreement with Secretary Arthur Tugade of the Department of Transportation, and received the “notice to proceed” last September.

One Cabinet member had reportedly expressed some skepticism about the viability of the project, so Finance Secretary Carlos “Sonny” Dominguez had to ask the Department of Justice to review all its premises and assumptions.

RSA himself had to assure President Rodrigo Duterte that the big banks are lining up to support the project, and the biggest names in world business from Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and the US have expressed serious interest to participate in it, if they are welcome.

On another front, the government statistics agency announced yesterday a 5.9-percent economic growth for the whole of 2019, a drop from the 6.2-percent growth rate of 2018.

In my estimate an annual 6-percent economic growth means one million jobs being created every year. So a decline of .30 percentage point in real economic output easily means 50,000 jobs lost or not created during the year.

Since jobs is about poverty reduction or economic inclusion, 50,000 jobs means 50,000 families not rescued from poverty in the past 12 months. Coincidentally, 50,000 families is 1.3 times the number of families (38,000) displaced by the Jan. 12 eruption of Taal Volcano.

Disturbingly, 2019’s GDP of 5.9 percent is the lowest ever annual rate since Rodrigo Duterte became president. The economy grew by 6.9 percent in 2016, 6.7 percent in 2017, and 6.2 percent in 2018.

Per capita, meaning 5.9 percent GDP minus population growth rate, net economic growth was 4.8 percent, lower than the per capita GDP growth of 4.6 percent in 2018.

The slowdown, to me, was because of the fall in investments—measured as investments in durable equipment (down 5.9 percent in the fourth quarter 2019 alone—the third consecutive quarter of decline). This means we have yet to feel Duterte’s so-called Build, Build, Build program as infra is basically buildup of assets.

Investments are also down in agriculture, in intellectual property (like computer software and databases), telco, and vehicles.

What carried the economy in 2019? Well, spending by consumers, thanks to strong inflows of remittances which boosted banking which in turn boosted the services sector of the economy.

Thus, on the expenditure accounting of the economy, 3.9 percentage points or 66 percent of the GDP growth for the year of 5.9 percent was contributed by household consumption. Government spending contributed another 1.8 percentage points or 30 percent of the 5.9 percent GDP growth and construction, 1.3 percentage points or 22 percent.

In effect, the economy is run by consumers, you and I. We produce P66 for every P100 of economic output; the government P30 of every P100.

What kind of economy is that—one propelled by 96 percent consumption (66 plus 30). No wonder, almost nothing is left to so-called capital goods or durable equipment—assets badly needed for long-term growth. Durable equipment in 2019 was a drag on the economy. Its contribution was negative 0.9 percent. biznewsasia@gmail.com

agencies covered by the 2008 Supreme Court continuing mandamus for the cleanup, rehabilitation, and preservation of Manila Bay. The next two phases will involve the massive relocation of informal settlers plus more rehabilitation works and the all-important education, protection and sustainability component of the campaign.

I recall that in the early 60s, city

residents didn't need to go very far to beat the summer heat. They simply had to take a jeepney to Roxas Boulevard to go swimming. OK, so Boomers had a grand time enjoying Nature that was within reach decades ago, but millennials can probably catch up if the DENR succeeds in its gargantuan task soon enough. ernhil@yahoo.com

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TODAYJANUARY 24, 2020 FRIDAY,

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Police probers eye money as motive in ex-solon’s slay P OLICE investigators are looking into the issue of money as a possible motive in the murder of former Batangas Rep. Edgar Mendoza early this month, with police authorities saying the case was considered solved.

At a press briefing in Camp Crame on Thursday, Philippine National PoliceCriminal Investigation and Detection Group acting director Brig. Gen. Joel Coronel said the main suspect in the slay of Mendoza was one of the victim’s former client identified as Sherwin Sanchez.

Sanchez is detained at the New Bilibid Prison on murder charges.

According to PNP chief Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa the case was already solved.

“The CIDG has filed an information for three counts of murder against the six suspects before the Calamba City Prosecutor’s Office,” Gamboa said.

“This case is considered solved and is now elevated to the prosecution arm of the justice system,” Gamboa added.

Mendoza’s vehicle was found burned in Tiaong last Jan. 9.

Investigators found the bodies of the three victims at the back seat of the vehicle.

Authorities earlier said the suspects brought Mendoza’s car to a desolated bridge in Tiaong, Quezon before it was gutted down.

Coronel said Mendoza, a lawyer, was supposed to collect money from Sanchez’s camp. But the latter had really no intention of paying him.

“On the day Congressman Mendoza

disappeared, he was supposed to collect money from representatives of the principal suspect in Calamba City,” Coronel said.

“I understand there was a disagreement on the amount to be collected and, based on the revelations by the witnesses and the suspects... there was really no intention on the part of the suspects to pay the amount agreed (on) by them,” he added.

Based on the probe, Coronel said Sanchez just coordinated with another detainee, Arthur Fajardo, to hire men who would kill the former lawmaker.

Coronel said Fajardo contacted his wife, Jael Fajardo, to contact the killers.

“Instead of paying the amount amounting to millions of pesos, they just contracted killers for the killing of Congressman Mendoza for the sum of P100,000,” Coronel said.

4 Chinese arrested for kidnap

By Willie Casas IN LINE with the relentless campaign of the National Bureau of Investigation against all forms of criminality, operatives of NBI-Environmental Crime Division arrested four Chinese nationals for Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention.

NBI Director Dante A. Gierran identified the suspects as Chen Zhimin, Luo Canfeng, Li Jai Huang, and Wang Yiping.

Suspects were presented for inquest proceedings before the Manila Prosecutor’s Office for Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention.

Suspects were arrested in an operation which stemmed from the complaint of a Chinese informant working as an offshore gaming employee or online games.

The case arose from the kidnapping and serious illegal detention of Han Yang Liu, offshore gaming employee, who was detained against his will in a hotel located at General Malvar St., Manila. The kidnappers allegedly demanded P200,000 in cash to be personally delivered to the unidentified kidnappers.

With this, an entrapment/rescue operation was conducted resulting in the arrest of the suspects and the rescue of two other victims who were physically maltreated and threatened with death if they could not produce P600,000.

The victims subsequently executed a complaint affidavit against the suspects.

IN BRIEF N OTICE

Electoral protest vs. Daza dismissed

Notice is hereby given that CEBU AIR, INC. doing business under the names and styles of Cebu Pacific and Cebu Pacific Air, with office address at Cebu Pacific Building, Domestic Road, Barangay 191, Zone 20, Pasay City, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Operator of Air Transport Services (A321NEO #9 with CAB Registration No. RP-C4126) with a capacity of 236 passenger seats on a Non-Pioneer status with project site at Airline Operations Center, Domestic Road , Pasay City.

Any person with valid objections on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-JAN. 24, 2020)

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that CEBU AIR, INC. doing business under the names and styles of Cebu Pacific and Cebu Pacific Air, with office address at Cebu Pacific Building, Domestic Road, Barangay 191, Zone 20, Pasay City, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Operator of Air Transport Services (A321NEO #10 with CAB Registration No. RP-C4127) with a capacity of 236 passenger seats on a Non-Pioneer status with project site at Airline Operations Center, Domestic Road, Pasay City.

Any person with valid objections on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service

CRIME SUSPECTS. The Philippine National Police presents to the media on Thursday the suspects in the killing of former Batangas Congressman Edgar Mendoza and his two aides during a press-conference at Camp Crame in Quezon City. The PNP identified the five suspects as Jael Fajardo, Jael’s household worker Madonna Palermo and her errand runner Kristine Fernandez, Carlo Acuña and Erckson Balbastro, who, the PNP said, were involved in the killing, burning and transporting of remains of the three victims to Tiaong, Quezon. Manny Palmero

(MS-JAN. 24, 2020)

N OTICE Notice is hereby given that CEBU AIR, INC. doing business under the names and styles of Cebu Pacific and Cebu Pacific Air, with office address at Cebu Pacific Building, Domestic Road, Barangay 191, Zone 20, Pasay City, is applying for registration with the Board of Investments (BOI) as a New Operator of Air Transport Services (A321NEO #11 with CAB Registration No. RP-C4128) with a capacity of 236 passenger seats on a Non-Pioneer status with project site at Airline Operations Center, Domestic Road , Pasay City.

Any person with valid objections on the abovementioned project may file his/her objection in writing, under oath, with the BOI within three (3) days from the date of this publication.

(SGD) ANGELITA F. ARCELLANA Director Infrastructure and Services Industries Service (MS-JAN. 24, 2020)

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT BRANCH 106 QUEZON CITY MARIA LUISA UNO-GARIN, Petitioner, -versus-

Civil Case No. R-QZN-18-08899 CV For: Declaration of Nullity of Marriage

RAINIER TROY V. GARIN, Respondent, X--------------------------------------x

ORDER OF SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION In a verified Petition for Declaration of Nullity of Marriage filed on August 9, 2018, petitioner prays that after due hearing, her marriage to the respondent which was solemnized on January 10, 2004 be declared NULL AND VOID, AB INITIO, on the ground of the psychological incapacity of the respondent to comply with the essential obligations of marriage.

Summons was issued on November 28, 2018 The Process Server’s Return dated February 15, 2019 states that the “respondent is no longer residing therein.”

On March 21, 2019, petitioner filed a “Motion for Leave of Court to Effect Service of Summons by Publication.” On April 8, 2019, the court issued an Order granting the issuance of an Order of Summons by Publication.

NOW, THEREFORE, respondent RAINIER TROY V, GARIN, whose last known address is at B17 L29 Golden Shower Street, BF 3 Novaliches, Caloocan City, is hereby summoned and required to file with the Regional Trial Court, Branch 106, Quezon City, National Capital Judicial Region, Bulwagan ng Katarungan, Quezon City , his answer to the petition in the instant case within THIRTY (30) DAYS from the last date of publication of this summons. In the event of failure to do so, this court shall direct the Public Prosecutor to conduct an investigation to determine whether or not collusion exists between the parties in the filing of the instant petition; and if it is determined that there is no such collusion, the petitioner shall be allowed to present her evidence in support of the petition.

Let this Order be published once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in the “The Standard”, a newspaper of national circulation, pursuant to P. D. No. 1079, at the expense of the petitioner.

Likewise, let a copy of the summons as well as a copy of the petition be deposited in the Post Office, postage pre-paid and sent by registered mail to the respondent at his last known address also at the expense of the petitioner. Petitioner is enjoined to submit to this court proof of compliance herewIth. SO ORDERED. Quezon City, April 29, 2019.

(Sgd.) ANGELENE MARY W. QUIMPO-SALE Judge

cc: Maria Luisa Uno-Garin Rainier Troy V. Garin Atty. Conrado Pineda Sajor ACP Buenaluz, Jr. OSG

(MStandard - Jan. 17, & 24, 2020)

1,000 nurses needed in US for 2020 HERE’S good news for Filipino nurses who want to work in the United States.

Frony Fortich, chief operating officer of Fortich Permanent Immigration Services based in Quezon City, told the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday he had vacancies for 1,000 nurses to work in the US for 2020.

“There are important developments and bright prospects for Filipino nurses who want to pursue their dream for America,” Fortich said.

He said there was a shortage of 11 million nurses in the US and “US employers are going overseas, including the Philippines to hire qualified nurses.”

Fortich, a veteran in the recruitment of nurses for employment in hospitals in the US for decades, said that “nurses are a critical part of healthcare and make up the largest section of the health profession.”

Citing the World Health Statistics Report, Fortich said “there are approximately 29 million nurses and midwives in the world, with 3.9 million of those individuals in the United States.”

“Estimates of upwards of 1 million additional nurses will be needed by 2020,” he added.

He also said, according to the American Nurses Association, there will be more registered nurse jobs available through 2022 than any other profession in the US. Fortich said the US Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 11 million additional nurses are needed to avoid a further shortage.

“Employment opportunities for nurses are projected to grow at a faster rate (15 percent) than all other occupations from 2016 through 2026,” he said.

Fortich said one of the issues of concern is that “the nursing profession continues to face shortages due to lack of potential educators, high turnover, and inequitable distribution of the workforce.”

“Certainly, Filipino nurses many of whom are already working in the US help alleviate the shortage,” he said. PNA

NBI files graft charges vs. DENR, BOC personnel THE National Bureau of Investigation has filed graft charges before the Department of Justice against eight government personnel found liable through a series of acts leading to the illegal importation of solid wastes from Canada.

NBI Director Dante Gierran said upon instruction of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, the NBI conducted an investigation and case buildup on the persons responsible for the importation of garbage from Canada.

After almost nine months of exhaustive investigation the NBI-Environmental Crime Division filed on Jan. 17, 2020 graft charges against DENR Undersecretary lawyer Juan Miguel T. Cuna, DENR-Environmental Management Bureau personnel Irvin G. Cadavona , Geri Geronimo R. Sanez and Renato T. Cruz, and Bureau of Customs personnel Benjamin T. Perez JR., Eufracio L. Ednaco, Matilda G. Bacongan, Jose A. Saromo.

Based on the foregoing facts and evidence, the above-mentioned suspects were recommended for prosecution before the Office of the Prosecutor General, Department of Justice, for violation of RA 6969 (Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Waste Control Act of 1990) and RA 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act).

Gierran said based on the NBI inves-

tigation, Chronic Plastics Inc., Canada were issued import clearances for its various importation of scrap plastic materials despite its failure to provide all the necessary information needed for the application of their import clearance.

Accordingly, the EMB personnel-incharge in the processing of the application were remiss in their duties to strictly examine the application, as to the completeness of the required documents and to the required inspection prior to the approval of its registration as importer.

Without the necessary information, the EMB cannot sufficiently determine that Chronic Plastics Inc. is capable of recycling the materials to be imported. However, despite lacking the specific requirement and without inspection being made, the application was still being processed and recommended its approval to the EMB director.

Furthermore, importation consigned to Chronic Plastics Inc. were released despite the questionable importation clearances.

The assigned BoC examiner and appraiser re-routed goods declaration from being tagged as “yellow” to “green” and allowed to proceed to the next process despite its clear violation on DENR. In addition, goods declaration tagged as “red” were also re-routed to “green” despite the same violations. Willie Casas

THE House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal has junked the electoral protest filed against incumbent Northern Samar Rep. Paul Ruiz Daza by his May 2019 election rival Harlin Abayon.

The resolution penned by Supreme Court Justice Andres Reyes, Jr. dismissed Abayon’s protest for being lacking in form and substance.

All the other members of the nineperson tribunal concurred with the sixpage decision, which was promulgated on Dec. 12, 2019. The decision was released on Jan. 15, 2020.

Provincial board of canvassers proclaimed protestee Daza as winner with a total overall margin of 59,685 votes.

Abayon sought to annul the results in five of the 14 municipalities of the district over alleged vote buying.

In these five municipalities alone, Daza had a total margin of 36,875 votes.

In the decision, “the Tribunal annuls the election results in the foregoing five municipalities, after deducting the protestee’s margin of 36,875 votes from his total overall margin of 59,685 votes, protestee will still emerge as winner by a margin of 22,810 votes.”

Moreover, the tribunal held that although Abayon claimed vote buying in the five municipalities, he identified witnesses in only two of them.

Chaired by Justice Marvic Mario Victor Leonen, HRET includes Justice Andres Reyes Jr. and Justice Jose Reyes Jr., all three from the SC, with six House members: Rep. Paulino Salvador Leachon (Oriental Mindoro), Rep. Vincent Garcia (Davao City), Rep. Lawrence Lemuel Fortun (Agusan del Norte), Rep. Alfredo Garbin Jr. (AKO-Bicol Party-List), Rep. Resurreccion Acop (Antipolo City) and Rep. Abdullah Dimaporo (Lanao del Norte). Maricel V. Cruz

GSIS opens P2.07-b loan for pensioners THE Government Service Insurance System has opened a P2.07- billion emergency loan window for its members and pensioners in nine Luzon areas who were affected by typhoons “Tisoy” and “Quiel.”

A total 103,213 active members and old-age and disability pensioners in the following areas may apply for the P20,000 emergency loan: Cagayan, Albay, Marinduque, and Camarines Sur, including Naga City; and municipalities of Sta. Maria in Romblon, Bulalacao in Oriental Mindoro, Palauan in Occidental Mindoro, Famy in Laguna, and Kalayaan in Palawan.

The application deadline for Cagayan is Feb. 2, 2020, while that for the remaining eight areas is Jan. 26, 2020.

Qualified to apply for the loan are active members who are working or residing in said calamity areas; have updated premium payments within the last six months prior to application; have no outstanding GSIS loan that is due and demandable; are not on leave of absence without pay; have no pending administrative case or criminal charge; and have a minimum net take-home pay of P5,000 after deduction of monthly premium contributions and loan amortizations.

Active old-age and disability pensioners living in the areas may apply for emergency loan if the resulting net monthly pension after loan availment is at least 25 percent of their basic monthly pension.

3 PNP officers reassigned for playing golf on weekdays PHILIPPINE National Police chief Gen. Archie Gamboa announced on Thursday the relief from their posts of three senior police officials in Central Visayas for violating the ban on playing golf on weekdays.

In a press briefing, Gamboa said he ordered on Wednesday night the relief of Col. Dennis Artil, the regional chief comptroller; Lt. Col. Richard Bad-Ang, the chief of the finance service; and Lt. Col. Glenn Mayam, the director of the regional Drug Enforcement Group.

The three officials were reassigned at

the Personnel Holding and Accounting Unit (PHAU) in Camp Crame while undergoing investigation for flagrant violation of a specific directive, which Gamboa said constitutes grave misconduct.

He said the three were playing golf every Tuesdays and Thursdays “or also during Wednesdays when they are bored.”

Gamboa said the promotion of two out of the three officials might be halted due to their violations.

“It’s strike one for regional director PRO (Police Regional Office) 7,” Gamboa said,

referring to Central Visayas police director Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon.

Gamboa reiterated the policy which he implemented when he was still officerin-charge.

“As I have said just three days ago, now that I am Chief PNP, I am vested with greater authority to implement the program of internal cleansing and organizational reform, even with iron fists if it will be necessary,” he said.

Gamboa said police personnel were only allowed to play golf during weekends. PNA

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

A7

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Thiem scrapes through after 5-set tennis scare

LEYTE’S PRIDE. House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez (center) warmly welcomes South East Asian Games bronze medalists Aira Villegas (right) in the bantamweight boxing female division and Kurt Pajuelas (left) in the taekwondo bamtamweight division during a courtesy call at the House of Representatives. Romualdez vows to support all sports program in Leyte and the whole of Eastern Visayas. Ver Noveno

Mud stops play as Aussie Open faces new challenge MELBOURNE—An Australian Open hit by weather extremes faced a new challenge on Thursday: dirty rain, as overnight downpours left courts muddy and unplayable.

Workers armed with squeegees and high-pressure hoses rushed to clean the surfaces, delaying some matches for several hours.

The dirty rain, the result of dust storms becoming caught up in a cold front, coated cars with orange mud, forced public pools to close and turned Melbourne’s Yarra River brown.

It also plastered Melbourne Park, the tennis venue on the banks of the Yarra, further disrupting a tournament that has already weathered bushfire smoke, torrential rain and wind.

“Due to the rain and dust overnight the outside courts need high-pressure cleaning,” organisers tweeted.

“Our team is working across Melbourne Park to prepare the outside courts for play.”

Further rain set back Thursday’s action yet more, with some courts out of action five hours after the scheduled start on day four.

Weather conditions have been a major talking point at the Australian Open after smog from deadly wildfires hit hazardous levels during qualifying last week, leaving players with coughing fits and breathing problems.

Although the haze cleared before the tournament’s start on Monday it was replaced by torrential rain, which wiped out half of the day’s schedule and caused a backlog of matches.

Strong breezes then buffeted Melbourne Park on Wednesday, giving players more problems as balls blew off-course and wobbled in the air.

Earth, wind and fire The year’s opening Grand Slam is traditionally plagued by a different kind of weather problem: extreme heat, which causes players to swathe themselves in ice towels and occasionally halts matches.

Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic was among the few who played on schedule on Thursday, as she beat Jelena Ostapenko on Margaret Court Arena, one of three stadiums with a retractable roof.

“I’m super-happy to get the match out of the way. I didn’t know the (other) courts were, like, wet and dirty and all that. But for sure it was difficult today,” Bencic said. AFP

MELBOURNE—World number five Dominic Thiem survived a five-set scare after being pushed hard by gutsy home hope Alex Bolt at the Australian Open Thursday.

The Austrian, targeting a maiden Grand Slam crown, looked fragile as the crowd got behind the wildcard but ultimately prevailed 6-2, 5-7, 6-7 (5/7), 6-1, 6-2 in 3hrs 22mins.

Thiem is among a clutch of players tipped to win a Major after reaching the last two Roland Garros finals, but he was exposed at times by a player ranked 140 who controlled much of the second and third sets.

“It was a tough match, Alex played great and he had the crowd support,” said Thiem, who has never gone past the fourth round in six previous attempts.

“But I also love to play in such a great atmosphere.”

He faces another tricky clash in the third round, against either American 29th seed Taylor Fritz or big-serving South African Kevin Anderson.

Thiem looked comfortable after racing through the opening set and

PSC celebrates 30th year at RMC T

HE Philippine Sports Commission marks its 30th-year with simple rites at the newly refurbished Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Malate, Manila on January 24.

“We are very happy to celebrate our 30th anniversary. This journey will not be possible without the help of everyone who has been with us since day one,” said PSC Chairman William Ramirez giving special mention to the chairmen, who helped the sports agency from its founding year in 1990.

Junking its initial plans to celebrate the milestone, the PSC board and employees decided to donate what they earmarked for the event towards helping Taal volcano eruption victims.

“Sabi ko nga, trenta na kami, mas mature na kumbaga sa tao. Masaya ang

lahat na makatulong kami kahit wala nang selebrasyon,” explained Ramirez.

The PSC family shall mark their special day with the celebration of a holy mass and a simple awarding ceremony to recognize the “loyalty in service” of employees reaching their 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th years in government. Sixteen officials and employees will receive the said recognition this year.

The grant of loyalty award is pursuant to Civil Service Commission Resolution No. 02-0295. These policies were formulated “to recognize the continuous and satisfactory service rendered in

the government by offiwho has led the agency cials and employees for a twice as its Chairman. period of ten years.”

The PSC has been re“It is one way we can lentless in strengthening pay back these officials its presence in the grassand employees who have roots, following personal been with us for decades. instructions from PresiI am very thankful for dent Rodrigo Duterte to your unconditional love bring sports to the pefor work and sacrifices riphery and to involve for the agency,” added the youth.

Ramirez.

The agency has been “As we look back at the very active in the coun30 years of the PSC and tryside with different give a nod of apprecia- PSC Chairman William Ramirez projects and initiatives tion to these leaders who meant to entice people to charted the course of our agency at one get into sports through supporting compoint in time,” said the sports chief who munity leaders on their development of has the distinction of being the only one sports programs.

IOC eyes...

From A1 The tournament was to be the first of the qualifying events for boxing being managed by the IOC, which suspended the sport’s world governing body AIBA last June over a range of issues including governance, ethics, refereeing and judging, as well as finance.

Besides being in charge of the qualifying, the IOC will also maintain control over the operation of the competition during the games in Tokyo. Peter Atencio

Toru Nakajima came away with five birdies to turn in the first bogey-free round of 67 at Pradera Verde, jumping from 15th to a share of the lead at 212.

Rory...

From A1

Wild finish looms as new Pradera leaders emerge JAPANESE Toru Nakajima and Spain’s Marcos Pastor took charge in another day of changing fortunes, going low on a course that continued to produce big numbers, setting the stage for a thriller of a finish to the ICTSI Pradera Verde Classic in Lubao, Pampanga yesterday.

Nakajima buried delicate putts on a sleek surface he likened to the ones in Japan and came away with five birdies to turn in the first bogey-free round of 67 at Pradera Verde, jumping from 15th to a share of the lead at 212 with the latecharging Pastor, who birdied three of the last seven for a 69 and a crack at a breakthrough win in the $100,000 Philippine

Golf Tour Asia event put up by ICTSI. But Tony Lascuña likewise stepped up his bid in moving day, banging in a pitchin eagle on the closing par-5 18th to spike a 69 and grab a share of third with erstwhile joint leader Joe Knox of England, who held on to the lead despite a three-birdie, threebogey effort before settling for pars in the last two for a 72, paving the way for a new set of leaders to show the way in the penultimate leg of PGTA’s third (2019-20) season after back-to-back defending champion Jhonnel Ababa, Dutch Guido Van der Valk, Aussie Jack Lane-Weston and Clyde Mondilla wrested control Tuesday.

“The greens are fast, sloping, very

much like in Japan,” said Nakajima, who became the first foreign player to win in the PGT when he humbled Cassius Casas and Jay Bayron in sudden death in Nov. 2013 at Wack Wack. He, however, struggled in the succeeding seasons then went back to Japan the last two years where he posted not-so favorable finishes.

He decided to resume his campaign here, saying: “because the golf courses are beautiful and I like it.” But he struggled with his long game in his first PGT Asia event and limped with a 75 Tuesday before settling down with a 70 and then flashing superb putting touch to birdie Nos. 1, 9, 12, 15 and 16.

Police issue arrest warrant for former star wide-receiver Brown MIAMI—US police in Florida issued an arrest warrant for former NFL player Antonio Brown after an alleged battery and burglary at his home on Tuesday.

Brown, 31, faces charges of burglary with battery, burglary of an unoccupied conveyance and criminal mischief less than $1,000, said officer Christian Lata of the police in Hollywood, a city between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

The incident, in which police responded to a 911 emergency call on

was serving at 5-4 to go two sets in front.

But the crowd was roaring for Bolt and he remarkably broke, with the tide turning as he rallied to clinch the set 7-5.

The third set was a tight affair with neither player giving an inch. Thiem had an opportunity at 4-4 with two break points but he failed to convert.

The Austrian’s best efforts were being met with resistance, with Bolt saving another three break points on his next service game, leaving Thiem frustrated at his missed opportunities.

It went to a tiebreaker and Bolt raced into a 6-2 lead, but wobbled as Thiem won three points in a row before the Australian sent down a booming ace to got two sets to one in front.

However, Thiem recovered his composure and after a series of long baseline rallies broke twice to take the match into a deciding set.

The Austrian’s focus and fitness proved decisive in the fifth, with a Bolt forehand into the net giving him a break and he raced to victory as his opponent flagged. AFP

Tuesday afternoon, had already resulted in the arrest of Brown’s trainer, Glenn Holt.

The alleged victim told officers he was battered by Brown and Holt.

According to local television station WPLG, Holt’s arrest report said the charge stemmed from a disagreement between Brown and the driver of a moving company truck over payment for the release of Brown’s property.

Star wide-receiver Brown said he

was finished with the NFL after his release by the New England Patriots in September amid an ongoing NFL investigation into rape and sexual assault allegations.

Brown had landed in New England just three days after he was cut by the Oakland Raiders.

Over the past month police had been called to his Florida house because of clashes between Brown and his girlfriend of eight years, the mother of three of his children. AFP

Antonio Brown

Championship, the RBC Canadian Open, the Tour Championship and the HSBC Champions in Shanghai.

He needs a win at Torrey Pines to supplant American Brooks Koepka atop the rankings.

But, again, McIlroy said his focus as he launches his 2020 campaign is on adding to his tally of four major titles.

With a win at the Masters in April he would complete a career Grand Slam.

“When I look back at the majors I’ve won and done well in, I’ve always started well,” McIlroy said. “Three of the four majors last year, I had started slow. That’s something I’m going to try and improve this year.”

With the Tokyo Olympics and Ryder Cup also coming in 2020, McIlroy is plotting his way through a busy year.

He said he’ll play five straight weeks at the Irish Open, the Memorial, the Canadian Open the US Open and the Travelers Championship.

The Open championship will be followed by the Olympics and the US PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs and the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

If he doesn’t find himself atop the world rankings come Sunday, McIlroy said, there will be plenty of opportunities.

“I don’t want to say it feels like it’s just a matter of time, but if I just keep doing what I’m doing, if it isn’t this week, then hopefully it’s a couple weeks down the line and I’ll have my chances,” he said.

“I’m not putting myself under any pressure this week to get it done.”

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

sports@manilastandard.net

sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

IOC eyes new venue for boxing qualifier THE International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force has acknowledged the decision of the local organizing committee to cancel the Asian / Oceanian Tokyo 2020 Boxing Qualifying Event.

Mikee Cojuangco, the Philippine representative to the IOC, said this after she confirmed the cancellation of the qualification matches Task Force Head Morinari Watanabe.

Cojuangco has informed the Philippine Olympic Committee that the meet that was set from Feb. 3 to 14 in Wuhan has been canceled due to growing concerns in relation to the corona-virus outbreak that was reported in the city.

Because of this, the Task Force said in a statement that it will be working with the Chinese Olympic Committee and all partners to find an alternative venue for the qualifier.

POC spokesman Ed Picson said the Task Force will continue working closely with the Chinese Olympic Committee and all partners to explore alternatives.

Picson said that with the Olympic qualification matches for Asia/Oceania called off, the Philippines could be one of its new hosts.

POC president and Tagaytay Rep. Abraham Tolentino has expressed interest in having the qualifiers held in the country, in support of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines’ efforts to make this happen.

The cancellation was made in response to numerous appeals from participating countries in order to protect the health and security of athletes and other attendees.

ABAP president Ricky Vargas has expressed his concern over the situation and was among those who have written a letter to the organizers.

Vargas said they are open to the idea of hosting the qualifiers.

Turn to A7

Rory closes in on no. 1 rank LOS ANGELES—Rory McIlroy can regain golf’s world number one ranking at Torrey Pines this week, but the Northern Ireland star says he’ll focus on his game and let the ranking take care of itself.

“It didn’t get on the list of goals at the start of the year,” McIlroy said of the top spot, which he last held in September of 2015.

“It’s all about the process, it’s all about the game, it’s all about trying to make improvements. If I do that and I achieve those goals, then hopefully inevitably I get to that position.”

While McIlroy has been consistently high in the rankings for the last four years, he admitted that regaining the number one spot “wasn’t even on my radar” when he was returning Stateside after missing the cut at the British Open in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in July.

“But I’ve played consistently good golf since that point,” said McIlroy, who earned US PGA Tour Player of the Year honors in 2019 after a season that included wins at the Players Turn to A7

Sports Perpetual Help Team Captain Jenny Gaviola’s face is covered by the ball in this particular scene during the Lady Altas’ NCAA battle with the Lyceum of the Philippines University Lady Pirates on Tuesday. The Lady Altas will be seeking a third consecutive victory when they play the Mapua Lady Cardinals today at Fil Oil Flying V Centre in San Juan City. Dennis Abrina

Lady Chiefs buck shaky start

By Peter Atencio

T

HE Arellano University Lady Chiefs overcame a shaky start and pounced on the Jose Rizal University Lady Bombers’ errors in the third set to earn a 25-19, 25-16, 25-17 romp yesterday at the FilOil-Flying V Sports Center in San Juan.

Regina Arocha and Carla Donato once again provided the points that helped push the Lady Chiefs to their third straight triumph in the women’s division of the 95th National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s volleyball tournament.

The Lady Chiefs still took the first set despite encountering trouble at the frontline with the Lady Bombers’ blocks.

The Lady Bombers had a chance to overtake the Lady Chiefs in the third after Princess Bello committed a service

error at 7-all.

But a series of miscues from the Lady Bombers allowed the Lady Chiefs to nurse a three-point edge, 12-9.

After that, Nicole Sasuman scored all her three points during a 5-1 run that handed Arellano an 18-12 edge.

“Our first set was shaky. And even though we won the game, we still have to work things out in practice,” said Lady Chiefs’ coach Roberto Javier.

Earlier, the Chiefs banked on balanced offensive effort to claim a 25-19, 25-23, 22-25, 25-16 victory over the JRU Heavy Bombers in the men’s division.

Jesrael Liberato, Christain Dela Paz and Christian Segovia showed the way for the Chiefs in their four-set conquest, which lasted for an hour and a half.

The Chiefs kept their record intact at 3-0 and they are now at joint first place with also-unscathed Perpetual.

Liberato came through with 16 points off 12 attacks and four blocks.

Dela Paz and Segovia added14 and 12 markers, respectively.

In the junior side, the Arellano Junior Chiefs got 21 points from Rwemwel Taguibolos in their 25-10, 25-21, 25-18 edging of the JRU Light Bombers.

Spurs spoil Zion’s sensational debut Top juniors LOS ANGELES—New Orleans rookie Zion Williamson flashed some brilliance in his long-awaited NBA debut Wednesday, but the San Antonio Spurs spoiled the party at Smoothie King Center with a 121-117 victory over the Pelicans.

Williamson, who was the number one overall draft pick in June, offered a tantalizing glimpse of what’s to come in his career when he exploded for 17 points in little more than three minutes in the fourth quarter.

The 19-year-old sensation had been sidelined since arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on the eve of the Pelicans’ season-opener in October.

He made a tentative start, scoring just five points with four rebounds, one assist four turnovers in less than 12 minutes on the floor over the first three quarters.

With 8:52 remaining and the Spurs up 99-91, Williamson connected with a three-pointer from the top of the key that ignited the crowd of 18,365.

He followed up with an alley-oop layup, fed by Lonzo Ball, drained a trey and put back his own miss with a spinning layup before adding two more threepointers.

The crowd was chanting “M-V-P!” as he capped the burst with a free-throw, but he was soon subbed out of the game as Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry stuck to the plan of playing Williamson only in short bursts.

“I think what you saw there is a taste,” Gentry said.

“There’s a lot of potential there.”

He said he’d counseled Williamson at halftime to be more aggressive, and he was pleased to see him deliver.

“I think there’s a really, really high ceiling that he can reach, and he can reach it soon,” added Gentry, who nevertheless was impervious to the cries of “We want Zion” from fans late in the fourth quarter.

“It was very hard,” Williamson admitted of coming out of the game just as he had found his rhythm. “I’m 19. Honestly, in

clash in PPS Suarez Cup

Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans drives the ball around LaMarcus Aldridge of the San Antonio Spurs at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. AFP

that moment I’m not thinking about longevity I’m thinking about winning that game.

“So it was very tough,” added Williamson, who finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists.

The Spurs, who led by as many as 15 and by 12 to start the fourth quarter, were up 109-108 when Williamson departed and quickly pulled away again.

LaMarcus Aldridge led the Spurs with 32 points and DeMar DeRozan added 20 for a San Antonio team holding down the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

Williamson, who admitted on Tuesday he wasn’t sure just how much sleep he’d get on the eve of his debut, said that as the pre-game introductions were made he just told himself to “be calm.” AFP

Makati, Davao Occidental bounce back in MPBL THE Makati Super Crunch and Davao Occidental Tigers bounced back with contrasting victories in the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season on Wednesday at San Andres Sports Complex in Manila.

Flaunting their old fiery form, the Super Crunch routed the Caloocan Supremos,119-77, to outdo the Tigers, who settled for an unimpressive 78-70 conquest of the Paranaque Patriots.

Checking a two-game slide, the Super Crunch under new coach Beaujing Acot broke out from a 16-16 tie with a 13-point cluster closing the first quarter and were never headed en route to their 21st win against six losses that assured them of a top four finish in the North division elimination round.

Joshua Torralba presided over the 42-point blowout with 24 points, including six triples, and got ample support from Joseph Sedurifa with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists; Jeckster Apinan with 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 steals; and Cedric Ablaza with 15 points and 9 rebounds.

John Rey Villanueva and Rudy Lingganay also contributed with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

So feisty were the Super Crunch, Joseph Manlangit still did a dunk in the waning seconds to punctuate their triumph over the Victory Liner-supported Supremos, who suffered their fourth straight loss for a 14-13 slate.

According to Acot, whose coaching debut with

Makati ended in a 79-101 loss to Davao Occidental on January 14, he was very happy the players accepted the challenge and played their hearts out though they’re still in the adjustment stage.

Reeling from a humbling 84-65 beating dealt them by the San Juan Knights last Saturday, the Cocolifebacked Tigers erased an early 6-point deficit and surged ahead,74-59, to climb to 22-4 in the South division.

Veteran Mark Yee led the Tigers with 17 points and as many rebounds, followed by Emman Calo with 13 points, Marco Balagtas 12, Chester Saldua 11 and Billy Robles and Bogs Raymundo with 10 each.

The also-ran Patriots slid to 8-20 despite the 14-point, 9-rebound effort of James Abugan.

JOHN David Velez, Hans Cabellon, Mia Gemida and Nicole Villar brace for a grueling battle of power and tactics as they seek top honors in the PPS-PEPP Fr. F. Suarez Cup national age group tennis tournament which gets going today (Friday, Jan. 24) at the Villa Aurora Tennis Club in Cebu City.

Velez, who topped the Unified rankings in the 16-and-under division last year, now moves up to the premier 18-U side as top seed in the 32-player draw, confident but wary of his chances against a field that includes Cedrick Bravo, Venz Alforque and Vince Lominique.

Cabellon, on the other hand, topbills the 16-U category that features Mitch Largo, Gerald Gemida and Cesar Salimbangon, while Mia Gemida and Villar are tipped to slug it out for the podium finish in the 16- and 18-U sides in the girls’ division of the Group I tournament presented by Dunlop.

The four-day event, which drew over 200 entries, also serves as a prelude to the Open, to be headlined by Jeson Patrombon and Johnny Arcilla, and Legends competitions slated next week as part of the circuit’s continuing effort to boost the development of the sport and expand the base of its talentsearch, especially in the countryside.

“Drawing another huge junior field continues to inspire us to hold more tournaments in the provinces and the presence of the country’s top players set in the Open only makes this event doubly interesting and worth watching,” said Palawan Pawnshop president/ CEO Bobby Castro.

Gerald Gemida and Largo also lead the title chase in the 14-U side along with Gio Manito and Kevin Tabura with Therese Gauran, Riza Coderos, Amygray Olalo and Joanna Logrono expected to figure in the clash for the crown in the girls’ division of the tournament sanctioned by the Unified Tennis Philippines made up of PPS-PEPP, Cebuana Lhuillier, Wilson, Toby’s, Dunlop, Slazenger and B-Meg.

IN BRIEF EU becomes net exporter to PH

THE European Union is now a net exporter to the Philippines amid the country’s rising demand for European products last year.

Delegation of European Union to the Philippines Chargé d’ Affaires Thomas Weirsing noted an increase in EU exports to the Philippines and almost flat growth in EU imports from the Philippines in 2019.

Weirsing, citing Eurostat data, said EU imports from the Philippines grew by 2 percent to 7.5 billion euros while EU exports to the Philippines grew 8 percent to 7.5 billion euros.

“This figure showed that, for the first time in many years, the EU has a marginal trade surplus with the Philippines of around 89 million euros, coming from a trade deficit of around 321 million euros,” Weirsing Thursday said during the book launch of “Ease of Doing Business 2020” at the Dusit Hotel.

Total EU-Philippine trade from January to November 2019 reached 15.1 billion euros, or almost 5 percent higher than 14.4 billion euros in the same months in 2018. Othel V. Campos

Business

AMA Bank still closed, says PDIC

STATE-RUN Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. reminded all depositors, creditors and borrowers of AMA Rural Bank of Mandaluyong Inc. that the bank remains closed and under PDIC liquidation.

“While PDIC stopped its deposit insurance and liquidation operations due to the temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals on Nov.r 25, 2019, PDIC shall resume its activities once the TRO expires on Jan. 25, 2020 and no writ of preliminary injunction has been issued,” it said.

PDIC assured depositors that it would pay the insured deposits maintained in AMA Bank despite the challenges caused by the refusal of the Bank’s officers and employees to properly turn over bank records to PDIC. DPIC asked depositors, borrowers, creditors and other clients of AMA Bank to visit the agency’s website for updates.

Grab launches food delivery service in Iloilo

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

B1

By Othel V. Campos

P2-BILLION MAX'S LOAN. State-owned Development Bank of the Philippines grants a P2-billion assistance to Max’s Group Inc. and wholly-owned subsidiary No Bia Inc. to aid in financing the companies’ general corporate requirements and the construction and commissioning of a centralized commissary and distribution center in Carmona, Cavite. Leading the loan-signing ceremony are (seated, from left) MGI chief finance officer Dave Fuentebella, NBI president and CEO Cristina Garcia, MGI president and CEO Robert Trota, DBP president and CEO Emmanuel Herbosa, MGI chairperson Sharon Fuentebella and MGI director and chief strategy officer Carolyn Trota-Salud.

Economy expanded 6.4% in fourth quarter—PSA T

By Julito G. Rada

HE gross domestic product of the Philippines expanded 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago, becoming the secondfastest growing economy in the region, data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show.

“The growth of the Philippine economy continued to accelerate in the last quarter of 2019 to 6.4 percent from the revised 6 percent in the previous quarter and 6.3 percent in the last quarter of 2018. This is in line with the median forecast of the private sector,” said Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia.

“Compared with other major economies in the region that have already released their GDP growth in the fourth quarter, the Philippines likely ranked second only behind Vietnam’s 7 percent, and higher than China’s 6 percent

growth rate in the fourth quarter,” said Pernia, who is also the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority.

“This fourth-quarter 2019 outturn brings the full-year 2019 economic growth to 5.9 percent, the slowest in eight years and slightly below the lowend of the 6 percent to 6.5 percent revised target of the government for the year,” Pernia said.

It was the first time in eight years that the economy grew below 6 percent, as the delayed approval of government budget affected public spending in the first half of 2019.

“If not for the budget impasse, we might have grown close to 7 percent [for the entire year], that is our estimate,” Pernia said, adding the delayed approval of the P3.7-trillion 2019 budget resulted in a full percentage point loss in economic growth for the entire year.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the pickup in growth in the fourth quarter resulted in part from the government’s catch-up spending. He said the economy “will gain speed in 2020, with the domestic economy firing

on all cylinders as a result of even more vigorous investments in infrastructure and human capital development for the entire year ahead.”

The PSA said among major economic sectors, services posted the fastest growth in the fourth quarter with 7.9 percent, followed by the industry sector with 5.4 percent. Agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing registered a growth of 1.5 percent.

It said that on the demand side, the growth was driven by the ramping up of government spending after the budget delay in the first half of 2019. Public construction surged 34 percent in fourth quarter 2019, with the completion of projects of the Public Works Department, payment for the acquisition of right-of-way and construction of government buildings.

Data showed that with the country’s projected population reaching 108.7 million in the fourth quarter, per capita GDP grew by 4.8 percent.

Pernia said that for 2020, there could be “spoilers” to growth such as the geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the weather disturbances in the domestic front.

By Darwin G. Amojelar GRAB, the leading mobile application in Southeast Asia, said it expanded its food delivery service in Iloilo to promote culinary tourism and bring more livelihood opportunities for residents through technology.

“As we expand GrabFood’s operations in the Philippines, we recognize that our job doesn’t end after delivering a meal to our consumers. We are inspired by our deeper goal of delivering positive impact into the lives of our partners and the people who take pride in the development of their city,” GrabFood Philippines head EJ Dela Vega said.

He said the introduction of GrabFood in Iloilo was not only expected to banner and democratize access to the best of Iloilo cuisines, but also to expand economic opportunities for local businesses and create jobs for delivery-partners.

The Department of Tourism listed Iloilo as a priority tourism area and a MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) hub because of its delectable recipes and multitude of gastronomic experiences, rich cultural heritage and its charming people.

GrabFood is now in 37 cities in the Philippines and expects to sustain expansion to enable more income-generating opportunities for merchants and delivery-partners and bring the best of Filipino food cuisine to consumers.

Grab introduced GrabTaxi in Iloilo city in 2015 and have since become a reliable transportation option in the area.

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

Tagaytay lot prices likely to plunge, says real estate firm

DTI: Chevron land deal covered by law

THE rental rates relative to the lease between Batangas Land Company Inc. and Chevron Philippines Inc. are governed by the provisions of LOI No. 276 signed by former President Ferdinand Marcos, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.

It said the lease contract, signed in 1975 covering the first 25 years, already specified the rental rates for the next 25 years. It said for the renewal of the lease, BLCI negotiated for a higher lease payment than the rates provided under the LOI and the first lease contract.

The National Development Company board, which the DTI chairs and has Department of Finance as one of the members, already approved the dissolution of BLCI by 2021 and the consolidation of ownership of BLCI lands in favor of the government/NDC. The BLCI shareholders and directors, in line with the NDC board directive, also approved the dissolution of BLCI. “With the consolidation of ownership of the BLCI lands, any potential use for the property including lease arrangements shall be reviewed by the government,” the DTI said.

BLCI is the joint venture corporation formed by NDC and Chevron as a result of the termination of the Laurel-Langley Agreement in 1975.

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

SINGLIFE LAUNCH. Singlife Philippines and shareholders Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., Di-Firm and Singapore Life Private Limited celebrate their new alliance, with the singular aim of pooling their skills and resources towards a commercial launch later this year. Singlife Philippines president and CEO Rien Hermans, during a dinner event at the Manila House Private Club, introduced his leadership team and revealed the company’s plans to enter the market through existing digital platforms such as mobile wallets.

With him are top executives of Singapore Life and major companies in the Philippines.

DOE to issue circular for green energy pricing this month THE Energy Department plans to issue the circular governing the green energy pricing program this month.

“Yes, [it is] possible [for] first-quarter launch. After the issuance of circular, ERC will have to set the pre-approved rate [initial market values] for RE which will be the cap for the auction that DOE will conduct,” National Renewable Energy Board chairperson Monalisa Dimalanta said.

“DOE wants to issue the circular by end of January so that the other timelines will start moving along,” she said.

NREB is the implementing agency of the Renewable Energy Law of 2008 which aims to promote widespread renewable energy use in the country. The department is conducting consultations on the draft GEPP rules.

Under the draft circular, RE developers can offer to supply a specified volume of electricity generated by their facilities at prices pursuant to GEPP. The circular will facilitate contracting, on a voluntary basis, by qualified RE projects through a competitive process called green energy auction. The auction will be conducted through an electronic bidding.

The department said the circular aimed to assist the RE participants in their compliance with the renewable energy portfolio standards.

It said the circular would also mitigate market exposure and risks related to RE projects and address price volatility in procurement of RE certificates.

The circular sets the green energy tariff as the benchmark rate for RE in the

country.

Dimalanta earlier said the GEPP would also promote more RE investments. “Based on the instructions of the secretary, the main objective is to promote more investments in the RE sector considering that it won’t have feedin tariffs and another round of feed-in tariffs anymore, so it’s really to attract more investments and the idea is to create a market for them to facilitate their access to market for the renewable energy,” Dimalanta said.

She said that under the GEPP, a price would be set, under which interested generators could offer their capacity, “and then we will allocate that to the other distribution facilities who are required to purchase RE because of their RPS mandate.” Alena Mae S. Flores

REAL estate values in Tagaytay City and adjacent municipalities might initially plummet this year amid the uncertainty over Taal Volcano’s activities, according to a real estate consultancy firm.

JLL Philippines head of research consultancy Janlo de los Reyes said the properties affected by Taal Volcano eruption could experience a sudden drop in demand that would affect the current land values in areas surrounding the volcano.

“We may see prices plateau or even take a temporary dive for the short term,” he said Thursday during JLL Real Estate Market 2020 Outlook briefing.

De los Reyes, however, said prices might easily recover within the next 12 months once the volcano’s unrest was over.

He said the Filipinos’ high regard for family and home would make them hold on to their homes instead of selling their properties within the 14-kilometer radius of Taal Volcano.

“Even if they’re located in these risky areas, a lot of Filipinos will retain their homes. Even those living within the heavily affected area would still want to hold on to their properties, not caring whether values go down,” de los Reyes said.

He said the affinity of the victims of volcanic eruption to their properties and the gradual economic recovery of affected areas would contribute to the rise of land values in these areas soon.

JLL said that in terms of investments, there might be a spill-over of investments initially intended for the affected areas to locations within the provinces of Batangas and Cavite not affected by the volcanic eruption.

Isla Lipana starts feasibility study on NAPOCOR property

By Alena Mae S. Flores STATE-RUN Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. said it expects Isla Lipana & Co. (PwC Philippines) to complete the feasibility report on the development of the 5.195-hectare Diliman property of National Power Corp. in Quezon City by June.

“PSALM has issued today the notice to proceed and contract for the consultancy services to Isla Lipana & Co [PwC] so they can commence the study. That means by June, we would have the output already,” PSALM president Irene Garcia said.

Garcia said the notice of award was issued in December while the next step was for PwC to secure the performance bond. She said that upon submission, PSALM issued the notice to proceed and signed the contract.

PwC is a global network of firms delivering world-class assurance, tax and consulting services for businesses. PwC is the brand under which member firms of PricewaterhouseCoopers International Limited operate and provide services.

Garcia said the feasibility study would determine the property’s marketability, validate the cost of investment and identify appropriate privatization schemes for the Diliman property to attract prospective developers.

The winning architectural conceptual design for the development of the Diliman property will be subjected to the said feasibility study. The Diliman property currently hosts the office of National Power Corp. and National Transmission Corp.

PSALM earlier selected the architectural conceptual design submitted

by WTA Design Studio as the winning design for the property after a three-day rigorous selection process from July 3 to July 5.

B2

Business

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market surges; MPIC, URC climb T HE stock market rallied Thursday on bargain-hunting, buoyed by a government report that the economy expanded 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2019—the second-fastest in the region.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index jumped 147.62 points, or 2 percent, to 7,616.35 on a value turnover of P6.6 billion. Gainers overwhelmed losers, 117 to 73, with 50 issues unchanged.

The gross domestic product of the Philippines grew 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter from a year ago, bringing the GDP expansion for the full of 2019 to 5.9 percent “Compared with other major economies in the region that have already re-

leased their GDP growth in the fourth quarter, the Philippines likely ranked second only behind Vietnam’s 7 percent, and higher than China’s 6 percent growth rate in the fourth quarter,” said Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia, who is also the director-general of the National Economic and Development Authority.

The robust growth in the fourth quarter is drawing expectations that the economy will register a stronger expansion in 2020.

Major property developer Ayala Land Inc. climbed 3.6 percent to P40.80, while Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into electricity and water distribution, toll roads, hospitals and infrastructure, advanced 5.2 percent to P3.47.

Universal Robina Cop., the biggest snack food maker, surged 5.2 percent to P162, while Manila Electric Co., the largest retailer of electricity, rose 4.1

percent to P302.

Meanwhile, investor nerves over the spread of a deadly new virus from China hammered the rest of Asian equities and oil benchmarks on Thursday, as authorities moved to contain the disease.

More than 570 people have been infected with the coronavirus across China and Wuhan, the city at the center of the outbreak, has been placed under effective quarantine.

Shanghai tumbled 2.8 percent in the final day of trading before a weeklong market holiday for the Lunar New Year, when hundreds of millions of people travel across China—raising fears of the contagion spreading further.

It was the biggest pre-Lunar New Year fall on record for the bourse.

Hong Kong slightly pared losses to finish down 1.5 percent while Tokyo was 1.0 percent lower.

OANDA senior market analyst Jeffrey

Halley said it was “quite understandable that some money would be taken off the table until the true extent of the coronavirus issue becomes obvious.”

The virus has caused alarm because of its similarity to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), which killed hundreds of people in 2002-2003.

“China’s importance in the overall global supply chain and the fact they are a huge export market for many countries... opens up a more unfavorable global outcome this time around,” Stephen Innes, chief market strategist of AxiCorp, said in a note.

Oil prices were hit hard in overnight trade with both major indexes down by more than 1.3 percent.

“Given the importance of China for oil demand and having the outbreak falling on the cusp of peak domestic travel season, the timing is particularly damaging,” Innes said. With AFP

Manila Standard BuSineSS daily StockS review thurSday, January 23, 2020

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

54.6 82 2.9 153.5 0.88 25.05 18.26 12 4.18 850 0.43 64.9 0.83 12 31.1 179 59.2 22.25 185 1,856 58.4 1.03

54.6 82.9 3.44 157 0.88 25.1 18.46 12.1 4.29 850 0.45 64.9 0.88 12 31.35 179 59.2 22.25 188.9 1,880 59.1 1.03

53.5 81.9 2.84 152.5 0.88 25 18.26 11.96 4.1 850 0.415 64.1 0.83 12 30.8 170 58.6 22.1 185 1,856 58.4 1.03

FINANCIALS 53.5 1,020 81.95 1,339,120 2.93 2,803,000 157 1,314,100 0.88 1,000 25.1 44,600 18.46 10,000 12.1 388,900 4.1 74,000 850 60 0.45 1,410,000 64.8 2,859,880 0.88 4,000 12 400 30.8 923,500 172 4,870 58.8 12,920 22.15 19,400 188.9 416,430 1,870 40 59.1 5,420 1.03 23,000

54,581 109,886,272.50 8,721,590 204,593,719 880 1,116,380 184,444 4,666,272 307,020 51,000 593,200 185,078,422 3,370 4,800 28,688,640 837,764 759,704.50 429,900 77,782,650 74,620 318,646 23,690

53,500 -62524625.5 11,093,076 180,360 -19,296 -118649855.5 -6,912,730 123,898 -416,023 -77,525 -34,772,819 -

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

32.75 2.24 12.2 0.51 3.52 0.226 95 1.61 15 11.82 16.62 31.5 64.2 68 2.15 5 8.99 13.6 9.05 7.24 20.8 66 1.74 37.25 2 12.9 8 1.4 209 43 3.2 10 10.9 14.88 290 5.1 1.61 4.14 3.98 9.85 11.8 31.5 5.3 1.77 1.66 1.41 9.51 71.5 8.8 0.116 1.08 154.5 1.24 1

33.2 2.27 12.22 0.55 3.53 0.232 101.2 1.75 15 12.2 17.98 31.5 64.2 68 2.15 5 8.99 13.8 9.1 7.24 21.5 66.3 1.78 38 2.01 12.98 8.05 1.41 212 45 3.2 10.14 11.2 14.98 302 5.1 1.85 4.15 4.06 9.95 11.98 31.95 5.3 1.84 1.66 1.48 9.52 73 8.85 0.122 1.08 162.7 1.24 1.01

32.45 2.16 11.9 0.51 3.31 0.226 88.35 1.6 14.94 11 16.62 31.5 61.45 68 2.15 4.9 8.8 13.6 8.88 7.22 20.6 65.95 1.71 36.95 1.94 12.84 7.78 1.3 208 41.45 2.85 9.9 10.82 14.6 285.2 4.66 1.61 4.14 3.98 9.66 11.78 31.35 5.12 1.76 1.61 1.26 9.44 71.5 8.72 0.116 1.01 154.5 1.16 0.97

INDUSTRIAL 33.2 2,464,600 2.22 4,867,000 12.1 467,200 0.55 3,849,000 3.36 13,450,000 0.232 70,000 101.2 120 1.73 51,750,000 15 471,100 11.42 7,887,400 17.98 600 31.5 85,500 61.45 210 68 150 2.15 15,000 4.9 2,200 8.88 320,900 13.64 798,100 8.88 100,900 7.23 102,400 21.15 882,100 66.05 37,750 1.75 33,177,000 37.7 7,300 2 6,782,000 12.9 1,870,800 7.78 298,800 1.36 696,000 211.6 278,020 41.5 7,800 3.13 225,000 9.96 14,152,400 10.9 55,600 14.98 2,193,400 302 309,270 4.74 7,900 1.85 430,000 4.15 2,000 4 2,328,000 9.95 6,200 11.98 43,500 31.5 167,600 5.3 117,900 1.76 491,000 1.62 248,000 1.3 5,564,000 9.5 109,600 73 159,000 8.84 92,400 0.122 110,000 1.04 236,000 162 1,948,480 1.22 14,436,000 1 1,317,000

80,638,815 10,881,060 5,653,462 2,066,450 45,986,400 16,060 11,395.50 87,574,850 7,066,414 91,558,584 10,108 2,693,250 12,964.50 10,200 32,250 10,900 2,847,780 10,886,140 897,970 740,332 18,423,815 2,491,956.50 58,171,100 272,955 13,534,390 24,172,130 2,341,815 936,640 58,557,858 326,130 666,710 141,471,391 605,884 32,632,320 91,483,156 38,218 758,580 8,290 9,346,490 60,894 518,868 5,277,120 612,764 869,690 406,610 7,547,430 1,041,495 11,564,895 813,000 12,820 244,200 311,784,789 17,208,680 1,284,800

-898,730 -537,760 3,468,560 232,710 -25,275,700 1,561,466 -38,658 0 -1,811,657 -34,100 -702,542 10,270,795 -867,780 -156,520 11,085 -3,865,080 -9,468,924 -69,101 -1,930,030 -1,100 -17,037,037 -114,378 -16,828,236 20,241,816 -112,610 -509270.0002 -25,018 -440,320 396,369 8,800 16,500 -8,960 -892,298 -1,603,782 190,722,028 263,230 -

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

0.87 52 11 0.81 6.39 10.8 0.97 0.97 720 2.54 6.45 6.34 13 3.76 0.206 775 73.55 6.65 5.2 0.5 3.69 10 0.58 3.35 4.34 1.26 148.2 2.01 1,054 0.82 1.17 181 185 0.21 0.227

0.87 53 11.06 0.81 6.39 12.4 1 1.05 739 2.68 6.55 6.54 13 3.76 0.206 791.5 76 6.65 5.2 0.5 3.71 10.36 0.59 3.5 4.7 1.27 148.5 2.1 1,059 0.95 1.22 181 203.8 0.21 0.228

0.86 51.05 10.9 0.73 6.39 10.8 0.97 0.97 720 2.54 6.45 6.32 12.98 3.76 0.206 773 73.1 6.65 5.2 0.485 3.69 9.94 0.58 3.35 4.34 1.2 146 2 1,031 0.82 1.17 181 175 0.21 0.222

HOLDING FIRMS 0.86 5,869,000 53 642,860 11 2,750,100 0.74 4,323,000 6.39 1,000 11.3 132,100 0.99 297,000 1.05 52,000 730 317,340 2.68 997,000 6.5 637,100 6.32 3,335,000 13 8,400 3.76 2,000 0.206 200,000 791.5 76,300 76 1,200,270 6.65 200 5.2 400 0.5 61,000 3.71 7,000 10 11,613,600 0.59 6,000 3.47 20,142,000 4.7 7,000 1.2 178,000 148.5 90,790 2.1 38,000 1,050 217,420 0.85 2,283,000 1.22 3,000 181 130 203.8 4,810 0.21 580,000 0.222 650,000

5,060,330 33,842,129.50 30,264,002 3,263,730 6,390 1,535,652 291,320 52,720 230,888,855 2,643,890 4,141,803 21,366,827 109,198 7,520 41,200 59,492,140 90,413,428.50 1,330 2,080 29,905 25,930 117,573,848 3,510 69,542,390 30,750 214,710 13,392,535 77,090 227,720,420 2,041,080 3,560 23,530 878,271 121,800 146,780

38,700 21,274,871.50 3,533,308 11,750 -29,760 -6,751,320 -372,090 -28,972 -12,240,875 -2,747,085 24,172,124 -25,930 21,790,586 26,651,700 -6,231,204 47,166,685 33,550

14.7 0.69 1.48 0.8 39.4 1.61 4.67 6.69 0.51 0.73 0.86 0.185 0.41 9.38 17.8 0.405 0.109 1.5 1.08 4.2 0.238 0.405

PROPERTY 14.7 507,200 0.7 548,000 1.54 164,000 0.83 922,000 40.8 23,247,700 1.64 554,000 4.71 40,000 6.69 1,200 0.53 7,782,000 0.75 25,000 0.87 22,000 0.186 480,000 0.41 500,000 9.48 191,900 17.84 470,200 0.405 1,540,000 0.109 1,370,000 1.51 4,780,000 1.12 150,000 4.28 18,405,000 0.244 6,450,000 0.405 540,000

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

14.7 0.72 1.5 0.81 39.4 1.65 4.7 6.69 0.51 0.73 0.86 0.185 0.41 9.4 18.02 0.41 0.109 1.5 1.08 4.23 0.24 0.41

14.74 0.72 1.55 0.83 41.25 1.68 4.71 6.69 0.53 0.75 0.87 0.186 0.41 9.48 18.22 0.415 0.109 1.52 1.12 4.29 0.247 0.41

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

NAME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

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

1.18 0.375 2.24 27.85 2.1 40.1 2.36 1.97 7.3 5.89

1.21 0.41 2.25 28.35 2.12 41.3 2.5 2.15 7.3 5.89

1.17 0.37 2.2 27.15 2.08 40 2.36 1.92 7.27 5.69

1.21 0.38 2.24 28.35 2.08 40.7 2.46 2.15 7.29 5.87

1,595,000 8,890,000 502,000 2,348,400 8,000 17,025,100 124,000 19,641,000 6,640,200 55,400

1,894,860 3,464,350 1,117,250 65,868,955 16,820 691,621,855 302,260 39,936,200 48,404,347 321,201

29,250 -2,450 14,172,510 -112,341,020 -6,764,648 -

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

9.5 17.18 1.32 11.4 0.46 0.048 2.91 10.44 85.75 5.25 4.75 8.95 890 1,980 5.37 433 12 1.5 1.65 131.9 8.1 0.105 3.72 1.77 2.46 0.97 12.3 0.45 3.07 2.03 1 2.42 2.16 7.98 4.26 135.5 2.57 1,037 0.55 0.395 39.55 78.05 9.18 2.54 0.61 0.285 0.6 18.64

9.7 19 1.4 11.48 0.465 0.048 3.09 10.44 86 5.36 4.75 8.95 890 2,028 5.37 449.4 14.5 1.53 1.65 132.6 8.1 0.112 3.82 1.94 2.57 0.97 12.9 0.45 3.07 2.05 1 2.45 2.17 7.98 4.26 135.5 2.58 1,066 0.56 0.42 39.7 79 9.2 2.6 0.61 0.29 0.6 18.76

9.33 17.18 1.31 11.32 0.445 0.045 2.91 10.14 82.6 5.2 4.75 8.53 890 1,972 5.31 430.6 12 1.46 1.65 130.3 8.1 0.103 3.69 1.77 2.46 0.94 12.1 0.41 3.07 2.02 0.93 2.39 2.15 7.5 4.26 135.5 2.53 1,032 0.55 0.38 39.1 77.75 8.93 2.53 0.6 0.28 0.59 18.62

SERVICES 9.7 17.44 1.4 11.38 0.45 0.047 3.03 10.32 83 5.31 4.75 8.55 890 2,004 5.31 437 12.5 1.49 1.65 132.5 8.1 0.109 3.81 1.94 2.5 0.94 12.68 0.41 3.07 2.05 1 2.44 2.17 7.5 4.26 135.5 2.53 1,055 0.55 0.42 39.7 78 8.99 2.55 0.61 0.29 0.59 18.76

12,700 155,600 378,000 475,400 5,500,000 9,000,000 396,000 2,802,800 215,140 281,200 2,000 12,700 20 30,270 197,200 52,080 1,600 2,164,000 2,000 976,310 500 3,580,000 1,329,000 155,000 91,000 10,000 5,484,600 600,000 4,000 475,000 15,000 698,000 23,000 2,000 10,000 6,170 414,000 578,765 1,724,000 48,080,000 1,183,400 257,120 152,800 963,000 2,162,000 5,410,000 247,000 1,497,400

118,972 2,747,672 504,650 5,417,428 2,487,450 409,200 1,193,210 28,821,614 17,978,121 1,487,222 9,500 109,096 17,800 60,469,705 1,048,946 22,913,580 20,420 3,233,170 3,300 129,121,018 4,050 385,840 4,972,060 285,190 228,530 9,460 69,377,646 248,350 12,280 969,800 14,300 1,694,260 49,550 15,747 42,600 836,035 1,054,780 608,098,160 951,690 19,673,600 46,615,210 20,055,981.50 1,372,724 2,459,830 1,306,270 1,543,600 148,150 28,030,714

573,840 202,500 16,720 -9,361,680 -6,370,077.50 5,387,720 -15,900 3,300 28,083,307 -22,470 -67,480 -38,456,748 -514159.9997 -36,480 -10,750 46,070 -16,100,145 -284,820 -76,600 -2,556,330 -2,087,253 -129,880 484,950 18,013,078

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

0.0014 8.01 1.08 2.49 10.94 1.15 3.22 0.27 7.21 1.51 0.216 0.093 0.82 3.23 1.04 0.44 0.011 0.011 0.01 2.9 9.05 21.3 0.0062

0.0014 8.3 1.11 2.49 10.94 1.15 3.25 0.27 7.24 1.53 0.216 0.098 0.82 3.24 1.04 0.46 0.011 0.011 0.011 2.95 9.2 21.5 0.0066

0.0014 8.01 1.06 2.48 10.04 1.15 3.07 0.27 7.15 1.5 0.204 0.092 0.8 3.14 1.02 0.44 0.011 0.011 0.01 2.86 8.88 21.05 0.0062

MINING & OIL 0.0014 4,000,000 8.24 130,700 1.11 1,097,000 2.48 65,000 10.8 9,500 1.15 1,000 3.22 3,014,000 0.27 120,000 7.18 900 1.53 1,577,000 0.213 390,000 0.098 420,000 0.81 1,220,000 3.15 3,425,000 1.04 3,000 0.45 150,000 0.011 600,000 0.011 3,100,000 0.011 16,300,000 2.87 647,000 9 1,102,800 21.5 164,700 0.0065 27,000,000

5,600 1,065,268 1,194,830 161,800 97,994 1,150 9,563,100 32,400 6,474 2,385,400 80,400 39,120 981,020 10,854,050 3,100 67,600 6,600 34,100 178,000 1,878,780 9,891,840 3,515,540 175,000

99,388.00 21,600 2,795,250 31,770 -2,642,290 -835,930 -64,198 1,659,655 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 DD PREF FGEN PREF G GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 3A PCOR PREF 3B PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B PNX PREF 4 SFI PREF SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2I

16 505 100.9 105.2 5.14 979 990 99.9 100 1,049 1,050 101.5 109 1,030 1.36 77 75.9 75.3 75.3

16.5 505 100.9 105.9 5.14 980 999 99.9 100 1,049 1,050 101.5 109 1,030 1.36 77 76 75.3 75.3

15.7 505 100.9 105.2 5.1 979 990 99.9 99.5 1,026 1,050 101.5 108 1,030 1.36 77 75.9 75.3 75.3

PREFERRED 15.7 304,700 505 20 100.9 65,000 105.2 5,210 5.13 440,400 980 2,050 999 2,390 99.9 3,000 100 15,560 1,026 2,030 1,050 3,005 101.5 2,000 108 1,180 1,030 5,200 1.36 4,000 77 90 76 94,790 75.3 2,800 75.3 200,000

4,855,548 10,100 6,558,500 548,120 2,258,096 2,008,990 2,386,420 299,700 1,555,990 2,092,240 3,155,250 203,000 127,620 5,356,000 5,440 6,930 7,202,700 210,840 15,060,000

1,088,994 52,600 -2,249,872 108,000 -

LR WARRANT

1.22

1.23

1.21

WARRANTS 1.23 259,000

317,370

MS 7,465,784 383,660 246,810 750,210 943,785,445 907,190 188,120 8,028 4,002,910 18,270 18,940 89,160 205,000 1,804,988 8,438,646 629,050 149,330 7,212,030 162,040 78,472,240 1,567,260 218,900

9,949,175 204,000 -1,192,754 -206,850 991,540 11,826,930 102,710 -

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

3.88 9.34 0.83

3.9 9.7 0.86

3.72 9.34 0.82

FIRST METRO ETF

112.4

114.2

112.4

USD DMPL A1 USD TECH B2

10.1 0.95

10.2 0.95

Trading Summary

SHARES

FINANCIAL

12,420,171

INDUSTRIAL

175,964,439

HOLDING FIRMS PROPERTY SERVICES

66,283,670 129,895,784 99,521,251

MINING & OIL

183,764,796

GRAND TOTAL

669,938,404

10.1 0.95

3.81 9.4 0.85

SME

177,000 83,300 1,807,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 114.2 16,580 10.2 0.95

DDS

5,760 35,000

-

677,620 786,582 1,508,910

6,640

1,876,372

-43,315

58,732 33,250

-

VALUE 1,813.08 (up) 18.46 711,679,688.62 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 9,669.26 (up) 256.09 1,239,607,517.29 HOLDING FIRMS 7,376.17 (up) 161.02 1,053,895,727.80 PROPERTY 3,936.13 (up) 74.21 SERVICES 1,535.43 (up) 10.19 2,089,144,960.81 MINING & OIL 7,879.51 (up) 21.35 1,119,668,533.675 PSEI 7,616.35 (up) 147.62 409,851,918.113 All Shares Index 4,504.20 (up) 67.41 6,628,711,785.86 Gainers: 117; Losers: 73; Unchanged: 50; Total: 240

Robinsons Bank okays debt note offering to raise P10b this year

By Jennifer B. Austria ROBINSONS Bank, a full-service commercial bank owned by conglomerate JG Summit Holdings Inc., said its board approved a P10-billion funding plan for 2020.

Robinsons Bank said in a disclosure to Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. it planned to raise P10 billion from the issuance of corporate notes, Long Term Negotiable Certificates of Deposits or corporate bonds in several tranches and tenors.

The bank, which is 60-percent owned

by JG Summit Holdings Inc. and 40 percent by Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., aims to be one of the top banks in the country, offering innovative and competitive financial products and services to clients.

The bank earlier drafted a five-year initiative roadmap that involves expanding lending and branch network, developing new products and services and exploring business opportunities within its target markets.

The bank in 2019 had aimed to expand its asset base by 32 percent. To generate core income, It also planned to increase gross loan portfolio by 32 percent and expand deposits by 33 percent.

The bank had intended to maintain a good asset quality and open 16 new branches across the country, and install 44 new ATMs. The bank’s distribution network consists of 149 branches and 310 ATMs. Robinsons Bank in October raised P5 billion from the issuance of fixed-rate bonds to support lending activities.

The bond offering received the second-highest credit rating of PRS Aa from local debt watcher Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings).

A PRS Aa rating means the company has a “strong capacity to meet financial commitments relative to that of other Philippine corporates. Robinsons Bank received a stable outlook in the next 12 months.

PhilRatings noted that the diversity, market and financial strength of the JG Summit Group presented Robinsons Bank with numerous opportunities, with the substantial size of the group providing a captured market for the bank’s various products and services.

DICT, Zambales forge agreement on free Wi-Fi services

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE Department of Information and Communications Technology is teaming up with the government of Zambales to provide free access points in the province the Free Wi-Fi for All program.

“We intend to make Zambales a showcase for ICT initiatives of the Department of Information and Communications Technology for many reasons, such as security, development of our local government units, our objective of uniting our country, and our vision to promote lasting peace and prosperity,” said DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan.

DICT Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, Policy, Planning and Finance Jose Arturo De Castro stressed the importance of the Free Wi-Fi for All Program in the government’s effort to empower the Filipino people in the digital age.

“Each and every citizen, regardless of where he or she is in the region, will be empowered not just for education but opportunities for work because of the connectivity that the government will bring through the Free Wi-Fi for All program,” De Castro added.

“It is hoped that with the signing of this Memorandum of Agreement, the framework of continuing support and mutual cooperation between the province of Zambales and the DICT will be maintained,” he said.

The MOA with the provincial government of Zambales includes the cooperation and collaboration on other projects on ICT connectivity, ICT governance, and ICT training programs, among others.

In March last year, the DICT and United Nations Development Program signed a project document to speed up the rollout of hotspots, with the goal of providing internet services to up to 6,000 target sites.

DICT also signed a entered memorandum of understanding with the National Electrification Administration and Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. to help the government establish more provincial points-ofpresence with the help of rural electric cooperatives.

World

B3

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

UN court to rule on genocide case T HE HAGUE―The UN’s top court will announce Thursday if it will allow a case accusing Myanmar of genocide against Rohingya Muslims to go ahead and if it will impose emergency measures to stop further violence.

The ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) comes days after a Myanmar commission concluded that some soldiers likely committed war crimes against the minority group but that the military was not guilty of genocide.

Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi traveled to The Hague in December to personally defend her

Buddhist-majority country against the allegations over the bloody 2017 crackdown against the Rohingya.

The mainly Muslim African nation of The Gambia brought the case against Myanmar after 740,000 Rohingya fled over the border into Bangladesh, carrying accounts of widespread rape, arson and mass killings.

“The first question is whether or not the Court will declare to have jurisdiction. My guess is that that will be the case, although you never know,” Willem van Genugten, professor emeritus of international law at Tilburg University, told AFP. If the court approves so-called “provisional measures” sought by Gambia those “might, next to that, entail a lot of things, from very general to very specific. That remains to be seen as well.”

The ruling on Thursday is just the

first step in a legal battle that is likely to take years at the ICJ, which was set up after World War II to rule on disputes between nations.

The Gambia brought the case with the backing of the 57-nation Organisation for Islamic Cooperation. Canada and the Netherlands have since also lent their support.

At the December hearing, The Gambia alleged Myanmar had breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention, asking for special steps to prevent the “serious and imminent risk of genocide recurring” and to stop Myanmar destroying any evidence.

While the UN’s top judicial organ has no power to enforce orders for provisional measures, the “significance... shouldn’t be written off”, said Cecily Rose, assistant professor in international law at Leiden University.

“The court’s orders and judgments tend to carry relatively great authority or legitimacy. Even though the situation in Myanmar is highly political and fragile, international law still plays a role by informing decision-making among international actors,” she told AFP. Myanmar might for example be asked to report back regularly to the court on its compliance with the order, Rose added.

Suu Kyi is not expected to attend Wednesday’s ruling.

In The Hague in December, she argued her country was capable of investigating any allegations of abuse and warned that the case could reignite the crisis.

On Monday a Myanmar-appointed “Independent Commission Of Enquiry” went the furthest that any investigation by the country has gone so far in accepting atrocities occurred. AFP

IN BRIEF Ex-first daughter charged with fraud

LUANDA―Angola’s billionaire former first daughter Isabel dos Santos has been charged with money laundering and mismanagement during her stewardship of state-owned oil firm Sonangol.

Documents leaked this week alleged the daughter of ex-president Jose Eduardo dos Santos, plundered state coffers to build her fortune, estimated at $2.1 billion (1.82 billion euros).

“Isabel dos Santos is accused of mismanagement and embezzlement of funds during her tenure at Sonangol and is thus charged in the first instance with the crimes of money laundering, influence peddling, harmful management ... forgery of documents, among other economic crimes,” prosecutor general Helder Pitta Gros told a news conference late Wednesday.

Investigations into Isabel dos Santos’s 18-month tenure as Sonangol head from June 2016 were opened after her successor Carlos Saturnino raised the alarm about “irregular money transfers” and other dodgy procedures.

Dubbed Africa’s richest woman, Isabel dos Santos is accused of using her father’s backing to plunder state funds from the oilrich but poor southern African country and moving the money abroad with the help of Western firms.

She stopped living in Angola after her father, who ruled the country with an iron fist for nearly 40 years, stepped down in 2017 for his anointed successor Joao Lourenco. AFP

2,000 detained at border crossing

MEXICO CITY―Mexican migration authorities released Wednesday an official count of the number of people detained along the country’s southern border two days before, estimating that more than 2,000 people were “rescued” after they crossed the border with Guatemala.

National Institute of Migration (INM) officials explained that among the detained were not only members of the so-called “2020 Caravan” that left Honduras about a week ago, but also many who had entered the country through other spots.

About 1,300 people were detained in Tabasco and another 800 in Chiapas, the INM said, including some minors.

On Wednesday, Mexico deported 460 Hondurans via official planes and buses from the two southern states, the ministry of the interior said.

Several hundred caravan members had tried to cross the Suchiate River at dawn on Monday from Tecun Uman in Guatemala, demanding migration authorities let them continue their journey to the United States.

When authorities did not immediately respond, the migrants began wading across the river, which is shallow this time of year.

Mexican National Guard troops fired tear gas to force them back, leading to scenes of chaos as huge crowds of people flailed across the river. AFP

Firefighters killed in water bomber crash

SYDNEY―A large water-bombing plane crashed while fighting fires southwest of Sydney on Thursday, killing all three US crew on board, Australian officials said.

New South Wales Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said authorities lost contact with the Canadaowned C-130 Hercules aircraft, which was operating in the Snowy Monaro region, shortly before 1:30 pm (0230 GMT) Thursday.

Fitzsimmons said all three people killed in the crash were residents of the United States, one of several countries that have sent crews of specialist firefighters to help battle Australia’s devastating bushfires.

“Our hearts are with all those that are suffering what is the loss of three remarkable, well-respected crew that have invested so many decades of their life into firefighting and fire management,” he said.

The incident brought the death toll in Australia’s bushfires to at least 32 since the crisis began in September.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but Fitzsimmons had said earlier in the day that high winds were making flying the big tankers “very difficult”.

Canadian firm Coulson Aviation, which owned the plane, grounded operations of its other large air tankers fighting fires in New South Wales and Victoria states “pending review” of the aircraft, Fitzsimmons said.

Initial reports suggested a “large fireball” was caused when the plane “impacted heavily with the ground”, he said.

“We’ve got a number of firefighters and a number of crew that are in the area and working to contain and work around the fire,” he said. AFP

WORLD HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives at Ben Gurion International Airport on

January 23, 2020, to attend the World Holocaust memorial that marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. AFP

Rockets target Libya airport ahead of peace talks TRIPOLI—The Libyan capital’s only operational airport has closed again after threats by forces loyal to strongman Khalifa Haftar, dealing another setback to peace efforts as regional foreign ministers prepare to meet in Algeria Thursday.

The airport has been hit multiple times since the start of a months-long offensive by fighters led by easternbased commander Haftar to seize Tripoli from the UN-recognized Government of National Accord (GNA).

Mitiga airport authorities said late Wednesday they were suspending air traffic “until further notice” after Haftar’s spokesman threatened to attack planes flying over the city.

“Any military or civilian aircraft, regardless of its affiliation, flying over the capital will be destroyed,” warned Haftar’s spokesman Ahmad al-Mesmari, adding that such flights would be considered a violation of a ceasefire in place since January 12.

Mesmari said the internationallybacked government was using the airport for military purposes as a base for Turkish soldiers sent by Ankara to support GNA leader Fayez al-Sarraj.

REHEARSAL. Students perform Arunachal Pradesh folk dance during a full dress rehearsal for the coming Indian Republic Day parade in Chennai on January 23, 2020. India will be celebrating its 71st Republic Day on January 26. AFP

The airport earlier Wednesday suspended flights for several hours after it was targeted by six Grad rockets in an offensive the GNA blamed on its rivals in Libya’s five-year civil war.

The attack took place just nine days after the facility reopened following a truce.

World powers have stepped up efforts in recent weeks to find a political solution to the grinding conflict, with neighbouring Algeria the latest country to host a meeting -- set for Thursday -to discuss ways forward.

The Algerian foreign ministry said chief diplomats from Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Niger and Mali would meet in Algiers to advance “a political settlement to the crisis through an inclusive dialogue between all parties”.

Algeria, which has stayed neutral in the Libyan conflict, shares a border of almost 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) with its neighbour, which has been rocked by violence since the 2011 toppling of dictator Moamer Kadhafi by NATO-backed insurgents.

It did not say whether Libyan delegations had been invited to the meeting but the GNA Foreign Minister Mohamad

Tahar Siala issued a statement saying he was “refusing” to take part due to the presence of his counterpart in the rival administration backed by Haftar.

The meeting comes after a summit in Berlin which saw world leaders commit to ending all foreign meddling in Libya and to upholding a weapons embargo as part of a broader plan to end the conflict.

The summit plans have also seen the formation of a military commission comprising five GNA loyalists and five Haftar delegates who will seek to define ways of consolidating the ceasefire.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council urged the parties to reach a long-term deal paving the way for a political process aimed at ending the conflict.

Despite repeated appeals from the UN’s envoy to Libya, Ghassan Salame, Tripoli’s GNA-held airport has been the target of several air raids and rocket strikes since Haftar’s forces launched their offensive in April.

Located east of the capital, Mitiga is a former military airbase used by civilian traffic since Tripoli international airport was heavily damaged in fighting in 2014. AFP

Seven dead in Spain as winter storm lashes coast BARCELONA—The death toll from a storm that has lashed Spain with strong winds and heavy snow has risen to seven, while four people were missing, officials said.

Gale-force winds and huge waves have smashed into seafront towns, damaging many shops and restaurants, wrecking beach facilities and flooding some streets in the east of the country since Sunday.

The latest victim was a man who fell into the sea in the northeastern port of Palamos, emergency services said late Wednesday.

Police found a body on Wednesday in a flooded area in the eastern region of Valencia where they were looking for a 67-year-old man who went missing in his car, a local police spokesman said.

Two other deaths were recorded in the southern region of Andalusia― among them a 77-year-old farmer killed after a greenhouse collapsed on him in a hailstorm, police said.

Four people were still believed to be missing after Storm Gloria crashed into eastern Spain on Sunday with gusts of over 100 kilometres (60 miles) per hour, massive waves, snow and freezing rain.

National weather agency Aemet said the storm was starting to abate on Wednesday although it kept the northeastern region of Catalonia and the Balearic Islands on alert.

In the south of France, 1,500 people were evacuated as two rivers quickly overflowed overnight on Wednesday.

Meteorologists said the rains would continue throughout Thursday, varying in intensity, in France’s southernmost Mediterranean departments of the Pyrenees-Orientales and Aude. While winter storms are not rare on Spain’s Mediterranean coast, Spain has suffered several episodes of unusually intense rainfall in recent years.

Seven people died in September 2019 in flash floods in southeastern Spain and in October 2018, 13 people died on Mallorca as intense rain caused rivers to overflow with raging waters that tore through streets and swept away cars.AFP

One killed, 7 hurt in Seattle shootout SEATTLE―At least one person was killed and seven others, including a child, were wounded on Wednesday after a dispute among a group of people escalated into a shootout near a tourist area in downtown Seattle, authorities said.

Carmen Best, chief of police in the northwestern US city, told reporters that multiple suspects were being sought in connection with the mass shooting that took place near a McDonald’s fast food restaurant, just blocks away from the popular Pike Place Market.

It was the third shooting in the area in less than two days, and the latest incident of gun violence that has become all too common in the United States.

Best said witnesses and video footage indicated that the incident unfolded after several people standing in front of the McDonald’s got into a dispute and began shooting at each other, hitting bystanders.

“This is not a random incident, there were multiple people involved,” Best said. “People pulled out guns, shots rang out, people ran in various directions.”

Authorities said a woman in her 40s was killed and several others were wounded in the shooting that occurred shortly after 5:00 pm (0100 GMT) when the area was crowded with people heading home from work or shopping.

Officials at Harborview Medical Center, where all the wounded were transported, said seven people were being treated at the hospital, including a nine-year-old boy.

Police ordered people to stay out of the area and shut down a metro station as they searched for the suspects.

Tyler Parsons, an employee at Victrola Coffee Roasters, told The Seattle Times that he was working when he suddenly saw victims falling to the ground as shots rang out.

He said several people ran into the shop to seek cover. AFP

LGUs

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

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Manila installs first of 3 air quality sensors

By Willie Casas THE first of three air quality sensors has been deployed in the nation’s capital, according to a recent report by the City of Manila’s Public Information Office.

The air quality sensor was installed by the Manila City government’s air quality management technical working group led by the Department of Public Services.

“This is part of the ‘Air Blue Skies Program’, a partnership program between Clean Air Asia, 3M Philippines and the Manila City government,” the city government’s statement read.

“It aims to deliver air quality solutions through the development of a science-based Clean Air Action Plan,” it said.

The DPS was assisted by the Department of Engineering and Public Works and the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office during the installation of the equipment.

The agencies were joined by representatives from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources- Environmental Management Bureau, National Capital Region, Clean Air Asia, and 3M Philippines.

The gadget was installed by the city government after ash from Taal Volcano’s initial eruption on Jan. 12 this year fell on the city.

SILYA FOR ELDERLY. Architect Renee Bacani (left), vice president of Ortigas Malls, and Lorete Alcala, S.I.L.Y.A. (Sa Iyo Lolo at Lola Yantok Aming Alay) founder and social entrepreneur, present rocking chairs hand painted by ArtistShop for senior citizens to enjoy at Tiendesitas mall in Pasig City (inset) on Thursday. All mall goers of Ortigas Malls’ Greenhills, Estancia, and Industria properties will also be able to experience the comfort of the Silya within the year. Norman Cruz

Valenzuela marks greener, upgraded, historic Polo Park

By Jun David VALENZUELA Mayor Rex Gatchalian has led the inauguration of Polo Park, formerly the Old Town Square of Polo (Liwasang Rizal), which adds to the list of more open, greener spaces in the city.

The inauguration on Jan. 21 comes five months after the mayor’s announcement of the rehabilitation of Polo Park during local hero Dr. Pio Valenzuela’s 150th birth anniversary last July 11, 2019.

Polo Park, Valenzuela City’s newest landmark, forms part of the city’s history, enhanced with a fresh, green landscape to top off its new look.

Adorned with luscious trees providing shade and breathable space, a fountain, a memorial marker commemorating war veterans and a statues of Dr. Valenzuela and national hero Dr. Jose Rizal made by esteemed artist Julie Lluch, Polo Park’s new features perfectly signifies not only a place for relaxation but marks the historical identity of Valenzuela City.

Likewise, in the park is the rehabilitated Rizal Monument, with Dr. Jose Rizal seemingly inviting visitors, a welcoming gesture to the park that has been part of every local’s childhood through-

out the years.

The P21-million project funded and supported by the Department of Budget and Management through the “Green, Green, Green” Program is the first in a series of restoration and conservation projects in Valenzuela, specifically revitalizing the Polo area and creating sustainable public open spaces in the city.

Visitors can sit and enjoy the scenery as the park now has more benches and provides Wi-Fi access for added convenience.

Making Polo Park stand out more are the untouched, growing trees surrounding the park, providing not only shade but cooler, fresher air. According to studies, even a single tree can have a profound cooling effect in cities through the process of evapotranspiration—where leaves release water into the air.

Trees can also reduce a person’s physiologically equivalent temperature by 7-15 degrees Celsius, making the usual, 32-degrees day out at Polo Park cooler amid the hot summer sun.

Surrounded by rivers and swamps making Polo as a center of trade, Polo Park “shall also be a symbol of the city’s history and culture, witnessing the prosperity of Valenzuela City known

today,” Gatchalian said.

The project is one of the many initiatives of the City Government of Valenzuela to create greener spaces and to revitalize the City’s quality of urban living.

Before Polo Park, the City has opened parks for urban renewal since 2015. Valenzuela City People’s Park, which was opened last February 14, 2015, has been one of the top visited places famous for concerts, plays and holiday activities.

The 1.3-hectare lot beside the City Hall is known as a family-oriented place equipped with CCTVs and has an interactive dancing fountain with lights, exercise area, a pavilion, life-size chessboard, picnic tables, children’s area, playground, Aero Circle, zoological spaces and an amphitheater that can house up to 2,000 persons.

The city also ventured into a publicprivate partnership (PPP) establishing the Valenzuela Town Center just adjacent to the park, providing options for food choices, event gatherings, and the like.

On Feb. 17, 2019, the city opened its first Family Park located at Barangay Karuhatan, a main convergence area in Valenzuela known for its accessibility.

Ilocos Norte gets P25.5m for waste recycling facility

TABANG FOR TAAL. Maguindanao 2nd District Rep. Esmael ‘Toto’ Mangudadatu was among the 204 House Representatives who attended the special congressional Session in Batangas City on Jan. 22. After the session, Mangudadatu joined Bahay Party-list Rep. Naealla Bainto Aguinaldo (in brown jacket) to turn over his donations consisting of N95 masks, food, and bottled water for the victims of the Taal Volcano eruption.

Vizcaya hands out 141 garbage bins to elementary schools

By Ben Moses Ebreo BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—The provincial government here recently distributed free garbage bins to public elementary schools in the province to promote proper solid waste management practices.

Forester Tito Tanguilig, the provincial environment and natural resources officer, said 141 bins are being handed out by the provincial government to various public elementary schools under the “Basura Itapon, Dapat Ayusin—Kikita Ka na, Iwas Sakit at Dagdag Allowance Pa (BIDA KA KID)” program.

The free distribution of bins was announced during the Environmental Awareness Month celebration of the province in November last year to

equip public elementary school with garbage receptacles to institutionalize the practice and observance of Solid Waste Management among school children.

“The BIDA KA KID Program seeks to teach school children on proper SWM disposal so that it becomes part of their habit as they grow and become responsible solid waste managers in their respective communities,” Tanguilig said.

He said the recipient schools of the free bins are in the towns of Bayombong, Aritao, Diadi, Quezon, Sta. Fe, Villaverde and Dupax del Sur. The BIDA KA KID Program was started in 2014 as a component of the Solid Waste Management Program implementation in the province.

THE Department of Environment and Natural Resources–Environmental Management Bureau in Region 1 has granted P25.5 million to the provincial government of Ilocos Norte to fund the construction of a plastic recycling and resource recovery facility at Barangay Imelda, Marcos town.

On Jan. 22, Gov. Matthew Marcos Manotoc signed a memorandum of agreement with EMB Regional Director Engineer Maria Dorica Naz-Hipe to officially turn over the funds.

Naz-Hipe applauded the initiative of the province, saying: “Ilocos Norte is one of the very few provinces that has received a sum like this under the administration of President [Rodrigo] Duterte.”

“We congratulate you for having availed this assistance, and we do hope that it will be a successful project. We hope this project becomes a model for other local government units to replicate, even in other regions,” she added.

The P20 million of the assistance is allocated for the construction of the facility, while the remaining P5.5 million is for the procurement of several equipment.

“We will also be supplementing that [cash assistance] with some of our own machines that we will purchase to complete the facility,” Marcos Manotoc shared.

PGIN will procure a sewage vacuum truck, a shredding machine with conveyor, and a pulverizing machine with conveyor, he added.

Makati donates P17m to areas hit by ‘Tisoy’ T

By Joel E. Zurbano

HE Makati city government is giving P17 million in financial assistance to sister cities and other local government units in regions affected by Typhoon “Tisoy.”

Mayor Abigail Binay said the City Council passed Ordinance No. 2020023 authorizing the appropriation upon her recommendation to support the recovery programs of the affected areas.

“We are glad to share a portion of our disaster funds with localities that have been hard-hit by Typhoon Tisoy. This financial aid from Makati aims to support the efforts of concerned local government units to recover from the calamity and rebuild their communities,” said Binay.

Binay said the financial assistance will be given to various localities in the provinces of Quezon, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Albay, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon, and Northern Samar.

She added the amount will be coming from the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council quick response fund under the 2020 Executive Budget of the city.

Earlier this month, the city chief executive convened the DRRMC for its first special meeting to discuss the city’s support for the recovery and further rehabilitation of local government units affected by Tisoy.

Based on the approved ordinance, the city will extend a total of P7.25 million to provinces severely affected by Typhoon Tisoy that have over 20,000 affected families each. The provinces of Quezon, Albay, Camarines Sur, Masbate, Sorsogon, and Northern Samar, will each receive P1 million.

Meanwhile, the provinces of Oriental

Mindoro and Catanduanes, each with more than 5,000 affected families, will each receive P500,000, and Occidental Mindoro with 4,296 affected families will receive P250,000.

Makati will also give financial aid amounting to P9,750,000 to its affected sister cities and municipalities. The beneficiaries include Daraga (Albay), Malinao (Albay) and Pilar (Sorsogon) with over 11,000 affected families each, P1,000,000 each; Tabaco City (Albay) and Aroroy (Masbate) with over 8,000 affected families, P750,000 each; Bato (Camarines Sur), Allen (Northern Samar), Bobon (Northern Samar), Lavezares (Northern Samar), and San Roque (Northern Samar) with over 5,000 affected families, P500,000 each.

Meanwhile, San Andres (Quezon), Legazpi City (Albay), Sto. Domingo (Albay), Cabusao (Camarines Sur), Calabanga (Camarines Sur), Libmanan (Camarines Sur), Minalabac (Camarines Sur), Sipocot (Camarines Sur), Biri (Northern Samar), Lope de Vega (Northern Samar), and Gamay (Northern Samar) with over 2,000 affected families will each receive P250,000.

Based on the Guidelines for Initial Financial Assistance to Disaster-Affected Areas in the Philippines which Makati adopted through City Ordinance No. 2017-006, the financial assistance shall be based on the number of affected families: 2,000 to 5,000 families: P250,000; 5,001 to 8,000: P500,000; 8,001 to 11,000: P750,000; and 11,001 and more: P1,000,000.

TOWARD PROGRESS.

Marinduque Gov. Presbitero Velasco (center), also a former Supreme Court Justice, meets with leaders of Boac municipality after an inspection and meeting for the forthcoming centennial celebrations of the province in February.

Go leads Cavite Malasakit Center launch CAVITE Gov. Jonvic Remulla and Vice Governor Jolo Revilla recently welcomed Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, who led the launching of the first Malasakit Center in the province on Jan. 22 at the Korea Philippines Friendship Hospital in Trece Martires City.

The Malasakit Center is a one-stop shop of government services instituted for the purpose of expediting processes in availing services relevant to healthcare like medical and financial assistance in coordination with the Department of Health,

Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

It brings government services closer to the poor and marginalized members of society with priority given to senior citizens and persons with disabilities.

The Malasakit Center will ensure financial risk protection and alleviate the burden of indigent families who availed health services in public hospitals.

Benjamin B. Chavez

Motoring

RAMON L. TOMELDAN, Editor

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FRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 2020

Honda, Toyota recall 6m cars

T

WO Japanese automakers have issued their respective recalls involving a total of six millions cars over unrelated safety issues involving air bags.

Toyota and Honda in separate statements announced the recall Tuesday although the glitches posed different threats to motorists and their passengers.

In the case of Toyota, the recall affects 3.4 million cars, 2.9 million of which are in the United States, because of potentially defective equipment meant to protect passengers during a crash.

The affected models in North America, Central America and South America include some Corolla, Corolla Matrix, Avalon, and Avalon HV lines that were produced between 2010 and 2019.

Honda for its part said that it would back because they could be equipped recall 2.7 million cars: 2.4 million with a defective electronic control unit in the United States, and 300,000 in (ECU) that is meant to help protect Canada. The carmaker said some passengers during a crash, according Acuras produced between 1996 and to the company.

2003 might have faulty Takata airbag This device is supposed to commuinflators that might have been pro- nicate with a car’s sensors and help trigger its airbags and seat belt pretensioners, which is a part of the harness that is designed to tighten and hold riders back during a collision and help lower the risk of injury, A CNN report said.

Toyota said this week it learned that the ECU in these cars might not work properly due to certain noises that could interfere with the device’s connectivity, which “can lead to incomplete or non-deployment of the airbags and/or seat belt pretensioners.”

The company plans to notify everyone that is affected in the United duced without the “appropriate seals” States by mid-March. Drivers will needed to deploy properly. be asked to get their cars checked at The Toyota vehicles are being called Toyota dealerships, where they may

be offered a new noise filter to help mitigate sensor communication problems if necessary.

The Honda recall, meanwhile, is another headache for the Japanese airbag maker Takata, according to CNN. Honda says its most recent issue is unrelated to Takata’s massive safety scandal, which involves faults that can cause airbag inflators to explode, under-inflate or spew shrapnel at passengers. But that problem has already prompted the Japanese airbag maker to file for bankruptcy and issue the largest auto recall in history, involving tens of millions of cars, CNN said.

Under that recall, 34 auto brands have been affected, from Ferrari to Ford. The crisis has led to fatal consequences, and is linked to at least

29 deaths and hundreds of injuries around the globe, according to the Australian government.

Honda is also now calling on car owners to sign up for inspections, though it says it might not be able to help anytime soon. Due to a shortage of “alternative replacement parts,” the automaker says it won’t be able to start free inspections or repairs for about a year.

Isuzu donates D-MAX to PNRC

HARI PRESIDENT AND CEO MA. FE PEREZ-AGUDO

Hyundai rises to the challenge THINGS are looking up for Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc., the official distributor of the leading Korean automotive brand in the Philippines, after ending the year strong with 2.9% growth in December 2019 or 3,163 units sold versus the same month last year.

December marked the third month in 2019 that HARI breached the 3,000-unit sales mark.

For the full year, Hyundai sales reached 33,763 units, enabling it to maintain its position in the market as one of the leading brands in the Philippine market. This is equivalent to a 6.1% drop from 2018 mainly due to the company’s non-participation in some market segments, such as that of the Pick-ups.

“We rose to the challenges in 2019 and have sustained our position as one of the preferred brands in the market. We are very excited to start the new decade with the introduction of innovative models that will disrupt certain segments and offer customers more and better choices. We shall also carry on with our aggressive PC and CV network expansion to serve highgrowth corridors across the country,” HARI President and CEO Ma. Fe Perez-Agudo said.

Month-on-month, the Passenger Cars (PC) segment rose by 8.5%, from 1,516 units in December 2019 to 1,645 units in January this year.

This was prompted by the Hyundai’s “golden pair”—the Hyundai Reina (PC A-Segment) and the Hyundai Accent (PC B-Segment).

The Reina, despite being launched only in early 2019, is now No. 2 in the A-segment in total sales while the venerable Accent remains in the Top 3 in the B-segment. Both models are known for fuel-efficiency, segment-topping performance, and design. The company sold a total of 17,761 PC units in 2019.

Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) sales increased by 2.9% in December 2019 to 1,399 units compared to the same month last year spearheaded by the durable and versatile Hyundai H-100 (Light Truck) and the globallyawarded Hyundai Kona (Sub-compact SUV). Both models are No. 1 in their respective segments. Overall, Hyundai LCV sales declined by 2.6% with 15,095 units sold.

Hyundai Commercial Vehicles (CV) continued to be the best performing segment for the year with a 63.4% full-year growth, or a total of 907 units sold led by the Hyundai

County bus. HARI CV sales are expected to further surge in 2020 due to higher demand generated by government programs to improve the existing public transportation. Late last year, HARI rolled out its Class-2 and Class-3 Modern Jeepneys (built on the Hyundai HD50S platform) to serve the needs of transport cooperatives while the Hyundai H-100 Class-1 Modern Jeepney was launched earlier in the year. Both Class 1 and 2 Modern Jeepneys were granted their Certificates of Compliance by the Department of Transportation in October 2019. Finally, in 2019 alone, HARI inaugurated five dedicated CV dealerships.

“For 2020, you can trust that Hyundai will continue to exceed customer expectations with newer models, innovations in After-Sales, and more convenient ownership, and relevant CSR engagement through H.A.R.I Foundation, Inc.’s flagship programs in health, education, and environmental sustainability. Ultimately, we want to be an integral part of our customers’ lives as we give them better products, better services, and better journeys,” Agudo said.

ON JAN. 21, 2020, Isuzu Philippines Corporation donated one unit of Isuzu D-MAX 4x4 LS MT to the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), Laguna Chapter, at the IPC Plant in Biñan Laguna, for the Taal Volcano eruption relief efforts mobilization. Additional supplies were also provided such as bottled water, toiletries, clothes and other essentials to alleviate the condition of evacuees and affected individual.

affected by the Taal Volcano eruption.

During the interview, IPC Executive Vice President Shojiro Sakoda said, “Isuzu D-MAX 4x4, being a utilitarian pick-up, is surely essential in bringing relief goods and aiding victims of Taal Volcano eruption.”

“Isuzu D-MAX is a combination of power and performance and is equipped with Blue Power technology that can withstand any roads, from the

The donation is earmarked to support Philippine Red Cross’s mission to provide life-saving services that protect the life of Filipinos in vulnerable situations.

IPC is delighted to be able to help bridge volunteers like PRC, and people

toughest terrain to the slickest street all in style and comfort,” he added.

Local residents are encouraged to support humanitarian organizations and to do initiatives in helping the victims of the recent eruption.

Rain of discounts at Ford Philippines AFTER the ashfall comes the avalanche of discounts being made available to Ford customers affected by the Taal Volcano eruptions.

Discounts cover parts and labor for customers of Ford dealerships in Luzon who have been affected by the recent Taal Volcano ashfall, Ford Philippines said.

Customers who will bring their affected Ford vehicles to a Ford dealership in Luzon starting January 22 to February 29, 2020 can avail of a 20 percent discount on labor and parts

such as wiper blades, air filter, and cabin/pollen filter.

Participating Ford dealerships include Alabang, Balintawak, Commonwealth, EDSA Greenhills, Global City, Libis, Makati, Manila, Manila Bay, Marikina, and Quezon Avenue in Metro Manila and Metro Baguio, Batangas, Baliuag, Cabanatuan, Cainta, Calamba, Cavite, Clark, Dagupan, Ilocos Norte, Isabela, Laguna, Malolos, Marilao, Naga, Pampanga, Sta. Rosa, Subic, and Tarlac in Luzon.

Ford Philippines Managing Director PK Umashankar breaks the cover off the newest workhorse in the Ford stable—Ranger FX4—during the launching rites held in the Mall of Asia concert grounds in Pasay City. Ey Acasio