Manila Standard - 2020 February 10 - Monday

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BACK FROM WUHAN.

A medical team (wearing white gowns) specializing in infectious diseases led the ‘welcoming’ party for the returning Overseas Filipino Workers from Wuhan in Hubei province in China, while other personnel from the Health department wait on the ground. Inset photo shows the OFWs readying to embark from the plane. The government has ordered the repatriation of OFWs from Wuhan, where the novel coronavirus originated. DFA Photos

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 361 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

NCoV death toll in China hits 800 THE death toll from the novel coronavirus surged past 800 in mainland China on Sunday, overtaking global fatalities in the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, even as the World Health Organization said the outbreak appeared to be “stabilizing.”

With 89 more people dying—most in Hubei, the province at the center of the outbreak—the toll is now higher than the 774 killed worldwide by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome nearly two decades ago, according to figures from na-

tional health authorities.

The latest data came after the WHO said the last four days had seen “some stabilizing” in Hubei but warned it was “very early to make any predictions” and the figures can still shoot up.

Almost 37,200 people in China have now been infected by the new coronavirus, believed to have emerged late last year in a market that sold wild animals in Hubei’s capital Wuhan, before spreading across the nation and to other countries.

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29 adults, infant quarantined • Repatriates now in New Clark City • Palace, DILG ease fears of infection • Tarlac mayor reverses stand

ASF decimates Bulacan farm; test on 4 others CITY OF MALOLOS, Bulacan—Some 900 pigs were culled Saturday in a farm in Norzagaray after being tested positive for African swine fever (ASF).

The ASF-infected pigs were owned by a certain Edwin Ong of the Eco Agri Farm located in Barangay FVR, Norzagaray. The hogs were also buried at the farm.

Agapito Pascual, municipal agriculturist of the local government of Norzagaray, said the pigs were electrocuted before being buried.

“The way of the pigs’ depopulation underwent proper protocols and procedures wherein after the culling was performed, the whole farm was disinfected to control the virus,” Pascual said.

Four more backyard raisers covered in the one-kilometer radius will undergo a series of tests as part of the protocol.

Dennis Arceo, a staff of the Norzaragay Municipal Office, said Mayor Fred Germar immediately sent a group to inspect the pigs in the area after they started showing symptoms of ASF. Arceo said the local government of Norzagaray and the provincial government of Bulacan are now conducting preventive measures in the areas.

“We are also continuously monitoring other farms and backyard raisers that are likely to be affected by the ASF,” Pascual said.

Phivolcs: Taal threat persists

By Rio N. Araja THE Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology is not yet ruling out a possible “eruptive activity” at the main crater of Taal Volcano.

In an 8 a.m. bulletin on Sunday, the agency said the activity in the main crater was still characterized by the moderate emission of white to dirtywhite steam-laden plumes rising 200 meters to 300 meters before drifting southwest.

There was also an “ongoing” weak steaming from fissure vents along the Daang Kastila trail rising 10 meters to 20 meters high.

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By MJ Blancaflor, Rey E. Requejo and Romeo Dizon

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HE Palace on Sunday assured the public that measures were in place to prevent the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus (nCoV), following the arrival of a planeload of Filipinos from China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

On Feb. 7, the President ordered the DFA to send official notice to the United States of Manila’s decision to terminate the VFA. The President brought up the VFA after the US canceled the visa of Senator Ronald dela Rosa, President Duterte’s former chief of police.

Some senators—including Senate

After an early morning arrival Sunday, the 30 repatriated Filipinos including an infant, and the government personnel sent to fetch them began a 14day quarantine at the Athelete’s Village in New Clark City, in Capas, Tarlac.

All safety protocols were being implemented in the government-owned compound, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said, and the Department of Health was ready to address the concerns of the nearby communities which had opposed setting up quarantine facilities near them.

Panelo said the President was disturbed by the nCoV’s impact on the economy, after his economic team said the spread of the disease could disrupt tourism and international trade.

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia had said the novel coronavirus could cost the country P133 billion if the crisis lasts until December.

China was the Philippines’ second top source for tourists at 1.63 million

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SCHOOL’S OUT. St. Paul’s College in Pasig City has suspended its classes for 10 days as a preventive measure against the spread of the dreaded novel coronavirus. This scenario is repeated in several schools in the country as fear of the virus has spread throughout all aspects of society. Manny Palmero

With or without VFA, Pinoys can live—Koko

By Macon Ramos-Araneta “WE SHOULD not be afraid because we can live without the VFA.” This was the assessment offered by Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, who chairs the Senate foreign affairs committee, after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs to notify Washington that the country is terminat-

ing the Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States.

Pimentel said the country will survive even without the VFA because these are just “rules for visiting American soldiers” in the Philippines.

Pimentel said he supports the President’s decision to terminate the VFA since it was a one-sided agreement in favor of the Americans.

Oil price rollback on 4th straight week

By Alena Mae S. Flores MORE oil distributors are expected to cut pump prices by P0.60 per liter of diesel, P0.30 per liter of gasoline and P1.40 per liter of kerosene starting today to reflect the movement of world oil prices.

The cuts will be the fourth consecutive weekly price rollbacks.

Seaoil Philippines said it will cut pump prices effective at 6 a.m. today following the move of rival Phoenix Petroleum

Philippines to cut prices at 6 a.m. on Saturday.

The other oil companies are also expected to announce their price cuts today.

“For the fourth consecutive week, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines will decrease the prices of diesel by P0.60 per liter and gasoline by P0.30 per liter effective 6 a.m. of 08 February 2020,” Phoenix Petroleum said.

Last week, the oil firms cut the price of Next page

Wild Wild West star passes on, 84 ROBERT Conrad, an American actor known for starring in the 1960s Sci-fi western TV series “The Wild Wild West,” died aged 84, US media reported Saturday.

“He lived a wonderfully long life and while the family is saddened by his passing, he will live forever in their hearts,” Jeff Ballard, a spokesman for Conrad’s family, told People magazine Next page

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News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Narco video’ haunts Leni, Trillanes

By Rey E. Requejo

But sources in the department said the prosecutors recommended the criminal indictment of former Senator Antonio Trillanes IV and those involved in the preparation and circulation of the controversial “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos―including Peter Joemel Advincula who confessed that he was the narrator in the video who called himself “Bikoy.”

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said Sunday the panel of prosecutors came out with its resolution on the case on Friday afternoon, but the details of the resolution would be officially released today, Monday.

Under the rules, the resolutions of the panel of prosecutors could still be appealed before the Office of the Justice

secretary through a petition for review.

The charges filed against Robredo and the others stemmed from the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos that features the hooded “Bikoy” and accuses a number of personalities―including the members of the family of President Rodrigo Duterte―of involvement in the illegal drugs trade in the country.

The complaints were filed on July 18, 2019 by the Philippine National PoliceCriminal Investigation and Detection Group-National Capital Region Field Unit.

The PNP-CIDG submitted the sworn statement of Advincula detailing his supposed meetings with the respondents and how they planned the so-called “Project Sodoma.”

Project Sodoma allegedly sought to publicly discredit the President and destabilize his administration by implicating him, his family and other government officials in the illegal drug trade.

The Project, which was planned as early as August 2018, was also intended allegedly to derail the senatorial bid of the candidates under the Hugpong ng Pagbabago in the last election and at the same time prop up those from the opposition Otso Diretso.

“As averred by Mr. [Peter Joemel] Advincula who was also named in the complaints and would be utilized as state witness and who admitted he was the ‘‘Bikoy’’ in the videos, he was engaged by the respondents to spread lies against the President, his family and close associates―making them appear as illegal trade protectors and how they earned staggering amounts of money, the complaints said.

The complaints also alleged that the circulation of the series of videos was part of a destabilization plot meant “to agitate the general population into making mass protest with the possibility of bringing down the President from the position

29 adults,...

time that we must help each other. There is no risk to the residents of Capas, Tarlac. How could that be when they will not even see a glimpse or shadow of our OFWs in the Athletes’ Village,” he said.

The Athlete’s Village was used for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.

Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan reportedly appealed to DOH and President Rodrigo Duterte to look for another place for the repatriated Filipinos.

Año, however, said there is nothing to worry about since protective measures have been implemented and those who will be quarantined for 14 days have no symptoms of nCoV. “Upon arrival, they will be subjected to another screening and anybody that would manifest symptoms will be brought straight to the hospital. In other words, only those persons without symptoms or manifestations shall undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine,” he said.

The DOH as well as the Bases Conversion and Development Authority earlier assured that all precautionary measures are in place to ensure the safety and protection of residents in Capas, Tarlac.

The Health department will be in charge of the management of the entire quarantine process for the repatriated Filipinos from Wuhan, a city in central China province of Hubei.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said all DOH hospitals in the region will be in charge of the deployment of medical teams to the quarantine area.

Upon completion of the 14-day quarantine period, the discharge of the repatriated Filipinos will be facilitated by the Overseas Workers Welfare Authority in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs.

On board three buses, the repatriated Filipinos were brought to New Clark

City at 8 a.m., following their arrival by plane.

A five-member medical team accompanied the repatriated Filipinos and the plane crew, which will also undergo the mandatory quarantine.

The DFA made an initial call for the repatriation of the Filipinos in China on Jan. 28.

The DFA earlier said that an estimated 50 Filipinos were expected to take the mercy charted flight from Wuhan City, but only 30 of them boarded the plane, with one child among them.

The repatriated Filipinos did not go through the Clark International Airport terminal, but went straight to the Haribon Hangar of the Philippine Air Force.

Dr. Cesar Cassion, head of the Central Luzon Development Medicine in the region said the repatriated Filipinos were safe in New Clark City.

The workers underwent three tests before boarding, during the flight, and upon arrival to screen for any symptom of the virus.

Government officials emphasized that the workers quarantined did not test positive for nCoV but were under observation.

In an interview over dzIQ on Sunday, Panelo said the government will shoulder the costs of tests, medicines, confinement, and all hospital-related expenses for patients being treated in government hospitals and facilities.

He said the 30 Filipinos who just returned home from China’s Hubei province would also receive appropriate care free of charge.

In a post on the town’s Facebook page, Catacutan welcomed the arrival of the repatriated Filipinos, reversing his initial opposition to locating the quarantine facilities within the municpality.

“We in Capas, offer our home, our

in December.

Li Wenliang was working as an ophthalmologist in Wuhan when he observed patients with symptoms similar to those of the deadly SARS pathogen.

The doctor, 34, died early Friday, Wuhan Central Hospital said in a post on China’s Twitter-like Weibo platform, after contracting the virus while treating a patient.

The government responded by sending its anti-graft body to launch an investigation.

In Hong Kong, China’s semi-autonomous southern financial hub where 299 people were killed by SARS, authorities on Saturday imposed a quarantine on people traveling from the mainland.

The city, with 26 confirmed cases, has been hit by a wave of panic-buying.

Similar scenes played out in Singapore as shoppers cleared grocery store shelves after the city-state, which has 33 confirmed cases, raised its alert level over the virus.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned against misinformation, saying it made the work of health care staff harder.

“We’re not just battling the virus, we’re also battling the trolls and conspiracy theorists that push misinformation and undermine the outbreak response,” he said.

Hungarian police said Saturday they had busted a network of “fake news” websites that reported alleged coronavirus-related deaths in the country, which is so far free of cases.

Fearing the virus could cause an economic slowdown in China--the world’s leading oil importer and consumer--a committee appointed by the OPEC club of petroleum-producing countries has recommended cuts in oil output.

Governments have hardened their defenses, with several countries banning arrivals from China while major airlines suspended flights.

New cases have emerged abroad, with five British nationals, including a child, testing positive after staying at the same

ski chalet in France.

Asian cruise ships have also become a focal point.

Sixty-four people on board the Diamond Princess off Japan’s coast have tested positive and the ship’s passengers have been asked to stay inside their cabins to prevent new infections.

Scientists from the United States to Australia, meanwhile, are using new technology in an ambitious, multi-million-dollar drive to develop a vaccine in record time to tackle China’s coronavirus outbreak.

Coming up with any vaccine typically takes years, and involves a lengthy process of testing on animals, clinical trials on humans and regulatory approvals.

But several teams of experts are racing to develop one quicker, backed by an international coalition that aims to combat emerging diseases, and Australian scientists hope theirs could be ready in six months.

“It is a high-pressure situation and there is a lot of weight on us,” said senior researcher Keith Chappell, part of the group from Australia’s University of Queensland.

But the scientist added he took “some solace” knowing several teams around the world were engaged in the same mission.

“The hope is that one of these will be successful and can contain this outbreak,” he said.

But even a timeframe of six months looks agonizingly slow with the virus, believed to have emerged from a market selling wild animals, killing close to 100 people every day in mainland China.

Efforts are being led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, a body established in 2017 to finance costly biotechnology research in the wake of an Ebola outbreak in West Africa that killed more than 11,000 people.

With a mission to speed up the development of vaccines, CEPI is pouring millions of dollars into four projects around the world and has put out a call for more proposals. AFP

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ICE PRESIDENT Leni Robredo, Senator Riza Hontiveros and several former senatorial candidates are expected to be cleared by the Justice department of sedition and other charges in connection with the “Ang Totoong Narcolist” videos.

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visitors, second only to South Korea’s 1.8 million.

In the first half of 2019, Chinese tourists spent $979.4 million or about P51 billion in the country.

Government data also showed that China was the country’s top source of imports, accounting for 19.3 percent of the bill in January to November 2019.

China is also the Philippines’s fourth top export market as its purchases accounted for 12.8 percent of the receipts in the same period.

“All of us should hope that we can stop the spread of this disease,” Panelo said.

Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday sought to allay fears of local government officials and residents, saying preventive measures are in place at the Athletes’ Village inside the New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac.

Año made the assurance as 30 Filipinos from Wuhan City, ground zero of the 2019 novel coronavirus acute respiratory disease, arrived on board a chartered flight at the Haribon Hangar in Clark Air Base on Sunday.

Upon their arrival, the Filipinos were transferred from the plane into their dedicated buses, and brought to the Athlete’s Village, which will be their home for the 14-day quarantine period.

“While we take note of the sentiments of Capas, Tarlac LGU and its residents, the national government has already decided out of necessity and of national interest to use the Athletes Village in NCC,” Año said.

“They are also Filipinos who deserve our help and understanding. This is the

NCoV...

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The epidemic has prompted the government to lock down whole cities as anger mounts over its handling of the crisis, especially after a whistleblowing doctor fell victim to the virus.

With much of the country still not back at work after an extended Lunar New Year holiday, cities including Shanghai have ordered residents to wear masks in public, and many regions far from Hubei are allowing only one person per household to go out every two days to buy supplies.

Michael Ryan, head of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, said the “stable period” of the outbreak “may reflect the impact of the control measures that have been put in place.”

The first foreign victim in China was confirmed this week when a 60-year-old American diagnosed with the virus died on Thursday in Wuhan, according to the US Embassy.

A Japanese man in his 60s with a suspected coronavirus infection also died in a hospital in the city.

The only fatalities outside the mainland have been a Chinese man in the Philippines and a 39-year-old man in Hong Kong.

The new virus is from the same family of coronaviruses as SARS although the mortality rate is lower.

According to official figures, around 2,650 people have been cured and discharged around the country—600 more of them on Saturday.

China drew international condemnation for covering up cases in the SARS outbreak whereas the measures it has taken this time have been praised by the WHO. But anger over Beijing’s approach erupted on social media this week after the death of a Wuhan doctor who police silenced when he raised the alarm about the threat of an emerging virus like SARS

and allow Vice President Robredo to instantly succeed” and “help bring down the popularity of the administration senatorial candidates and in turn boost the campaign of Otso Diretso candidates for the 2019 mid-term elections.”

Besides Robredo, Advincula and Trillanes, the other respondents named in the complaint included Senators Risa Hontiveros and Leila de Lima.

Also named respondents in the complaint were losing “Otso Diretso” 2019 senatorial candidates former Magdalo party-list Rep. Gary Alejano, former Solicitor General Florin Hilbay, Robredo’s election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, former Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino, former Quezon Rep. Lorenzo Tañada III and Samira Gutoc-Tomawis.

Also included in the complaint were Archbishops Pablo Virgilio David and Socrates Villegas, Bishop Teodoro Bacani and Honesto Ongtico, Bro. Armin Luistro and clergy members Robert Reyes and Albert Alejo, former Integrated Bar of the Philippines president Abdiel Dan Elijah Fajardo, incumbent IBP president Egon Cayosa, lawyers Minerva Ambrosio, Theodore Te, Serafin Salvador and Philip Sawali.

sympathy, and prayers for the health of our fellow Filipinos and we hope there will already be a permanent solution for the nCoV,” Catacutan said in a statement.

“We Filipinos, always help each other and nothing can change that. Only wrong information can destroy a relationship as strong as what Filipinos have,” the mayor said.

He said the lack of coordination by the national government triggered the opposition to the quarantine facility.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra, meanwhile, said a court will have to decide whose interest takes precedence, if the town files a legal challenge to the quarantine facility.

“Any official or resident of Capas with interest in business, tourism, investment, or health may file a complaint to enjoin the use of the Athletes’ Village as a quarantine facility,” Guevarra said in a text message sent to reporters.

“But the court will weigh their private or community interests against the wider public health and social welfare considerations. In the law on injunctions, this is known as the doctrine of relative inconvenience,” he said.

Guevarra made the statement after Capas Vice Mayor Rodriguez said that he along with other members of their municipal council are planning to file a petition for a court injunction against the use of New Clark City as a quarantine facility.

While the local government may have agreed to allow the first batch of OFWs from Wuhan, China, consisting of 30 people, to be quarantined for 14 days at the NCC, they hope to gain the court’s support in stopping the future batches of repatriated Filipinos from novel coronavirus-stricken areas in China from staying at the NCC.

With...

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President Vicente Sotto III and Senators Panfilo Lacson and Franklin Drilon-filed a resolution appealing to the President to reconsider his decision until after the Senate has finished “a review and impact assessment” of the termination.

The United States has not given any explanation of its cancellation of Dela Rosa’s visa, but many believe it is related to a US Senate resolution giving the US executive branch the power to impose travel restrictions on alleged human rights violators anywhere in the world.

When he was chief of the Philippine National Police, Dela Rosa was the architect of Duterte’s bloody war on drugs that has claimed thousands of lives.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Sunday the President would direct Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea to instruct Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. on Monday to give formal notice to the US about the Philippines’ decision to abrogate the VFA. On Friday night, Panelo said the President had already done so, triggering a denial by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, who called the spokesman’s announcement a “fake news.”

Panelo, however, insisted that the President is determined to scrap the VFA despite the Senate’s ongoing review.

The VFA, which will be deemed terminated 180 days after the Philippines sends a formal notice to the US, allows the US government to retain jurisdiction over their military personnel accused of committing crimes in the country, unless the crimes are “of particular importance” to the country.

Also on Sunday, Panelo said Duterte has not yet talked to US President Donald Trump about the decision.

He added that the President would not be the one to initiate such a discussion.

Pacquiao prods Duterte: Review, not terminate, PH-US pact DESPITE Malacañang’s announcement that President Rodrigo Duterte has already ordered the Department of Foreign Affairs to send a formal notice to the United States government for the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement, Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao said there is still time for the President to reconsider his decision.

According to Pacquiao, the President must weigh the cost and benefits of the VFA before making any decision to rescind a treaty which can have an irreversible implication on the country’s security.

Pacquiao said that while he understands the sentiment of President Duterte especially with the apparent dislike of some US senators with the way he is running state affairs, he should still look at the “bigger picture” and consider the far-reaching consequences of abrogating a very important defense pact with a longtime ally like the US. “Obviously, there are certain US senators who are seeking attention because of the upcoming US elections this year. We should not allow the VFA and our relations with the US become a collateral damage in the upcoming US elections,” Pacquiao noted.

The boxing-icon-turned politician said that he truly admires President Duterte’s hardline position in rebuking what he perceives as America’s meddling on the country’s affairs but this is no sufficient ground to turn our back on a very important international security pact.

Phivolcs:...

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Moreover, the sulfur dioxide emission had an average of 116 tons on Feb. 8.

The Taal Volcano Network recorded 115 volcanic earthquakes, including two low-frequency events and five harmonic tremors having durations of one minute to four minutes.

“These earthquakes signify magmatic activity beneath the Taal edifice that could lead to eruptive activity at the main crater,” the bulletin says.

PHIVOLCS maintained its Alert Level 3 over the volcano.

Oil...

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gasoline by P1.60 per liter, diesel by P2 per liter and kerosene by P2.45 per liter.

On Jan. 28, most of the oil firms cut the price of diesel by P0.40 per liter, Kerosene by P0.35 per liter and gasoline

by P0.30 per liter.

From Jan. 18 to 21, most of the oil companies also cut the price of gasoline

by P0.85 to P0.90 per liter, diesel by P1.70 per liter and P1.60 to P1.65 per liter of kerosene.

World oil prices continue to take a hit amid the coronavirus outbreak that has gripped China and the rest of the world.

The coronavirus scare is seen to affect demand from China, the world biggest consumer of oil.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies have yet to announce additional production cuts that would prop up oil prices.

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After working as a milkman and attempting to hit it big as a nightclub singer, Conrad’s career took off in 1959 when he joined the cast of the TV show “Hawaiian Eye” after moving to Los Angeles, People reported.

Between 1965 and 1969, he was cast as Secret Service agent James T. West on “The Wild Wild West,” in which he, along with his partner Artemus Gordon, explored the western United States during the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant.

The series served as the basis for the 1999 film adaption “Wild Wild West”, a critical flop among the most expensive movies ever made, in which Will Smith stars as West and Kevin Kline as both Gordon and Grant.

Conrad reportedly labelled the remake “pathetic” when he unexpectedly appeared at the 2000 Razzies—an annual celebration of Hollywood’s worst productions— to accept the Worst Picture award, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In the seventies, he went on to star in “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, a World War Two drama, as real-life pilot Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington. He was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in 1978. AFP

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2019

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Gov’t to receive P350-m funds for new toilets

By Rio N. Araja THE government will receive at least P350 million this year to be able to put up thousands of new “sanitary toilet facilities” to help prevent the resurgence of the polio virus, according to Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor.

He said the fresh funding is lodged in the Department of Health’s budget in the 2020 General Appropriations Act, but the money would only be released directly to the Department of Public Works and Highways.

“The DPWH will construct the toilets based on a list of locations identified and specifications prescribed by the DoH,” he said.

Defensor is the vice chairperson of the House committee on health.

“Assuming the money is spent as it should be, based a fixed cost of only P20,000 per toilet, the P350 million should be enough to build some 17,500 new public toilets in most needed areas,” he said.

In another development, House Assistant Majority Leader and Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo reiterated her call for an investigation into the implementation of the DoH’s anti-polio vaccine program after a new case was recorded last month in District 2 despite the nationwide polio vaccination.

“Many questions about the program needs to be answered after a child in Quezon City was recently diagnosed to have polio despite having vaccination,” she said.

“I would like to know from DoH how many polio viruses out there are threatening our children and how many vaccines do they have to protect them,” she added.

CPP-NPA top officials nabbed in Bohol AUTHORITIES arrested on Saturday a couple suspected as high ranking officials of the Communist Party of the PhilippinesNew People’s Army in a joint military and police operation in Getafe, Bohol.

Lt. Col. Allan Tabudlo, commander of the 47th Infantry (Katapatan) Battalion based in Tubigon, Bohol, said in a statement that the couple, Rey Camacho, 51, and his wife, Carmelita, 48, were arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest for murder issued by the Regional Trial Court of Bohol.

Tabudlo said Rey, who carries four aliases - Jeboy, Teddy, Chad and Val - works as finance staff of the CPP-NPA, while Carmelita, alias Maureen or Inday, works as head of the National Commission Special Operations Group (NCSOG).

Tabudlo said the joint forces cornered the couple at a communist terrorist group lair in Tulang village of Getafe when authorities served the warrant at 5:30 a.m. on Feb. 8.

Camacho was the former secretary of the Komiteng Rehiyon Central Visayas– Regional Operational Command, then later installed as its commander, before he became the Regional Finance Tax Implementing Group head for Negros, Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor. At the moment of his arrest, he was identified as the National Finance Commission staff of the CPP-NPA. His wife Carmelita became NFC staff before she joined the special operations group in charge of the three regions of the Visayas.

Through a search warrant served simultaneously with the arrest warrant, authorities recovered two laptop computers, three handguns (two .38 calibers and one .45 caliber) and ammunition, two hand grenades, one hard case of various explosives, detonating cords and blasting caps, 15 cellular phones, several flash drives, subversive propaganda documents, sacks of butane and other camping paraphernalia, the military statement said.

YOUTH RALLY. A youth group staged a protest rally in front of Commission on Higher Education office in Quezon City against the impending tuition and other fees increase for next school year.

Lawmakers seek probe of DICT Rio’s plaints

By Rio N. Araja

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T LEAST 17 lawmakers from Congress want an investigation into the allegations of resigned Department of Information and Communications Technology undersecretary Eliseo Rio that he was kept out of the loop on the agency’s P300-million intelligence fund.

Minority Leader and Manila Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr., along with Senior Deputy Minority Leader and Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate Jr., spearheaded the filing of House Resolution No. 702, urging the committee on good government and public accountability to look into Rio’s claim on the supposed lack of transparency in the disbursement of money in confidential funds for surveillance, a function beyond the mandate of the DICT. “With the current expose’ of Under-

secretary Rio of suspected misuse of such fund, it behooves upon Congress to exercise its oversight powers and scrutinize how these funds are being expended,” the resolution read.

The other authors include Representatives Ferdinand Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat (Bayan Muna party-list), France Castro (Alliance of Concerned Teachers Party-list), Arlene Brosas (Gabriela Party-list), Sarah Elago (Kabataan party-list), Christopher Belmonte (Quezon City), Bayani Fer-

nando (Marikina City), Jose Singson Jr. (Probinsyano Ako Party-list), Gabriel Bordado (Camarines Sur), Stella Luz Quimbo (Marikina City), Sergio Dagooc (APEC party-list), Lawrence Fortun (Agusan del Norte), Ma. Victoria Umali (A-Teacher Party-list), Irene Gay Saulog (Kalinga Party-list), and Godofredo Guya (Recoboda Party-list).

On Sunday, Rio said he resigned from his post because he was being “sidelined and kept out of the loop,” adding he felt he was no longer needed at the DICT. He earlier said he was not convinced of the explanation of the DICT that the P300 million was used for cybersecurity purposes.

Abante and his co-authors maintained that security surveillance is not part of DICT’s mandate, saying the agency “is mandated to ensure the rights of the individuals to privacy and confidentiality of their personal information.”

THE militant labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno on Sunday welcomed the Department of Labor and Employment Administrative Order creating a Technical Working Group on the preparation for the International Labor Organization Tripartite Mission with respect to the Philippine government’s adherence to ILO Conventions 87 and 98 which it ratified.

By Rio N. Araja THE Presidential Commission on Urban Poor on Sunday attributed the “peaceful and humane” eviction of informal settlers in Metro Manila as well as the demolition of their illegal structures to its 200 predemolition conferences in 2019.

Alvin Feliciano, PCUP chairman and chief executive officer, said the “key” to their success in convincing informal settlers to leave danger zones and to avoid violence to erupt is the conduct of the pre-demolition conference, a must before any eviction.

The conference refers to a consultation among all stakeholders designed to ensure that the provisions of Republic Act 7270 or the Urban Development and Housing Act are strictly complied with.

Since Feliciano’s assumption into office, the PCUP has aimed to lower the incidence of demolitions, particularly among concerned informal settlers not getting any assistance from the government.

“We wanted to ensure that they are protected under the law,” the PCUP chief said.

Militants slam arrest of five activists, infant

By Willie Casas

MANHUNT. Government forces used coconut trees as cover during a clash with members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in an open field at a remote village of Pikit, North Cotabato that left several radicals injured on Saturday (Feb. 8). Soldiers also recovered bombmaking components, personal belongings and mobile phones (inset) from the fleeing terrorists. (Photo courtesy of 7IB)

KMU backs creation of TWG for ILO Tripartite Mission

By Willie Casas

PCUP holds pre-demolition conferences

“We take notice and are concerned, however, that the DOLE excludes workers in the composition of the TWG,” said the KMU in their statement.

On the other hand, the KMU urged DOLE to include workers in the TWG in the spirit of “tripartism,” and being the direct victims of violations on the ground.

The KMU said the TWG should frame the conduct and Terms of Reference of the Mission in such a way that it

is inclusive, transparent and sensitive to the needs and interests of the workers.

“We are hoping the ILO HLM to shed light on the numerous violations of workers’ rights in the Philippines such as killings, arbitrary arrest and detention, harassment and threats, intervention in union affairs by security forces and ultimately the violation of the fundamental rights to freedom of association and self-organization, as provided

in the aforementioned Conventions, including but not limited to the right to form unions and air their grievances through CBA, protests and strikes,” said the KMU. The KMU vowed to continue to fight for trade union rights and basic human rights.

“We shall remain vigilant until the full realization of our demands for accountability and justice for the workers,” the labor organization said.

SEVERAL militant organizations on Sunday condemned the latest assault on the people’s movement by the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, this time, by the wholesale arrest of five activists and an infant in Tacloban City of the Eastern Visayas region.

The groups identified those arrested as Marissa Cabaljao, a leader of the People’s Surge group of victims of typhoon Yolanda, Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a community journalist of Eastern Vista, Alexander Abinguna of human rights group Katungod Sinirangan Bisayas, Mira Legion of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan Eastern Visayas and Marielle Domequil of Rural Missionaries of the Philippines.

They were arrested after a raid on their shared office in Brgy. 77, Tacloban City between 1 a.m to 2:30 a.m., February 7. The raid was conducted by elements of the Philippine National Police led by a certain Lt. Col. Pedere.

According to initial statements by those arrested, police brought them out of their rooms and planted at least two handguns, a machine gun and materials for an improvised explosive device.

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Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Precautionary measures ONE has to take every precaution possible when it comes to public health.

Last Feb. 1, the President directed the Bureau of Immigration and the NAIA management to disallow the entry of all visitors coming from China and its special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Correspondingly, we at MECO in Taiwan had an emergency meeting to draft measures in order to prevent the influx of travelers who had visited China, Hong Kong and Macau, then travel to our country through Taiwan.

There are Taiwanese businessmen who have factories in our special economic zones who have supply chain arrangements with factories in the mainland. In fact, many of the components of the global supply chain are sourced from China, and the global economy is now reeling from the effects on production of the lockdown of many cities and provinces in the mainland. But that is another story.

Taiwanese travel to and from the mainland without having to present their passports in China’s airport immigration officers, because such passports are not acceptable under the “one-China” policy. Instead they have travel permits which are recognized by immigration officials.

So we checked with the National Immigration authorities of Taiwan if they keep records of the entry of Taiwanese nationals coming from China. Getting a positive response, we then modified our visa granting rules to require a certification from Taiwan’s NIA before an entry visa to the Philippines is approved. This is an extra hassle for Taiwanese visitors especially at a time when the number of tourists to the Philippines has grown considerably by some 42-percent increase year-on-year, and which we had hoped would continue increasing this year.

But public health in our country,

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

which has already reported three deaths due to the nCov contagion, requires extra precautionary measures.

We cannot compromise on this primary responsibility.

Moreover, we suspended the grant of visas to all Chinese nationals intending to travel to our country from Taiwan.

And all foreigners who have been to the mainland for the last 21 days starting last week as well would not be granted entry visas by MECO. The grant of multiple entry visas has likewise been suspended.

All countries should help each other out instead of isolating one or the other, or condemning an entire race for that matter.

One benefit of this new measures is that Taiwanese would be easily cleared by immigration officers instead of the possibility of being confused for mainland Chinese. With a certification from Taiwan immigration further stamped with the MECO seal, they need not be questioned in Philippine ports of entry.

We were later informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that other representative offices in Taipei followed the new Philippine set of precautionary measures. *** To prevent people from hiding their travel history when visiting the doctor and thus exploiting a loophole in the war on the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic, Taiwanese health authorities announced on Tuesday (Feb. 4) a new feature soon to be added to National Health Insurance smart cards.

The NHI card (equivalent to our PhilHealth card but with more comprehensive coverage and benefits) currently contains the medical data of the user, allowing doctors to access health records and medical history.

T

Heroes and zeroes

HIRTY Filipinos—29 adults and an infant—arrived at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga Sunday from Wuhan, in Hubei province–the epicenter of the novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak that has already killed more than 800 people in China.

Members of the Department of Foreign Affairs and five medical personnel—two doctors, two nurses and one medical technologist—from the Department of Health left Saturday evening on a chartered flight to fetch Filipinos at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport.

In taking on this mission, the entire team and the flight crew have shown great courage and remarkable selflessness—a willingness to put themselves in harm’s way to help their distressed countrymen.

Like the passengers they rescued, the team had to go through screening.

Those who showed flu-like symptoms would be transported in an ambulance to designated hospitals. Those without symptoms would be transported in a bus to New Clark City in Tarlac, where they will be quarantined for 14 days.

The Filipinos returning from Wuhan are staying at Athlete’s Village in New Clark City, which was built in the 2019 for the 30th Southeast AsianGames.

Some agencies have been tasked to disinfect the luggage brought by the

evacuated Filipinos and the vehicles used to transport them.

In contrast to the DFA and DOH team and the flight crew, local government officials of Capas, Tarlac put fear ahead of good will. On Friday, the municipal council unanimously voted to oppose the decision to use New Clark City as a quarantine area.

The vote is moot and symbolic, since New Clark City, which is located in the towns of Capas and Bamban, are under the jurisdiction of the government’s Bases Conversion and Development Authority.

Still, it puts on display an uglier side to the reaction to the nCoV scare.

In voting against the quarantine facility, Capas municipal councilors said the decision made by BCDA and DOH threatens social peace in the area, sowing worry that the virus might spread in nearby residential areas and resettlement areas. One councilor said it wouldn’t be a surprise if Capas turned into another Hubei. Another said the administration should consider looking for a more

isolated venue in a clear example of notin-my-backyard syndrome.

Town officials said they were surprised by the announcement by the DOH that they would use Athlete’s Village as the quarantine facility. Presumably, they would not have opposed the same facility, had it been built on the original site planned, Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.

Capas Mayor Reynaldo Catacutan said they were not informed of the sudden announcement.

“DOH did not at all involve Capas LGU in its last-minute decision for New Clark City to be used as quarantine zone,” he said in a statement read during the council’s emergency meeting.

The local officials have a point—it certainly would have been preferable to involve them in the decision. Yet, we can hardly imagine that they would feel differently even had they been told in advance.

The nCoV outbreak is a national health emergency waiting to happen, and every minute used to prevent it counts.

Sometimes, political niceties must make way for immediate and urgent action, and the campaign to contain the nCoV threat clearly qualifies.

Now, all we can hope for is that the authorities know what they are doing— and that all Filipinos can pull together to avert a national health crisis.

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The Brave 5 plus 3

LAST Saturday, the Department of Foreign Affairs was supposed to have started the repatriation of the first batch of Filipinos from Wuhan City in Hubei Province, the epicenter of the 2019 novel corona virus (nCoV). Consisting of 56 persons—45 Filipinos, seven spouses of different nationalities and four children—they were to land at the Clark International Airport in Pampanga to be immediately put on a 14-day quarantine at the New Athletes Village in Capas, Tarlac. This will be the first major movement of persons under observation (PUOs) from Wuhan and should give us a window into our own capacity to handle this now globally spreading virus.

I hope that lessons learned from this undertaking will now be translated into simple protocols which the Task Force nCoV can disseminate in a proper, responsible and wide manner.

Just an aside. I think it is better we consider those being quarantined or those suspected to be affected by n-CoV as PUOs instead of PUIs (persons under investigation) as has been the usual PUIs since, as one caller in our regular radio program opined, the latter term has a criminal tinge into it.

Which is just as well since those being quarantined are just collateral damage to this increasingly deadly outbreak.

But that will be another story.

In any event, for a while there, Capas municipal officials made a big issue over the designation of the the newly constructed village as the quarantine station. In fact, the latest report we gathered is that the municipal council is poised to file a petition in court seeking a temporary injunction over this medical assignment. They should be told to stand down. While we recognize the apprehensions which these officials may have noting that the athletic village is surrounded by a number of barangays many of whose residents work at the village as cleaners, sweepers and gardeners, among others, there really is no immediate danger to their well being. But—and this is a big, big “but”—the personnel from the Task force nCoV headed by the DoH should take time to ensure that such apprehensions are addressed properly and responsibly.

This NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) mindset, an understandable scare actually, was borne out of sheer ignorance about this new virus. It would not have even emerged at all had the DoH taken time and effort to come out with the simplest of information and protocol addressing this matter from the time it got into the scene last December. Sadly, the department did not even take the steps necessary to prepare and communicate to the public the whats, whys, and wherefores of the nCoV since it was flagged. And when the department finally did move, the air was already swirling with all kinds of “news” including pseudo prescriptions on what to do that made things toxic to say the least. To make matters worse, the information coming out of the DoH and eventually other agencies were so mixed up, a kind of gobbledygook that it took the WHO and a handful of doctors, specially Dr. Bien Manlutac, to calm things down. And so we now have some sort of road map, so to speak, on how the entire nCoV prevention protocol should be carried out.

Thus, this first rescue flight duly worked out by a team of DoH and,yes, DFA personnel, the “Brave 5”, as the Turn to A5

Food-share apps seek to help environment

By Véronique Dupont JACK Convery pops into a London branch of Italian eatery Coco di Mama to grab a cut-price lunch ordered on his smartphone’s food-sharing app Karma.

The 27-year-old Amazon employee —with an eye for a bargain and for helping the environment—uses a mobile phone app that sells surplus food from hundreds of UK restaurants at discounted prices.

“Anything I can do to help the environment and look after the budget as well is beneficial, so yeah, it’s a win-win,” Convery tells AFP after collecting his bag from the counter near Old Street Tube station.

“It ends up working out much cheaper than to go to (British supermarket) Tesco and buy a meal for one,” he adds, noting that he can usually source his daily dinner for about £3.50 ($4.54, 4.10 euros) via the app.

Decomposing food waste is a key source of greenhouse gases—and a staggering one third of all food is thrown away, according to industry estimates.

Environmental danger Amid growing public outcry over

the climate emergency, consumers are switching on to the environmental danger of carbon dioxide and methane emissions.

Britain’s cafes and restaurants are also embracing apps that generate some revenue from rescued food that would otherwise be destined for landfill.

However, some restaurants happily give unsold food to homeless charities on a daily basis.

Swedish start-up Karma was founded in Stockholm in 2016 and its app now helps serve 1.0 million users in Britain, France and home market Sweden. In the UK alone, it offers 2,000 outlets.

Rival app Too Good To Go also offers cut-price meals with a similar approach.

Britain-based Olio, meanwhile, enables its 1.7 million customers worldwide to give their own unused food items free to other users, via collection from their homes.

“We do not plan for the day to end with zero waste, because at the end of every day we want to have some stock on our shelves” for customers not using the apps, says Sara McCraight, head of branding at Coco di Mama.

“When we give to charity partners,

that’s great. But with Karma we get some money recovered; (it) doesn’t cover costs but it helps.”

‘Apps are important’ Joao Campari, food expert at environmental campaigners WWF International, argues that apps are an “important” way to cut waste.

“With food loss and waste creating at least 8 percent of all emissions, it’s vital that as many people as possible reduce their personal food waste,” Campari tells AFP. “To do this, we need tools that are easy to use, and also help raise awareness of the scale of the problem.”

“Most people have a mobile device so apps are an obvious and important way of educating and enabling action.”

Wastage occurs throughout the food supply chain: On farms, during transport, in retail stores like supermarkets.”

“In truth, the best way to cut emissions from food loss and waste is to prevent food being lost on the farm and in the supply chain before it reaches end-consumers,” adds Campari.

Yet in developed nations, most food waste occurs in restaurants and private Turn to A5

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Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Impulsive diplomacy

‘Til death do us part

IT IS a well-known fact that the Philippines is the only country in the world (actually one of two states) where there is no divorce. This strongly affirms that the Philippine is one country where family ties remain the strongest. But a number of members of Congress are attempting to change this. Just last week, the House Committee on Population and Family Relations approved in principle the Marriage Dissolution Bill, a measure equivalent to divorce in other countries.

The Constitution recognize the Filipino family as the foundation of the nation (Sec 1, Art XV), it also affirms that marriage is an “inviolable social institution’ being ‘the foundation of the family” (cf. Sec 2 Act XV). Being so, the existence, conditions, development and preservation of marriage is of particular importance to the general welfare of our nation. The importance of Filipino family provides, not only as a source of emotional support and the context for the development of profound personal relations, but also for many other aspects of social life, from financial support to finding a job. There is no doubt that this high regard for marriage among Filipinos is deeply rooted in the strong Catholic faith, to which an overwhelming 83 percent of Filipinos adhere.

But my personal opposition to the introduction of divorce is not simply a matter of faith to me. My own position against divorce is founded on a strong legal, cultural and sociological basis.

From the very beginning of history, men and women have lived in families and despite shifting cultural and societal realities, the family remains one of the oldest and most important social institutions on earth. In fact, the Family Code of the Philippines refers to it as “the foundation of the family and an inviolable social institution.”

The same Family Code defines marriage as “a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life.” This means that, even from a legal point of view, the permanence of the marital bond is essential to the nature of marriage. However, as the title of the bill itself suggests, divorce provides the means to terminate or dissolve a valid marriage. Therefore, if divorce is introduced as an opt-out from the bonds of marriage, then therefore, marriage would no longer be as we know it.

Therefore, this is why every wellmeaning Filipino, especially Catholics, must firmly object to the introduction of divorce in the country.

Proponents of the divorce bill argue that divorce should be made available for those who would want to have recourse to it, as a “matter of justice” and to

Precautionary...

From A4

However, the cards present no information about their users’ travel history. After the new feature is introduced, around 330,000 Taiwanese who have recently traveled to or returned from China, Hong Kong, and Macau will be made known to physicians. This would reduce misdiagnosis while likewise lowering the risk of physicians getting infected with the 2019 nCoV. Further, starting last Wednesday, the NIA announced that it is temporarily suspending e-Gate services for all foreign visitors effective Friday, Feb. 7.

Instead, all foreign nationals will need to see an immigration officer.

Immigration officers would thus be

The Brave...

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DoH team has been tagged with a DFA contingent of three, thus our heading “The Brave 5 plus Three” for which the country owes a deep sense of appreciation. But in addition to them, we should commend the two Foreign Service personnel based in Shanghai, Mark Anthony Geguerra and Sanny Darren Bejarin, who had earlier coordinated with Wuhan authorities and volunteers from the Filipino community in Wuhan to provide food, clothing and other necessities to the 300 or so Filipinos caught in that city’s lockdown. Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay noted that these officers and the kind souls in the community did a commendable job like the team of experienced volunteers flying with the evacuees via a the chartered Royal Air plane.

Health Undersecretary Gerard Bayugo emphasized that the “Brave 5 plus Three” team was supposed

I am not, however, oblivious to the fact that some marriages are entered into without the necessary maturity or full knowledge and ability to keep such a permanent commitment, or without full free will because of external pressures. This is a sad reality for many families who live in the face of social, cultural, moral and even economic difficulties, brought about by the complexities, demands and challenges of modern life.

It is imperative that accessible and affordable recourse is given to married couples to examine if a marriage if it was less than what the law and our faith views as a valid marriage—a freely chosen commitment between two mature, knowledgeable and capable adults to enter a covenant of love, for life, with priority to spouse and children.

Instead of a Trojan horse that is about to wreak havoc on marriage and the family, the government should instead, first, make civil annulments accessible, efficient and affordable, and second, recognize the civil effects of church annulments.

Unlike divorce, annulments does not harm the institution of marriage. Instead, it strengthens it, by removing the burdens of the marital obligations on couples who for one reason or another (legally referred to as impediments) lack the necessary prerequisites for such relationship to be considered as an valid marriage. Unlike

divorce, annulments do not deny nor violate the permanence of marriage as lifelong covenant.

Contrary to what many people think, annulment does not deny that a relationship existed. It simply affirms that the relationship, which until then was thought to be a marriage, was missing something that the law requires for a valid marriage.

A briefer civil annulment process must instead be introduced, with due consideration for what the law insists about the indissolubility of marriage, including a possible purely administrative process where are obvious grounds for the invalidity of a particular marriage. It must also be made affordable, or possible free of charge or subsidized for those who cannot afford it.

Another important step is to recognize the civil effects of church annulments.

Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez of Tingog Party-List has actually filed House Bill 1157, which proposes the recognition of the civil effects of Church annulments.

Recognizing the civil effects of church annulments provides a procedural alternative to those who are living in less than ideal marital situations, in a manner that conforms to the religious faith of the majority of the Filipino people.

Once this bill becomes a law, a declaration of nullity decreed by the Church will hold as much weight and have the same effect as a civil annulment.

This removes the burden of undergoing the civil annulment process. As a result, Catholics who have sought annulment in the Church should not anymore be “long oppressed by darkness of doubt” over whether their marriages already declared null and void should also be recognized as such by the State.

Annulments, however, are not to be taken lightly, and we must continue to affirm that marriage and the family have both an important role in building up our society. Conjugal life is a common good, that entails both private and public rights and responsibility.

The cohesion, the strength and the efficiency of the family, as a unit of society, constitute the key to and the measure of the greatness of a nation.

The good of our children and the good of society hang in the balance with every decision to declare a marriage null and void. In this context, streamlining the annulment process will address the need to ensure that those who find themselves in such a difficult marital situation will have the benefit of a more efficient and affordable procedure that can help ease their conscience and may permit them to “move on” in freedom from a truly irreparable relationship.

Considering the fact that divorce is legal in almost all countries in the world, proponents of divorce insist that this near universal consensus means that divorce will be a good thing for the Philippines.

But a seemingly unanimous agreement can never make an error right. Lest, we forget, until five centuries ago, almost everyone thought the world was flat.

No to divorce.

able to better screen passengers who have travelled to countries where the nCoV has been highly prevalent in the last month or so. This suspension of electronic arrival service will also apply to all foreign nationals who hold alien residence certificates, such as our contract workers.

These and other pro-active measures are one of many reasons why Taiwan’s response to the coronavirus contagion has been quite adequate and patients infected have been effectively given treatment. Thus far, no death has been reported from the 17 patients detected as having been infected with the new viral strain.

Quick tracking of potentially infected persons and immediate medical response by Taiwanese doctors and hospitals have thus far prevented

deaths, and in most cases, recovery is under way.

It makes one wonder why the World Health Organization has been quite adamant about not allowing Taiwan to participate in the global health organization for political diplomacy reasons. Health is a universal concern, and Taiwan has made several strides in medical science and practice, and has one of the most effective health systems in the whole world.

The pandemic that has gripped the world, and has profound effects not only on people’s health, but with dire economic consequences as well, necessitates an “all hands on deck” response by all countries, helping each other out instead of isolating one or the other, or condemning an entire race for that matter.

to take care of all embarkation and disembarkation requirements including liaison with the Chinese authorities until the transport of the batch of fifty six to the quarantine station in Capas.

The all volunteer team was headed

by Dr. Neptali Labasan, a medical officer assigned to the DoH-Bureau of Quarantine, and composed of Dr. Oliver Macalinao (San Lorenzo Ruiz hospital); nurses Rowell Divinagracia (Philippine Heart center) and Jay Julian (DoH-Bureau of Health Emergency) and medical technologist Elmer Collong (Philippine Heart Center) are all experienced in this kind of undertaking. The DFA Three which accompanied the medical team have yet to be identified but as Dulay noted they also volunteered and are experienced hands.

So strict are the protocols for the operation that even before the group was supposed to have been allowed out of China they had to be subjected to a series of tests by the Chinese authorities themselves. Thus, they will be assessed first before boarding

and if they have been found to have symptoms of the virus they were not allowed to board. Instead, they were to be taken to a hospital in Wuhan.

The last we heard all of the 56 persons were allowed to leave. The same protocol was established in Clark and Capas.

Which should give one and all, specially the residents of the Capas barangays near the quarantine station, a modicum of assurance about the handling of the quarantine operations.

But, as we have been saying all along, this is just the beginning of a, hopefully, not-so-drawn-out operation involving the quarantine of a batch of persons, not just travelling individuals, from which we can finally come out with lessons to assist us in allaying the fears, biases and prejudices of the public at large. Hopefully, lessons learned from this undertaking will now be translated into simple protocols which the Task Force nCoV can disseminate in as proper, responsible and wide a manner as possible to get the entire country on the ball. So we can finally move on.

“liberate” them, especially women from unhappy marriages. But this argument misses the point that laws are by nature normative and never neutral. By preferring one mode of thinking or acting over another, it inevitably chooses a side, a choice that will affect all Filipinos.

Therefore, if divorce is introduced in the guise of guaranteeing couples their “individual freedom”—such will affect every Filipino, whether or not they are for divorce or not.

A divorce law will consequently re-define marriage, divesting it of the stability that stems from its intrinsic permanent nature, and effectively overturning centuries of established institution of marriage in the Philippines. It will result in an increase of divorce cases, which with taxpayers’ money, the government will need to enforce, monitor and regulate for years (even decades)—the costs to be charged not to the divorced couple but through taxes paid by the greater majority of married Filipinos.

Government should instead, first, make civil annulments accessible, efficient and affordable, and second, recognize the civil effects of church annulments.

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THE cancelling of the US visa of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a longtime ally and friend of President Rodrigo Duterte, has led to what presidential spokesman said are official instructions to Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin to send the notice of termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement to the US government.

As I was about to sleep last Saturday night, I received a message sharing an online post from a leading national broadsheet quoting Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana stating that the order to notify US about scrapping VFA is “fake news” and that no official order from the President has been received yet.

Will rational thinking get us out of this diplomatic mess, or will irrational, impulsive, personal whims prevail and seriously damage our national security interests?

Oh well, this confusion about the President and his spokesman’s pronouncements to media has become a very unprofessional and embarrassing pattern that media has rightly reported verbatim and unfiltered. His words, broadcast in all media and confirmed by Panelo, is an irrational pronouncement and now a foreign policy crisis that’s again sending all the wrong signals and harming the country’s global stature, credibility, and most of all, unnecessarily puts at risk our national security.

In the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing held last Thursday (Feb 6), Locsin accurately spelled out the far-reaching impact and an initial assessment on benefits and risks if the VFA is abrogated.

Locsin explained four big benefits that heavily affects areas of Philippine defense: 1) “The VFA ensures operability of other Philippines-US defense arrangements and modalities of cooperation.” These are strategic defense agreements such as: The Mutual Defense Treaty which the VFA directly enables, the Enhanced Cooperation Development Agreement, which is the essence of MDT commitments.

“There would essentially be no practical use for an EDCA in the absence of the VFA, which is the legal framework for the presence of US military personnel in military exercises and actual military responses under the MDT. Without them, the MDT is just a piece of paper.”

Let’s not forget the strong US support of our troops in the Battle of Marawi where the ISIS militants were neutralized.

2) “The VFA allows the US to provide a total-package approach on defense articles that would be compatible with equipment, assets, and systems that are already in place.”

The Armed Forces of the Philippines’ military equipment and systems are “largely patterned from and/or provided by the US.” Security assistance programs from the US totaled $554.55 million from 2016 to 2019 plus after sales maintenance packages. More support is being planned for aircraft, equipment, training and other AFP needs estimated to reach $200 million until 2021 plus access to foreign military financing of more than USD 45 million.

“Without the VFA, the US Departments of State and Defense will be hard put to get funds from the US Congress for FMF and other defense assistance programs to the Philippines.”

3) “The VFA promotes interoperability between the Philippines’ forces and law enforcement agencies and their US counterparts.” No VFA will hit some 319 national security capability enhancement

activities for law enforcement and military already lined up for 2020.

4) “The VFA allows for the continued support for addressing non-traditional security threats.” The joint exercises, training and exchange visits with US forces have been instrumental in fighting “non-traditional” security threats such as terrorism, illegal narcotics, and cyberattacks. During times of disaster, the US has consistently helped in disaster response and rescue. With the number of natural calamities that hit us yearly, this is certainly a big perk.

Locsin further enumerated six (6) other areas that will be put to risk. These are (with my side comments): 1) “The Philippines’ international standing as viewed by other US allied countries is maintained.”—This will obviously be affected because our ability to deliver on military agreements will be in question.

2) “Recent actions by the US have shown its renewed commitment to its defense obligations to the Philippines.”

—The commitment on military response is clear and no longer ambiguous and in writing as declared by US Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper in their 2019 Manila visit. “An armed attack on the armed forces public vessels or aircraft of the Republic of the Philippines in the Pacific, including the South China Sea, would trigger, the mutual defense obligations of the United States under Article 4 of the Mutual Defense Treaty.”

This strong deterrent against any foreign attack will most likely be weakened.

3) “The existing goodwill and friendly relations between the Philippines and the US may be compromised.”—Clearly, the way the President has been barking, he doesn’t seem to care about this.

4) “Philippine-US robust economic relations may be affected.”—Who wants to do business with a party you can’t trust and is perceived to be unstable?

5) “The healthy state of our bilateral trade investments in tourism may be imperiled.”—Millions of jobs will be affected when employment generating investments from the country’s fifth largest investor (P12 billion in 2018) and hitting our labor-intensive tourist industry because of a likely drop of US tourist arrivals (1 million in 2018). The US is also the number one source of official development assistance (ODA) totaling $886.47 in 2018.

6) “US assistance facilitated by VFA may dry up.”—This is again very substantial ($904.93 million from 2016-2019) funding programs such as “scholarships and seminars, and projects on education, health, environment, agriculture, fisheries, trade, labor, and governance.”

Locsin has admitted that there was no consultation with him or even Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana before the sudden order to terminate the VFA was announced. Déjà vu.

I totally agree with his statement that, “Terminating the VFA will negatively impact the Philippines’ defense and security arrangements, as well as the overall bilateral relations of the Philippines with the US and perhaps even at the sub-regional and multilateral level.

Our contribution to regional defense is anchored on our military alliance with the world’s last superpower.”

A Senate Resolution (312) has also been filed by Senate President Vicente Sotto III, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon and Senate Committee on National Defense and Security Panfilo Lacson calling for, “A careful deliberation of these matters must be taken into account before finally arriving at a decision which will ultimately affect not only the security and economy of the Philippines but also that of our neighboring countries in the Asia Pacific region.”

Maybe some of the President’s close whisperers should remind him that all national surveys show that Filipinos gave the United States the highest trust rating compared to his Chinese and Russian preference. It will be interesting how this will play out in the next few weeks. Will rational thinking get us out of this diplomatic mess, or will irrational, impulsive, personal whims prevail and seriously damage our national security interests?

Food-share...

From A4

homes—at a time when an estimated 820 million people in the world do not have enough to eat, according to the World Health Organization.

‘Main competitor is rubbish bin’ “We throw away one third of food we produce each year,” says Tessa Clarke, co-founder of Olio.

“What that means is that roughly 10 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions come from food waste alone, which I like to point out to people is four to five times greater than the carbon emissions that come from the global aviation industry.”

She adds: “I like to say that our main competitor is the rubbish bin.”

While these apps are clearly benefitting consumers and food retailers, experts say they do not address the core problem.

“These are good for raising awareness but they’re not in themselves solutions, because there’s still food surplus or food waste being produced,” mulls professor Martin Caraher at City University London’s Centre for Food Policy.

“With 10 billion meals a year still ending up in the bin, the UK has not closed the door on the food waste problem.” AFP

A6

Manila

Standard

TODAY

Republic of the Philippines GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM Republic of theGSIS PhilippinesBuilding, Financial Center, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City 1308

Romualdez seeks swift passage of DDR bill

GOVERNMENT SERVICE INSURANCE SYSTEM GSIS Building, Financial Center, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City 1308

GSIS ACQUIRED ASSETS FOR DISPOSITION PROVINCE

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas Batangas

District/Subdivision

STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy STO. NIÑO VILLA DE LIPA I, Marauoy

City/Municipality

Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City Lipa City

Property Location

B002 L007 (1112) B002 L014 (1127) B002 L018 B002 L019 B002 L021 (1141) B002 L023 B002 L024 B003 L012 B003 L014 B003 L027 (1075) B003 L032 (1130) B003 L033 (1131) B003 L034 B005 L013 (1035) B006 L015A B008 L030 B009 L012 B018 L002

TCT No.

Lot Area Minimum Acceptable Offer ( ₱ Property Classification Occupancy Status Bidding Date (sqm) )

95874 95881 95885 T-95886 T-95888 T-95890 95891 95911 95913 95927 95932 95933 95934 95968 T-95836 T-96022 T-95851 T-99929

124.00 96.00 60.00 90.00 90.00 90.00 90.00 90.00 80.00 80.00 90.00 60.00 90.00 60.00 120.00 70.00 96.00 72.00

729,200.00 763,400.00 453,000.00 587,640.00 539,667.00 606,000.00 616,500.00 523,534.00 538,334.00 652,000.00 531,600.00 554,000.00 531,600.00 506,000.00 1,103,000.00 623,000.00 732,600.00 724,800.00

House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot House & Lot

Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Unoccupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied Occupied

Place of Bidding

20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 GSIS Batangas Branch 20-Mar-20 Office, Alangilan, Batangas 20-Mar-20 City 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20 20-Mar-20

By Rio N. Araja

T

INGOG Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez urged fellow lawmakers at the House of Representatives and the Senate to swiftly pass a bill that would create a Department of Disaster Resilience.

“We cannot delay it any further.

In the last six months, our country has experienced a series of strong earthquakes in Mindanao, at least two destructive typhoons that hit Bicol and Leyte, and the recent eruption of Taal Volcano displacing thousands of our fellow Filipinos, and destroying their homes and source of livelihood,” she said.

The party-list lawmaker is one of the principal authors of House Bill No. 5989 seeking to create the new department.

During the previous Congress, Romualdez wrote President Rodrigo Duterte asking him to include in his first State of the Nation Address and in his priority legislative agenda the creation of such a department.

“The President did not disappoint this representation. Not

GSIS reserves the right to waive any formality or to reject any or all bids received. The list of properties available for sale may be updated without prior notice.

Pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 10963 or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act, the selling price of GSIS properties above PhP2.5 mil ion shall be subject to twelve percent (12%) Value-Added Tax (VAT).

The down payment (DP) tendered during the actual bidding shall include 12% VAT and the balance of the purchase price shall also include 12% VAT which is to be paid by the winning bidder on the prescribed date indicated on the issued Notice of Approval of Sale.

Example: Posted Minimum Acceptable Offer is PhP2,600,000.00 and the Bid Amount is PhP2,610,000.00 DP

- (10% of PhP2,610,000.00) + 12% = PhP 261,000.00 + 31,320.00 = PhP292,320.00

Balance - (90% of PhP2,610,000.00) + 12% = PhP2,349,000.00 + 281,880.00 = PhP2,630,880.00

GENERAL GUIDELINES: 1.

Disposal of GSIS Investment Properties – Retail Units (IP-RUs) is through a competitive public bidding process. Acceptance of Purchase Offers shall start on the scheduled bidding date and time.

2.

Dropping of sealed bid envelopes will be on the date of bidding from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM only. Opening of Bids will immediately follow. Late bid envelopes will not be accepted.

3.

Disposal of GSIS IP-RUs is on an “As-Is, Where-is” basis. Interested bidders are enjoined to personally inspect the GSIS IP-RUs for sale.

“As-Is, Where-Is” is defined as the present physical condition of the retail unit that GSIS is selling and the buyer is buying, “with all attendant faults, if any,” whether or not immediately apparent and without any express or implied warranty. The buyer takes this condition at his or her own risk, without recourse against the GSIS as to their condition. This includes knowledge by the buyer of the presence of occupants in the retail-unit being purchased.

4.

Strictly, “One bidder, One specific property” only, which means that a bidder cannot submit two (2) or more bids for one property. A bidder may submit one bid each to as many properties as he/she wants to buy, as long as, he/she posts the required 10% bid deposit of the total bid price for each property. The bidder must present valid government IDs upon registration on the date of public bidding.

5.

Pursuant to Republic Act (RA) No. 10963 or the Tax Reform Act for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Act, the selling price of GSIS properties above PhP2.5 million shall be subject to twelve percent (12%) Value-Added Tax (VAT).

6.

Purchase offers are only accepted through CASH basis payable within thirty (30) calendar days from receipt of the Notice of Approval of Sale (NOAS), without privilege of extension.

7.

A downloadable bid form shall be properly accomplished with the following data: A. B. C. D. E. F. G.

8.

Date of Bidding Name of the bidder Exact address of property you are interested to bid Transfer Certificate of Title No. Mode of Payment Amount of bid (in numbers and in words) Signature of the bidder/representative

12.

9.

Bidders’ deposit equivalent to at least 10% of the Bid Offer plus the 12% VAT, if applicable, shall be in the form of a MANAGER’S CHECK payable to the Government Service Insurance System.

10.

The following shall be inserted in a bid envelope: A.

ALL participating bidders must insert: a. properly accomplished BID FORM b. MANAGER’S CHECK payable to Government Service Insurance System representing deposit equivalent to at least 10% of the Bid Offer plus 12% VAT, if applicable.

B.

If the bidder is being represented by an authorized representative, a corresponding Special Power of Attorney (SPA) must also be included

C.

If the bidder is the occupant of the subject property, two (2) proofs of occupancy must also be inserted. These are: a. Barangay certificate that the bidder is occupying or residing in the subject property; and b. Valid Government Issued ID with an address showing that the bidder is currently residing in the subject property, or the Latest Billing Statement under the Bidder’s Name that shows he/she is currently residing in the subject property.

The existing tenant or occupant or his duly authorized representative through a valid Special Power of Attorney (SPA) has the right to match the offer of the declared highest bidder, provided: A. B.

By Willie Casas

The following information shall be clearly written outside the sealed bid envelope (mailing envelope).

He/she participated in actual bidding and Inserted the two (2) proofs of occupancy inside his/her bid envelope as indicated in Number 9 of these guidelines

1 of 1

If the occupant will exercise his/her Right to Match the offer of the declared highest bidder, he/she shall adjust his/her initial deposit based on the bid amount of the declared highest bidder. He/she must also pay the adjusted deposit on the day of bidding.

14.

The declared highest/winning bidder shall submit within fourteen (14) calendar days of the actual bidding, the following documents:

GSIS ACQUIRED ASSETS s2020-0002

A. If the winning bidder is an individual, a. duly accomplished Personal Profile (with attached recent two (2) pieces of 2x2 ID pictures of the winning bidder) b. photocopies of two (2) valid IDs (at least one should be a government-issued ID) B. If the winning bidder is a corporate entity or partnership, a. duly accomplished Company/Corporate Profile b. Registration Certificate from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) c. Articles of Incorporation (if corporation), Articles of Partnership (if partnership), General Information Sheet, and By-Laws duly certified by the SEC d. Current Mayor’s Permit issued by the city or municipality where the principal place of business of the winning bidder is located C. If the winning bidder is a cooperative, a. duly accomplished Company/Corporate Profile b. Cooperative Development Authority Registration or any proof of such registration c. Current Mayor’s Permit issued by the city or municipality where the principal place of business of the winning bidder is located 15.

A Notice of Approval of Sale (NOAS) shall be issued to the highest/ winning bidder on the day of bidding. The Bidder’s deposit of the other non-winning bidder/s shall be returned immediately.

16.

The deposit equivalent to at least ten percent (10%) of the Bid Offer plus 12% VAT. The 90% balance of the bid amount plus 12% VAT shall be paid either in cash or in manager’s check within thirty (30) calendar days from receipt of NOAS, without privilege of extension.

Sample Computation: Bid Amount is PhP2,610,000.00 Deposit - (10% of PhP2,610,000.00) + 12% = Balance - (90% of PhP2,610,000.00) + 12% =

PhP 261,000.00 + 31,320.00 = PhP292,320.00 PhP2,349,000.00 + 281,880.00 = PhP2,630,880.00

17.

Non-compliance with the terms and conditions stated in the NOAS will result in the forfeiture of the bidder’s total deposit.

18.

In case the highest/winning bidder fails to comply with the requirements within the specified time, the said NOAS shall be deemed automatically revoked and the highest/winning bidder shall be informed in writing. The second highest bidder, if any, shall be informed in writing if he/she is still interested to acquire the property. If still interested, he/she must remit the required non-refundable 10% deposit within three (3) working days after receipt of notice from GSIS.

19.

GSIS reserves the right to waive any formality or to reject any or all bids received. The list of properties available for sale may be updated without prior notice.

20.

For bidding inquiries, you may call the Real Property Accounts Management Department (RPAMD) at trunk line numbers (02) 84793600, and (02) 7976-4900 local numbers 3228, 3374, and 3396.

CERTIFICATION I/We certify that the information given and any or all statements made herein are true, correct, complete and updated to the best of my/our knowledge and belief. I hereby certify under pain of perjury that my/our signature/s appearing herein is genuine and authentic. I/We agree that any material misrepresentation or falsity can be used by Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to pursue civil and/or criminal liabilities against me/us.

BID FORM FOR CASH BASIS

I/We hereby certify that I/we have exercised due diligence by verifying all documents pertaining to the above mentioned property with other government agencies (i.e. Registry of Deeds, Assessor's Office, Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, etc.) before tendering this bid offer.

Date of Bidding: Name of Bidder: Are you the present occupant of the property?

Lot No.:

1) to purchase the property an "As-is, Where-is" basis which I/We have inspected the property including whether it is unoccupied or occupied, and as a consequence, I/We will take full responsibility in taking legal measures to eject the illegal occupant/s of the property.

Phase/Area:

Name of Subdivision: City/Municipality:

2) to hold GSIS free and harmless from liabilities of whatever kind and nature arising out of any legal claims which may be filed by third persons involving the property.

Once declared as the winning bidder, I/We will accept the physical and legal condition of the property without seeking assistance from GSIS and waive my/our right to rescind/cancel the sale and ask for refund of payments made to GSIS by reason or any defect therein.

Province:

TCT/CCT No.:

"FOR OCCUPANTS ONLY"

I/We hereby agree to the following:

NO

YES

PARTICULARS OF THE PROPERTY

Date of Bidding: ___________________________________ Name of Bidder/Company/Organization: ____________________________________________________________________________________________

MATCHED BID AMOUNT

(amount in figures)

(amount in words)

PhP Signature:

BID DEPOSIT 10% of Bid Offer:

Date:

By Nash B. Maulana DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao—The National Electrification Administration has upgraded the overall current rating of the Maguindanao Electric Cooperative to Category A. “It has been a long way before Magelco reached the top, Category A, that is, from poor Category D when it was ailing in 2014, and up by two steps to Category B in 2018,” said Magelco generalmanager Ashary Maongco.

In his letter to Manongco, NEA Administrator Eduardo Masongsong said the Board of Administrators has approved Magelco’s adjusted electric cooperative overall performance functional indicators.

The new ratings on the country’s deserving electric cooperatives were adopted as part of NEA’s set of national policies for the year.

Magelco is credited with an overall weighted average of 80 percent, covering financial, institutional, technical and reportorial key performance standards indicators.

12% VAT:

(amount in words)

(amount in figures)

(amount in words)

PhP

THIS PORTION IS FOR GSIS USE ONLY

PhP

BIDDER INFORMATION (Please write in BLOCK LETTERS

At least 10% of the declared highest Bid Amount: ____________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________________ (PhP______________ )

PhP

Remarks:

NOAS No.

At least 10% of the declared highest Bid Amount less: Submitted 10% deposit in Manager's Check

(PhP __ (PhP __

) )

Required Additional deposit equivalent to at least 10% of the Bid Amount (Cash or in Manager's Check): (PhP

)

I/We the occupant exercises the Right to Match the offer of the declared highest bidder. Further, I/We hereby agree to pay the required deposit based on the bid amount of the declared highest bidder on the day of bidding.

My/Our failure to settle the said deposit within the day of the bidding shall automatically cancel and revoke my/our declaration as winning bidder. I/We understand that the first declared highest bidder shall be the new winning bidder.

(Signature over Printed Name of the Bidder/Authorized Representative)

Remarks

*** THIS PORTION IS FOR GSIS USE ONLY *** NOAS No.

2nd Highest Bidder: Page 1 of 2

Magelco gets rating upgrade

Bid Offer of the declared highest Bid Amount: _____________________________________________________ Further, I/we authorize and give consent to collect, store, transmit, use, distribute, disclose, share, retain, (amount in figures) dispose, destroy, and process my/our personal information contained in my/our record or any other form or document that I/we have or will submit to GSIS for the purpose of acquiring a GSIS acquired asset/s as prescribed by the ______________________________________________________________________________________ (PhP______________ ) Republic Act No. 10173 also known as the "Data Privacy Act of 2012" and its implementing rules and regulations.

Property Classification:

BID PROPOSAL

Bid Offer:

Deposit (Managers Check):

THE Filipino Nurses United added its voice to a global call for the World Health Organization to strengthen its interim guidance on infection prevention and control to protect nurses and other healthcare workers who are at the heart of patient care and essential to the response to the novel coronavirus.

The Global Nurses United, an international organization of nurses’ unions in more than 28 countries that counts FNU as an affiliate, formally raised its concern to the international health agency, noting the alarmingly rate that nCoV has spread since it was identified late last year.

In barely two months, the 2019-nCoV has claimed almost 400 deaths and infected more than 30,000 individuals in almost 30 countries, with still no sign of letting up and with no definitive formula of treatment yet developed.

“Nurses, being in the frontline of the battle against this deadly virus, are clearly the most vulnerable in catching infection thus our call for a more prompt, vigorous and unequivocal approach by our respective governments,” Maristela Abenojar, FNU president, said in a statement on Sunday.

“We, nurses in the home front, are actually distressed over the seeming languorous treatment by the government of the pandemic even as the first recorded death outside China has happened in our own backyard. Despite the ignominy of having the first death, incomplete and insufficient protective gears for front-liners, unavailable protective masks for a panicky public, poor coordination between and among government agencies—our highest health official can still smugly assert that the country has not a ‘weak’ public health system. With all due respect, we beg to disagree,” Abenojar added.

Even the private health sector that should complement the public health system are confronted with the same problems of heavy nurse-to-patient load, poor work conditions and subsistence wages resulting to an increasing number of nurses resigning or looking for alternative work, said FNU vice president Consequently, a number of private hospitals are reportedly closing or merging wards because of shortage of skilled nurses.

Revised dated January 31, 2020

Revised dated January 31, 2020

Block/Unit No.:

11.

only did he mention it in his SONA in 2016, he likewise repeated it in his succeeding SONAs in 2018 and 2019,” she said.

She, however, lamented that “three years have gone by, we have yet to realize the long overdue plea of the President for Congress to pass the measure creating the Department of Disaster Resilience.”

“But the need to guarantee disaster resilience has become even more urgent,” Romualdez said.

Assistant Majority Leader and Quezon City Rep. Precious Hipolito Castelo urged Malacañang to certify as urgent the DDR measure.

She said the country needs a “super body” to solely focus on disaster preparedness, response and rehabilitation.

Amid nCoV, nurses seek stronger health measures

13.

Bid proposal shall be written in words and in figures and must not be lower than the Minimum Acceptable Offer of the property. Should there be a difference in the amount in words and in figures, the amount in words shall prevail.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Page 2 of 2

3rd Highest Bidder:

(MS-FEB 8,9 & 10, 2020)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

A7

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Trump wants Pete Rose to get into hall of fame LOS ANGELES, United States— US President Donald Trump has tweeted that disgraced former Major League Baseball star Pete Rose should be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Rose, who is MLB’s all-time hits leader, was permanently banned from American baseball in 1989 for gambling on games as a manager for the Cincinnati Reds.

“Pete Rose played Major League Baseball for 24 seasons, from 19631986, and had more hits, 4,256, than any other player (by a wide margin). He gambled, but only on his own team winning, and paid a decades long price. GET PETE ROSE INTO THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME. It’s Time!” Trump tweeted Saturday.

Last week Rose petitioned Commissioner Rob Manfred to make him eligible for the Hall of Fame, citing the new cheating scandal that has engulfed the Houston Astros.

Rose argued his ban should be lifted because Manfred decided not to punish other players accused of violating rules.

“There cannot be one set of rules for Mr. Rose and another for everyone else,” the petition reads. “No objective standard or categorization of the rules violations committed by Mr. Rose can distinguish his violations from those that have incurred substantially less severe penalties from Major League Baseball.”

Ex-commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti banned Rose after an investigation showed that Rose had illegally bet with bookmakers on MLB games, including on the Reds.

Rose signed an agreement in 1989 accepting an indefinite suspension from baseball, though he did not admit to violating MLB’s Rule 21, which prohibits players from betting on games.

Rose denied for 15 years that he had bet on baseball. But in 2004, Rose admitted in a book, “My Prison Without Bars,” that in the 1980s he had wagered on the game. AFP

Ostapenko beats Kenin in Fed Cup

Leg winners, front row from left: Max Walscheid, Yevgeniy Fedorov and Muhamad Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff join Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatmir bin Mohamad at the winners’ podium. Charles Dantes

Walscheid rules third leg of Le Tour de Langkawi

By Charles Dantes

K

UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—After taking the Malaysian criterium and placing second in the Kerteh stage, Max Walscheid of NTT Pro Cycling Team bagged the third leg of the 25th Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi.

The German sprinter edged out Nippo Delko Provence’s Minali Riccardo and Ahmet Orken of Team Sapura Cycling to secure the top position inside the commercial zone here in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday.

Walscheid bested the peloton in the last two-kilometer mad dash with the time of three hours, 51 minutes and 42 seconds.

Walscheid praised his team’s support during the whole race.

“I am happy with the stage win, it was all thanks to my team for believing me,” said Walscheid

“For tomorrow I will be the one supporting them in climbing the Genting Highlands,” he added.

He also snatched the green jersey (best sprinter) from the leader Yevgeniy Fedorov and moving to the third position from second stage winner Taj Jones in the individual general classification.

While Vino-Astana Motors’ Fedorov intelligently stayed inside the peloton and protected his yellow and white jerseys against close rival Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn of Thailand Continental Cycling team.

Malaysian local hotshot Nur Aiman Mohd Zariff of Team Sapura Cycling wore the red jersey from Resorts World Genting after a solid performance in the climb.

Vino-Astana Motors also fortified the hold of team general classification with a combined time of 29 hours, 27 minutes and 10 seconds with Thailand Continental Cycling team tailing with three seconds difference and Bardiani CSF Faizane’ remained in third with +01:17.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahatmir bin Mohamad graced the sporting event to show his support in the annual cycling tournament in which he is part of its conception way back in 1996.

Today the 121 cyclist will take the most talk about stage, the 156.1-kilometer Putrajaya to Genting Highlands route. The terrain will test the best climbers with its steep hill and slopes.

Adamson University Lady Baby Falcons trip UST, 70-64

Adamson University Lady Baby Falcons team captain Crisnalyn Padilla (5) attempts a running jumper against UST.

ADAMSON University denied University of Santo Tomas its first-ever UAAP High School Girls’ Basketball Finals, taking a testy 70-64 affair, last weekend at the Paco Arena.

The win is the fifth straight in as many games for Finals-bound Lady Baby Falcons, while the Junior Tigresses suffered their second loss for a 3-2 record.

With the game knotted at 58-all midway through the final frame, Adamson went on a 9-0 surge capped by a Mia Miguel put back off of a Joan Camagong miss with 51 ticks remaining.

Camagong still paced the Lady Baby Falcons on a double-double clip of 19 points and 13 rebounds.

Team captain Crisnalyn Padilla also finished with 19 points to go with six assists and three steals while Kat Agojo corralled 16 boards to go along

with nine markers.

Miguel added six points, six rebounds, and two steals.

The game had its tense moments and reached its height when a mad scramble for possession saw Camagong and Claudine Santos receive technical fouls for pushing each other.

“They are young, they are still learning,” Adamson head coach Ewon Arayi said of what happened.

“As much as we wanted them to stay composed, yung coaches din dapat stay composed. Kasi minsan nakakaaffect sa momentum eh.

“Kaya nung huling part namin, especially after the commotion, we stayed composed. Gusto naming ipakita sa mga bata na kahit anong mangyari nasa likod niyo kami, pero sa tamang paraan. Di ba after that commotion, dun kami ulit lumayo?

Ang ganda,” she said.

Danganan ended with 25 points, 11 rebounds, four steals, and two assists to lead UST. Claudine Santos added 20 markers, eight boards, four assists, and four steals.

Later in the day, De La Salle Zobel clinched its second win of the season after completing a season sweep of also-ran Ateneo High School, 88-24.

The victory sent the Junior Lady Archers to a 2-3 win-loss slate, heading into that important match against UST next Saturday. Ateneo is still looking for their first win after absorbing their fifth straight defeat.

Katelyn Cancio was perfect from the field on 8-of-8 shooting all coming from the paint for 16 points while tallying five rebounds, five steals, and five assists.

Chynna Amol had a breakout performance as well, registering 12 markers and nine boards.

Trail Blazers’ Lillard slams NBA referees over blown call LOS ANGELES, United States—Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is prepared to pay the price after making his anger with officials plain in the wake of a 117-114 NBA loss to the Utah Jazz.

Lillard and the Trail Blazers were furious on Friday night after game officials missed a goaltending violation call – an error that cost Portland a chance to tie the game in the final seconds.

With 19.5 seconds remaining in the game in Salt Lake City, Utah’s Donovan Mitchell scored a go-ahead layup.

Lillard tried to answer with a layup at the other end, but Rudy Gobert blocked the shot with 11.2 seconds left.

But Gobert blocked the shot off the glass in what should have been called illegal goaltending.

“It’s an easy call,” Lillard said after the game. “Three referees out there and they don’t call that.”

He was even more incensed after officials confirmed to a pool reporter that

they blew it.

“I don’t want to see no report about ‘Oh we should’ve called it,’ or none of that,” Lillard said.

The defeat could be key for a Portland team chasing the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West—with the San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans breathing down their necks.

“We’re in the playoff race and we need every game we can get,” Lillard said. “And then you want us to walk away and say nothing? Cost us the game, of course we’re going to have something to say about it. That’s BS.” Lillard also took his complaints to Twitter and when one Twitter user noted he can expect a fine from the NBA—which bars public criticism of game officials—his answer was succinct.

“Plenty money,” tweeted Lillard, whose salary is almost $30 million this season. AFP

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard handles the ball during a game against the Utah Jazz at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. AFP

LOS ANGELES, United States—Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko defeated newly crowned Australian Open champ Sofia Kenin 6-3, 2-6, 6-2 on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) to keep Latvia alive in their Fed Cup qualifying tie against the United States.

Ostapenko’s victory, in one hour and 58 minutes at the Angel of the Wings arena in Everett, Washington, cut Latvia’s deficit to 2-1 in the best-of-five match tie.

America’s 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams was up next with a chance to clinch it against world No. 41 Anastasija Sevastova.

If necessary, the tie will go to a decisive doubles match, with a place in the finals in Budapest in April on the line.

The Americans had taken a commanding 2-0 lead on Friday, when Kenin defeated Sevastova and Williams, playing her first Fed Cup match since 2018, beat Ostapenko to take her perfect singles record in the women’s nations tournament to 14-0.

“Honestly it’s very special to play for my country and I was just trying my best,” said Ostapenko, who raced to a 3-0 lead against Kenin and broke her again in the eighth game on the way to winning the first set.

“I was fighting until the last point,” she said. “I knew it was going to be a very tough match and the key thing for me was just to play aggressive.”

That approach may have contributed to her 49 unforced errors. Kenin made the most of them in the second set, fending off a break point in the first game then pulling away to take a 4-0 lead on the way to forcing a third set.

In a third set that featured six breaks of serve, Ostapenko held for 3-1 and, finally, held in the last game, sealing it on her second match point. AFP

Rizal subdues QC in MPBL RIZAL-Xentro Mall rolled to its second-straight victory after a 72-62 conquest of Quezon City-WEMSAP in the 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season last weekend at the Bahayang Pag-Asa Gym in Valenzuela.

Trailing by as much as 10 points in the payoff period, the Capitals pull within one after Joco Tayongtong’s layup off a steal at the 5:05 mark, 5556, but that would be the closest they could get as Rizal pulled all the stops to not lose the lead.

Up by just four with 1:18 left in the game, Jayvee Vidal, Buenaventura Raflores and Rex Leynes each put up a basket to close the doors for any Quezon City comeback.

“Yung puso ng players ko, laban talaga sila kahit na out na kami and it is nice na lumalaban yung players,” said Rizal coach Jayvee Gayoso.

Tied at 32 midway through the third period, the Golden Coolers unleashed an 18-4 blast, capped by Kelvin Gregorio’s teardrop, to build a 14-point margin with 1:18 left, 50-36.

Raflores led the Golden Coolers with 13 points, 12 rebounds, and five steals while Vidal also had a doubledouble with 12 markers and 10 boards.

Kelvin Gregorio posted 12 markers and nine rebounds while Lordy Casajeros chalked up 10 points, eight rebounds, and four assists as Rizal rose to 6-22.

Meanwhile, Ryan Costelo delivered 17 points and six rebounds for the 1020 Quezon City.

The scores: Rizal-Xentro Mall 72 - Raflores 13, Vidal 12, Gregorio 12, Leynes 11, Casajeros 10, Benitez 7, Lacastesantos 6, Saliente 1, Bacay 0, Bautista 0.

Quezon City-WEMSAP 62 - Costelo 17, Tayongtong 11, Mabayo 9, Boholano 8, Olayon 5, Atabay 4, Barua 4, Derige 4, Medina 0, Morillo 0, Santiago 0, Castro 0.

Quarter scores: 16-12, 26-23, 50-40, 72-62.

Sports

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

sports@manilastandard.net

sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

A8

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

NSNU, UST book Final 4 seats in UAAP beach volley NAZARETH School of National University and University of Santo Tomas booked the first two Final Four slots in the girls’ division of the UAAP Season 82 high school beach volleyball tournament at Sands SM By The Bay Sunday.

The Lady Bullpups’ Kathrina Epa and Chantal Rodriguez bested De La Salle-Zobel’s Irah Jaboneta and Gerzel Petallo, 21-11, 21-13, and survived University of the East’s Chris Ann Susbilla and Dea Villamor, 22-20, 19-21, 15-13, to stay perfect in five matches.

The Junior Tigresses’ Vanessa Bangayan and Jullana Carreon carved out a 21-17, 21-17 victory over Far Eastern University-Diliman’s Nikka Medina and Mary Melony Amaro and later ended their elims stint with 21-18, 21-10 win over Adamson University’s Mary Grace Borromeo and Ayesha Juegos.

UST tallied a 5-1 record.

Epa and Rodriguez rallied from 4-8 and 8-11 deficits in the deciding set to turn back the hard-fighting duo of Susbilla and Villamor in the day’s most exciting match.

Aside from claiming the top two spots, UST and NSNU also secured the twice-to-beat bonus in the semifinals.

With Lorien Gamboa replacing Jaboneta to join forces with Petallo, De La Salle-Zobel hacked out a 21-14, 2113 victory over FEU to move closer in making it to the semis with its 3-2 mark in third place.

The Junior Warriors, who earlier beat Ateneo’s Celina Vergeire and Ady Lasala in the morning session, 21-14, 2114, fell to 2-3 card alongside the Baby Falcons in fourth spot.

The Baby Tamaraws took their fourth loss in five matches to miss the next round.

In the boys’ division, UST and FEU bested their respective foes to claim the twice-to-beat Final Four incentive.

Mickelson chases Pebble Beach win SAN FRANCISCO, United States— Phil Mickelson, chasing a record-setting sixth Pebble Beach Pro-Am title, played the angles to pull within one stroke of leader Nick Taylor in the US PGA Tour event on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time).

Canada’s Taylor, who led by two strokes after each of the first two rounds, rebounded from two early bogeys with three birdies and an eagle to keep his name atop the leaderboard with a threeunder par 69 for 17-under 198.

But Mickelson was closing in, firing six birdies in a wild five-under par 67 at Pebble Beach – one of three courses in use this week along with par-72 Spyglass Hill and the par-71 Monterey Peninsula Shore Course.

Mickelson’s needed all of his shortgame magic in a round that saw him hit just half of the greens in regulation.

He rolled in 16-foot birdie putts at the first and second holes.

After a four-foot birdie at the sixth he produced a dazzling par save at the picturesque par-three seventh, where his tee shot found the back bunker snuggled atop the coastal bluff and he blasted out to two feet.

Unable to get up and down from a greenside bunker at the 12th, Mickelson then holed out from a bunker for birdie at 13 – then holed out from the fairway for another birdie at 14.

With Taylor in the clubhouse with a two-shot lead, Mickelson couldn’t get a nine-foot birdie putt to drop at 17. But he rolled in a five-footer for birdie at 18. AFP

Brooklyn Nets center DeAndre Jordan (6) glides to the hoop against the Toronto Raptors at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. AFP

Raptors scrape past Brooklyn

L

OS ANGELES, United States—Fred VanVleet scored 10 of his 29 points in the fourth quarter as the Toronto Raptors extended their franchise-best winning streak to 14 games with a 119-118 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

Pascal Siakam scored 20 points, including the winning free throw with 22 seconds left for Toronto, who have also won 10 consecutive home games.

The Raptors squandered an 18-point second-half lead, allowing the visiting Nets to tie Saturday’s game 118-118 with 35 seconds left before Siakam drained the go-ahead free throw.

Terence Davis tallied 20 points, Matt Thomas had a career-best 15 and Serge Ibaka scored 12 in the win.

Elsewhere, Giannis Antetokounmpo flirted with a triple double and Brook Lopez finished with 23 points as the Milwaukee Bucks completed a four-game season sweep of the Orlando Magic with a 111-95 victory.

The reigning league MVP Antetok-

ounmpo finished one assist shy of the triple double as he delivered 18 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists for Milwaukee, who have won 13 of their last 14 contests.

Antetokounmpo saw his streak of at least 30 points, 16 rebounds and six assists come to a halt.

Khris Middleton scored 21 points and 13 rebounds while Eric Bledsoe and Wesley Matthews also scored in double digits for Milwaukee, netting 18 and 12 points, respectively.

Caris LeVert had 37 points for Brooklyn, Spencer Dinwiddie delivered 21 points and 11 assists, DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 14 rebounds for the Nets, who have won five of their last seven games.

Toronto has won the first three meet-

ings between the teams this season.

The Raptors won despite playing without all-star guard Kyle Lowry, who missed the contest with a whiplash injury.

“At this point, I think we’re experienced enough in that realm, unfortunately,” VanVleet said of winning without Lowry. “We’ve had a ton of guys out this year. We don’t really think about it.”

The Raptors had an 18-point lead during the third quarter and led by 12 entering the fourth.

VanVleet’s jump shot stretched the lead to six, but the Nets answered with four points to cut the lead to two.

Another jump shot by LeVert tied the game 118-118 before Siakam made one of two free throws. LeVert and Harris missed shots to end the game.

Nikola Vucevic collected 21 points and 14 rebounds for his team-leading 26th double-double for the Magic, who lost their eighth game in their last nine.

Milwaukee began the third quarter on a 9-0 run to stretch their lead to 72-46.

New era dawns for Alaska Aces THIS coming Philippine Basketball Association 45th season will herald a new era for the Alaska Aces as the franchise’s emphasis will be on junior guard Jeron Teng and its youth brigade.

Team board of governor Richard Bachmann said Teng is expected to take a more active role as he begins to inherit the mantle of leadership for the Aces under the first full season of coach Jeff Cariaso.

“The plan is to revolve the team around Jeron (this season). We expect big things from him,” said Bachmann, stressing the Aces are putting a premium on youth following the acquisitions they’ve gotten from last conference all the way to the off season.

Veterans Vic Manuel and JVee Casio along with Kevin Racal and the retiring Sonny Thoss will still play a huge part in Alaska’s campaign beginning with the Philippine Cup. But it’s clear Teng will now be the take charge guy for one of the most accomplished teams in PBA history.

Teng played huge in the Aces advancing to the quarterfinals of the last Governors Cup where the team began its campaign losing its first five games and the sophomore guard from La Salle out with an injury.

But when he came back, the Aces won four of their last five outings to make the playoffs, although Teng went down with a knee injury and missed Alaska’s last

Clippers land Morris at NBA trade deadline

Alaska Aces forward Jeron Teng (10) tries to drive past a pair of Phoenix Pulse defenders, from right: Doug Kramer and LA Revilla.

two games, including a 94-84 loss in the quarterfinals against Meralco.

Teng will have plenty of help from a team that will be parading one of the youngest rosters for the coming season.

During the off season, Alaska signed up rookies Barkley Ebonia, Jaycee Marcelino, and Rey Publico, while acquiring Mike DiGregorio from TnT Katropa for Simon Enciso.

Outside of this young core, the Aces had also gotten the services of big man Abu Tratter, Maverick Ahanmisi, and the duo of Robbie Herndon and Rodney

Brondial in a spate of trades they did during the season-ending Governors Cup. Bachmann is quite thrilled having two top gunners in DiGregorio and Herndon manning the wings for the Aces.

Herndon showed what he can do for the Aces when he tallied 21 points in leading the team to a 115-100 win over Blackwater in their recent tune-up outing at the Gatorade Hoops Center.

Meanwhile, with the 38-year-old Thoss signed up only until the All-Filipino conference, a lot will be expected from Tratter, Brondial, and beanpole Yutien Andrada at the post.

2020 Badminton Asia Manila Team Championships to push through IT’S all systems go as the 2020 Badminton Asia Manila Team Championships take place from February 11-16 at the historic Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Badminton Asia and the Philippine Badminton Association have taken all measures to ensure the safety of the players participating in the tournament in the light of the Novel Coronavirus (2019nCoV) outbreak.

“We can assure to the players and the

Filipino people that their safety is put on a premium to ensure the world-class staging of this event,” said PBA secretarygeneral Christopher Quimpo.

The non-postponement of the event is a sign that the organizers have taken precautionary measures to address the situation.

“The world’s best badminton players have been vocal in saying that they are ready to put on a show come the Asian

Orlando made a short-lived comeback to halve that deficit entering the fourth quarter, but the Bucks were in control the rest of the way.

“We have to keep playing good basketball,” Antetokounmpo said. “We were up 27 and they came back, cut the lead to 11.

We just try to take it quarter by quarter.”

Also, Anthony Davis made three clutch free throws late in the game as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers held off the hapless Golden State Warriors 125-120.

Davis shot nine-for-13 at the line and finished with a team-high 27 points.

Avery Bradley nailed five baskets from beyond the arc en route to 21 points, and LeBron James finished with 22 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists as the Lakers won for the ninth time in their last 11 road games.

Andrew Wiggins, one of four players making their debut with the Warriors, had 24 points, and Marquese Chriss scored a season-high 26 for the Warriors, who lost at home for the eighth time in their last nine games. AFP

Team Championships -- and this includes our national team who has been training hard for the past few months for this event,” added Quimpo about this tournament backed by SMART Communications Inc., MVP Sports Foundation, Leisure and Resorts World Corporation, Cignal, and TV5.

Both teams from China and Hong Kong and the women’s team of India though will not participate in the biennial meet.

With this, a redraw of the groupings will be held on Monday, February 10 during the coaches’ meeting at Century Park Hotel in Manila.

Originally, China and Hong Kong were in Group B in the men’s division, together with Thailand. Hong Kong was in Group W of the women’s division with Malaysia and Japan while India was slotted with Korea and Kazakhstan in Group X.

LOS ANGELES, United States—The Los Angeles Clippers, pushing to improve at the NBA trade deadline, obtained power forward Marcus Morris from New York on a busy day of deal making for league clubs.

Trade information was all from multiple media reports as clubs worked to make deals involving several teams or decided not to change the roster with just over two months remaining until the playoffs.

The Clippers, powered by 2019 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Kawhi Leonard who left Toronto to join his hometown club, swung a three-team deal to land Morris, averaging a career-best 19.6 points with the Knicks this season.

“They gotta dog in Hollyhood,” Morris tweeted. “LAClippers lets gets it.”

Morris gives the Clippers the NBA’s fifth-ranked 3-point shooter, hitting 43.9 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, to add an outside threat alongside Leonard and Paul George.

Under terms of the deal, as reported

by ESPN and The Athletic websites, the Clippers obtained Morris and Isaiah Thomas from Washington, sent Moe Harkless and a first-round pick in June’s NBA Draft to New York and dealt guard Jerome Robinson to Washington.

The Clippers are expected to release Thomas, making him a free agent. He averages 12.2 points and 3.7 assists a game with the Wizards.

The Denver Nuggets, chasing the Clippers and the Western Conference leader Los Angeles Lakers, landed guard Jordan McRae from Washington for Shabazz Napier, according to the Washington Post.

The Lakers, who didn’t make any deadline deals, are looking at free agent guards J.R. Smith and Darren Collison, according to the New York Times.

The Clippers are also reportedly looking at Collison while the Lakers would reunite Smith with former Cleveland teammate LeBron James if they sign him. Smith and James were on the Cavaliers’ 2016 NBA championship squad. AFP

IN BRIEF

Dominguez says 2.8b liters of fuel marked AROUND 2.79 billion liters of fuel have been marked under the government’s fuel marking program as of Feb. 7, 2020, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said over the weekend.

Dominguez said in a message to reporters over the weekend that the Bureau of Customs accounted for 2.148 billion liters of the total volume of fuel marked while the Bureau of Internal Revenue had 642 million liters.

He said the participating companies include Unioil, Chevron, Phoenix Petroleum, Seaoil, Shell, Insular Oil, Filoil Energy, PTT, Petron and Warbucks Petroleum.

Dominguez said the “latest addition to the participating companies were Microdragon Petroleum [Subic], High Glory Subic International [Subic], Marubeni Philippines [Subic], Goldenshare Commercial [Subic], Jadelink [Subic] and Era1 Petroleum [Subic].”

The fuel marking program aims to address the proliferation of smuggled fuel in the country. This involves the injection of a chemical signifying correctly paid excise taxes and import duties. Julito G Rada

Taiwan still confident of more PH travelers THE Taiwanese government is upbeat about increasing the number of Filipino tourist arrivas in Taiwan by 10 percent this year despite the novel corona virus.

“We will try very hard. We are still targeting a 10 percent increase, but it’s very challenging. I do believe that the corona virus affects the tourism industry around the world not only between the Philippines and Taiwan,” Ambassador Peiyung Hsu, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines, told reporters Friday during the launch of the island’s new tourism ambassador.

“We have taken all the necessary measures [to ensure that tourists in Taiwan are safe].

We also banned people traveling from China, Hong Kong and Macau. We are trying our best to have a very good quarantine measures to monitor the situation,” Hsu said.

The Philippines in recent years has become a key market for Taiwan’s new southbound tourists.

The number of tourists from the Philippines visiting Taiwan in 2019 increased 20 percent and exceeded 450,000 visitors.

A significant percentage of those arrival figures are 20 to 39 years old, according to the Tourism Bureau’s visitor trends survey.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Business ALI files 1st application for P14.4-b REIT offering P

By Jenniffer B. Austria

ROPERTY developer Ayala Land Inc. said it filed an application for a P14.4-billion Real Estate Investment Trust offering, less than a month after the government eased the rules on the new investment vehicle.

Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Ayala Land unit AREIT Inc. was planning to offer 478.64 million, mostly secondary, shares at a maximum price of P30.05 apiece. It was also asking for an option to sell another 23.93 million shares in case of over-allotment.

AREIT owns three commercial buildings in Makati City including the 24-story Solaris One, the mixed-use development Ayala North Exchange and the five-story McKinley Exchange.

The company said using the proceeds from the primary offering worth P1.35 billion, it planned to acquire a fourth mixed-use building in Cebu.

“Ayala Land’s initiative to pioneer REITs in the Philippines reflects its confidence in the local economy.

Through this initial capital market transaction, ALI hopes to pave the way for the development of a REIT market in the country, bringing another milestone to the Philippine stock market. The company seeded AREIT Inc. with Grade A office assets located in Makati CBD and is expected to expand its portfolio with new acquisitions in the future,” Ayala Land said in a statement.

AREIT said it would conduct the REIT offering after receiving approvals from government regulators.

The REIT Act, passed by Congress in 2009, allows REIT companies to list and trade its shares in the Philippine Stock Exchange as an alternative means to raise funds for property development and expansion initiatives. The law, however, failed to take off because of taxa-

tion issues and the high minimum public ownership requirement.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue in January this year issued the amended rules exempting REITs from value added tax on the transfer of real estate assets.

The SEC also reduced the minimum public ownership requirement for REIT companies to 33 percent from the previous requirement of 40 percent public ownership in the first year of listing.

This would increase to 67 percent within three years.

It said that in exchange for lower public ownership requirement, an REIT company should reinvest all the proceeds raised from the REIT offering in real estate or infrastructure projects within the country within a period of one year.

The REIT is a new asset class that provides investors with dividend-based income, inflation protection and portfolio diversification. It broadens investment options for Filipinos, opening the opportunity to own a stake in high-value real estate assets in the country.

Govt registers higher gross savings of P4.2t

THE government generated a gross savings of P4.232 trillion in 2018, 9.5 percent higher than the previous year, despite trade tensions among the world’s major economies, surging crude oil prices, rising consumer prices in the country, and a weakening peso, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said over the weekend.

“The solid growth in the national saving came on the back of the country’s sound macroeconomic fundamentals,” the BSP said in a statement.

“The capital accumulation of the domestic economy soared 18.2 percent to P4.694 trillion in 2018. This was due mainly to the construction activities of private non-financial corporations and the robust infrastructure spending of the national government,” it said.

With the growth in capital accumulation outpacing the increase in saving, the domestic economy’s net borrowing surged to P458.6 billion in 2018, which was more than four times larger than the P104.1 billion recorded in 2017. Julito G Rada

R&I credit rating upgrade to boost investments in PH

By Julito G. Rada THE National Economic and Development Authority said the Philippines’ credit rating upgrade by Japan-based Rating and Investment Information Inc. will enhance the country’s investment climate and creditworthiness.

“Wider fiscal space enables the country not only to spend more on infrastructure but also invest in ‘suprastructure’―quality education and science and technology innovation ecosystem required for the Philippines to become a globally-competitive knowledge economy,” NEDA directorgeneral Ernesto Pernia said in a statement over the weekend.

R&I upgraded the Philippines’ credit rating by a notch, from “BBB” to “BBB+,” bolstering the country’s momentum toward the Republic’s goal of securing single “A” rating by 2022.

The “BBB+” rating is just a step away from the minimum score within the sought-after “A” scale. The new rating was also assigned a “stable” outlook, which indicates the absence of factors that may cause the rating to change within the short term.

“We welcome the credit rating upgrade from R&I that, in our view, was overdue in light of the positive trends under the Duterte administration that have deepened investor confidence in the Philippine economy,” said Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. “Declining poverty incidence and a lower unemployment rate, massive investments in infrastructure and human capital development have resulted in consistently high growth and more jobs.

A series of socioeconomic reforms in Congress intended to achieve greater economic inclusion have impressed upon the international business community the unwavering commitment of President Duterte to sustain the growth momentum and improve the lives of our people,” Dominguez said.

AMCHAM’S PARTNER. The American Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines Visayas Chapter introduces Eastern Communications as the first associate partner for the Visayas region during the recent general membership meeting at Bai Hotel in Cebu. Attending the signing of the partnership agreement are (from left) AMCHAM executive director Ebb Hinchliffe, Eastern Communications strategic segment marketing head Tonie Casas, Cebu sales head Mark Pepino, AMCHAM Visayas president Brian Connelly and Eastern Communications segment marketing manager JV Suarez.

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

B1

Solons question independence of IEMOP as a spot market operator

By Alena Mae S. Flores CONGRESSMEN raised concern over the autonomy of Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines as the operator of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, which acts as the country’s trading floor of electricity.

Rep. Jericho Nograles of party-list Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta scrutinized the independence of IEMOP from the government, including its operating agreement with former WESM operator Philippine Electricity Market Corp.

“Looking at the operating agreement between IEMOP and PEMC, I find it highly irregular that the incorporators are also the signatories [of the operating agreement],” Nograles, who serves as the House energy committee vice chairman, said during a recent hearing.

PEMC transferred to IEMOP, through an operating agreement, the operation of WESM on Sept. 26, 2018, but Nograles said the transfer did not undergo public hearing. He also questioned the P7,000 capitalization of IEMOP. Nueva Ejica Rep. Rosanna Vergara said Congress should have been involved in the creation of the IEMOP. Vergara said a public hearing should have been held that is “transparent and accountable, so that the Filipino consumers know that there is no such thing as ‘lutong macao’ happening in our industry.”

Vergara looked into the background of newly-appointed IEMOP president and chief executive Richard Nethercott who was appointed last month.

Nethercott said during the hearing that he is married to an assistant secretary of the Energy Department but claimed that he sought a legal opinion from IEMOP prior to accepting the post. The board, however, assured him there was no conflict of interest.

He said National Transmission Corp. president Melvin Matibag was also married to one of the incorporators of IEMOP, but she resigned.

Vergara said the said relationships put into question the independence of IEMOP and could be in violation of the Republic Act No. 3019 or the Anti-Graft Law. “The independence is already subject to question, whatever you say,” Vergara told Nethercott.

PEMC earlier assured that the transfer of the WESM operations to IEMOP went through consultations, studies and relevant approvals.

The DOE asked both PEMC and

ERC turns down green energy pricing proposed by DOE’s draft circular

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Energy Regulatory Commission rejected the green energy rates contained in a draft circular prepared by the Department of Energy, an official said over the weekend.

“We will have to do our own study, so we can determine the applicable rates,” ERC renewable energy division chief Sharon Montañer said.

The green energy pricing program proposed by the DOE aims to establish the stable and right pricing for renewable energy such as solar, wind, biomass and run-of-river technologies.

It also seeks to attract more investors and promote competition in the green

energy sector.

Montañer, however, said the DOE proposed green energy rates using the digressed feed-in tariff rates as cap.

“The FIT rate where the digressed rates are anchored is based on 2012 which is still high,” she said.

The ERC official said any decrease in the cost of technology would not be taken into account in the digressed FIT rates and there were only digressed rates for run-of-river and biomass technologies.

“We never had digressed rates for solar and wind. We only have round two rates. For the rest of technologies like geothermal and large hydro, there are no FIT rates so there is no anchor,”

she said.

Montañer said the ERC would submit its position paper to the draft circular governing the GEPP, which includes contracting for supply from qualified renewable energy projects under a competitive process.

The DOE wants to auction around 2,000 MW of renewable energy capacity under the GEPP to spur renewed interest in RE. 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 aims to facilitate con-

tracting, on a voluntary basis, by qualified RE projects through a competitive process or auction called the green energy auction.

Qualified suppliers can offer to supply a specific volume of electricity generated by their facilities to be covered by green power supply agreements at prices under the GEPP. The auction will be conducted through an electronic bidding.

The DOE said the circular would assist RE participants in their compliance with the renewable energy portfolio standards. It said this would also mitigate market exposure and risks related to RE projects and address price volatility in the procurement of RE certificates.

Slow tower construction to delay DITO rollout DITO Telecommunity Corp., formerly Mislatel Consortium, is seen to delay its commercial operations over the complicated cell tower permitting process.

The rollout was already delayed from the company’s initial target of September 2019 to July 2020 to “put the network in place”, DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano said in a previous interview.

Lawmakers started to question DITO’s capability of fulfilling its promise to establish 2,500 cell sites by July 2020.

ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro urged Congress to summon Department of Information and Communication Technology and DITO officials to investigate the matter.

DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan was also concerned about the capability of DITO to complete its rollout program before July 2020.

“DICT was concerned about the ca-

pability of DITO to fulfill its commitments as July is six months away,” he said.

The 2,500 cell sites would cover 37 percent of the whole Philippines with a minimum Internet speed of 27 megabits per second.

Industry providers emphasized the difficulty of building telco infrastructure, citing challenges such as multiple LGU permits for just one cell site that can take eight months to process.

LGU permits, homeowners associations, exclusive subdivisions and building administrators impose certain guidelines and requirements based on Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Resolution No. R-626 issued in 1998. The lengthy process includes everything from negotiations and documentation of prospective cell site location to securing structural permits and approvals.

ICTSI ARGENTINA’S DEAL. TecPlata, a subsidiary of International Container Terminal Services Inc. and the operator of the container terminal in Argentina’s Puerto La Plata, signs a contract with Evergreen Marine Corp. Taiwan Ltd. for the start of a new service to Asia and the Far East. Under the agreement with the Taiwanese shipping line, TecPlata takes a further step in its consolidation as an alternative port in Buenos Aires for Argentine companies seeking competitive options for their exports and imports while taking advantage of TecPlata’s high-quality service and modern facilities.

B2

Business

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Investors still wary of coronavirus

By Jenniffer B. Austria

T

HE uncertainty surrounding the novel coronavirus is expected continue to weigh on the local equities market this week on fears the outbreak will have an adverse impact on the overall economy.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier said the novel coronavirus might cut the country’s growth numbers by about a third of a percentage point in the first half of 2020.

Diokno said the outbreak could slow tourist arrivals from China, affecting the local travel sector, while remittances from Filipino expatriate workers in the second-biggest economy might also take a hit.

Despite current volatile trading conditions, however, First Metro Invest-

ments Corp. remains bullish on the stock market “Despite the expected volatility that global equities will face in 2020, we think that PSEi will trace a generally upward trend, to hit 8,600-8,900 level sometime this year. Expected strong corporate earnings and the PH economy’s return to above-6 percent growth path should provide the impetus,” FMIC said.

“However, uncertainties surrounding water and media issues could dampen PSEi gains, aside from the recent Taal

volcano eruption and the spread of the coronavirus across the globe,” it added.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week rallied 4.26 percent to 7,507.20 points, snapping a four-week losing streak, while the broader All Shares Index rose 3 percent to 4,422.64 as investors welcomed the 25-basis point rate cut implemented by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Except for the mining and oil index which declined 3.6 percent, all other sub-indices ended in the green, led by industrial which advanced 5.3 percent, property which climbed 5.2 percent and financials which added 3.8 percent.

Holding firms also increased 3.6 percent while services rose 1.9 percent.

Foreign investors were net buyers for the week by P736 million, while the average daily value traded improved to P7.38 billion from the previous week’s

average of P5.48 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were Manila Electric Co Inc., which climbed 12.8 percent to P288.80, Manila Water Co Inc., which improved 9.2 percent to P13.28, and SM Prime Holdings Inc., which climbed advanced 8.8 percent to P42.35.

Weekly top price losers were Agrinurture Inc., which slumped 46 percent to P6.50, Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., which dropped 6.4 percent to P6.54, and Semirara Mining & Power Corp., which shed 5.4 percent to P20.80.

Global stocks, meanwhile, mostly fell Friday as investors pocketed profits from this week’s rallies, despite data showing a surge in US job creation.

Equities largely bounced back last week week after heavy losses triggered by worries about the economic fallout from China’s deadly coronavirus outbreak. With AFP

Manila Standard BuSineSS Weekly StockS revieW STOCKS

FEBRUARY 3-7, 2020 Close Volume

Value

Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI Bright Kindle Resources China Bank Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Ferronoux Holding First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank Philippine trust Co. PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

53.25 155.40 86.00 0.81 25.05 8.47 18.5 11.2 4.1 0.64 1.15 869.50 0.410 60.9 0.77 11.9 32.05 51.75 110.1 176 20.7 175 1887.00 60.70 1.07

4,430 8,196,510 7,416,390 183,000 1,279,000 200 33,900 822,200 96,000 5,000 18,000 20 1,000,000 20,679,890 403,000 107,900 739,900 9,570 70 990 265,000 2,402,600 140 186,750 521,000

FINANCIAL 231,090.00 1,229,757,460.00 625,142,515.50 150,670.00 31,992,920.00 1,549.00 624,694.00 9,124,588.00 368,240.00 3,200.00 20,640.00 17,200.00 402,550.00 1,204,544,055.00 306,850.00 1,293,220.00 23,265,610.00 500,290.50 7,707.00 174,826.00 5,333,293.00 418,714,808.00 255,710.00 11,403,065.50 537,070.00

Aboitiz Power Corp.

AC Energy Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Axelum Basic Energy Corp.

C. Azuc De Tarlac Cemex Holdings Century Food Chemphil Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Conc. Aggr. ‘A’ Conc. Aggr. ‘B’ Concepcion Crown Asia Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Eagle Cement EEI Emperador Euro-Med Lab First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Fruitas Holdings Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Greenergy Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide MG Holdings Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Petron Corporation Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Pilipinas Shell Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings SFA Semicon Shakeys Pizza SMC Food and Beverage SPC Power Corp.

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

33 2.14 6.5 0.61 1.19 3.04 0.220 16.02 1.47 15.1 174 10.1 58.85 64 30.05 2.11 4.7 9.000 12.36 8.80 7.26 1.98 21.2 66.85 1.94 36.90 1.6700 10.14 6.7 1.340 192.50 27.05 4.12 3.1 6.79 13.28 10 14.6 0.179 288.80 5.19 1.82 3.90 3.50 9.97 11.94 31 4.71 5.29 1.66 1.68 1.2 9.44 77.9 9.1 0.115 0.98 158.9 2.54 1.15 14.06 0.98

4,295,900 20,830,000 19,721,100 29,086,000 316,000 31,898,000 2,100,000 75,700 37,775,000 2,123,500 1,530 48,933,900 1,230 770 900 343,000 198,300 8,183,500 1,416,000 5,175,000 266,597,900 15,706,000 3,904,600 574,250 313,998,000 81,000 24,215,000 9,629,400 2,893,300 16,881,000 4,836,440 10,300 63,000 90,000 59,200 173,449,600 462,500 8,309,400 960,000 921,990 19,100 7,692,000 72,000 7,107,000 208,400 428,900 630,800 53,000 14,587,700 534,000 9,000 70,974,000 227,700 649,320 667,900 2,420,000 374,000 4,652,490 1,000 23,406,000 3,800 15,399,000

INDUSTRIAL 139,323,805.00 44,047,390.00 165,863,708.00 17,716,730.00 378,880.00 94,265,890.00 448,870.00 1,232,112.00 54,654,610.00 31,860,578.00 253,597.00 1,025,932,000.00 72,625.50 49,280.00 27,280.00 721,940.00 922,947.00 71,618,990.00 17,023,110.00 44,121,720.00 1,932,860,262.00 41,452,670.00 81,594,621.00 38,304,216.50 587,351,930.00 2,928,825.00 44,216,340.00 97,822,426.00 19,625,123.00 24,622,760.00 939,663,075.00 431,095.00 286,540.00 141,260.00 388,292.00 2,371,236,432.00 4,627,401.00 121,071,070.00 171,840.00 252,472,830.00 98,908.00 13,665,720.00 286,930.00 24,929,010.00 2,049,717.00 5,048,128.00 19,030,225.00 251,170.00 76,580,030.00 874,950.00 14,720.00 99,767,260.00 2,112,980.00 48,501,660.50 6,071,967.00 279,410.00 359,960.00 709,184,970.00 2,540.00 26,856,220.00 56,954.00 15,357,520.00

HOLDING FIRMS Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ Asiabest Group ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Ayala Land Log Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Keppel Holdings `A’ Keppel Holdings `B’ Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Lopez Holdings Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Republic Glass ‘A’ San Miguel Corp `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Transgrid Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.900 52.15 10.70 0.69 6.10 10.1 0.920 0.940 750 2.780 6.3 6.10 3.6 12.68 0.221 741 5.00 73.90 6.78 5.21 5.5 0.5 3.78 10.48 0.580 3.2 4.9900 1.120 2.72 134.50 1000.00 1.18 0.80 174.000 175.00 0.2060 0.198

44,279,000 3,570,340 29,890,500 1,090,000 639,100 92,600 1,960,000 71,000 1,660,790 3,502,000 2,661,600 33,592,400 8,000 565,000 15,050,000 1,249,370 25,000 5,797,810 2,000 1,500 5,800 393,000 5,500,000 27,285,900 2,641,000 193,099,000 269,800 803,000 4,000 1,533,360 3,655,925 365,000 649,000 15,530 830 8,710,000 7,640,000

38,579,920.00 181,196,185.50 314,051,780.00 739,070.00 3,880,303.00 940,729.00 1,756,820.00 65,330.00 1,238,693,945.00 9,298,430.00 16,777,246.00 205,278,077.00 28,870.00 7,084,476.00 3,502,600.00 887,448,770.00 123,640.00 416,302,067.00 13,560.00 7,815.00 31,900.00 190,650.00 20,528,200.00 275,603,988.00 1,470,580.00 626,863,190.00 1,337,668.00 921,400.00 10,970.00 206,549,531.00 3,642,143,807.50 406,630.00 516,970.00 2,718,288.00 151,795.00 1,892,610.00 1,521,460.00

8990 HLDG A. Brown Co., Inc. Anchor Land Holdings Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ CEB Landmasters Cebu Holdings Century Property City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

DM Wenceslao Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Filinvest Land,Inc. Global-Estate Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil Infradev Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Primex Corp.

Robinson’s Land `B’

14.720 0.66 9.10 1.650 0.810 43.350 1.53 4.5 6.3 0.500 0.76 0.800 0.178 0.380 9.150 17.96 0.400 0.100 1.44 1.04 4.07 0.199 1.1000 0.3900 0.310 2.04 25.25

2,190,700 1,673,000 300 1,003,000 5,535,000 46,905,000 3,497,000 876,000 337,200 25,269,000 47,000 381,000 16,540,000 1,470,000 377,800 2,189,700 1,230,000 100,000 75,497,000 4,369,000 111,612,000 43,540,000 7,337,000 1,130,000 960,000 1,836,000 4,986,200

PROPERTY 32,253,940.00 1,082,700.00 2,688.00 1,663,020.00 4,380,940.00 1,959,091,840.00 5,454,390.00 3,958,750.00 2,096,626.00 12,507,655.00 35,830.00 304,380.00 2,946,750.00 546,450.00 3,339,616.00 37,006,710.00 480,500.00 10,040.00 109,068,640.00 4,552,540.00 444,432,620.00 8,895,830.00 7,982,690.00 449,000.00 299,300.00 3,731,850.00 125,134,590.00

JANUARY 27-31, 2020 Close Volume Value 52.15 148.00 82.50 0.87 25.1 8.48 18.46 11.2 4.12

30,120 9,762,850 9,443,430 269,000 2,136,600 100 62,500 1,433,800 606,000

1,566,258.00 1,477,174,655.00 784,383,444.00 236,000.00 53,585,120.00 848.00 1,153,954.00 16,847,420.00 2,573,420.00

1.19 850.50 0.390 57.35 0.77 12 31.80 53.4

24,000 30 3,830,000 14,267,700 936,000 224,800 2,428,000 61,400

28,120.00 25,710.00 1,530,350.00 873,863,262.00 732,390.00 2,697,600.00 79,509,805.00 3,543,796.00

177.9 20 177 1830.00 63.50 1.03

2,240 174,300 2,050,290 1,225 347,930 10,000

392,162.00 3,798,075.00 374,370,491.00 2,263,685.00 21,728,892.00 10,300.00

32.35 1.98 12.04 0.51 1.2 3.05 0.220 17.72 1.42 15 165 8.9 61.3 64 30.6 2.15 4.93 8.800 12.7 8.40 7.22 2.41 20.3 66.65 1.64 37.00 1.9400 12.70 7.01 1.180 191.20 42.00 4.94 3.05 7.19 12.16 10 14.6

4,452,500 14,614,000 5,803,300 5,177,000 2,269,000 28,444,000 29,570,000 4,200 80,563,000 2,921,800 40 24,235,000 3,200 6,560 1,100 216,000 702,900 4,993,800 554,000 431,300 13,133,500 7,184,000 6,389,500 611,280 210,864,000 165,000 23,661,000 883,500 1,815,600 1,773,000 2,790,580 5,300 24,000 62,000 33,800 80,948,600 505,100 6,840,400

145,150,105.00 30,013,640.00 69,751,322.00 2,813,460.00 2,730,440.00 93,195,480.00 7,020,550.00 70,212.00 124,576,150.00 43,875,932.00 6,600.00 245,913,191.00 198,016.00 432,953.00 34,795.00 463,730.00 3,556,974.00 44,607,988.00 6,948,764.00 3,775,142.00 94,833,785.00 15,697,810.00 134,808,585.00 40,712,348.00 357,235,890.00 6,092,260.00 46,973,950.00 11,235,748.00 13,251,021.00 2,222,530.00 415,449,198.00 222,450.00 117,960.00 193,700.00 235,177.00 891,586,324.00 5,367,466.00 101,619,844.00

256.00 5.29 1.85 4.09 3.62 9.80 11.90 29.95 4.7 5.02 1.65 1.6 1 9.46 72.9 9.21 0.121 0.91 145 2.54 1.17 14.06 0.91

1,500,600 8,000 768,000 66,000 7,026,000 36,300 188,500 1,218,200 227,000 143,200 1,743,000 188,000 17,617,000 1,756,400 858,470 1,248,500 2,620,000 1,094,000 5,686,080 51,000 40,252,000 1,100 26,261,000

414,427,938.00 39,090.00 1,406,660.00 267,510.00 26,842,600.00 351,604.00 2,225,058.00 37,133,830.00 1,071,190.00 726,366.00 2,927,680.00 302,380.00 20,617,560.00 16,711,640.00 63,100,503.00 11,555,542.00 306,600.00 1,059,080.00 869,357,560.00 124,650.00 58,049,200.00 15,730.00 26,299,720.00

0.830 49.30 10.80 0.70 6.24 10.54 0.900 0.930 726.5 2.550 6.08 6.10 3.75 13.02 0.207 675 4.95 70.10 6.78 5.2

57,811,000 4,334,120 28,718,300 7,596,000 148,700 122,100 8,011,000 1,218,000 1,236,010 7,402,000 3,380,700 37,716,400 11,000 123,500 760,000 551,930 173,400 6,772,030 129,300 41,800

49,559,730.00 219,033,435.50 309,700,334.00 5,420,010.00 916,943.00 1,313,888.00 7,342,640.00 1,136,220.00 898,324,965.00 19,431,170.00 21,486,459.00 227,557,693.00 41,340.00 1,609,074.00 157,000.00 397,553,860.00 876,165.00 489,395,712.50 871,525.00 217,360.00

0.5 3.72 9.8 0.600 3.21 4.5100 1.190 2.75 139.80 971.00 1.20 0.82 186.000 189.00 0.2020 0.200

1,993,000 4,454,000 12,069,100 906,000 158,400,000 1,200,100 1,136,000 2,000 917,540 1,140,895 400,000 610,000 520,010 980 2,530,000 6,880,000

997,875.00 16,625,940.00 124,205,386.00 523,070.00 516,435,650.00 6,453,018.00 1,341,010.00 5,500.00 131,300,971.00 1,141,742,355.00 455,180.00 497,620.00 96,677,886.00 185,855.00 526,100.00 1,432,880.00

14.740 0.65 8.80 1.740 0.790 41.600 1.57 4.46 6.67 0.490 0.77 0.790 0.178 0.380 8.700 15.9 0.400 0.105 1.46 1.04 4.05 0.215 1.1300 0.3800 0.320 2.05 25.50

1,799,300 3,417,000 11,800 7,569,000 7,433,000 76,183,500 6,151,000 1,394,000 228,000 34,469,000 8,000 1,968,000 3,740,000 3,010,000 1,241,200 2,915,600 4,500,000 210,000 49,699,000 3,489,000 163,651,000 86,260,000 10,079,000 3,660,000 2,220,000 2,959,000 10,338,600

26,485,846.00 2,204,840.00 105,765.00 14,156,450.00 5,901,950.00 3,170,692,385.00 10,133,090.00 6,362,780.00 1,062,804.00 17,491,715.00 6,140.00 1,578,250.00 675,150.00 1,156,050.00 11,196,039.00 49,719,184.00 1,807,850.00 21,970.00 74,197,920.00 3,738,270.00 673,788,510.00 19,587,620.00 11,993,240.00 1,442,200.00 728,100.00 6,188,600.00 276,465,745.00

STOCKS

FEBRUARY 3-7, 2020 Close Volume

Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes Vistamalls

2.08 3.15 42.35 2.52 1.860 6.540 5.390

427,000 100,000 69,491,300 861,000 78,494,000 4,332,200 484,600

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel AllHome APC Group, Inc. Apollo Global Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Chelsea DFNN Inc. Discovery World Easy Call “Common” FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Golden Haven Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IPM Holdings Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones LBC Express Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Metro Retail MetroAlliance A MetroAlliance B NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. PH Resorts Group Phil. Racing Club Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Waterfront Phils.

Wilcon Depot

9 17 1.4 10.02 0.390 0.049 17.5 2.65 9.06 79.5 6.51 4.67 4.24 2.01 7.84 890.5 1980 5.30 423.40 13.48 1.19 128 1.56 9.19 6.49 0.103 2.4300 2.14 12.12 2.16 0.96 10.60 0.430 2.95 1.90 1.00 0.96 2.200 2.05 7.40 2.96 4.69 8 146.00 3.55 1064.00 0.325 0.485 38.65 77.55 8.90 2.19 0.590 0.25 0.580 18.820

142,800 809,200 483,000 7,366,800 10,210,000 26,000,000 3,400 1,414,000 26,063,100 1,458,450 5,000 4,202,200 1,916,000 1,000 113,100 2,910 142,985 916,200 4,620 700 10,110,000 5,918,140 26,000 20,400 4,100 1,760,000 230,491,000 149,000 2,500 2,086,000 190,000 39,987,500 5,270,000 239,000 6,895,000 732,000 71,000 7,035,000 588,000 58,100 3,000 15,000 3,400 226,820 39,881,000 753,910 45,090,000 34,937,000 9,548,600 1,415,860 178,500 7,345,000 12,969,000 11,980,000 4,203,000 18,018,800

Abra Mining ACE Enexor Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `A’ Benguet Corp `A’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Semirara Corp.

United Paragon

JANUARY 27-31, 2020 Close Volume Value

Value 886,060.00 317,880.00 2,772,595,950.00 2,162,070.00 155,703,290.00 28,538,285.00 2,592,774.00

2.06 3.07 38.90 2.54 1.800 7.000 5.300

214,000 227,000 49,033,100 1,900,000 52,867,000 18,813,500 602,000

441,070.00 714,190.00 1,953,294,920.00 4,853,380.00 102,063,430.00 135,843,144.00 3,309,901.00

SERVICES 1,304,197.00 14,073,140.00 635,710.00 72,954,583.00 3,970,400.00 1,256,500.00 59,500.00 3,790,750.00 234,572,662.00 110,006,607.50 32,579.00 20,578,635.00 7,753,080.00 2,010.00 857,785.00 2,599,910.00 280,024,655.00 4,827,354.00 1,961,358.00 8,600.00 11,863,170.00 755,454,263.00 41,820.00 167,487.00 22,627.00 177,250.00 614,665,790.00 313,320.00 30,150.00 4,541,210.00 178,770.00 418,622,842.00 2,262,100.00 721,910.00 13,083,850.00 701,650.00 76,940.00 15,709,050.00 1,204,380.00 412,620.00 8,850.00 69,490.00 27,394.00 32,867,356.00 147,805,560.00 791,331,795.00 14,561,150.00 17,496,070.00 367,611,505.00 109,044,089.50 1,575,191.00 16,068,760.00 7,751,200.00 2,981,880.00 2,449,430.00 309,664,646.00

9.4 16.42 1.31 10.2 0.400 0.049 17.5 2.55 9.00 75 6.51 5.05 5.37 1.8 8.10 893.5 1890 5.26 425.00 13.38 1.16 130 1.62 8 5.03 0.099 3.3600 1.76 13.68 2.28 0.96 9.12 0.435 3.03 1.96 1.05 0.96 2.230 2.12 7.40 2.97 4.26 8 142.50 3.45 996.00 0.330 0.540 38.20 77.05 8.75 2.22 0.610 0.255 0.580 18.840

25,900 1,086,500 368,000 7,073,000 7,960,000 276,620,000 3,200 3,685,000 53,155,000 2,068,340 19,600 2,525,400 357,200 13,000 157,400 3,020 102,970 850,000 132,510 2,100 18,122,000 6,269,830 38,000 22,500 2,200 9,600,000 40,281,000 94,000 8,300 2,499,000 88,000 12,010,800 5,710,000 918,000 3,679,000 1,711,000 1,784,000 11,324,000 3,481,000 33,200 8,000 27,000 18,500 40,970 166,271,000 975,395 64,730,000 15,173,000 2,808,200 1,197,330 473,300 12,814,000 39,155,000 25,610,000 3,932,000 10,250,700

244,746.00 18,584,910.00 484,750.00 76,572,414.00 3,295,500.00 13,491,020.00 53,560.00 10,670,050.00 515,845,202.00 162,539,327.50 128,208.00 13,186,751.00 1,905,475.00 23,590.00 1,338,412.00 2,691,550.00 200,661,105.00 4,501,317.00 57,491,404.00 23,215.00 23,187,490.00 822,741,932.00 60,320.00 177,966.00 13,376.00 981,850.00 149,952,130.00 167,690.00 108,504.00 6,315,880.00 81,570.00 128,824,022.00 2,492,800.00 2,830,370.00 7,376,700.00 1,871,160.00 1,848,930.00 27,155,780.00 7,978,240.00 240,845.00 23,130.00 115,500.00 148,189.00 5,832,385.00 720,593,540.00 991,155,605.00 23,658,100.00 8,454,100.00 109,121,580.00 93,058,667.00 4,323,638.00 29,686,420.00 24,251,990.00 6,825,550.00 2,307,580.00 193,661,308.00

0.0015 7.4800 1.00 2.38 10.30 1.0500 2.99 0.270 6.43 1.430 0.197 0.095 0.095 0.0078 0.78 2.74 1.02 0.4500 0.6700 0.0110 0.0110 2.84 8.65 0.0110 20.80 0.0053

MINING & OIL 8,669,000,000 13,397,700.00 1,614,200 12,228,018.00 6,495,000 6,852,360.00 1,061,000 2,457,630.00 12,900 129,802.00 19,000 20,850.00 4,932,000 14,865,100.00 520,000 139,100.00 55,200 362,264.00 6,732,000 9,658,960.00 4,070,000 812,460.00 20,330,000 1,952,690.00 3,350,000 321,090.00 7,000,000 54,600.00 1,626,000 1,266,660.00 36,689,000 101,130,700.00 307,000 303,870.00 100,000 44,200.00 355,000 238,870.00 13,100,000 142,900.00 14,800,000 162,800.00 1,593,000 4,522,980.00 2,315,700 19,650,768.00 81,913,300 867,100.00 1,732,900 35,293,809.00 26,000,000 142,700.00

0.0015 7.9100 0.99 2.40 11.80 1.1000 3.07 0.270 6.71 1.460 0.206 0.098 0.101 0.0077 0.76 2.86 1.03 0.4650 0.7000 0.0110 0.0110 2.88 8.61 0.0100 22.00 0.0055

2,494,000,000 1,611,000 12,156,000 2,137,000 21,400 36,000 8,683,000 980,000 50,300 8,447,000 4,170,000 2,670,000 10,000 39,000,000 2,178,000 25,489,000 154,000 150,000 213,000 49,800,000 763,100,000 2,859,000 4,109,800 334,100,000 5,450,800 17,000,000

3,738,900.00 12,703,864.00 12,819,750.00 5,310,100.00 231,690.00 41,150.00 26,496,400.00 262,400.00 350,704.00 12,620,330.00 848,720.00 257,180.00 1,010.00 303,700.00 1,741,810.00 65,614,680.00 155,140.00 69,650.00 150,590.00 542,600.00 9,911,300.00 8,486,950.00 98,695,559.00 3,650,700.00 110,448,432.00 94,600.00

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Alco Preferred B Alco Preferred C Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ CPG PREF A DD PREF First Gen G FPH Pref C GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B House Preferred MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred 2B PCOR-Preferred 3A PCOR-Preferred 3B PF Pref 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SMC Preferred 1 SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C SMC Preferred D SMC Preferred E SMC Preferred F SMC Preferred G SMC Preferred H

16 103.2 103 500 490 100.9 100.9 108.2 490 480.4 5.1 979 990 98.85 100 1030 1050 1061 102.3 108.9 1033 1000 77.5 75.5 75 76.5 75.1 75 76

981,200 3,560 5,000 8,850 640 104,930 166,110 120 70 10,110 1,220,100 1,300 2,620 39,980 85,940 15 2,170 140 2,190 2,150 3,865 2,060 102,170 3,190 136,890 204,370 33,250 293,370 325,500

15.3 103.1

1,950,000 690

31,404,952.00 71,139.00

503.5 503 100.7 101.1 108

10,850 330 125,450 86,820 20,300

5,396,975.00 164,610.00 12,772,214.00 8,745,448.00 2,132,417.00

490 5.15 970 990 99 100.6 1115 1040 1060 102.3 108 1030 1000 77 75.2 75 76 75 75.95 75.2

4,600 459,100 3,790 10 410 150,860 55 5,670 3,145 1,990 1,230 6,615 32,800 119,780 1,245,740 826,400 1,503,890 43,750 1,056,930 843,210

1,976,500.00 2,371,825.00 3,713,100.00 9,900.00 40,590.00 15,114,119.00 57,565.00 5,931,665.00 3,313,625.00 203,099.00 133,047.00 6,869,250.00 32,418,700.00 9,229,663.50 93,679,648.00 61,979,529.00 114,297,970.00 3,283,790.00 80,207,884.50 64,052,057.00

LR Warrant

1.150

421,000

PREFERRED 15,348,978.00 360,407.00 515,000.00 4,430,040.00 316,300.00 10,597,597.00 16,736,226.00 12,796.00 34,300.00 4,857,584.00 6,221,397.00 1,244,090.00 2,590,070.00 3,966,268.00 8,604,356.00 15,450.00 2,278,450.00 148,450.00 224,174.00 1,758,600.00 3,993,110.00 2,060,000.00 7,867,945.50 240,020.00 10,278,020.00 15,534,559.00 2,498,115.00 22,013,332.00 24,727,100.00

WARRANTS & BONDS 456,480.00

1.130

1,103,000

1,417,900.00

SME 6,900.00 5,176,280.00 10,353,492.00 6,673,680.00

2.28 3.5 9.78 0.81

4,000 2,280,000 10,597,900 18,732,000

9,120.00 8,632,980.00 120,432,340.00 16,388,240.00

Makati Fin. Corp.

Italpinas Kepwealth Xurpas

2.3 3.43 9.9 0.81

3,000 1,484,000 1,049,200 8,208,000

First Metro ETF

112.9

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 108,430 11,882,806.00

109

107,190

11,928,353.00

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2 USD TECH B2

10.02 9.78 0.95

DOLLAR DENONIMATED SEC. 18,450 188,626.60 180 1,760.40 28,500 27,075.00

10.2 10.28 0.95

2,950 43,000 31,500

30,090.00 434,088.00 29,925.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining Fruitas Holdings Emperador ISM Communications Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Manila Water Co. Inc. Megaworld Philodrill Corp. `A’ Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Filinvest Land,Inc.

VOLUME 8,669,000,000 313,998,000 266,597,900 230,491,000 193,099,000 173,449,600 111,612,000 81,913,300 78,494,000 75,497,000

STOCKS SM Investments Inc. SM Prime Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Ayala Land `B’ Emperador Ayala Corp `A’ Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Metrobank Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Jollibee Foods Corp.

VALUE 3,642,143,807.50 2,772,595,950.00 2,371,236,432.00 1,959,091,840.00 1,932,860,262.00 1,238,693,945.00 1,229,757,460.00 1,204,544,055.00 1,025,932,000.00 939,663,075.00

San Miguel restricts use of elevated skyway starting Feb. 16

By Darwin G. Amojelar A TOLLWAY unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp. said it is temporarily designating the elevated Skyway for exclusive use by Class 1 vehicles to mitigate the impact on traffic of the scheduled closure of a southbound lane of Skyway at-grade starting Feb. 16.

Skyway Operations and Maintenance Corp. said this meant only cars, SUVs, vans, pick-ups and other private vehicles would be allowed at the elevated Skyway. Buses and delivery vans will be allowed to use the atgrade section.

SOMCO said the new traffic scheme was designed to make travel on the Skyway system more efficient as construction for the southbound section of the P10-billion Skyway Extension project switched to high gear.

The project, which will extend and connect Skyway to the South Luzon Expressway near Susana Heights and the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway, involves the construction of a three-lane, elevated northbound section and a twolane, elevated southbound section.

It will bypass the Alabang viaduct and increase the Skyway’s capacity by 4,500 vehicles per hour northbound, and 3,000 vehicles per hour southbound, giving motorists from Cavite, Laguna and Batangas greater ease of travel to, or from, Metro Manila.

Under the new scheme, buses and delivery vans coming from Makati, Manila and Pasay bound for Alabang should take the Nichols southbound entry toll plaza at the grade section of Skyway.

Buses and delivery vans from NAIA Expressway bound for Alabang should take Andrews Ave. going to Sales Road, then take Nichols southbound entry toll plaza to the at-grade Skyway.

Buses and delivery vans from NAIA Expressway can also take the Magallanes northbound off-ramp, make a U-turn under the Magallanes Interchange, then head to the Nichols southbound entry toll plaza to the atgrade Skyway.

SOMCO said that along with the closure of the third southbound lane of Skyway at-grade from Sucat to Filinvest, it would close starting Feb. 16 the Alabang southbound and Bunye South Station exit toll plazas, a portion of the northbound West service road and the Hillsborough off-ramp from the elevated Skyway to at-grade Skyway.

PayMaya bullish, expects stronger growth this year PAYMAYA Philippines Inc. expects to post a strong growth this year as it aggressively promotes cashless lifestyle to young Filipinos.

“Last year was a good year for us and we are keep pushing ourselves because the opportunity is there. We have an aggressive targets, last year we grew strongly, hopefully this year we beat that,” said Shailesh Baidwan, president of PayMaya and Voyager Innovations Inc. Baidwan said part of the company’s strategy to acquire more users was to tap young Filipinos.

PayMaya tapped young actors Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla to help the company attract young Filipinos to use cashless transactions through the launched of “BalikBayad” (a creative transliteration of the word “cashback”) campaign.

The campaign highlights the many cashback that users can get whenever they pay with PayMaya.

“The response to our ‘Don’t Pay Cash.

PayMaya!’ campaign last year has been overwhelming, and we’re glad that more Filipinos are discovering how easy, convenient, and ‘joyful’ it is to pay using PayMaya,” said Mark Jason Dee, head of growth and marketing of PayMaya.

“As we work to bring even more features and services to PayMaya, we’re excited to introduce the most rewarding mobile wallet in the Philippines today to even more users nationwide with the ‘BalikBayad’ campaign,” he added.

PayMaya users in February can get as much as P6,000 in cashback when they participate in the mobile wallet’s various promos for bills payment, buying load, paying for goods and services via QR, online shopping, and sending money, among many others.

PayMaya has also expanded the list of merchants and establishments under its PayMaya Preferred program, which gives additional cashback to users who scan to pay with PayMaya QR on top of the regular cashback that they usually receive. Darwin G. Amojelar

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard

World

TODAY

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

B3

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Thai soldier kills 26 in mass shooting N

AKHON RATCHASIMA―A Thai soldier who killed at least 26 people before being shot dead in a mall by commandos went on the rampage because of a debt dispute, the kingdom’s premier said Sunday, offering the first official speculation for the motive of an “unprecedented” shooting spree.

After a night that seesawed between heavy exchanges of gunfire and terrifying dashes for mall exits by trapped shoppers, sharp-shooters brought an end to the 17-hour-ordeal when they killed the gunman on Sunday morning in Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat.

Twenty-six people including civilians―the youngest a 13-year-old boy―and security forces were killed by the rogue soldier, Thailand’s prime minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha said.

“It is unprecedented in Thailand, and I want this to be the last time this crisis happens,” he said outside a hospital where the

victims, including at least two undergoing brain surgery, were being treated.

Prayut, a gruff former army chief, blamed a “personal problem” over the sale of the house for the soldier’s rampage, which began on Saturday afternoon near an army barracks and was for several hours relayed by the gunman via Facebook posts.

The attacker, a junior army officer identified as Sergeant-Major Jakrapanth Thomma, used a stolen M60 machine gun, rifles and ammunition from one of Thailand’s largest barracks and a military humvee to carry out the attack.

Prayut said he overpowered security at the barracks’ arsenal.

“This was not carelessness. We don’t leave the arsenal depot alone―we had people guarding it.”

Most of the dead were killed in and around the mall.

Volleys of gunfire rang out as the siege ran into dawn, hours after Thai security services stormed the ground floor and freed scores of stunned, terrified shoppers from a bloody rampage.

Frightened shoppers sent cascades of messages to friends and family on social media from cupboards, toilets and under tables as the gunman stalked the mall.

Shocked evacuees recounted how an ordinary Saturday at the busy shopping center descended into horror as the gunman

entered, sparking an hours long ordeal.

“It was like a dream... I’m grateful I survived,” Sottiyanee Unchalee, 48, told AFP, explaining she hid in the toilet of a gym inside the mall as she heard the gunfire.

A Filipina teacher, Aldrin Baliquing, said he was ushered into a storeroom by staff as the shooting began.

“We were there for six gruelling hours... I’m in shock,” she said.

Scores of people made a dash for it as police and soldiers in masks and wielding assault rifles took control of the ground floor following a gun battle and scoured the fleeing crowds for the assailant. AFP

IN BRIEF Cyclone, storms lash Australia

SYDNEY―Weakening tropical cyclone Damien battered northwestern Australia’s resource-rich Pilbara region on Sunday, as storms brought heavy rain and flooding to the country’s bushfire-ravaged east.

The cyclone was downgraded to a Category One storm Sunday after making landfall late Saturday as a Category Three, when it brought winds of 195 kilometres per hour (121 miles per hour) at its peak and forced residents to hunker down indoors under a code red emergency warning.

The Bureau of Meteorology said Damien was weakening as it moved southeast through the sparsely populated central Pilbara on Sunday, bringing winds of up to 100 kilometres an hour and heavy rainfall that was expected to cause flooding.

“Tropical Cyclone Damien will continue to weaken as it moves further inland,” the bureau said.

The storm reportedly downed trees, ripped roofs off sheds and knocked out power in the small coastal towns of Dampier and Karratha.

Meanwhile, Australia’s east coast has been lashed with days of rainfall that has caused flash flooding in New South Wales and Queensland.

Flood warnings were issued for more than a dozen rivers across the two states, including in Sydney, home to about five million people and the country’s biggest city, which has been drenched by heavy rainfall.AFP

Two US troops shot dead by Afghan soldier

WAITING FOR THE EVACUATION. This handout from Chanathip Somsakul taken on February 8, 2020, and released

to AFP on February 9, 2020, shows people sitting in the Terminal 21 shopping mall in Nakhon Ratchasima as they wait to be evacuated to a safer area following a shooting incident in the mall. A Thai soldier who killed at least 26 people before being shot dead in a mall by commandos went on the rampage because of a debt dispute, the kingdom’s premier said on February 9, offering the first official speculation for the motive of an ‘unprecedented’ shooting spree. AFP

US presidency gains more power with Trump’s acquittal WASHINGTON―President Donald Trump’s impeachment acquittal has delivered the White House a fresh coat of power, sparking worries over the rise of an “imperial presidency.”

His victory in the Senate trial on Wednesday accelerated a decadeslong shift in the US government in which Congress has steadily ceded authority to the Oval Office.

The presidency hit a low in the 1970s, after Congress wrested authority away following Richard Nixon’s Watergate abuses.

Since then, each successive US leader has sought to further dominate the legislature.

Trump, though, has sparked anxiety: he flaunts his power, and has an attorney general who favors a strong presidency and a Republican Party unwilling to restrain him.

One of his impeachment lawyers claimed Trump is free to do whatever he wants-seven cheat in elections―if he believes it is in the national interest.

Trump himself says, citing the US Constitution: “I have the right to do whatever I want as president.”

“It is now arguable... that Donald Trump may well have become the most powerful president in American history,” historian Jon Meacham said

after Trump’s trial closed.

“President Trump is functionally a monarch at this point. If the king does it, it’s okay.”

After suffering under the British king, the architects of the US system of government crafted a constitution in 1789 that gave the legislature strong checks on the powers of the new nation’s chief executive.

Lawmakers held the upper hand mostly through the early 20th century, until, faced by existential emergencies-the Great Depression and then World war II-president Franklin Roosevelt rode roughshod over Congress to take action. AFP

From Leaders to Changemakers of Tomorrow: The Search for Siklab Awardees 2020 FIVE exceptional individuals who embodied the legacy of Ambassador Ramon V. del Rosario were awarded as the first winners of the Ramon V. del Rosario Siklab Awards last July 2019. The RVR Siklab awardees are JB Tan, Clarissa Delgado, Edgar Elago, Gary Ayuste and Melissa Yap. JB Tan is a computer science graduate who created iVolunteer, an online platform for posting of events and opportunities where volunteers can sign up; Clarissa is the co-founder and CEO of Teach for the Philippines which recruits young professionals to teach in public schools for two years to provide good quality education for all Filipino learners; Edgar is a teacher from Agusan del Norte and founder of Project Scholar and Project ADAMMS that provide scholarships to deserving high school students particularly from the indigenous communities; Gary, the founder of BEEngo Farm, is a Leyte-based entrepreneur and beekeeper who educates local farmers and students the value of beekeeping in protecting the environment and at the same time as a source of livelihood; And Melissa is the founder and executive director of Got Heart Foundation and Earth Kitchen which help farmers and indigenous communities to be sustainable by partnering with them in supplying local, healthy and organic foods to restaurants.

Although they chose to solve social problems from many directions, these leaders share one common feature: they are building platforms that unleash human potential that aid in nationbuilding.

The RVR-Siklab Awards was launched in commemoration of the 100th birth anniversary of the late Ambassador Ramon V. del Rosario in 2018 as a joint program of PHINMA, Junior Chamber International Manila and De La Salle University’s Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. It was also inspired by the Ramon V. Del Rosario Award for Nation Building that recognizes the best and brightest leaders who embody Mr. Del Rosario’s ideals with regards to Nation Building.

Past awardees include Dr. George K. Ty, Henry Sy Sr., Manuel V. Pangilinan, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Vicente Paterno, Washington Sycip, Oscar Lopez, Ambassador Jose Tambunting, Diosdado Banatao and most recently, Dr. Aristotle Alip .

Now on its second year, the Ramon V. del Rosario Siklab Awards is launching another national search for young individuals who are both leaders and changemakers. What does it take to become leaders and changemakers?

David Bornstein and Susan Davis’ 2010 book on “Social Entrepreneurship: What Everyone Needs to Know” defined social enterprise as an organization that tackles problems through a “business format even if it is not legally structured as a profit-seeking entity.” They also defined an “intrapreneur,” also known as a corporate entrepreneur, as someone who drives positive change within an existing organization or business. And a “changemaker,” accordingly, advances change in myriad ways beyond the roles of both social and corporate entrepreneurs.

Social entrepreneurship is improvising its own ecosystem by stimulating more changemaking as it grows. It is growing spontaneously with countless responses to emerging needs to adapt rapidly, to an ever-changing array of unforeseeable and increasingly critical social problems. These social problems are oftentimes responded to by adopting an attitude of cynical detachment; with many wanting to take action but feel overwhelmed not knowing where to begin, or feel that problems are too big to be solved.

But many have also found ways to respond with creativity, passion, energy, and even optimism— responding to problems with innovative ideas and new solutions. Their stories have gone unreported. Even if we are inundated with news and information, the proliferation of people building new organizations to address social problems—remains largely undisclosed.

Let the RVR-Siklab Awards tell the stories of changemakers! Eligible nominees should be Filipino citizens or holders of a Philippine passport whose work have made a positive impact in a community in the Philippines; 25 to 40 years old; not have been charged with any case nor have any pending cases any courts; possess a significant leadership role in an organization for at least three years; demonstrated positive impact in a community in the Philippines; and must exemplify the following qualities of entrepreneurial spirit, impact of business or social enterprise, corporate citizenship and social responsibility. Nominations of outstanding youth leaders can be made through the online nomination form at bit.ly/ RVRSiklabAwards2020 until March 31, 2020.

DR. EMILINA R. SARREAL

Green LiGht

Dr. Emilina Sarreal is the Dean of the Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business, De La Salle University. She can be contacted at emilina.sarreal@dlsu.edu.ph The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

KABUL―Two American troops were killed and six others wounded when an Afghan soldier armed with a machine gun opened fire, the US military confirmed Sunday.

The deaths come at a sensitive time in the 18-year-old war, with President Donald Trump eager to bring troops home and end the longest conflict in US history.

The incident occurred late Saturday in Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan when US and Afghan commandos were conducting a “key-leader engagement” at a base in Sherzad district.

“Current reports indicate an individual in an Afghan uniform opened fire on the combined US and Afghan force with a machine gun,” US Forces-Afghanistan spokesman Sonny Leggett said in a statement on Sunday.

Provincial governor Shah Mahmood Meyakhil said in an audio message to reporters that three Afghan commandos were wounded.

He said it was not immediately clear if the incident was a deliberate act by an “infiltrator” or an accident.

“It was not a clash between the forces. We are investigating,” Meyakhil said.

Leggett also stressed the cause or motive behind the attack were not immediately known.

In a tweet, the US Army’s 7th Special Forcundistributed to date, are: a) One (1) Republic of the Philippines es Group (Airborne) said “several” of its solMetrobank Bond; b) One (1) Savings REGIONAL TRIAL COURT diers had been killed or injured during combat Account at respondent’s Ocean Tower National Capital Judicial Region operations in Afghanistan.

Branch with a P 20,470.00 balance, BRANCH 114, PASAY CITY if still existing; c) One (1) Safety KEITH RONALD MILHENCH, No group immediately claimed responsibilDeposit Box at respondent’s Angeles represented ity for the incident. AFP City Branch, contents, if any. That Herein by his Attorney-in-Fact, ATTY. ALFREDO R. CABEZA Petitioner,

Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT National Capital Judicial Region Quezon City, Metro Manila BRANCH LXXVIII (78) PETITION FOR ADOPTION OF MINOR JOSHUA SAMUEL SARENAS IBAÑEZ, SP. PROC. CASE NO. R-QZN-19-15989-SP SPOUSES GINO ANTONIO CADIENA CRUZ AND MARIA CLARISSE SARENAS IBAÑEZ-CRUZ, Petitioners. x---------------------------------------------------x

ORDER

A verified Petition was filed by the petitioners, spouses Gino Antonio Cadiena Cruz, and Maria Clarisse Sarenas Ibañez-Cruz, through counsel, praying that after due notice and hearing the petition be granted, that the minor JOSHUA SAMUEL SARENAS IBAÑEZ be declared for all intents and purposes as the legitimate child of the petitioners, and the Civil Registrar of Mandaluyong City be ORDERED TO AMEND his Record of Birth to change his surname to that of petitioners.

Petitioners are husband and wife, both of legal age, and residents of 78 General Avenue, GSIS Village, Barangay Tandang Sora, Project 8, Quezon City. They were married on July 13, 2019.

The minor Joshua is the illegitimate child of petitioner Maria Clarisse Paula Ibañez-Cruz who was born before her marriage to petitioner Gino Antonio Cruz. As evidence by the lack of signature in the Certificate of Birth, Joshua’s birth was not acknowledge by this biological father, who had abandoned him and his mother Maria Clarisse while he was still a toddler. At present, neither petitioners nor Joshua have any communications with the biological father. They have no knowledge of his whereabouts.

That petitioners desire to jointly adopt Joshua and extend to him all the rights and privileges of their legitimate child. At present, they live together with Joshua who is a YS 9 (Grade 8) Home Study Program student at Angelicum College in Quezon City. Petitioners provide for all his needs as well as ensure that his upbringing is in accordance with sound Biblical Christian values. And since the birth of Joshua, petitioner Maria Clarisse has been a selfless and responsible mother. She sacrificed her personal needs and aspirations to look after Joshua’s needs as a child, and continues to do so until now in her child’s teenage years. Petitioner Gino Antonio has likewise cultivated a loving, open, and supportive relationship with Joshua as a gesture of his love for the mother and son.

Moreover, petitioners are qualified and do not possess any disqualification under the adoption laws to adopt the minor Joshua, and are financially capable of supporting him. They have a wholesome and happy home life, and have a stable income coming from professional commissions, interest on savings, investment earnings, and consultancies. Petitioner Gino Antonio is a Certified Public Accountant. He previously worked from 2010 to 2014 at SGV & Co. as an accountant and then later at KGLI Asia ROHQ from 2014 to 2018 as a financial analyst. Currently, he is a Business Broker affiliated with Link Business Broking Philippines, Inc. As a business broker, he is engaged in the sale of business to ensure that owners are able to get the most beneficial transaction for them in transferring the ownership of their businesses. Petitioner Maria Clarisse is likewise a Business Broker affiliated with Link Business Broking Philippines, Inc. She is also an insurance agent for Sun Life of Canada, Philippines, Inc. since 2016. That as required by law, petitioners are willing to be the subject of a child study report to be conducted by the Court Social Worker.

IN VIEW THEREOF, and finding the petition to be sufficient in form and substance, the same is hereby given due course.

Accordingly, let the instant petition be set for hearing on May 6, 2020 (Wednesday), at exactly 8:30 o’clock in the morning at Rooms B13-B14, Basement, Hall of Justice Building, Quezon City. Notice is hereby given that anyone who has any objection to the Petition should file his/her opposition hereto within fifteen (15) days from the last date of the publication of this Order or appear in Court on the above-scheduled date of hearing and show cause, if any, why the Petition should not be granted.

Let this Order be published, at the expense of the petitioners, once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of national circulation in the Philippines, to be chosen by raffle under the supervision of the Executive Judge, Regional Trial Court, this city pursuant to PD.D. 1079. The Court Social Worker Ms. Mariebec Cariaga is hereby directed to conduct a case study on the petitioners and on the minor subject of the adoption and to submit her report on or before the scheduled hearing.

Petitioners are hereby directed to coordinate with the Court Social Worker to facilitate the preparation of the case study report.

Petitioners are further required to furnish a copy of the Petition, together with its annexes, the Office of the Solicitor General, Office of the City Prosecutor, Quezon City, the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Local Civil Registrar of Mandaluyong City, the Local Civil Registrar of Quezon City, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development-National Capital Region (DSWD-NCR), and to submit compliance therewith before the scheduled hearing.

-versus-

Sp. Proc. Case No. R-PSY-19-01452-CV

METROPOLITAN BANK AND TRUST COMPANY, Respondent. x------------------------------------------------x

AMENDED ORDER A verified Petition for Judicial Recognition of Foreign Judgment was filed by Keith Ronald Milhench, represented herein by his Attorney-inFact, Atty. Alfredo R. Cabeza.

Petitioner alleged among others, that he is non-resident British national, of legal age, with residence at 41 The Delph, Lower Earley, Reading, Berkshire, England, RG63AN. He flies this suit in his personal capacity as a compulsory heir of his father, Ronald George Milhench, and as Attorneyin-Fact of his sister and only cocompulsary heir, Ann Marie Milhench Palen. That petitioner’s father, Ronald George Milhench, died on April 28, 2012. He left a Last Will and Testament over his properties in the Philippines, which was duly probated in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. The Last Will and Testament, duly notarized by a Reading, England Notary Public duly authenticated by A. Khan of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and duly confirmed by the Consul of the Consular Section, Philippine Embassy, London, United Kingdom.

That the deceased, immediately before and at the time of his death, was a resident of Pasay City. At the time of his death, he briefly stayed with an acquaintance at Angeles City, Pampanga, where he died on April 28, 2012. That among his last Will and Testament and which remain

numerous demands for the above items’ release to Petitioner were made upon Respondent, albeit verbal, but all proved unavailing. That to compel Respondent to release to Petitioner the above deposited items, effectuate the probated Last Will and Testament, and bring the legal effects of the December 20, 2013 Grant of the High Court of Justice, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland into the Philippines, there is an indispensable need to recognize such foreign judgment. That the pertinent excerpt of the Probate Law of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, under which the validity of the Last Will and Testament was established.

Finding the Petition to be sufficient in form and substance, notice is hereby given that the hearing of the Petition is set on March 12, 2020 at 8:30 in the morning, in this Court sitting at Room 402, Hall of Justice, F.B. Harrison St., Pasay City, at which date, time and place, any person interested may appear and interpose their opposition why the said Petition should not be granted.

Let copy of this Order be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation at the expense of the petitioner.

Likewise, let copies of the Order and the Petition be sent to the Office of the Solicitor General, the Pasay City Prosecutor’s Office, the Local Civil Registrar of Pasay City and the Philippine Statistics Authority and the petitioner.

SO ORDERED. Pasay City, Metro Manila, January 28, 2020.

(Sgd.) RESTITUTO V. MANGALINDAN JR. Acting Presiding Judge (MStandard-Feb. 3, 10 & 17, 2020)

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 94, QUEZON CITY IN RE PETITION FOR DECLARATION OF ABSOLUTE OF NULLITY OF MARRIAGE, JEAN IRIS R. YAP, Petitioner, -versus-

CIVIL CASE No. R-QZN-18-01193-CV

CONRADO B. PAHATI, JR. and CIVIL REGISTRAR of NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION, Respondents, x----------------------------------------------x

DECISION WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered: 1. Declaring the marriage of petitioner Jean Iris R. Yap and private respondent Conrado B. Pahati, Jr. solemnized in Arroceros, Manila on February 14, 2007 null and void ab initio with all the effects thereof as provided by law; 2. Allowing the petitioner to use her maiden name “Yap”; 3. Dissolving the absolute community of property and that no liquidation is ordered it appearing that the petitioner and respondent have not acquired any property during the marriage; and 4. Ordering the City Civil Registrar of Quezon City, the City Civil Registrar of Manila and the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) to record this Decision after it has become final and executor in accordance with law and upon payment by the petitioner of the lawful fees.

Pursuant to Section 19 (2) A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC (Rule on Declaration of Absolute Nullity of Void Marriages and Annulment of Voidable Marriages), let the Dispositive portion of the decision be published at the expense of the petitioner, once in a newspaper of general circulation to be chosen by raffle.

SO ORDERED.

Let also a copy of the Decision be sent by registered mail to the last known address of the respondent.

Quezon City, Metro Manila, October 17, 2019.

SO ORDERED.

(Sgd.) FERNANDO T. SAGUN, JR. Copy Furnished: Presiding Judge Spouses Gino Antonio Cadiena Cruz & Maria Clarisse Sarenas Ibañez-Cruz Atty. Noche Riza D. Castillo Pros. Conrado C. Rosario Office of the Solicitor General Office of the Civil Registrar – Mandaluyong City Office of the Civil Registrar – Mandaluyong City Office of the Civil Registrar – Q.C. Philippine Statistics Authority (NSO) D.S.W.D. - NCR (MStandard - Jan. 27, & Feb. 3 & 10, 2020)

November 25, 2019, Quezon City, Metro Manila.

Cc:

(Sgd.) ROSLYN M. RABARA-TRIA Presiding Judge

ACP Araceli C. Ragsac – Office of City Prosecutor, Quezon City Office of the Solicitor General – 134 Amorsolo St., Legaspi Village, Makati City Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) City Civil Registrar of Quezon City City Civil Registrar of Manila Sison and Associates – 101 BML Bldg., 712 Tandang Sora Ave., Quezon City Jean Iris R. Yap – 10 Umandal Street, M.H. Del Pilar, San Francisco, Del Monte, Quezon City Conrado B. Pahati, Jr. – 85- A Acacia St., Cembo, Makati City

(MStandard - Feb. 10, 2020)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

LGUs

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

B4

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

PCL bet Salceda to push Mandanas ruling for LGUs LOCAL government units can hope to expand significantly their financial and logistical resources, and push local economic development more strongly if the 2018 Supreme Court’s so-called “Mandanas Ruling” becomes a mandatory statute.

The Mandanas ruling stipulates that LGU internal revenue allotments should come from all national taxes as contemplated under the 1991 Local Government Code and not from just the taxes collected by the BIR from within the LGU jurisdictions, as was the usual practice.

Philippine Councilors League Bicol Regional chair Jesciel Richard Salceda, who is campaigning for the PCL national chairmanship, has vowed to push for the “constitutionalization” of the Mandanas Ruling, should he win as their league’s national chairman.

A three term councilor of Polangui, Albay and their local league’s representative to the Albay Provincial Board, Salceda said he will work out measures to help make the Mandanas Ruling a law or enshrined in the Constitution, to ensure that LGUs will continue receiving their ‘just share’ of the IRA. A graduate of Yale University, he noted that in its 2018 decision the High Court ruled that LGUs should receive bigger IRA shares and that the LGC provision limiting to 40-percent their IRA shares does not specify that the revenue base shall be taxes alone from LGU jurisdictions.

PFP pools funds for free education for poor families

By Nash B. Maulana KORONADAL CITY—Members of the Partido Federal ng Pilipinas are pooling resources to maximize benefit of the government’s free education program for deserving members of poor families.

South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr., PFP national president, said one of the popular, apolitical programs of the party is to help provide the poor with local access to free quality education.

For one, PFP president for SouthCentral Mindanao Assam Ulangkaya has donated a one-hectare lot in Baragay Paraiso here for a proposed establishing of extension colleges of the Mindanao State University General Santos City Campus.

Tamayo said taking this plan up for a main dish with friends on his birthday Saturday, made the life celebration one of the best he ever had with friends.

Ulangakaya, a former journalist, confirmed this from his circle of former schoolmates at MSU College of Law, saying the school should be expanding here to help bring quality free education to children of poor families among the Lumads, the Moros and the local community of Christian settlers.

He said during their meeting on Saturday, he had opened up with MSU-General Santos Chancellor Dr. Anshari Ali, the prospect of donating the property for a site of college and post-graduate degree programs extension campus.

Santa Rosa City Mayor Arlene Arcillas gives thanks to the people (inset) during the 21st Sikhayan Festival. The event coincides with the 228th Founding Anniversary of Santa Rosa as an independent town in the Province of Laguna.

Roy Tomandao

EASING FEARS.

Dr. Henry Lim Bon Liong, President of the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII) helps distribute thousands of face masks to the public at the entrance of a shopping mall in Bindondo on Friday.

He said this was a sign of the Filipino Chinese community’s solidarity ‘with all our Filipino brothers and sisters for public health and safety of all people living in the Philippines’ in light of fears ethnic Chinese were spreading the dreaded novel coronavirus in the country. Teddy Pelaez

Parañaque city rites shelved due to nCoV

N

O MORE beauty pageants, no more festival and no more fireworks display during the 22nd Parañaque Cityhood anniversary activities, supposedly starting today (Monday).

Because of fear and concern about the deadly novel coronavirus (nCoV) outbreak, 20 of the 24 scheduled activities to celebrate the anniversary were cancelled including the Miss Parañaque pageant, “Gandang Mamita” contest, the “Sunduan Festival” and the street dance event.

Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the cancellations include the awarding of the 2019 Outstanding Taxpayers, which will be held at Solaire Resorts and Casino, and the Mega Job Fair held annually at the city hall grounds.

This year’s State of the City Address of the mayor, which is regularly attended by city stakeholders, government officials, ambassadors, and businessmen,

was also shelved.

“In the interest of everyone’s safety, we have been advised by our city health officials to take care of exposing our constituents, particularly children, to crowded places. We hope they will support and understand us for temporarily postponing the cityhood anniversary activities this year,” Olivarez said in a statement.

Hundreds of Chinese nationals are presently working at the world-class Entertainment City along Coastal Road and living in Parañaque, in relation to the presence of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs. City health officials disclosed they are implementing the protocol of the Department of Health on dealing with NCoV. They are also watching closely the Chinese nationals and POGOs in three barangays in the city.

Public Information Office chief Mar Jimenez disclosed that only the unveiling of the 2019 National Anti-Drug Abuse Council Performance Marker and the blessing of the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office Command Center will push through this Monday.

CALAMITY AID.

Chevron Philippines Inc.(CPI) continues to help out Filipinos during calamities as they donated P250,000 to the Philippine Red Cross. Pictured (from left) are CPI Corporate Affairs Assistant Manager Joel Gaviola, CPI Corporate Affairs Manager Atty. Raissa Bautista, Philippine Red Cross SecretaryGeneral Elizabeth Zavalla, and Philippine Red Cross Assistant Secretary General Ramon B. Murillo.

V’zuela villages, NGOs gear up vs. coronavirus

By Jun David WITH local government units in charge of the promotion of health and safety within their jurisdictions, Valenzuela City is leading the prevention and control of the 2019 novel coronavirus all the way to the community level to amplify its continuous information campaign efforts.

Following its City Development Council meeting, the city government under Mayor Rex Gatchalian heightened its city-wide information drive on the preparedness and response to the disease.

It emphasized that round-theclock monitoring in all barangays must be sustained as mandated by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The Preparedness and Response to the 2019 nCoV as presented by City Health Office Head Dr. Jaime Exconde Jr. was brought down to barangay officials and local non-governmental organizations (NGOs), aiming to create awareness on the proper handling and reporting of a suspected case.

Dr. Exconde also reminded the attendees to be equipped with the “basic knowledge” on how to identify a possible nCoV case through the nCoV decision tool.

This decision tool includes an assessment of the four indicators of the disease—1) fever of more than 38 degrees Celsius, 2) respiratory infection, 3) travel history in China, Hong Kong and Macau for the past 14 days, and 4) history of exposure.

BPSU’s Paguia elected new president of CL agriculturists’ group

By Butch Gunio

BALANGA CITY, Bataan—Bataan Peninsula State University Vice President for Research, Extension, and Training Services Dr. Hermogenes Paguia is the new president of Philippine Association of Agriculturists Central Luzon

Taramind Chapter.

He got the post in a recent election, replacing Pampanga Agricultural State University president Dr. Honorio Soriano. He was formerly business manager of the association.

Paguia said as new president, he will push expanding membership among

agricultural workers in the region, particularly from local government units.

Currently, there are about 800 members of the association in Central Luzon.

More trainings will be conducted particularly from SUCs, Paguia said.

He said PAA clusters will be established in each province of the region.

He cited the National Conference in Environment, Engineering, and Technology being conducted by BPSU which serves as venue to train agricultural workers.

Paguia was a regional agricultural scientist awardee by the Department of Agriculture. Butch Gunio

Sikhayan celebrates Pinoy resilience

By Roy Timandao SANTA ROSA CITY, Laguna—This city marked its 21st Sikhayan Festival on February 7 with the theme “Isang Tugtog, Isang Awit, sa Sikhayan Pag-iisahin” (One Beat, One Song, United in Sikhayan).

The event coincided with the 228th founding anniversary of Santa Rosa as an independent town in the Province of Laguna.

The event is traditionally held every 18th of January, but was postponed due to the phreatic eruption of Taal Volcano last Jan. 12. From that day, the city proceeded with its clean-up operations and in helping displaced families from Batangas.

“The recent events led the city to tempo-

rarily postpone the festival so we could ensure the safety of our people and to also enable us to help our fellows from Batangas,” Mayor Arlene Arcillas said in an interview.

She said the recent experience of the nation over Taal’s eruption somehow characterized the theme for this year’s Sikhayan.

“We may be from different provinces or regions but it was inspiring to see that people readily joined hands and brought aid for the affected families,” the mayor said.

“Our recent experience with the Taal [phreatic eruption] also demonstrated Filipinos’ diligence and resilience not only during calamities but even on ordinary days when they work tirelessly to earn a living for their families. Iyon po ang tunay na pagsisikhay,” said Arcillas.

Life

It’s a date!

With your significant other (or yourself) GOOD food fills the stomach and the heart, reason why we always take our loved ones to a special meal to show how much we care for them.

FOOD

Café 1228

Couples can have both their hearts’ and tummies’ fill with an extensive buffet selection concluded with a decadent array of pink and red hued desserts for lunch and dinner on Feb. 14. The restaurant’s famous US angus prime rib, whole salmon in salt crust, and herb and garlic roasted leg of lamb, are paired with the freshest oysters, lobsters, prawns, scallops, as well as curated charcuterie and cheeses, pasta prepared a la minute, Japanese sushi and sashimi, and more. The Valentine’s weekend buffet is at P2,888 nett per person for lunch and dinner. An optional upgrade for free-flowing wine is at P599 nett per person.

Call (02) 8811-6888

Bernadette Lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife @MStandardLIFE MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

C1

A Southeast Asian menu of memories

Pink and red desserts at the buffet.

Corniche and Lobby Lounge

Diamond Hotel’s in-house restaurant Corniche serves special lunch and dinner buffet on Feb. 13-16. Meal on the 14th and 15th comes with a complimentary glass of champagne and live instrumental music to spark the mood.

A lavish four-course set menu and vibrant Valentine-themed pastries at Lobby Lounge are bound to get lovebirds cozying up together on Feb. 14-15, with a saxophonist to perform during dinner for a lovely, final touch.

Call (02) 8528-3000 Lobby Lounge serves a lavish four-course set menu.

The restaurant’s five-course Cantonese meal.

Crystal Dragon

For a lovely lunch or dinner affair, Crystal Dragon lays out a five-course Valentine’s Set Menu (P3,880++ per person), which captures the best of Cantonese cuisine and other regional Chinese specialties. The menu, available today until Feb. 16, consists of Black Pepper Duck Meat Swan Dumpling and Deepfried Prawn Swan Dumpling; Braised Sea Treasures and Scallop Dumpling and Black Truffle in Lobster Bisque; Braised Pork Ribs with Red Wine Vinegar and Wolfberry Reduction; Wok-fried Egg Noodles with Seafood, Sliced Abalone and Vegetable Sauce; and Double-boiled Warm Manuka Honey Ginger Tea, Chestnut, and Sesame Dumpling.

Call (02) 8800-8080

A variety of chocolates at the buffet spread.

Marriott Café

“T

HE dishes here are totally different from what I’ve been doing before,” said Chef Myke “Tatung” Sarthou as he welcomed journalists to his newly-opened Pandan Asian Café along Scout Limbaga in Tomas Morato, Quezon City last week.

His opening statement was both an invitation and a challenge, especially coming on the heels of his all-Filipino restaurant, Talisay, which he opened in the last quarter of 2019. Talisay, a bright spot in the gastronomic cornucopia that is Maginhawa St., also in Quezon City, embodies Chef Myke’s bold, brave, and unapologetic take on elevating traditional Filipino dishes.

“There is no ego at work here at Pandan in the sense that there was no need to own the dishes and come up with my own version. There was no effort to Filipinize the menu,” he said.

Chef Myke added, “The dishes here are very straightforward, and are as authentic and classic as possible. These are the dishes that I have come to love in my travels across Southeast Asia.”

Food, after all, evokes memories, and Pandan Asian Café does not disappoint.

The seafood laksa offers the same comforting sweet, sour, and spicy f lavors that you would get had you been eating at a hawker stall in Singapore or Malaysia. The coconut milk provides the perfect foil to the spicy sambal, which is made from scratch—and treacherous, if I may say, as the spicy kick in other dishes such as the beef rendang and sambal ikan do not hit you until after a few minutes, when it is already quite late and you’d need to gulp down iced Vietnamese coffee or cucumber lemonade to assuage your taste buds, and then eat some more. The laksa comes with noodles, generous slices of fish cake, prawn, tofu, and boiled egg—a complete meal in itself.

Vietnamese coffee served hot or iced, but preferably iced to turn down the heat of Chef Myke Sarthou’s deliciously spicy homemade sambal paste.

There’s char kway teow—flat rice noodles cooked Penang-style, a personal favorite of Chef Myke. It is sautéed in pork lard (yes, pork lard, cholesterol be damned) and topped with crispy pork strips and Chinese sausage.

The beef rendang, an Indonesian dish, has a very intense flavor that it will be almost offensive not to eat it with rice.

You can go for plain rice, but the aromatic nasi goreng—Indonesian fried rice with eggs, chicken, vegetables, and crispy dilis—will also go well with the rendang. As for me, I found the inasal rice more to my liking—perhaps it was because of the crispy chicken skin rice toppings that contrasted well with the very tender beef rendang chunks.

Perhaps the only dish that Chef Myke had to tweak a little was the sambal ikan. Traditionally, this would have used stingray, but he opted to prepare the dish with whole pompano, grilled on

a banana leaf and served with a generous heap of sambal paste.

For samplers, there’s the Vietnamese platter that has fresh spring rolls, chicken and pork satay with peanut sauce, and fried shrimp rolls; while the Singaporean platter includes char siu BBQ pork, deep-fried lechon Macao, and the classic hawker staple, Hainanese chicken.

“Our menu was created in a way that even if you mix the dishes from different Southeast Asian countries, your food will not be confusing, and the pairing will not be weird,” Chef Myke said.

If anything, there is a sense of belongingness, of being at home, despite and because of the rich flavors that are foreign yet familiar, given the similarities in ingredients and the differences in preparation.

I’m at joyce.panares@gmail.com.

Chocolate lovers are in for a delightful treat at Marriott Café. For its Choco Love Affair, the restaurant serves a table filled with handcrafted chocolates, sweets, and colorful treats as part of the buffet spread. Buffet is priced P3,300 nett on Feb. 13 (lunch) and Feb. 14 (lunch and dinner).

Call (02) 8988-9999

Nobu Manila

For the date who likes JapanesePeruvian flavors, Nobu serves a fivecourse Valentine’s Omakase (P10,000 nett for two) that comes with a complimentary welcome sake cocktail.

Exclusively available on Feb. 14, the Omakase begins with Nobu Sashimi Trio followed by a seasonal selection of Nobu Sushi. The meal continues with Whole Blue Crab with shiitake, negi, masago, and scallop chawanmushi; and Sous vide Australian Tenderloin. A plate of Fraisier Crème Mousseline Parfait with Champagne Jelly and Strawberries completes the Omakase.

Call (02) 8800-8080

A seasonal selection of Nobu Sushi.

Richmonde Café

Love arrives from Italy to Ortigas as Richmonde Café serves an intimate Cena Romantica on Feb. 14.

Richmonde Hotel Ortigas’ in-house restaurant serves an Italian-inspired feast complete with an appetizer buffet, a salad bar, soup, entrée choice of either rib eye steak or salmon fillet, and a luscious array of cakes, pastries, and fresh fruits. The Valentine’s dinner is priced at P1,498 nett per person, inclusive of a glass of wine.

Italian-inspired dishes served for Cena Romantica.

Pandan Asian Café serves well-loved dishes from across the region, including pork and chicken satay, fresh spring rolls, laksa, ayam goreng (fried chicken), and sambal ikan, among others.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK Manila

Standard Republic of the Philippines

line for DICT for reliability and flexibility.

TODAY

ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

c. Ponciano Substation Feeder 9. This project is a new feeder, which will be supplied by the new 50 MVA power transformer of Ponciano Substation.5 The project is a take-off line from PRE Substation to Quirino Street, which includes the erection of new concrete poles, dressing of new line hardware, and stringing of new 336.4 ACSR wires. The project will involve the construction of a new 300-meter, 13.8 kV, three-phase, 336.4 MCM ACSR wire, which will interconnect with the existing feeders that pass through Quirino Avenue going to Sta. Ana Avenue and Sales Street. This project is sequential with the new 50 MVA Power Transformer in PRE Substation.6

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR APPROVAL OF CAPITAL EXPENDITURE PROJECTS FOR CALENDAR YEAR 2019, WITH PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY, ERC CASE NO. 2019-098 RC

The project will allow the new 50 MVA power transformer of PRE Substation to deliver its full capacity to the customers.

This line will provide single outage contingency scenario with GAl Substation and STA Substation.

DAVAO LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY, INC., Applicant. x ---------------------------------------------------- x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

d. Ponciano Substation Feeder 10. This project is a new feeder which will be supplied by the new 50 MVA power transformer of PRE Substation. The project is a take-off line from PRE Substation to Quirino Street, which includes the erection of new concrete poles, dressing of new line hardware, and stringing of new #336.4 ACSR wires. The project involves the construction of a new 300-meter, 13.8 kV, threephase, 336.4 MCM ACSR wire, which will pass through Quirino Avenue going to Bankerohan Bridge. It will be interconnected with the existing ECO 2 and MAA 3 feeders. This project is sequential with the new 50 MV A Power Transformer in Ponciano Substation.7

TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: Notice is hereby given that on 20 December 2019, Davao Light and Power Company, Inc. (DLPC) filed an Application dated 13 December 2019, seeking the approval of its capital expenditure projects for Calendar Year (CY) 2019, with prayer for provisional authority.

The pertinent portions of the said Application are hereunder quoted as follows: 1.

2.

Davao Light is a corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with office address at C. Bangoy Sr. St., Davao City. It is the grantee of a legislative franchise under Republic Act No. 89601 to construct, operate and maintain an electric light, heat and power system in the Cities of Davao and Panabo, and in the Municipalities of Carmen, Sto. Tomas and Braulio Dujali, Province of Davao del Norte. Davao Light may be served with orders and other processes of the Honorable Commission through its undersigned counsel at the address indicated below.

The project will allow the new 50 MVA power transformer of PRE Substation to deliver its full capacity to the customers.

This line will provide single outage contingency scenario with GAl Substation and STA Substation. e. 13.8kV Line from TIB 4 to Panacan Depot. This project involves the construction of a new 6.31 km 336.4 MCM ACSR line from TEFASCO, Ilang, to Malagamot, Panacan. This is an extension of the existing Tibungco 4 Feeder, meeting with Panacan 5 Feeder. Works include erection of poles, dressing, and stringing of wires and other miscellaneous activities.

Republic Act No. 9136, or the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001 (“EPIRA”), under Section 23 thereof, obligates a distribution utility, such as Davao Light, to provide distribution services and connections to its system for any end-user within its franchise area, consistent with the distribution code. Further, distribution utilities share in the objective of the EPIRA to ensure the quality, reliability, security and affordability of the supply of electric power.2

3.

To pursue its mandate under its franchise and the EPlRA, it is necessary for Davao Light to continuously invest in the improvement of its system and services to better serve its customers.

4.

As such, Davao Light, in accordance with Section 20 (b) of Commonwealth Act No. 146,3 hereby applies for approval from the Honorable Commission, to implement its Capital Expenditure (“CAPEX”) Program for Calendar Year (“CY”) 2019·

5.

Davao Light’s CAPEX Program is categorized as follows:

Overloading incidents of the existing interconnections between Tibungco and Panacan Substations will be addressed, since some or most of the load can now be transferred to the new line. f. 13.8kV TAD from Tadeco Substation to Sto. Tomas Substation. This project is a construction of new three-phase, 12.64 circuit kilometer, 336.4 MCM ACSR, 13.8kV feeder line from Tadeco Substation8 to Sto. Tomas Substation. Activities include erection of poles, installation of line accessories, wire stringing, and other miscellaneous materials.

The project will help relieve Sto. Tomas Substation and the TAD2-ST01 link from overloading during single outage contingency. The new feeder will fully serve or accommodate the capacity of the newly upgraded Tadeco substation (from 15MVA to 33MVA). g. Interconnection of Bangkal 4 and Matina 4 from back of Bangkal SS to Matina Pangi Bridge (with line upgrade). This project involves the construction, including pole erection, pole dressing and stringing, of a new 1.9 km, 3-Phase 336.4 MCM ACSR line which will traverse along Diversion Road from Seminary Road Entrance to Matina Pangi Bridge, tapping feeders Bangkal 4 on one end and Matina 4 on the other.

a. Network Projects i. Substation Projects; ii. Line Projects; i. New Line Projects; ii. Line Upgrade Projects; and iii. Other Network Projects b. Non-network Projects 6.

Once implemented, this line will become a tie-up with Matina Feeder 4 and will carry the loads of either feeder during contingencies. This line will deliver the available additional capacity of Bangkal Substation, which is already undergoing a capacity upgrade from 12 MVA to 33 MVA.9

Davao Light’s CAPEX program under the bracket of Substation Projects is briefly described and consists of the following: a. ERA Additional 150 MVA Transformer and 138kV and 69kV Structure Re-Configuration. This project involves the purchase and installation of one (1) 150 MVA 138/69kV transformer, three (3) new 138kV SF6 power circuit breakers, three (3) new 69kV SF6 power circuit breakers, protection equipment and relays, measuring equipment, conductors, tubular pipes, and other related materials.

h. 13.8kV BKL 2, from Catalunan Agricultural Development Corp. to Elenita Heights. The project involves the construction of a three phase, 4.25 circuit kilometer, 336.4 MCM ACSR wire distribution line traversing Davao-Bukidnon Highway from Catalunan Pequiñio to Elenita Heights in Mintal, Davao City.

This is an extension of the previous project named “Bangkal 2, from Ulas to Catalunan Agricultural Development Corp.

(Catalunan Pequeño)”10 intended to tie with Tugbok Feeder 2 or loop with Bangkal feeder 1. The activity includes erection of poles and installation of line accessories, wire stringing, and other miscellaneous activities.

The project also involves demolition works, site development and structure reconfiguration in adjacent spaces to expand the ERA Substation.

The project shall address capacity congestion at the existing 150MVA ERA Substation due to significant load growth in the Davao City Downtown area.

The project shall relieve Tugbok substation and its Feeder Tugbok 2 from capacity congestion due to load growth and during single operating contingency situations. This will enable Bangkal substation’s transformer11 to deliver its full capacity through Bangkal 2 once the feeder extension is completed.

b. Buhangin Substation Additional 33MVA. This project involves the addition of one (1) unit 33MVA 67kV/13.8kV power transformer and other substation components at Buhangin Substation.

i. 13.8kV STO 4 connect to STO 2 from STO SS to PN 0949086.

This project is a three phase, 3.7 circuit kilometer 336.4 MCM ACSR wire distribution line traversing from Sto. Tomas Substation to Poblacion area. Once completed, this will serve as a new feeder line for Sto. Tomas Substation.

The additional power transformer shall relieve the existing Buhangin Substation from capacity congestion. It will also relieve overloading issues during single outage scenarios. c. DRA 69kV Tie Breaker. This project involves the purchase and installation of two (2) new 69kV SF6 power circuit breakers, protection relays, and other miscellaneous materials at DRA substation to replace the two (2) existing 69kV disconnect switches at Don Ramon Substation (DRA), Bunawan, Davao City.

The replacement, purchase, and installation of new equipment will reduce downtime during load transfers from one transformer to the other, as well as the paralleling of transformers. This will limit the number of unserved customers during sudden shutdown of one transformer while in parallel and will provide the DRA substation ability to load shed automatically. d. New Megaworld Substation with In-Out Lines. This project involves the construction of a new 33MVA 67kV/13.8kV distribution substation, which will be located at the city north area, specifically in Davao Park District, a township project of Megaworld Corporation. This substation will primarily supply the demand of Davao Park District and will be supplied via DELTA Ring Bus with incoming and outgoing lines.

The proposed substation will relieve the capacity issue of R. Castillo Substation due to load growth in the area and the entry of Davao Park District. It will also relieve overloading issues during single outage scenarios. e. Bunawan Substation Upgrade from 10MVA to 33MVA. The project involves the purchase and installation of a new 33 MVA power transformer to replace the existing 10 MVA power transformer in Bunawan Substation. It includes the purchase and installation of new electrical equipment for 69 kV and 13.8 kV such as power circuit breakers, disconnector switch, potential transformers, current transformers and lightning arresters.

A new steel structure will also be installed to prepare the substation for the 3 breaker delta configuration scheme. The budget includes the civil works for the foundation of the steel structure.

In addition, a new transformer foundation will be built since the existing foundation cannot cater to the weight of the new 33 MVA power transformer. New sets of relays, battery charger and DC battery bank must be purchased and installed to cater to the new protection scheme of the upgraded substation.

This project to upgrade the capacity of Bunawan Substation will accommodate the forecasted load growth in the area and address single outage contingency scenarios with its adjacent substations.

The ERA Additional 150 MVA Transformer and 138kV and 69 kV Re-configuration, Buhangin Substation Additional 33 MVA, and the Bunawan Substation Upgrade 10MVA to 33MVA projects are estimated to be completed in 2020.

7.

Davao Light’s CAPEX program categorized as New Line Projects consists of the following: a. 69kV Digos Line, Tori! Substation to Binugao Switching Station. This project involves the construction of a new, three-phase, 3.5 circuit kilometer 795 MCM ACSR 69kV line from Tori! Substation to Binugao Substation. Project activities involve erection of poles, installation of line accessories, wire stringing, and other miscellaneous materials.

This project will provide an alternate and reliable 69kV supply line to New Binugao Substation, which was approved by the Commission in ERC Case No. 2013-208 RC.4The project will extend the 69kV subtransmission loop between Davao Line 3 and Davao Line 4 (or Digos Line owned by NGCP) to accommodate the New Binugao Substation. b. 69kV DRA 3, from San Vicente Substation to Davao International Container Terminal. This project is a new three-phase, 795 MCM ACSR, 2.8 circuit kilometer 69kV sub-transmission line from San Vicente Substation to Davao International Container Terminal (DICT) Switching Station via Wharf Road in Panabo City. The project includes the erection of new steel poles for 69kV lines, pole dressing, line stringing and other miscellaneous line works.

This project will extend the 69kV sub-transmission loop between Don Ramon Line 3 and Don Ramon Line 4 and will include DICT on the loop for reliability and flexibility. In addition, this project will provide an alternate 69kV supply

The project includes erection of poles, pole dressing, line stringing, and other miscellaneous works.

The project will alleviate the long-standing capacity congestion of Sto. Tomas Feeder 2 .

8.

Davao Light’s CAPEX program categorized as Line Upgrade Projects are the following: a. 69kV Davao Line 2, from Dacudao GOABS to Magtuod Tapping Point. This project is a three phase, 9.0 circuit kilometer cross-country, line upgrade from 336.4 MCM ACSR to 795 MCM ACSR wire. This is a 69kV sub-transmission line traversing vegetation from Dacudao, Mintal, to Magtuod Tapping Point. This is a sequential project to “69kV Line New, Davao Line 1, from Maa Substation to Magtuod.”12 The activity includes erection of new and taller poles, installation of line accessories, replacement of new wires, and other miscellaneous materials.

The proposed sub-transmission line upgrade will relieve the feeder from capacity congestion during contingency situation.

This will strengthen the loop between Davao Line 1 and Davao Line 2 once the proposed looping interconnection will be complete. b. STO 1, from PN 1013790 to Tanglaw VBM. This project involves the upgrade of existing 4-4 km - 4/0 ACSR line from PN 1013790 to Tanglaw VBM with 336.4 MCM ACSR The project includes the dressing of new line hardware and stringing of new 336.4 ACSR wires and is sequential with the new TAD 2 line upgrade in order to cater the load of Sto. Tomas SS during single outage scenario.

The project will allow Tadeco Substation through TAD 2 to carry the load of Sto. Tomas feeders and substation during single outage scenario. c. 13.8kV VlC3 from Sacred Heart Church to PNB. This project is a three phase, 0.72 circuit kilometer distribution line upgrade from 2 ACSR to 336.4 MCM ACSR wire for Victoria substation’s feeder 3 from Sacred Heart Church to PNB (Old Landmark) Bajada. The activity includes erection of poles and installation of line accessories, wire stringing, and other miscellaneous materials.

The project will relieve capacity congestion of its adjacent feeders such as Victoria 1 and/ or Gaisano 2 at single operating contingency situation. The project will enable the newly upgraded Victoria substation to deliver part of its capacity to nearby and adjacent substation or feeders. Previously, the line is just a lateral line but due to load growth there is already a need to make this as a backbone feeder.

9. Davao Light’s CAPEX program categorized as Other Network Projects are the following: a. Line Rehabilitation / Maintenance. This project is a combination of line rehabilitation, upgrade and maintenance works, which includes (i) replacement or relocation of 13.8kV and 69kV structures and fIxtures with wires and accessories, including DPWH requests both for Davao and Panabo; (ii) replacement of 69kV structures and fixtures along Lapuy-Acasia with wires and accessories for line rehabilitation; (iii) replacement of 13.8kV primary structures and fixtures, small conductor upgrade, and single phase to three phase conversion for secondary wires, and related accessories for maintenance both for Davao and Panabo; (iv) installation or replacement of leaking insulators, defective arresters, insulators for conversion to higher BlL rating, maintenance of line capacitors, and installation of tree wire to various locations; (v) Typhoon Failure Containment for 69kV and 13.8kV line due to change of historical wind speed category, as per National Structural Code of the Philippines (NSCP). b. Line Reclosers. This project involves the installation of 47 units 3-phase reclosers, 10 units 1-phase recloser, 20 units of trip savers, 30 units FCI, & 10 units transceiver at selected Distribution feeder lines, laterals, and contestable or ILP customers. This is to provide automation of distribution system and to improve network reliability. It is also aimed at controlling the effect of supply curtailment to the customers in situations that we need load shedding because of tight power supply. c. Emergency. This project addresses emergency cases that need a ready supply (inventory) of materials for replacement of structures, transformers and line hardware on the 69kV,

I3.8kV, and secondary system. This will ensure quality of service to the customers through preparedness in needed electric distribution materials at any emergency situations such as, but not limited to, bumped poles and wet secondary lines issues during rainy season. d. Rotten Pole and Transformer Replacement. This project involves the replacement of rotten poles with concrete poles for primary and secondary lines, together with distribution transformers alongside pole top hardware and accessories. This project also aims to maintain reliability and reduce customer interruption due to dilapidated poles and overloaded transformers. e. Minor Voltage Quality Maintenance (Customer Requests).

These are customer requests and/or applications related to voltage issues that need immediate attention. Such activities include, but are not limited to, IV Scanner installations for voltage verification, tap changing to correct source voltage, load center splitting, distribution transformer uprating, and load balancing. f. New Application. This project includes the purchase and installation of transformers, poles, wires, line hardware and other distribution system apparatus/ devices/ equipment needed for providing service to new customer applications.

This is to effectively cater to and supply new customers’ applications to the distribution system. g. Subdivision Accounts Maintenance. This project involves maintenance of the electric systems within subdivisions that were already turned over to the DU. The maintenance will include pole replacements and installations, line extension, and transformer maintenance and installations, and other related activities within the premise. h. Rehabilitation of Substation. This involves the following maintenance works: (i) replacement of substation equipment parts; (ii) condition-based maintenance monitoring (transformer and breaker sensors); and (iii) structure and perimeter improvements for safety and security. i. Street Light and Signal System. This project involves the installation of new street lights and maintenance or replacement of defective streetlights.

The project will cater to forecast application of new customers and extend the life of existing streetlights by proper maintenance and repair, if necessary. The replacement of existing sodium lights with LED lights also supports the city government’s energy conservation program. j. Installation, Replacement and Maintenance of Industrial and Commercial Meters. This project involves the installation, replacement, and maintenance of large industrial and commercial customers’ meters. This includes the replacement of tampered meters. This project is to cater to application of new customers for this year based on historical data and forecast growth rate. The rehabilitation includes the replacement of electromechanical to electronic meters to boost accuracy, control, and monitoring, thus, strengthening customer confidence, trust and satisfaction. k. Installation and Replacement of Residential Meters. This project involves the installation of new electronic meters and the replacement of defective electromechanical residential meters, including accessories and labor, of residential consumers of Davao and Panabo City.

10. Davao Light’s CAPEX program categorized as Non-Network Projects are the following: a. Telecommunications. This project is to purchase new equipment and devices for installation, replacement, repair, and maintenance of communication facilities as well as radio communication equipment and accessories.

This project is to strengthen the communication systems for all substations through upgrade and purchase of new communication equipment/ devices. It will improve the supervision of substations remotely through a more reliable, updated, sophisticated, advanced, and faster communication system. The project will also provide a more stable SCADA power supply to maintain reliability, availability, and dependability of SCADA systems even at the worst conditions. b. Tools and Work Equipment. This project encompasses the acquisition, replacement, repair, or maintenance of various tools needed by different departments to perform their assigned tasks. These tools are classified as safety working equipment on live and high tension lines, personal protection equipment, medical equipment/tools/devices, power quality monitoring and analytical tools, protection systems equipment, field working tools, warehouse tools and equipment, or office tools. c. Transportation. This project involves the acquisition of new transport vehicles and motorbikes and the repair of existing work and transport vehicles, motorbikes, and bucket trucks.

This project will provide new working vehicles for linemen and engineers, and new motorbikes for additional surveyors to cater to customer requests faster. The repair of existing service vehicles and articulated working vehicles will prolong life span and usage. d. Buildings and Improvement, Office Equipment, Furniture and Fixtures, and Miscellaneous Equipment. This involves the expansion and repairs of office, office utilities, and health, safety, and security systems. This also includes the acquisition of office furniture and fixtures. These various projects are mostly building related works for expansion, new construction, improvements, rehabilitation, maintenance of new and existing ones. These are for the purpose of providing safe, healthy, conducive, and ambient working environment for employees and visiting customers. e. Computer Equipment (Software and Hardvvare). This project involves (i) replacement of computer units and ITrelated equipment; (ii) upgrade of software for security and compliance; (iii) re-development of software to enhance capability; (iv) acquisition of new software projects to improve operational efficiency and customer service; (v) Oracle WAM 2-4 cloud for optimal performance, maximization of value, and cost savings; (vi) mobile apps to improve customer service; (vii) enterprise architecture for engineering processes documentation/blueprint; and (viii) implementation of the APDU website for online presence and providing relevant information to customers.

11. The total estimated cost of Davao Light’s CAPEX program is PhP 1,570,491,950.80. The list of Davao Light’s CAPEX program, together with its estimated cost, is shown in table 1 below: PROJECT SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

COST (PhP)

NETWORK PROJECTS Substation Projects ERA Additional 150 MVA Buhangin Substation Additional 33MVA DRA 69kV Tie Breaker New Megaworld Substation with In-Out Lines Bunawan Substation Upgrade from 10MVA to 33 MVA

255,163,464.00 90,140,860.00 21,419,100.00 132,750,060.34 65,066,414.83

Lines Proiects New Lines Projects 69kV Digos Line, Tori! Substation to Binugao Switching Station

10,360,588.00

69kV DRA 3, from San Vicente Substation to Davao International Container Terminal

15,554,795.78

Ponciano Substation Feeder 9 Ponciano Substation Feeder 10 13.8kV Line From TIB 4 to Panacan Depot

832,631.75 832,631.75 8,654,875.00

13.8kV TAD 4, From Tadeco Substation to Sto. Tomas Substation

17,337,181.60

Interconnection of Bangkal 4 and Matina 4 from back of Bangkal Ss to Matina Pangi Bridge (with line upgrade)

2,606,063·69

13.8kV BKL 2, from Catalunan Agricultural Development Corp. to Elenita heights

9,532,707.65

13.8kV STO 4 connect to STO 2 from STO SS to PN 0949086

6,085,750.67

Line Upgrade Proiects 69kV Davao Line 2, from Dacudao GOABS to Magtuod Tapping point STO 1, from PN 1013790 to Tanglaw VBM 13.8kV VIC3 from sacred heart church to PNB

27,198,151.65 3,137,752.77 832,631.75

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Entertainment

Other Network Proiects Line Rehabilitation/Maintenance

85,868,926.00

Line Reclosers

42,950,844.01

Emergency

36,116,234.86

Rotten Pole and Transformer Replacement

61,546,642.92

Minor Voltage Quality Maintenance (Customer Requests)

14,017,771.00

New Application

216,270,381.00

Subdivision Accounts Maintenance

9,637,741.00

Rehabilitation of Substation

27,106,263.00

Street Lights and Signal Systems

27,130,544.13

Installation, Replacement and Maintenance of Industrial and Commercial Meters

41,264,062.00

Installation and Replacement of Residential Meters

SNAPSHOT

Telecommunications

11,035,346.00

Tools and Work Equipment

14,354,806.40

Transportation

30,070,000.00

Buildings and Improvement, Office Equipment, Furniture and Fixtures, and Miscellaneous Equipment

36,630,060.00

Computer Equipment (Software and Hardware)

79,286,976.00

GRAND TOTAL

1,570,491,950.80

Document “Distribution Development Plan Expenditures Proiects (C.Y. 2019)”

-

Proposed

“B”

“Estimated Network CAPEX Costs”

“C”

“Substations and Lines Projects Financials”

“D”

“Substation Projects Gantt Charts”

“E”

“Substations and Line Projects Single Line Diagrams”

“F”

“Substation Proiect Layouts”

Capital

13. The proposed CAPEX program will not have a direct impact on the current rates of Davao Light until approved by the Honorable Commission as part of its Regulatory Asset Base in the next applicable Regulatory Period.

14. Davao Light undertakes to comply with the pre-filing requirements under Rule 3, Section 4(e) of the EPIRA Implementing Rules and Regulations, as amended.

ALLEGATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY 15. Public interest and necessity require the immediate implementation of the subject CAPEX projects. The projects on Davao Light’s distribution system are necessary to address the needed capacity upgrades to accommodate increasing demand, prevent overloading, as well as improve safety and reliability of the system. Other projects are necessary to support local ordinances. Furthermore, various projects are necessary for Davao Light to accommodate new customer applications.

16. Thus, in the event that the various CAPEX projects are not implemented, certain facilities of Davao Light may be rendered obsolete, which could lead to power interruptions or delay in accommodating the additional load coming from existing and new customers. These negative consequences, which are detrimental to the livelihood and everyday lives of Davao Light’s customers, may be tempered by the immediate implementation of the instant CAPEX projects.

17. Thus, pending final approval, there is an urgent need for a provisional authority for Davao Light to immediately implement its proposed CAPEX projects. In support of the prayer for the grant of the provisional authority, attached as Annex “G” is the Judicial Affidavit of Mr. Enriczar T. Tia, Assistant Vice President - Technical Support of the Engineering Group of Davao Light.

18. The foregoing CAPEX projects are necessary for the systematic and economic expansion and rehabilitation of Davao Light’s distribution facilities and ensuring compliance with safety, performance and regulatory requirements. The benefits arising from these CAPEX projects will ultimately redound to the end-consumers of Davao Light because these projects are for continuous, reliable and efficient power supply.

PRAYER WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that the Honorable Commission: 1. APPROVE the proposed Capital Expenditure Projects of Davao Light and Power Company, Inc. for Calendar Year 2019; and 2. Pending trial on the merits, ISSUE an Order granting Provisional Authority authorizing Davao Light and Power Company, Inc. to implement its proposed Capital Expenditure Projects.

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

The Commission has set the Application for determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, Pre-trial Conference, and presentation of evidence on 05 March 2020 (Thursday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.) at the ERC-Mindanao Area Operations Division (ERC-MAOD), Mezzanine Floor, Mintrade Building, Monteverde Avenue cor. Sales Street, Davao City.

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the instant case may become a party by filing with the Commission a verified Petition to Intervene at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of the 2006 ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure, indicating therein the docket number and title of the case and stating the following: 1) The petitioner’s name and address; 2) The nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and 3) A statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the case may file their Opposition or Comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before Applicant rest its case, subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of the 2006 ERC Rules of Practice and Procedure. No particular form of Opposition or Comment is required, but the document, letter, or writing should contain the following: 1) The name and address of such person; 2) A concise statement of the Opposition or Comment; and 3) The grounds relied upon.

All such persons who wish to have a copy of the Joint Application may request from Applicant that they be furnished with the same prior to the date of the initial hearing. Applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the Application and its attachments, subject to the reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Any such person may likewise examine the Application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the standard office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairperson and CEO AGNES VST DEV ANADERA, and the Honorable Commissioners ALEXIS M. LUMBATAN, CATHERINE P. MACEDA, and PAUL CHRISTIAN M. CERVANTES, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 21st day of January 2020 in Pasig City.

JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT Oversight Commissioner for Legal

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

TODAY C3

Taking a chance in Mexico VETERAN actor Harrison Ford, who was in Mexico City to promote his latest film The Call of the Wild, took a chance to express his political views.

The 77-year-old actor decried the collapse of US “moral leadership” on issues such as improving the environment and immigration policy.

“We need moral leadership. We’ve lost some of our credibility and we are anxious to regain it,” the Hollywood star told reporters.

Ford was in town to talk about his starring role in The Call of the Wild, an adventure film set in Alaska in the 1890s and based on a novel by US author Jack London.

Relaxed and smiling, the actor also touched on his iconic Hollywood roles in the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Blade Runner movies. AFP

12. The detailed justifications, technical analysis, economic analysis, and alternatives considered, as applicable, for Davao Light’s CAPEX program are discussed in detail in the following annexes in support of this Application:

“A”

nickie.standard@gmail.com

169,699,691.25

NON-NETWORK PROJECTS

Annex

Manila

Standard

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Entitled “An Act Further Extending the Term of the Franchise Granted to Davao Light and Power Company, Inc, to Construct, Operate and Maintain an Electric Light, Heat and Power System in Davao City and the Municipalities of Carmen, Panabo, DujaJi, and Santo Tomas, Province of Davao del Norte, for a Period of Twenty-Five (25) Years and for Other Purposes.”; Section 2(b) of the EPlRA: Otherwise known as the Public Service Act: Decision in ERC Case No. 2013-208 RC, entitled “In the Matter of the Application for Approval of Capital Expenditure Projects for Regulatory Years 2014 to 2015,” dated 11 May 2015; The Ponciano Substation is also known as the PRE Substation; Part of ERC Case No. 2018 - 123 RC, entitled “In the Matter of the Application for Approval of Capital Expenditure Projects for Calendar Year 2018, and Various Projects Up to 2022, with Prayer for Provisional Authority.”; Id; Id· Part of ERC Case No. 2017-097 RC, entitled “In the Matter of the Application for Approval of Capital Expenditure Projects for Calendar Year 2017, with Prayer for Provisional Authority.”; Id; Id; Id; (MS-FEB. 10 & 17, 2020)

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Season for the arts B

EFORE we go ballistic in checking out how much are chocolate and roses, stuffed toys, booking in a fancy restaurant or even securing a room or suite for a romantic tryst, there is more to this month than just kisses and I love yous.

We all dig St. Valentine, Cupid and love his arrows, and Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, love and lust but there is another February month-long celebration that we must all embrace and support, and that is the National Arts Month, a flagship project of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

This month-long celebration is two-decades and five summers old and if we do not want to experience the ire and wrath of the muses, we must give the Arts Month all the appreciation it richly deserves.

Just recently, the latest batch of National Arts Ambassadors was presented to the public during a press conference held at the NCCA Building in Intramuros, Manila. The major, major ambassadress for the Arts this time is the Philippines’ fourth Ms. Universe, Catriona Gray.

“I believe artists always create with intention. In my pursuit to conquer my universe, I always wanted to showcase the beauty and the intricate uniqueness of the Philippines to the universe platform, whether it be to our heritage, our art, our history, our textiles, our music, or our dance. And in doing so, I felt that as an ambassador in my own right, representing the Philippines, I was able to play the part in having the new generation sit up and take note, and to appreciate what the Philippines has uniquely offer,” the “best Miss Universe ever” said in her speech.

“It has become my personal advocacy, aside from advocating for education and for HIV-AIDS... to instill a sense of burning pride for our country of the Philippines to the new generation. My love for our arts and culture was not something that I was born to due to my mixed heritage. It was something that was grown, learned, and embodied. And since the theme of the National Arts Month this February 2020 is Ani ng Sining— The Harvest of the Arts,” she added.

Catriona concluded her speech by saying that the harvest starts with planting and sowing a seed, so she fervent hopes that we can instill and grow a fierce love and passion for the Philippine arts and culture in each and every one of us.

“And in doing so, I know

Maja...

From C4

Other honorary ‘Film Ambassadors’ included Maja Salvador for her ‘Best Actress’ performance in Wildflower, Bea Alonzo for her ‘Asian Stars Up Next Award,’ and the criticallyacclaimed, multi-award-winning films Signal Rock (dir. Chito Rono) and Balangiga: Howling Wilderness (dir. Khavn Dela Cruz). The late Kristoffer Kingreceived posthumous honors for his role in Kristo as well.

The late veteran actors Eddie Garcia and Tony Mabesa, who starred in Joel Lamangan’s award-winning Rainbow’s Sunset, received posthumous honors during the Film Ambassador’s Night. Adding to their already illustrious careers, both actors tied in the “Best Actor” category during the 52nd Worldfest Houston International Film Festival and were part of the “Best Ensemble Cast” victory in New York’s International Film Festival 2019

Catriona Gray (center) with ambassadors for music Julie Anne San Jose (left) and KZ Tandingan

that the world will sit up, take notice and give us a standing ovation,” she ended.

Catriona delivered her speech in true Miss Universe fashion, which received thunderous applause from her adoring public gathered inside the NCCA lobby.

It cannot be denied that in person, not only was she statuesque, hers is a beauty that was goddess-like. Thus, I cannot help but wonder, if Sandro Boticelli, the great renaissance master were alive and is reincarnated in another person’s body this millennial age, he would definitely make Catriona his muse for a new The Birth of Venus painting.

Catriona also graced the NAM ceremony in Puerto Princesa, Palawan.

“So wonderful to see so many young people coming together to support our local arts. Makes me so hopeful for our younger generations to take pride in our Filipino Arts and makes me so honored to share my advocacy as Ambassador of the Arts,” she said of her Palawan experience.

Meanwhile, for music, there were two celebrity ambassadresses, Julie Ann San Jose and KZ Tandingan.

During the press conference, Julie Ann enthused: “I for giving me the opportunity to contribute to our country in my own little way, and this will actually encourage me even more to inspire more people, especially the youth, in pursuing their passion.”

For KZ, this is her second year as NAM Music Ambassador. The chanteuse’s wish is to expose the youth with the many aspects of Philippine arts and culture and with her musical compositions: “I hope my songs’ mirror the artistry, creativity, the love and passion of the Filipinos.”

She graced the opening celebration of the Arts Month held at the Rizal Park.

With the celebration of the February Arts Month in full gear and throttle, all together now, let us shout with pride, “Mabuhay ang sining! Mabuhay ang kulturang Filipino.”

Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray is named Arts Ambassador by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts

alongside the rest of Rainbow’s Sunset’s lead cast. “ These ‘Film Ambassadors’ display the diversity and the wide spectrum of our national film industry. They exemplify the best that Philippine cinema has to offer, and as its cream of the crop they promote Philippine cinema internationally, therefore empowering our local film industry and strengthening our cultural heritage.”

FDCP ChairLiza Dino said.

The new honorees will join the over 200 filmmakers and other members of the film industry who have been recognized

by FDCP for their success in the international arena since the event’s inaugural night in 2017. Past honorees have featured and covered the various spheres of Philippine cinema, from blockbuster films such as The Hows of Us starring Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla to indie filmmakers such as Lav Diaz and Kidlat Tahimik.

FDCP’s Fourth Annual Film Ambassadors’ night kicks-off an eventful year for the agency as it leads the celebration of Sine Sandaan, the centennial year commemoration of Philippine cinema.

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

C4

Entertainment

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2020

Maja Salvador, Bea Alonzo, Judy Ann Santos among honorees at FDCP’s 4th Film Ambassadors’ Night

Maja Salvador

Bea Alonzo

Judy Ann Santos

THE Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) roles out the red carpet for this year’s honorees at Film Ambassadors’ Night (FAN), held last night atMaybank Performing Arts in BGC, Taguig City.

This year, FDCP recognized 63 honorees as ‘Film Ambassadors.’ The honorees consist of the many Filipino film industry artists, filmmakers, and films across genres and formats that received awards in film festivals abroad.

This year’s FAN honorees comprise of seven categories, namely: short films, TV awards, technical & creative awards, actors, full-length films, special citations, and A-Listers. This last category, which celebrates those who have won awards in the most prestigious “A-List” international film festivals around the world, headlines the honorees. These “A-List” film festivals include the big three: Cannes, Venice, and Berlin, as well as a select number of major festivals around the globe according to the list of FIAPF. This year’s A-listers include Brillante Mendoza’s Mindanao, winning Best Narrative Film, Judy Ann Santos as Best Actress in the Cairo International Film Festival in Egypt, Jun Robles Lana for winning best director in his film Kalel, 15, in the 2019 Tallinn Blacknights International Film Festival and the documentary film Aswang, directed by Alyx Ayn Arumpac which won the Fipresci Prize in International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the most prestigious film festival in the field of documentary filmmaking.

Raymund Ribay Guttierez’s film Verdict, the official Philippine entry to this year’s Oscars holds the highest award our country has achieved this year, having claimed the Special Jury Prize in the Orizzonti section of the Venice International Film Festival last 2019. Continued on C3

ABS-CBN kicks off new decade as most-watched network MEDIA giant ABS-CBN is ushering the new decade on a high note as viewers nationwide continue to watch the network’s values-laden entertainment shows and relevant news programs, making it hit an average audience share of 38 percent, versus GMA’s 32 percent, according to Kantar Media.

FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano (30.3 percent) still holds the title of being the top choice of Filipino viewers, followed closely by the new teleserye and LizQuen-starrer, Make it With You (27.5 percent). On the other hand, Judy Ann Santos’s Starla (27 percent) ended its run on primetime TV strongly.

Other Kapamilya shows that made the cut include TV Patrol (24.5 percent), Your Moment (20.7 percent), Maalaala Mo Kaya (19.9 percent), and Rated K: Handa Na Ba Kayo? (19.7 percent).

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN ruled across all time blocks in January, particularly in

'Make It With You' topbilled by Enrique Gil and Liza Soberano is one of the most watched programs nationwide.

primetime (6:00 p.m. to 12:00 mn), where it scored an average audience share of 41 percent, versus GMA’s 33 percent. The primetime block is the most important time of the day when most Filipinos watch TV and advertisers put a larger chunk of their investments in to reach more consumers effectively.

The Kapamilya network also won in the morning block (6:00 a.m. t0 12:00 noon) with an average audience share of 34 percent, while GMA only got 27 percent, as well as in the noontime block (12:00 noon to 3:00 p.m.) with 37 percent, in contrast to GMA’s 33 percent, and in the afternoon block (3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) with 39 percent, versus GMA’s 37 percent.

Multinational audience measurement provider Kantar Media uses a nationwide panel size of 2,610 urban and rural homes that represent 100 percent of the total Philippine TV viewing population.

K-Drama’s most popular title gets teleserye treatment Based on a 2016 South Korean television drama of the same title, the series that premieres on primetime is directed by Dominic Zapata and stars Dingdong Dantes and Jennylyn Mercado.

D

OMINIC Zapata, the director of the local adaptation of the global hit Descendants of the Sun, may have made some compromises in making the show, but there’s one thing that he made sure, he promised the viewers that he is not compromising their trust in the craft.

“I will not compromise the quality and your expectations of Descendants of the Sun and I will not compromise us, Filipinos, doing a Filipino adaptation of this widely-loved Koreanovela,” he told the crowd at the GMA Studio during the series, grand media conference attended by members of the press and some uniformed units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“We remained faithful to the story, but what we did, pinakapal namin ang backstory ng mga characters. This will allow the viewers to know where these characters are coming from and why they make decisions the way they do,” Zapata added.

GMA Network’s local adaptation of one of the world’s most well-loved drama series makes its highly-anticipated debut on Philippine TV screens tonight. No less than Dingdong Dantes and Jennylyn Mercado headline the romantic story of alpha team leader Captain Lucas Manalo and cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr.

Maxine Dela Cruz, otherwise dearly known as ‘Big Boss’ and ‘Beauty’. “ Story-wise, may tweaks to make it more Pinoy, pero hindi nawawala ‘yung mga elements na nagustuhan ng tao. We’re very excited for this series and we’re very proud of it,” shared Dingdong.

Jennylyn echoed his sentiments, “We are very excited to share this with our viewers. We’re proud of the scenes, big scenes that we shot. From the director to the members of the cast, ‘yung buong production team, lahat kumikilos para mapaganda ‘yung show.”

From the very beginning, their relationship was off to a rocky start. As part of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Special Forces, Lucas is always sent off to various missions that last from days to weeks. And with shifts as long and as busy as Maxine’s, the right timing was never on their side. She tries to distance herself from him and his dangerous job, but instead finds herself unable to resist him. One disaster after another befalls upon them, but their love stands stronger than anything that comes their way.

Reporting with them for duty are actors Rocco Nacino and Jasmine CurtisSmith as they portray the roles of Technical Sergeant Diego Ramos a.k.a.

‘Wolf’ and Captain Moira Defensor. Much like Lucas, Diego is brave, noble, and willing to sacrifice his own happiness for others–even if that includes letting go of his girlfriend, Moira. But Moira is tough, headstrong, and won’t go down without fighting for the both of them.

Last August, GMA’s Entertainment Group inked a partnership with the Armed Forces of the Philippines which sealed the Network’s commitment to accurately represent the country’s military forces.

Devoted to save lives are the series’ hardworking doctors and nurses: Pancho Magno as Dr. Daniel Spencer; Renz Fernandez as Dr. Earl Jimeno; Chariz Solomon as Nurse Emma Perez; Andre Paras as Dr. Ralph Vergara; Nicole Donesa as Nurse Via Catindig; Reese Tuazon as Dr. Sandra Delgado; Jenzel Angeles as Nurse Hazel Flores; and Bobby Andrews as Eric Feliciano.

After months of intense training for their roles, the military team – composed Antonio Aquitania as Lt. Col. Bienvenido Garcia; Ricardo Cepeda as Lt. Gen. Carlos Defensor; Paul Salas as Marty Talledo; Jon Lucas as Staff Sergeant Benjo Tamayo or ‘Harry Potter’; Lucho Ayala as Staff Sergeant Alen Eugenio or ‘Snoopy’; and Prince Clemente as Sergeant First Class Randy Katipunan or ‘Picollo’ – is ready to assume their place on the front line.

The series is made more intense by the rebel characters of Neil Ryan Sese as Rodel Dela Cruz; Ian Ignacio as Greg Abad; Rich Asuncion as Janet Pagsisihan; and Carlo Gonzalez as Val. The family of Captain Lucas stars Roi Vinzon as Sgt. Major Abraham Manalo; and Hailey Mendes as Judith Manalo; while Dr. Maxine has her moth-

er, Marina Benipayo as Olivia Dela Cruz.

In a series of exciting cameo roles, DOTS Ph also features Tonton Gutierrez as Gen. Cruz; Sophie Albert as Dr. Liza Ayson; Kim Rodriguez as Denise; Addy Raj as Alif Fayad; Ronnie Henares as Manager Ed; Mark Herras as Orly; and Gabby Eigenmann as Sen. Ricardo Sintallan.

Julie Anne San Jose sang the official theme song of the series entitled “You Are My Everything”.

Descendants of the Sun (The Philippine Adaptation) airs after Anak ni Waray vs.

Anak ni Biday on GMA Telebabad.

Alpha team members (from top) Jon Lucas, Prince Clemente, Paul Salas, and Lucho Ayala.