Manila Standard - 2020 February 19 - Wednesday

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DOH SETS PURCHASE OF ANTI-VIRAL DRUG FROM CHINA

Sotto: Marijuana as medicine OK

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATE President Vicente Sotto III on Tuesday aired his support “in principle” to the Dangerous Drugs Board’s approval of a resolution authorizing the use of cannabidiol to alleviate severe forms of epilepsy.

However, Sotto said his support bordered on the assumption that the

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 370 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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AS THE number of patients under investigation continued to fall, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said Tuesday they intend to buy the first approved antiviral drug to treat the new coronavirus.

“Yes, once it has been cleared by the Food and Drug Administration,” Duque said in a text message in response to the query about the Department of Health’s Next page plan to procure the drug.

MARIJUANA DESTROYED. Cultivators of the plant are getting bold, but Benguet PNP operatives are bolder as they push their search and destroy mission Tuesday in two separate operations destroying and burning P2 million worth of full-grown marijuana plants in Taleb, Banangan, Sablan and another plantation in Tuba, Wangal in the capital of La Trinidad. The burning occurred as Senate President Vicente Sotto III ‘in principle’ has expressed support for the DDB’s approval of a resolution authorizing the use of cannabidiol to soften impact of epilepsy. Dave Leprozo

PH eases travel ban for OFWs Workers bound for HK, Macau gain reprieve, says task force

By Rey E. Requejo, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Joel E. Zurbano

ILIPINOS with jobs in Hong Kong and Macau can now go back to work as they have been exempted from the outbound travel ban on China and its two special administrative regions, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

F PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT. Philippine-Chinese Charitable Association Inc., led by chief executive officer Dr. James Dy (center) and director Dr. William Lee (left), distributes free alcohol, face masks and other medical equipment to the Manila Police District, with MPD district director Brig. Gen. Bernabe Balba (right) at the police district office. Health Secretary Francisco Duque III (inset) tells a news conference at the Department of Health office that the Philippines will soon buy anti-viral drugs from China.

Lino Santos, Norman Cruz

WHO warns vs. overreaction; death toll still rising THE World Health Organization has warned against a global overreaction to the new coronavirus epidemic following panic-buying, event cancellations and concerns about cruise ship travel, as China’s official death toll neared 1,900 on Tuesday.

More than 72,000 people have now

been infected in China and hundreds more abroad, although the WHO stressed the disease has infected a “tiny” proportion of people outside its epicenter and the mortality rate remains relatively low.

The outbreak is threatening to put a dent in the global economy, with China paralysed by vast quarantine measures

‘Pastillas’ payola triggers BI revamp

By Joel E. Zurbano A RESHUFFLE has taken effect at the Immigration bureau covering those assigned at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport following an expose’ on the socalled “pastillas scheme” in which bureau personnel receive kickbacks to facilitate the entry of Chinese nationals who

pay a “service fee” of P10,000 per head.

“I have implemented an immediate total revamp of our airport personnel, all terminal heads, and all Travel Control and Enforcement Unit heads,� Immigration commissioner Jaime Morente said.

In related developments: The Bureau of Immigration has

and major firms such as iPhone maker Apple and mining giant BHP warning it could damage bottom lines.

Trade fairs, sports competitions and cultural events have been disrupted, while several countries have banned travellers from China and major airlines have suspended flights.

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HSBC cuts 35,000 jobs amid outbreak

FILIPINO singer Marcelito Pomoy took television and the online world by storm when he won Pilipinas Got Talent season 2 in 2011.

Now, only a decade later, the incredible

ASIA-FOCUSED banking giant HSBC on Tuesday axed 35,000 jobs, far more than expected, and posted slumping annual profits, as it warned over the financial impact of the deadly coronavirus.

Pre-tax profits tumbled by a third to $13.3 billion (12.3 billion euros) in 2019 from a year earlier, largely owing to a $7.3-billion write-off related to its investment and commercial banking businesses in Europe.

The London-based lender added in a results statement that it hopes to cut its global workforce by 15 percent to 200,000 staff over the next three years.

Commentators had expected 10,000 job cuts.

The radical overhaul comes as HSBC streamlines operations in the United

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Pinoy ‘dual vocalist’ shines in AGT

By Nickie Wang

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Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said decision was reached during a meeting of the Philippines’ Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Thousands of Filipino workers bound for Hong Kong and Macau were barred from leaving the country after President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a travel ban to

China and its special administrative regions on Feb. 2 as a result of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), which has killed close to 1,900 people, mostly in China.

The government offered the stranded workers P10,000 cash aid each and provided them dormitories and food.

There are over 210,000 Filipinos Next page

SolGen asks SC to gag ABS-CBN THE government’s top lawyer has asked the Supreme Court to issue a gag order against ABS-CBN Corp. to restrain it from making public statements about the quo warranto petition he filed seeking to nullify the broadcast giant’s franchise.

In his motion, Solicitor General Jose Calida said ABS-CBN and its subsidiary

ABS-CBN Convergence Inc. were “engaged in propaganda” and violated the sub judice rule by publicly commenting on a pending case.

In its en banc session, the Supreme Court ordered ABS-CBN Corp. and its subsidiary to comment on Calida’s motion within five days, court spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said.

In his motion, Calida cited four instances that ABS-CBN allegedly violated the sub judice rule.

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EX-NPA CHIEF NABBED IN PAMPANGA

TRILLANES POSTS BAIL, DUCKS ARREST

NEWS A3

NEWS A2

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta

A2

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Trillanes posts bail over sedition raps, ducks arrest

By Maricel V. Cruz

F

ORMER Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who is facing a sedition case, on Tuesday posted a P10,000-bail at the Metropolitan Trial Court in Quezon City.

Trillanes and 10 others have been charged by the Justice department for allegedly conspiring to “spread allegations that President Duterte and his family were involved in the illegal drug trade.”

Trillanes, a prominent administration critic, returned from abroad on Tuesday morning and went to the court to post bail.

He and the other defendants were ordered arrested last week.

Trillanes and the other defendants are accused of conspiring to spread “malicious” allegations against President Rodrigo Duterte and his family “with no other purpose but to inflict an act of hate

or revenge” against them.

The others charged in the case are Peter Joemel Advincula alias Bikoy, former police official Eduardo Acierto, Jonnel Sangalang, Yolanda Ong, Fr. Flaviano Villanueva, Fr. Albert Alejo, Vicente Romano III, Joel Saracho, Boom Enriquez and one alias “Monique.”

They face two to four years in prison if convicted.

Trillanes faces two inciting to sedition cases before the Pasay courts over his statements against President Duterte.

He also faces a revived rebellion case before the Regional Trial Court in Makati.

WHO warns....

ing on Tuesday—the seventh medical worker to succumb to the COVID-19 illness.

The WHO has sought to reassure the international community, noting that the novel coronavirus—which has a 2 percent mortality rate—is “less deadly” than its cousins, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

There have been some 900 cases around the world, with only five deaths outside the mainland—in France, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

More than 80 percent of patients with the disease have mild symptoms and recover, the WHO said.

“This is a very serious outbreak and it has the potential to grow, but we need to balance that in terms of the number of people infected. Outside Hubei this epidemic is affecting a very, very tiny, tiny proportion of people,” said Michael Ryan, head of WHO’s health emergencies program.

Despite the WHO’s reassurances, global concerns persist, with an international inventions show in Geneva postponed and panicbuying in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Supply chains of global firms such as Apple supplier Foxconn and automaker Toyota have been disrupted as key production facilities in China were temporarily closed.

Apple said it did not expect to meet its revenue guidance for the March quarter, as worldwide iPhone supply would be “temporarily constrained” and demand in China was affected.

BHP, the world’s biggest miner, warned that demand for resources could be hit, with oil, copper and steel use all set to decline if the disease continues to spread.

Chinese health officials Monday urged patients who have recovered from the coronavirus to donate blood so that plasma can be extracted to treat others who are critically ill.

Plasma from patients who have recovered from a spell of pneumonia triggered by COVID-19 contains antibodies that can help reduce the virus load in critically ill patients, an official from China’s National Health Commission told a press briefing Monday.

“I would like to make a call to all cured patients to donate their plasma so that they can bring hope to critically ill patients,” said Guo Yanhong, who heads the NHC’s medical administration department. AFP

From A1 The cruise ship industry has come into focus as hundreds of people became infected aboard a vessel off Japan. One passenger tested positive after disembarking another liner in Cambodia.

The WHO, which has previously said travel restrictions were unnecessary, rejected the suggestion that all cruises should be halted.

“Measures should be taken proportional to the situation. Blanket measures may not help,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva.

The WHO has praised China for taking drastic measures to contain the virus.

Authorities have placed about 56 million people in hard-hit central Hubei under quarantine, virtually sealing off the province from the rest of the country.

Other cities far from the epicenter have restricted the movements of residents, while Beijing ordered people arriving to the capital to go into 14-day self-quarantine.

More than 450 people have tested positive for the virus aboard the quarantined Diamond Prince cruise ship off Yokohama in Japan.

On Monday, the US repatriated more than 300 Americans, who now face another 14 days under quarantine.

Attention was also turning to the Westerdam, a cruise ship in Cambodia, where many of the 2,200 people aboard passengers were allowed to disembark after all initially receiving a clean bill of health.

They were met by Cambodia’s premier, taken on a bus tour of the country’s capital, and allowed to fly around the world.

But one passenger, an 83-year-old American woman, was later diagnosed with the virus after arriving in Malaysia.

The official death toll in China hit 1,868 Tuesday after another 98 people died, mostly in Hubei and its capital Wuhan, where the virus emerged in December.

There were nearly 1,900 new cases—a drop from the previous day. Reported new infections have been falling in the rest of the country for the past two weeks.

Tedros warned that it was too early to tell if the decline would continue.

But the situation remains dire at the epicenter, with the director of a Wuhan hospital dy-

Pinoy...

From A1 “dual vocalist,” who can flawlessly shift between tenor and soprano, has once again stunned the viewers of the popular talent show.

In the spin-off of the US hit talent program, America’s Got Talent: The Champions, the 35-year-old singer placed third runner up.

During the final announcement, Pomoy was left speechless so host Terry Crews had to call on his wife, Joan, to the stage to speak on his behalf.

“He just wanted to say ‘thank you, thank you so much to everybody.’ This is a big, big opportunity for him. That’s all. Thank you so much,” told the audience.

Judge Heidi Klum had some positive parting words for the Filipino singer, who has previously performed Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson’s version of “Beauty and the Beast” during the show’s grand finals, which aired the last week.

“Marcelito, I love you so much. You have the most beautiful voice. Actually...the most beautiful voices inside of you,” she said in jest.

“You are a champion. And thank you so much for sharing your talent with all of us,” Klum added.

Pomoy became officially part of the show when he opened the eyes (and ears) of US viewers and AGT judges to a whole new way of singing when his audition aired on the show early this year.

Pomoy delivered a firecracker opening performance for singing two different parts of “The Prayer,” with each one of them sounding like two distinct voices.

His rendition of Andrea Bocelli’s famed “Con Te Partiro,” otherwise known as “Time to Say Goodbye,” earned him a standing ovation from the judges and made him become a strong contender in the show.

HSBC...

From A1 States and Europe, although no details were given on where the axe would fall.

HSBC has been trying to lower costs as it faces a multitude of uncertainties caused by the grinding US-China trade war, Britain’s departure from the European Union and now the fatal new coronavirus in China.

‘Revised’ growth plan “The group’s 2019 performance was resilient. However, parts of our business are not delivering acceptable returns,” said interim chief executive Noel Quinn.

“We are therefore outlining a revised plan to increase returns for investors, create the capacity for future investment and build a platform for sustainable growth.

“We have already begun to implement this plan, which my management team and I are committed to executing at pace,” Quinn added.

While its Asia business has done well in recent years—fueled primarily by China— Europe and the US have disappointed.

Quinn, who took over as acting CEO after the shock ousting in August of John Flint, has been tasked with transforming the sprawling international bank, which spans more than 50 countries but makes the vast majority of its profit in Asia.

Turning to coronavirus, HSBC warned the deadly outbreak in China had impacted its outlook.

“We continue to monitor the recent coronavirus outbreak, which is causing economic disruption in Hong Kong and mainland China and may impact performance in 2020,” the bank cautioned.

The restructuring plans are the biggest shake-up since 2012, when HSBC was caught up in a Mexican money laundering scandal.

The bank said it was targeting $4.5 billion in cost cuts by 2022, with restructuring costs of around $6 billion.AFP

News PH eases...

From A1

request repatriation will be accommodated in accordance with the guidelines set by the Department of Health.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said his department will follow strict infection control and quarantine procedures to ensure the safety of the repartriates and health workers who will man the quarantine facility.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said the lifting of the travel ban on Filipino workers going to Hong Kong and Macau is an expansion of an earlier directive allowing members of the diplomatic corps to enter the country. The move also allows the entry of Filipino nationals including their foreign spouses and children.

On Thursday, Macau’s casinos will reopen after authorities there lifted a city-wide twoweek closure aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.

The resumption of the lynchpin industry comes after the city reported no new infections in the last two weeks, with the number confirmed cases at just 10 people.

The former Portuguese colony took the unprecedented step of shutting down almost all

of its lucrative entertainment sector earlier in the month, including casinos, nightclubs and many bars.

The vast majority of Macau’s tourists are mainland Chinese travelers, drawn to the city’s casinos.

As the only place in China where casinos are allowed, Macau’s gambling houses account for about 80 percent of government revenue.

But arrivals tanked as the epidemic spread.

Authorities said casinos that don’t want to reopen because of low tourist numbers could apply to extend the closure, but they must be up and running within 30 days.

Macau’s government has been keen to ensure the casinos keep employing staff through the downturn and are trying to avoid lay-offs.

Officials said all gamblers and casino staff must wear face masks.

First found in the city of Wuhan in central China, the new coronavirus has infected over 72,000 people on the mainland and 60 in Hong Kong.

It has also taken over 1,800 lives on the mainland and one in Hong Kong. With AFP

DOH...

From A1

are crew members.

The Japanese Health Ministry imposed the quarantine after it discovered that a man who disembarked in Hong Kong on Jan. 25 had tested positive for the coronavirus.

An additional 88 people have tested positive for COVID-19, the Japanese health ministry said Tuesday.

The new cases came from a total of 681 fresh results, the ministry said, taking the total number of positive cases on the Diamond Princess to 542.

All passengers and crew on board the ship have now been tested, the government said Tuesday as more governments moved to evacuate their citizens from the boat.

South Korea became the latest to announce it would remove its citizens from the Diamond Princess, where more than 400 people have tested positive for COVID-19.

Japan has faced criticism for its handling of the situation, with dozens of new infections detected almost daily since the ship arrived in early February.

But it has defended its approach and Health Minister Katsunobu Kato insisted again Tuesday that passengers who tested negative will be allowed to leave the ship from Wednesday.

“We have done tests for everyone [on the ship],” he told reporters.

“Some results have already come out... and for those whose test results are already clear, we are working to prepare disembarkation from the 19th,” he said.

Kato said the process would last two or three days.

But those who had close contact with people who have tested positive will have their quarantine reset to the date of their last contact with an infected person.

Crew are also expected to remain to observe another quarantine period after the last passengers leave the ship.

So far, the United States, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong and now South Korea have said they will evacuate their citizens from the ship.

South Korea will send a presidential aircraft on Tuesday to fly back four nationals and one Japanese spouse, an official told reporters.

There are 14 South Koreans on board in total, but the other 10 have declined to be evacuated from the ship because they live in Japan, the Yonhap news agency reported.

Early Monday, more than 300 Americans were evacuated from the ship, among them over a dozen who have tested positive for the virus.

The Americans, like citizens from other countries being evacuated from ship, will have to undergo another 14-day quarantine.

Canada said Tuesday it had “secured a chartered flight to repatriate Canadians on board

the Diamond Princess” but gave no details on when the process would take place.

There were 256 Canadians on board the ship, with 32 so far testing positive for the virus.

While foreign governments have couched their decision to remove citizens as an attempt to reduce the burden on Japanese authorities, many have interpreted the evacuations as criticism of Tokyo’s handling of the situation.

The US and Australia have told citizens that if they decline repatriation and an additional 14-day quarantine, they will not be allowed home for at least two weeks, suggesting they do not believe the ship-based quarantine has worked.

At least 454 people on the ship have so far tested positive for the virus and been removed to local hospitals for treatment.

Japan has also confirmed at least 65 cases domestically, including many involving people with no history of recent travel to China.

Authorities have said the virus is being transmitted locally now, and have asked citizens to avoid crowds and non-essential gatherings.

On Monday, the amateur portion of the Tokyo Marathon, which had been expected to attract some 38,000 runners, was canceled. Only elite athletes will now be able to take part.

The public celebration for Emperor Naruhito’s birthday has also been scrapped over virus fears.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said Monday church activities will continue despite virus fears.

“This coming Holy Week, there is no need to cancel masses and other activities for the season as we have implemented several measures,” said CBCP vice president, Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas.

Instead of marking foreheads with a cross using ashes on Ash Wednesday, David said they recommended that these will only be sprinkled over their heads.

Ash Wednesday, which falls on Feb. 26 this year, marks the start of the 40-day Lenten season.

Churches were advised not to put holy water at their entrances. The faithful can just wait for the priests to sprinkle holy water.

Earlier, the Diocese of Hong Kong and the Archdiocese of Singapore suspended church activities such as the holding of Mass due to the threat of COVID-19.

Earlier, the CBCP ordered priests to hand out communion wafers instead of placing them into the mouths of worshippers.

It also discouraged the faithful from holding hands while singing “Our Father” and shaking hands during the sign of peace. With AFP

‘Pastillas’...

or sexually harassed were even arrested,” Hontiveros said.

The recent issues hounding the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators will prod the government to rethink its policies on foreign businesses and the influx of Chinese workers, the Palace said Tuesday, but added that it will not act on the allegations unless there are complaints.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the administration was not turning a blind eye on the reported corrupt practices, prostitution and tax evasion committed by POGOs. “If those will be proven, then there is something wrong with the operation of the POGOs. The government has to do something about it. Until such time, the presumption is they’re performing a regular task in accordance with the law,” Panelo said.

Morente on Monday ordered a full-blown investigation on the modus operandi, which the erring immigration officers all referred to as “something sweet.”

He said he had already issued an order creating a fact-finding committee led by Deputy Commissioner Tobias Javier to conduct the probe.

Morente wants the report to be on his desk on or before the end of the month.

With Macon Ramos Araneta and MJ Blancaflor

working in Hong Kong and 32,000 working in Macau.

Workers who travel to Hong Kong and Macau will need to sign a declaration signifying their knowledge and understanding of the risks involved.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto described the decision to allow Filipinos to return to work in Hong Kong and Macau a step in the right direction.

He said this will save the jobs of thousands of Filipinos who were vacationing in their home country when their government imposed a travel ban to those two places.

“Our compatriots in Hong Kong and Macau form one powerhouse when it comes to sending money to their loved ones back home,” said Recto, who pointed out a quarter of a million of them remitted close to P100 billion from 2018 to 2019.

Meanwhile, the infectious diseases task force also declared that all Filipino passengers and crew of M/V Diamond Princess who

He said the FDA will get the clinical trials and studies done on the Fivalivir, developed by a Chinese pharmaceutical company, as an antiviral agent.

China announced Sunday that Favilavir, which has shown efficacy in treating the novel coronavirus, was approved for marketing.

The National Medical Products Administration, China’s regulatory body, approved the drug developed by Zhejiang Hisun Pharmaceutical Company.

A report by China Daily said the Favilavir was one of three drugs that showed significant efficacy in clinical trials.

Favilavir was put into production on Sunday, according to the report.

Scientists from the United States to Australia, meanwhile, are using new technology to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, which causes the disease called COVID-19.

In the United Kingdom, a team of scientists said they are one of the first to start animal testing of a vaccine for the virus.

The DOH reported Tuesday that 40 more patients under investigation have been tested negative for COVID-19, bringing the total number of patients discharged from hospital at 387.

Some 137 remain admitted in hospitals.

Three individuals, all Chinese nationals, tested positive for the viral infection, one died on Feb. 1, while the other two have recovered and have been discharged.

The Department of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday said eight more Filipinos aboard the quarantined cruise ship M/V Diamond Princess in Yokohama, Japan, tested positive for the novel coronavirus or COVID-19, bringing the total number of Filipinos with the virus to 35.

Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Brigido Dulay said the new cases did not show the symptoms of the virus.

All the cases are being treated at Japanese hospitals, the DFA said.

“I can confirm that as of today, eight more have been infected and taken by Japanese health authorities to their quarantine facilities,” Dulay said.

He said the embassy in Tokyo is in touch with the Filipinos as well as the Japanese Health Ministry.

The Department of Health earlier said they are already ironing out the details of an evacuation of the Filipino crew members and passengers on the cruise ship.

About 3, 700 people had been confined on the ship since it docked off the Yokohama port, including 538 Filipinos, 531 of whom

From A1 ordered a probe on its personnel allegedly accepting bribes in exchange for escorting Chinese nationals working in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators or POGOs. “Commissioner Morente is deeply alarmed at the exposés of the good Senator Risa Hontiveros during today’s [Monday’s] Senate hearing. He has ordered a full-blown investigation to identify those who are possibly part of this syndicate and to file both administrative and criminal cases against them,” BI spokesman Dana Sandoval said Monday.

“A cat-and-mouse operation” is the best way to describe the operations of prostitution dens in hotels, KTVs and other business establishments catering to POGO workers whose bribes to corrupt officials were estimated to reach P10 billion, Hontiveros said.

Interviewed after the Senate hearing on the prostitution and trafficking of women and eve children, Hontiveros admitted that some establishments continued to operate after authorities shut down their operations.

“The PNP and the NBI were after them during raids. Those involved in the trafficking and prostituting of women and children who were later illegally detained

Sotto:...

From A1

use of such “is in medicine form and conforms with DDB-PDEA [Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency] guidelines and permit.”

Sotto said there was no need for Congress to legislate a law that would make legal the use of cannabis for medical purposes.

Rep. Luis Villafuerte said Congress would no longer prolong the suffering of epilepsy victims by enacting the pending bills that would allow the use of cannabidiol.

He praised the move by the Dangerous Drugs Board to approve the epilepsy victims’ use of cannabidiol pending a legislative proposal on the domestic production and international marketing of this medicinal strain of the cannabis plant that is neither addictive nor producing the so-called buzz or “high” effect for users.

“This game-changing decision by the DDB should serve as a strong impetus to the Congress to act soon enough on a pending legislative measure creating a state agency to oversee the development of what could be a legitimate multi-

billion-dollar export industry focusing alone on the production and marketing of CBD or the kind of medical cannabis from this strain of the cannabis plant that is not addictive and does not produce the so-called buzz or ‘high’ for users,” Villafuerte said.

Sotto said the DDB move proved that the law being proposed on the HOR was unnecessary. He said there were more important proposed legislations that the lawmakers should spend their time on.

“I hope they give priority to measures that will have more impact on the most number of our countrymen,” Sotto said.

He said the use of cannabis for medical purposes was already authorized under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. He said it set down the policy that “the government shall aim to achieve a balance in the national drug control program so that people with legitimate medical needs are not prevented from being treated with adequate amounts of appropriate medications, which include the use of dangerous drugs.”

With Maricel V. Cruz

SolGen...

From A1 He mentioned three reports—which he called “videos”—that “directly tackle the allegations of the subject petition for quo warranto”; featured interviews from students “eliciting from them biased answers in favor of ABS-CBN Corporation”; and “justified” the operation of the Kapamilya Box Office (KBO) channel, respectively.

KBO is a movie channel on ABS-CBN TV Plus, the broadcast network’s digital TV service.

Calida had sought a temporary restraining order against KBO, claiming that ABS-CBN violated its legislative franchise and had no permit from the National Telecommunications Commission when it launched the channel.

The Court has not issued a TRO but ordered ABS-CBN to comment on Calida’s quo warranto petition.

Calida said the ABS-CBN “commentaries… tend to prejudge the case and influence the Supreme Court.”

“Any grievances must be ventilated through the proper petitions, motions, or other pleadings before the courts. Our courts must be able to conduct their business in an orderly manner free from outside interference and influence,” Calida said.

In his petition for quo warranto filed last week, Calida asked the Court to forfeit the franchises of the media giant for violating its franchise and the Constitution.

The Solicitor General accused the ABS-CBN of abusing its privilege granted by the state when it launched and operated the pay per view channel without prior approval or permit from the National Telecommunications Commission.

It also alleged the company had issued Philippine Depository Receipts to foreigners, thus violating constitutional limits on foreign ownership of mass media.

In its first public statement, ABS-CBN debunked Calida’s allegations, saying the television and entertainment giant “complies with all the pertinent laws governing its franchise.”

It said the quo warranto case was an effort to shut down their operations.

ABS-CBN also said that PDRs issued

by ABS-CBN Holdings were “evaluated and approved” by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange prior to public offering, noting other broadcast companies used them “to raise capital for the improvement of services.” With Willie Casas

News ‘Reduced cost of medicines lead to UHC’

METRO FIRES. Firefighters and nearby residents try to extinguish the fire that razed a residential area at Silverio Compound, Parañaque City on Tuesday. The fire reached fifth alarm. In Taguig, a fire that broke out in Barangay Fort Bonifacio has been put out but left some residents homeless.

Norman Cruz

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE reduction of the retail prices of some 87 high cost medicines by up to 58 percent, Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said, will propel the country towards Universal Health Care as he warned that violations of the price cap will be dealt with in accordance with the Cheaper Medicines Act and other relevant laws along with the Department of Trade and Industry and the Food and Drug Administration regulations.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Duque said the lowering of prices will broaden the Health department’s agenda to make lives comfortable for all Filipinos.

“We are grateful for the support and genuine care of our President in looking out for the health of our people,” said Duque.

The DOH lauded the signing of Executive Order (EO) No. 104 on the Maximum Drug Retail Price by President Rodrigo Duterte.

The first EO on the imposition of Maximum Drug Retail Price was signed by former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in 2009. Duque was also the DOH secretary at that time.

Only five anti-hypertensive, anticholesterol, antibiotic, and anti-cancer medicines had been given maximum drug retail prices under Executive Order No. 821 series of 2009.

Duque said the DOH will immediately issue an Administrative Order to ensure the effective implementation of the EO on MDRP and disseminate the implementing guidelines to stakeholders.

CA junks Bengzon’s bid to nullify ouster as Medical City CEO

By Rey E. Requejo THE Court of Appeals has denied the appeal of former Health Secretary Alfredo Bengzon to nullify the results of The Medical City’s board elections that ousted him as chief executive officer.

In a resolution, the CA denied Bengzon’s motion for reconsideration of the appellate court’s June 2019 decision, which rejected his petition for a preliminary injunction because he other officers have no “vested right” to remain in their positions.

This appellate court ruling was another legal setback for Bengzon, who has lost several cases in the Regional Trial Court, the CA, and the Securities and Exchange Commission in the past year alone.

The CA upheld its previous ruling, calling Bengzon’s arguments misplaced.

According to the appellate court, Bengzon and his co-petitioners were not prevented from casting their votes during the Sept. 13, 2018 meeting and their term as directors and officers expired after a year in office, with the election of the new board.

“Petitioners do not have any vested right to remain in their positions indefinitely beyond the term for which they are elected, against the will of PSI’s majority stockholders, as evidently, they have already been replaced. No such rights to be protected therefore exists on behalf of Petitioners,” the resolution stated.

The CA also dismissed Bengzon’s claim that shares issued to investors whom he had asked for cash infusions during his time as CEO were illegal and invalid.

Bengzon’s camp had argued that shares given to get funds for TMC’s expansion were illegal and invalid, despite he was being president and CEO during that time.

A3

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Ex-NPA chief arrested in Angeles City raid

By Jess Malabanan

C

AMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—The police have arrested a former chief of the New People’s Army after an early morning raid at a posh subdivision in Barangay Balibago, Angeles City Tuesday, authorities here said.

Police Brig. General Rhodel Sermonia, Central Luzon Police Director, said Rodolfo Canda Salas, 72, a.k.a.

Bilog, did not resist arrest when apprehended by lawmen in his residence along Doña Carmen Street, Mountain View Subdivision, Barangay Balibago in that City.

Sermonia said Salas was arrested on the strength of a warrant of arrest issued on August 28, 2019 by Manila Judge Thelma Bunyi-Medina for 29 counts

of murder offense before the Regional Trial Court of Manila.

“It’s an old case but the court issued a warrant of arrest against the former NPA chief last year,” said Sermonia while presenting the former rebel leader to reporters.

According to people privy to his life but declined to be named, Salas lay low in the underground movement following his arrest way back in the early ’90s.

He was appointed as general manager

of the Pampanga 2 Electric Cooperative and organized peasants group in Central Luzon.

During the raid, Sermonia said the police found an unlicensed caliber .45 pistol, hundreds of ammunition for different caliber of firearms and two pieces of magazine assembly in the presence of Salas live-in partner Jhoana Panicbatan Lamigo.

Barangay Balibago Chairman Rodelio “Tony” Mamac and some community leaders accompanied the raiding team since the start of search and after the operation was terminated.

Aside from the standing multiple counts of murder cases, Sermonia said Salas will be facing illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

Salas was brought to Regional Intelligence Division- Special Concern Unit for further investigation.

By Maricel V. Cruz THE House of Representatives’ committee on constitutional amendments is set to vote tomorrow (Wednesday) on Charter change or constitutional amendment proposals.

“We will decide what recommendations of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Constitutional Reform we will include in our report to Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and the plenary,” said the panel’s chairman, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez.

He said his committee is treating the task force’s recommendations as the administration’s Cha-Cha proposals because it was President Rodrigo Duterte who created the group.

He said the group conducted nationwide consultations before submitting its recommendations to his committee.

Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año chairs the task force, with Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra as its vice chairman. It is composed of nine agencies.

Rodriguez said many of group’s proposals jibe with the Cha-Cha suggestions contained in his committee’s initial report.

He said the common recommendations include electing senators by region, fixing a five-year term of office for local officials and House members, and lifting foreign ownership restrictions.

IN BRIEF Fishermen protest Bacoor ‘reclamation’ THE fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas (Pamalakaya) filed a complaint against Bacoor City Mayor Lani Mercado-Revilla before the Office of the Ombudsman over the proposed 420-hectare reclamation projects in Cavite, which is feared will displace some 700 families.

In the complaint, Pamalakaya alleged that Mercado violated the 2008 Supreme Court mandamus to “clean-up, restore and rehabilitate” Manila Bay and the administrative order expediting the restoration of the waterway through the reclamation of fish ponds and mangroves.

“She makes the Manila Bay rehabilitation program of the Duterte government a sham,” Fernando Hicap, PAMALAKAYA national chairperson, said.

“She should have been coordinating with the Department of Agriculture and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources to develop the fishing industry of her city but she is on the opposite and destructive path of reclamation,” Hicap also said. Willie Casas

Palace dismisses ‘coup’ talk vs. Du30 MALACAÑANG on Tuesday dismissed coup d’etat threats against President Rodrigo Duterte which was allegedly triggered by his decision to abrogate the Philippines’ Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo described as a “pipe dream” the claim of self-exiled communist founder Jose Maria Sison that pro-American military officials are planning to unseat President Duterte.

“That’s wishful thinking. It’s a pipe dream. It will never come to fruition. Filipinos—the majority or overwhelming of [them]—they are supportive of the President,” he said in a Palace briefing.

On Saturday, Sison claimed that Duterte’s decision to terminate the military joint pact between Manila and Washington has “aroused” “quite a number” of AFP officials to kick the President out of Malacañang. MJ Blancaflor

‘National Rare Disease Week’ observed

NO TAKE POLICY. Deputy for Operation P/Lt. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar led the ceremonial destruction of confiscated illegal games of fruit games and video karera and later signed a covenant on ‘No take Policy’ during continuous operations against illegal activities and criminality in different areas of Metro Manila as per the instructions of President Rodrigo Duterte. Manny Palmero

PNP chief reshuffles eight more key PNP posts EIGHT ranking police officials were included in the latest reshuffle ordered by Philippine National Police chief Gen. Archie Gamboa which will take effect on Wednesday.

Gamboa designated Brig. Gen. Flynn Dongbo as the new deputy director of the Directorate for Investigation and

House panel votes on Charter change today

Detective Management while Col. Benjamin Villasis was named as DIDM acting executive officer.

Also named to new posts were Col. Antonio Yarra, acting deputy regional director for administration of Police Regional Office (PRO) 4-A (Calabarzon); Col. Cesar Pasiwen, PRO 4-A regional

chief of Directorial Staff; Col. Nicolas Salvador, deputy district director for operations of the Manila Police District.

Designated to key posts in PRO Caraga were Col. Ritchie Mecardo Posadas, acting deputy regional director for operations and Col. Jimili Macaraeg, acting deputy regional di-

rector for administration.

Col. Ceasar Zafiro Tannagan is the new acting chief of staff of the PNP Engineering Service.

Gamboa said the latest round of reorganization manifests the continuing reform in the command structure of the 205,000-strong police force.

THE week of February 22 to 29 marks the observance of the 11th National Rare Disease Week. Aimed at raising awareness about the challenges of people living with rare disease, this tradition began with Presidential Proclamation 1989 signed by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in February 2010, declaring the last week of February as the “National Rare Disease Week” in the Philippines.

With the theme “Greatness is Rare,” this year’s Rare Disease Week shines the spotlight on the people living with unique conditions, rare diseases, and orphan disorders. Taking inspiration from the zebra and its distinctive stripes, the campaign is part of a global initiative to invite the world at large to show its stripes in support of the rare disease community.

“The zebra is the symbol for rare disease because each of them have their own set of distinctive stripe patterns,” said Cynthia Magdaraog, president of the Philippine Society of Orphan Disorders Inc. “Every stripe is unique and every individual is great in their own way. Hence, we are inviting everybody to show their stripes and tell the world that Greatness is Rare.”

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Opinion

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

SolGen vs. ABS-CBN SOLICITOR General Jose Calida’s quo warranto petition against broadcast giant ABS-CBN Corp. makes the following allegations: 1. It violated its legislative franchise when it operated a pay-per-view channel through free-to-air signals.

2. ABS-CBN Convergence Inc. violated its franchise under R.A. No. 7908, as amended by R.A. No. 8332.

3. ABS-CBN Convergence Inc. violated R.A. No. 7908, as amended by R.A. No. 8332, when the transfer of the subject legislative franchise was made without prior approval from the Congress.

4. ABS-CBN Convergence Inc. violated Section 16 of R.A. No. 7908, as amended by R.A. No. 8332, in relation to Section 21 of R.A. No. 7925, when it failed to publicly offer any of its outstanding capital stock to any securities exchange in the Philippines.

5. ABS-CBN sold ownership shares to foreign investors by selling Philippine Depositary Receipts. Under the Constitution, media must be 100 percent Filipino owned. Not a single share can be sold to foreigners.

In February 2015, ABS-CBN Corp. launched the country’s first digital terrestrial set-top box with free and premium digital TV channels called ABSCBN TV plus. Thereafter, in March 2016, ABS-CBN launched a pay-perview channel in ABS-CBN TV plus, the Kapamilya Box Office.

Under R.A. No. 7966, ABS-CBN is required to secure prior authority from NTC before it uses any frequency in the television or radio spectrum.

On May 14, 2019, the state agency National Telecommunications Commission told ABS-CBN Corp.. “No Encryption nor Conditional Access of programming content shall be allowed.” In granting Provisional Authority to ABS-CBN Corp. to convert DWWS television station from Analog TV service to DTT using Channel 2

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

in Metro Manila, NTC also required to obtain permits and licenses for its DTTB (Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting) service.

ABS-CBN Corp. has no authority to offer the ABS-CBN TV plus, the Kapamilya Box Office Channel.

Under the DICT Framework (which was crafted after DICT’s consultation with public and private broadcasters, equipment manufacturers, content producers and key TV industry stakeholders), the operation of CAS (Conditional Access System) is subject to prior approval or authorization by the government. CAS is defined as a technology used in digital TV systems that involves satisfying qualified criteria prior to granting access to content. ABS-CBN has no such permit.

Here are the facts.

Woe to these gatekeepers

I

MMIGRATION officials assigned to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport have been relieved of their duties pending the results of a probe into an alleged scheme where Chinese nationals are given special treatment in exchange for a price—specifically, P10,000 rolled up in white paper.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente relieved the NAIA terminal heads and the chief of the travel control and enforcement unit on Tuesday on the principle of command responsibility, the bureau’s spokesperson, Dana Salvador, said.

On Monday, a Senate hearing exposed the scheme—called “pastillas” after the milk candy that is also wrapped in paper—taking place at the very gateway to our country.

The ruse is said to have started with the boom of Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators. While some POGOs are legitimate, many others operate illegally and have in fact given way to the distortion of real estate prices and even the proliferation of Chinese-only prostitution dens.

Dozens of corrupt employees have been removed from their posts since the start of the Duterte administration, the bureau says. This particular

scheme, however, deserves closer scrutiny as it may also be happening in other airports and may involve officials of higher rank.

It’s an ingenious way to supplement their income, but we wonder how these so-called gatekeepers muster the gall to commit this while being the face of the Philippines in welcoming visitors. We do not think that such obvious get-rich-quick schemes would be difficult to identify at all, perhaps through a lifestyle check. After all, too many ten-thousand-peso rolls can amount to a lot, in the end.

The relief of those officials should not placate our collective indignation at how these public servants violate their sworn mandate for personal gain. This should only be the beginning.

ABS-CBN Corp. is not only operatoperat ing a CAS without the required authorauthor ity from NTC; it also illegally exacts money from the Filipino people. KBO is a pay-per-view channel where Filipinos may choose to access premium content from their television sets. To be able to watch the movies and other contents shown in the KBO, one must first register and pay ₱30 or ₱99 through the country’s mobile networks (ABSCBN Mobile, Globe, TM, Smart, TNT and Sun).

Calida says “As the legislative franchise is being regulated by the government to prevent a monopoly of a scarce resource, that person or entity cannot transfer it to any another person or entity without the imprimatur of Congress.” He adds: “Not only are the circumstances surrounding the transfers of controlling interest of Multi-Media Telephony suspicious, the transfers were made without the approval and authorization of Congress.”

On Oct. 15, 2010, ABS-CBN Corp. acquired from PCCI Equities Inc. its subscription rights over the 250,000 Turn to A5

PDRs: To ABS-CBN with love

(concluded from Monday) HERE is the conclusion of “Philippine Depositary Receipts: Mass Media’s Existing or Emerging Loophole To Constitutionally Mandated Full Filipino Ownership?”—a well written, scholarly treatise written by Lorenzo E. Delgado, editor-in-chief of The Bedan Review.

On the issue of Philippine Depositary Receipts *** In defining full beneficial ownership, the Implementing Rules and Regulations of FIA itself requires that mere legal title is not enough to meet the required Filipino equity, which means that it is not sufficient that a share is registered in the name of a Filipino citizen or national, i.e. he shall also have full beneficial ownership of the share.

If the voting right of a share held in the name of a Filipino citizen or national is assigned or transferred to an alien, that share is not be counted in the determination of the required Filipino equity.

In the same vein, if the dividends and other fruits and accessions of the share do not accrue to a Filipino citizen or national, then that share is also to be excluded or not counted. Thus, if a “specific stock” is owned by a Filipino in the books of the corporation, but the stock’s voting power or disposing power belongs to a foreigner, then that “specific stock” will not be deemed as “beneficially owned” by a Filipino.

Therefore, what is required is not

merely legal title but full beneficial ownership over the shares of stock, having the right to all the benefits accruing to the stockholder by virtue of the shares, i.e. dividends, which, if said shares underlies a PDR, said full beneficial ownership will be absent to the stockholder, considering that the holder of the PDR and not the stockholder will have the right to obtain the benefits accruing to the shares of stock regardless of lack of ownership over the same.

Foreign control in mass media corporations: It is beyond cavil that there is a need to acknowledge existence of numerous corporate control-enhancing mechanisms, besides ownership of voting rights, that limits the proporpropor tion between the separate and distinct concepts of economic right to the cash flow of the corporation and the right to corporate control.

Control is the power to govern the financial and operating policies of an enterprise so as to obtain benefits from its activities. Ownership of voting shares or power alone without economic concon trol of the company does not necessarily equate to corporate control. A shareholder’s agreement can effectively clip the voting power of a shareholder holding voting shares. In the same way, a voting right ceiling, which is “a restriction prohibiting shareholders to vote above a certain threshold irrespective of the number of voting shares they hold,” can limit the control that may be exerted by a person who owns voting stocks but who does not have a substantial economic interest over the company. So also does the use of financial derivatives with attached conditions to ensure the acquisition of corporate control separately from the ownership of voting shares, or the use of supermajority provisions in the bylaws and articles of incorporation or association.

Indeed, there are innumerable ways and means, both explicit and implicit, by which the control of a corporation can be attained and retained even with Turn to A5

Keynote speech of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez Joint Assembly of Financial Institutions held on February 13, 2020 (Continued from yesterday) OUR revenue generating agencies are putting on the fast lane the digital transformation of their offices to provide convenient, reliable, and transparent services to the taxpayers.

We are the only administration to fully implement a Fuel Marking Program nationwide. Through this program, we expect smuggling and misdeclaration of petroleum products to be greatly reduced, if not totally eradicated, and revenue collections to dramatically increase. By 2022, we also aim to complete the full shift to an electronic invoicing system to do away with some of the redundancies and inefficiencies in the tax system.

When the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law was passed in December 2017, we brought down the personal income tax rates of 99 percent of our wage earners, effectively giving them a 14th month pay. This translated into a substantial increase in consumer demand. It also broadened the tax base and improved compliance.

In order to offset revenue losses from lower personal income tax rates, we introduced excise taxes on a range of sin products. We are the first

administration to raise excise taxes on tobacco products twice during a single term. Within the first three years of administration, a new set of sin taxes was imposed on electronic cigarettes and on alcohol. The additional revenue from these measures will help fund the Universal Health Care program that primarily benefits low-income families. Preliminary figures show our tax collections from sin products almost double in 2019 from what they were in 2015.

The Rice Tariffication Law, for its part, produced a nine-peso reduction in rice prices compared to their peak in late 2018. This is particularly helpful for lower income households who spend a fifth of their budgets on rice alone. People now have a wide choice of affordable to premium rice varieties. This is likewise beneficial to the corporate sector as the much lower inflation rate eased the pressure on businesses to raise wages.

Turn to A5

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Opinion

THE IMF (International Monetary Fund) regularly conducts consultations with each of its member-countries to review their progress, discuss their plans, strategies and targets and express thoughts on the near-term economic prospects of the member-countries.

A team from IMF’s Washington D.C. headquarters, joined by the Fund’s resident representative in Manila, recently completed a consultation with the economic managers of the Duterte administration and the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) and, as is the practice, issued a statement jointly with this country’s economic panel.

It’s within the realm of possibility.

“The [Philippines’] outlook is positive,” was the IMF staff report’s overall conclusion from the discussions.

As a result of the “structural reform momentum and the infrastructure push of the government,” the Philippine economy remained strong, the report said. “The Philippine economy continues to be a strong performer despite recent headwinds,” it added.

The IMF expects this country’s GDP (gross domestic product) growth this year to be higher than 2019’s 5.9 percent. Its forecast is 6.3-percent growth. Both figures are lower than the government’s growth-target range of 6.5-7.5 percent.

The IMF staff report goes on to say this: “(R)eal GDP growth has regained momentum …. and is projected to firm up further in 2020, underpinned by government-spending acceleration and the recent monetary easing. Are these two positive factors—accelerated government spending and monetary easing – likely to be able to deliver the incremental 4.0 percent (6.3 percent less 5.9 percent) Philippine GDP growth?

In recent years, the Philippine economy has shown itself capable of delivering above-6-percent annual GDP growth, and it therefore should be able to achieve the 6.3 percent growth

Keynote speech...

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These reforms, which effectively reinforce the purchasing power of Filipino consumers, enabled the economy to bring down poverty incidence from 23.3 percent in 2015 to just 16.6 percent in 2018. In three years, a total of 5.9 million Filipinos lifted themselves out of poverty. We stand by our commitment to reduce poverty incidence to 14 percent or lower by 2022.

There are even more impressive numbers related to this.

Official statistics show that the lower income brackets experienced the highest increase in mean per capita income from 2015 to 2018. For the lowest 30 percent of the population, per capita income grew by an average of 32 percent, outpacing the 20.9 percent overall average. The richest 20 percent of the population grew their per capita income by only 18 percent during this period.

Clearly, the growth we are experiencing is not only rapid. It is also inclusive.

Last year, our credit rating was upgraded to BBB plus by Standard and Poors— the highest we have ever enjoyed. Just last week, the Rating and Investment Information or R&I agency also promoted us to BBB plus. This week, Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on its BBB credit rating for the Philippines from “stable” to “positive,” signaling a potential upgrade of the score within the next few months.

The upgrades create even better conditions for businesses in the country.

These developments signal approval of the fiscal discipline that has characterized the policies of the Duterte administration. We are aiming to achieve an “A” rating before the end of President Duterte’s term in 2022.

Higher credit ratings tell investors that it is safe to do business in the Philippines and that the country is highly capable of paying its debts. For the private sector, this means being able to borrow at lower rates to finance business expansions and attracting new investors. Ordinary Filipinos likewise benefit because banks would eventually be able to lend money to them at lower interest rates. This will translate into larger investments, as well as more jobs and a better quality of life for Filipino families.

All the positive conditions described above will be magnified by the passage into law of the remaining tax reform packages. These packages will help produce a more business-friendly environment for investors.

By March this year, we expect the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act or CITIRA to be finally passed into law. It will bring down our corporate income tax rate from the highest in ASEAN to the regional average. Our high corporate tax rate has been an effective deterrent to foreign investments, making us the regional laggard in this regard.

CITIRA will also rationalize the badly tangled incentives regime and replace this with a targeted, transparent, performance-based and time-bound system. The old tax incentives scheme entrenched old businesses while discouraging new enterprises from competing in the market.

The tangled incentives regime is the result of 13 separate agencies independently awarding their own incentive packages, some in perpetuity. This old system forced government to forego hundreds of billions in revenues. For instance, in 2017, the government gave away a total of 441 billion pesos worth of tax discounts and exemptions to just 3,150 companies. This select group of firms, which account for less than half of one percent of almost a million companies currently registered in the Philippines, pay discounted tax rates of around 6 to 13 percent. (Continued this week)

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mst.daydesk@gmail.com

The COVID fall-out

Is IMF’s 6.3% 2020 growth forecast achievable? that the IMF has forecasted for 2020.

However, the IMF staff report made it a point to say that there were “downside risks” to its forecast.

The IMF is right; there are downside risks to the achievement of 6.3 percent Philippine GDP growth this year. The risks are on both the fiscal and the monetary side of the Fund’s forecast.

In a recent column I discussed the risks facing a program of governmentspending acceleration. These are administrative inefficiency, absorptive capacity and leakages (better known as corruption). These features of publicsector life have not gone away; their influence on government spending will be every bit as pervasive in 2020 as in 2019. In the cited column I expressed the view that the four-month delay in the approval of the 2019 GAA (General Appropriations Act) was not the principal cause of the 2019 GDP growth slowdown.

On the monetary side of the discussion, it bears saying at once that “monetary easing” does not always translate into sharp pickups in privatesector borrowing and spending. There is an old adage that one can bring a horse to the water but one may not be able to make it drink. The banking system cannot always be counted upon to (1) make many more laws or (2) lower their loan interest rates in the wake of the money-supply increase generated by the BSP’s “monetary easing.” The said easing may simply result in the banking system’s having more funds with which to bring Treasury bills and other government securities. Monetary easing will go far little or far nought if there is no inclination on the part of the banks to engage in their own kind of easing.

On the consumption side of the issue, consumers, who account for approximately two-thirds of this country’s GDP, may not be inclined to increase their borrowing/spending if there is no cost-of-money incentive for them to engage in more borrowing/ spending or if they are apprehensive about future economic conditions. To say that at present there are many reasons for consumers to be apprehensive is to state the simple truth.

Provided that what the IMF has called downside risks are effectively addressed, 6.3 percent Philippine GDP growth in 2020 is within the realm of possibility. To repeat, the Philippine economy has in recent years shown itself capable of that kind of performance.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

THE observations in this article were being written earlier, but the sudden travel ban on Taiwan last Monday night required that we concentrate on the lifting of the ban through explaining the strict protocols that our office instituted to prevent the possible spread of the COVID 19 to the country.

As the number of victims rose in China and the number of cases in other countries were reported, it is clear that the economic impact of the contagion would be far greater than initially predicted.

China after all is the world’s second largest economy, and for us in Asia, it has the greatest economic influence.

The Philippines particularly imports so much from China, whether these are consumer goods or intermediate goods which are part of the supply chain required by Philippine manufacturing.

This disruption of supply chains would have the greatest negative impact on the Philippine economy, and the entire global economy for that matter.

While we import much, we export very little to China, with bananas gaining ground in the past three years only after political relations with it improved under President Rodrigo Duterte’s apertura Sinica.

If only eating Philippine bananas would cure the coronavirus, we would be running out of land for planting bananas.

Some doctors have posited coconut oil as containing antiviral properties from mono-laurins. If validated, this would be good news for the long-suffering coconut farmers of our country.

We will leave it to our economic managers to determine the numbers of the COVID 19 negative fall-out. This writer, however, having served under previous administrations as Philippine Tourism Authority and later, National Food Authority administrator, would currently just zero in on two: Tourism and the potential movement of rice prices.

NEDA’s DDG Rosemarie Edillon already stated before the House Committees on Tourism and Economic Affairs that the tourism sector could lose as much as P22.7 billion a month, and the travel bans as well as downturn in visitor arrivals due to the tourism slump would result in the loss of anywhere from 30,000 to 95,000 jobs.

Depending on how long it would take to control the contagion and the discovery of medical remedies, the numbers could become worse. Many workers in the hospitality sector are casuals, and many in the restaurant and resort businesses are small and medium-scale businesses which could not absorb continued losses.

For the month of February alone, Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo Puyat said foregone revenues due to COVID 19 could reach 16.8 billion.

Some 101,452 seats per week of the two-week long ban were forfeited.

As much as the DOT and the industry are heroically promoting domestic tourism to take up the decline in foreign visitor arrivals, domestic travel can only do so much. But with the precautions against crowded gatherings, both MICE events and even fiesta celebrations will be affected months after the contagion has subsided.

In 1998 in the wake of the Asian re-

It is clear that the economic impact of the contagion would be far greater than initially predicted. cession, DOT could only start revers reversing the tide after more than three years, and under a new government with Secretary Dick Gordon at its helm. And let us pray that when temperatures start climbing this spring and summer, the cases of this pestilence will likewise wither out.

It would probably be best for us meanwhile to improve our tourism infrastructure during the period of slack, in preparation for better times which would surely lie ahead. Looking forward, we should concentrate on sustainability of our tourism destinations, some of which are over the top in carrying capacity. Millennials will always have the urge to travel, and as soon as the coronavirus red light turns green, it will be business as usual for the tourism sector.

Secretary Berna has approved so many tourism rehabilitation projects for immediate implementation, in Baguio, Palawan, Bohol, even in Manila.

This is the way to go. As they say, “when the going gets rough, the tough gets going.”

The Chinese always say that the other Mandarin character for “crisis” is “opportunity.” *** To the highly adverse effects of the ASF infestation on our hog industry now comes the fears of the poultry sector also being threatened by a resurgence of the deadly bird flu.

There are reports coming from Hunan province in China about a big broiler farm affected by a pathogenic strain of the deadly H5N1 disease or bird flu.

God forbid!

Now let me share my worry about rice.

The management of its supply and demand is always critical to a nation of 110 million rice eaters. In late 2017 until the whole of 2018, the mismanage-

SolGen...

From A4

shares in Sapientis Holding Corp. Sapientis thus became a wholly-owned subsidiary of ABS-CBN. On Dec. 29, 2011, Sapientis acquired Columbus Technology Inc., which owned 95 percen of Multi-Media Telephony Inc. CTI sought the approval of the SEC for the increase in its authorized capital stock to accommodate the subscription of Sapientis. Thus, Sapientis was able to acquire 70 percent interest in CTI through the conversion of the deposits into common stock. This acquisition indirectly included the acquisition of Multi-Media Telephony which as stated was a 95-percent-owned subsidiary of CTI. On March 5, 2015, ABS-CBN Corp. entered into a merger with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, which included Sapientis. As a result of the merger, ABS-CBN Corporation became the surviving corporation of Sapientis.

In the meantime, ABS-CBN Convergence Inc. signed a five-year network sharing agreement with Globe Telecom in 2013, in which ABS-CBN Convergence created a new mobile telephone brand, the ABS-CBN Mobile. The ABS-CBN Mobile had its own prepaid and postpaid voice, SMS, and mobile broadband services. The network sharing deal was approved by the NTC on June 7, 2013.

On March 2, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a Certificate of Filing of Amended Articles of Incorporation in favor of ABS-CBN Convergence.

ABS-CBN Convergence uses Multi-Media Telephony’s franchise without congressional approval. To this date, ABS-CBN Convergence has not publicly offered any of its outstanding capital stock to any securities exchange within the Philippines.

PDRs by ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

PDRs: To ABS-CBN...

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very limited voting shares, i.e.., there are a number of ways by which control can be disproportionately increased compared to ownership so long as economic rights over the majority of the assets and equity of the corporation are maintained.

ment of the supply of the staple caused inflation to spike, causing consternation among our economic managers. They saw this however as an opportunity to pressure Congress to swiftly pass a Rice Tarrification Law which removed the rice import monopoly from the National Food Authority, and liberalized the private importation of rice subject only to payment of import duties.

I shall not belabor the resulting effects on the Filipino palay farmers; enough has been written about it. Due to record imports of close to 3 million metric tons, we now have ample stocks of rice, estimated at 84 days of average consumption.

But most of that supply is in the Governhands of the private sector. Govern ment has palay stocks purchased from the last harvest plus a few left-overs from its 2018 importation some of which arrived as late as the first semester of 2019.

The news coming from our rice suppliers are not very salutary. Thailand is restricting export volumes in a bid to jack up prices for its farming sector. winVietnam’s rice production, the win ter-spring crop, is not too promising.

Besides, after almost a decade of stable paddy prices, many Vietnamese farmers have shifted to other crops whose export prices were more profitable.

But my bigger worry is China.

It produces some 208 million tons of rice per year, and imports some 2.2 million more. 35 million hectares are cultivated to rice compared to our 4 million hectares, but the major rice-producing provinces are those near the Yangtze River.

These major rice cultivating provinces are Heilongjiang, Hunan, Jiangzi, Hubei, Jiangsu, Anhui, Sichuan, Guangdong and Guangxi. Except for Heilongjiang which is in northernmost China, all these provinces are close to Hubei, the rice farms of which are irrigated by the Yangtze River and its tributaries. Together, these provinces produce two-thirds or 140 million tons out of China’s total production of 208 tons.

Hubei province alone produces close to 20 million tons, the equivalent of the Philippines’ harvest target for 2020.

What are the effects of the COVID 19 on China’s agricultural production, particularly its rice harvest, with Hubei immobilized, and neighboring provinces cowering with fear due to the virus dread? Would China thus import more from Asean producers such as Vietnam and Burma, Cambodia and Thailand?

What will be the effect on world rice prices? How will the Philippines compete with China in securing its needed imports?

And finally, with the NFA devoid of its rice trading functions and the bulk of our present rice stocks in the hands of the private sector, how can government intervene in the market when this confluence of negative factors materialize in the latter half of this year?

Baboy ASF, posibleng manok, bird flu, pati kaya bigas? Huwag naman sana.

On March 30, 1999, Worldtech Holdings Corp. was incorporated for the primary purpose of investing, purchasing, and holding real and personal property including but not limited to shares of stock, bonds, debentures, notes, evidence of indebtedness or other securities for obligations. On Sept. 16, 1999, the SEC approved the change in the Company’s corporate name to ABS-CBN Holdings Corporation.

On Sept. 29, 1999, ABS-CBN Holdings issued Philippine Deposit Receipts.

The PDRs were then listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange on October 7, 1999, which PDRs may be exercised at any time from said date.

Immediately prior to the closing of the PDR offering Lopez, Inc., to which ABS-CBN Holdings is affiliated, transferred 132 million ABS-CBN Corp. shares to the latter company for PDRs that were issued. The number one PDR holder holding 186,635,072 or 60.42 percent, PCD Nominee Corp, is a non-Filipino.

Similarly, ABS-CBN Corp. acquired and used Amcara’s legislative franchise under R.A. No. 8135. Amcara was incorporated on April 11, 1994 and was granted a legislative franchise which lapsed into law on July 16, 1995. The franchise will expire on July 16, 2020. Amcara started its broadcasts using Channel 23. Channel 23 was, however, renamed Studio 23 in 2010 and was rebranded as ABS-CBN Sports and Action in 2014.

In its Amended Annual Report for 2012 submitted to the SEC,ABS-CBN Corp. disclosed that it had invested or advanced 49 percent of equity interest or ownership in Amcara, which ABS-CBN Corporation considers as one of its subsidiaries. It also revealed that the remaining carrying value of investments in Amcara amounted to P41 million as of Dec. 31, 2012 and 2011. (To be continued) biznewsasia@gmail.com

Therefore, it is a corporate reality that control can exist regardless of ownership of voting shares. And to allow the issuance of PDRs by mass media corporations to foreigners subjects the mass media industry to foreign control, regardless of ownership of its shares, in utmost disregard of the intent of the constitution.

Foreigners can greatly control and influence corporate decision-making

processes even if they do not have legal title to the shares. Non-stockholders or persons or entities that do not have shares of a subject corporation registered under their names can remain in effective control, albeit indirectly, of those with controlling interest by just having specific property rights (“use and title”) in equity given to them while the legal title of the property given to another.

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

News

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Romualdez hopeful on child abuse bill passage

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

INGOG Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez on Tuesday said she was optimistic that the third and final reading approval of a bill imposing stiffer penalties on child abuse and discrimination cases would help stop all forms of exploitation against them and serve justice to the victims.

Romualdez, chairperson of the House of Representatives’ committee on the welfare of children, said the passage of House Bill 137 that will amend Republic Act 7610 or the “Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act” would further promote the best interest of the children.

“By providing stiffer penalties for violations on anti-child abuse laws, we intend to put an end to the continued exploitation of children. By increasing the

penalties for child abuse offenses, we ensure that justice is served for every child who has been abused, exploited or discriminated against,” said Romualdez.

Last Monday, the chamber approved House Bill 137, or the proposed “Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination Act” by a 228 vote.

Romualdez said “the abuse, exploitation and discrimination of children is one of the most despicable realities of our time.”

“House Bill 137 addresses this issue head-on, with the objective of ensuring that every child grows and lives free from the threat of harm,” said Romualdez, wife of House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez.

The House leadership under Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano transmitted the measure to the Senate.

HB 137 provides a penalty of 17 years and four months in prison will be slapped against those who are involved in the production of obscene publications and indecent shows.

If the child is below 12 years of age, the penalty shall be reclusion perpetua in its maximum period.

A penalty of 20 years in prison will be meted against any ascendant or guardian who will be found behind employing a child or to participate in any obscene play, scene, act, movie, or show.

Cayetano said that the House of Representatives through this measure affirmed its commitment to protect children from all types of abuse.

Consistent with his advocacy to promote children’s rights and uphold their welfare, he said Taguig has also been consistently hailed as one of the child-friendly cities in recognition of the city’s programs which aim to protect children as well as raising them to be productive and values-oriented individuals.

The City of Taguig has recently received its fourth seal of Child-Friendly Local Governance this year.

HB 137 likewise raises the penalty for child labor practices from imprisonment of six months to a minimum of one year to six years or a fine not less than one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00) to three hundred thousand pesos (P300,000.00).

Section 12 of RA 10364 or the “Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act

of 2012,” which provides for the penalties and sanctions for trafficked persons, shall now be imposed on the employment of trafficked children.

On the other hand, the discrimination of children from indigenous cultural communities shall now have a penalty of prision correctional in its medium period instead of arresto mayor in its maximum period.

A fine of not less than fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) to no more than one hundred thousand pesos (P100,000.00), instead of five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) to ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00), shall also be imposed.

In addition, the offender shall undergo a re-education and reorientation program on the Indigenous Peoples culture of the Philippines to be conducted by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples or the Philippine Task Force for Indigenous Peoples Rights.

IN BRIEF 8 human trafficking victims rescued

WASTE SYSTEM. Senator Cynthia Villar, chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment, Natural Resources and Climate Change, questions Steven Cua, president of the Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association Inc. during the Senate public hearing on the establishment of environmentally sound waste management systems. Lino Santos

7 suspected members of major drug syndicate in Metro arrested

By Joel E. Zurbano AUTHORITIES ar rested seven suspected members of a big-time dr ug syndicate operating in southern part of Metro Manila and seized P2.9 million worth of shabu during a buy-bust operation Monday night in Taguig City.

The latest operation, according Southern Police District acting director Col. Emmanuel Peralta, was part of the continuing crackdown on drug dealing in Metro Manila.

Arrested were Saner Guipal, Mohammad Adjaluddin, Butch Oyo, Arapat Samama, Hans Joseph Casiano, Johanna Usman, and Rashid Biri, all included in the police Street Level Target wanted list.

The suspects are now detained and being interrogated at the Taguig City Police Station.

Anti-narcotics men from the Taguig City police station conducted the buy-bust operation along Jolo Sulu Street, Quiapo Dos in Barangay Maharlika around 7:30 p.m.

Police seized a total of 433.02 grams of

shabu with a street value of P2.9 million, one Suzuki Raider 150 motorcycle, three mobile phones, a boodle money used in the entrapment, and assorted paraphernalia used in sniffing the prohibited substance.

Peralta said the suspects are members of a criminal gang engaged in the illegal drug trade listed in the Southern Police District narcotics watchlist.

He said the latest operation was made in close coordination with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency-National Capital Region and barangay officials in the area.

The seized drugs will be turned over to the SPD Crime Laboratory for chemical analysis.

Peralta commended Taguig City police chief Col. Celso Rodriguez and his men for their successful illegal drug operation.

When he assumed post as SPD director, Peralta assured Metro Manila police chief Debold Sinas he will continue the police intensified intelligence-driven anti-illegal drugs operations, particularly on middle level high-valued targets.

LTO says stricter bus drivers training could solve road accidents nationwide STRICTER training for bus drivers could solve most road accidents that occur in the country, an official of the Land Transportation Office said Tuesday, reacting to the alarming number of people killed by buses throughout the country.

Most drivers who encounter accidents are usually not exactly trained to operate a bus, a drug dependent, or too tired to even drive, lawyer Esteban Baltazar, chief of the LTO Traffic Adjudication board, said.

At the weekly Busina Media Forum in Quezon City, Baltazar said as many as 12,000 people were killed each year in the Philippines due to road accidents which he blamed, quoting an official study, on human error.

“Majority of these accidents especially committed by bus companies are essentially committed by human error, the second reason, mechanical errors and third, road unworthiness. The LTO is trying to address or mitigate incidence of human errors by requiring aspiring bus drivers now to undertake NC2 courses for professional bus drivers,” says Baltazar.

Compared with before, any person can actually apply and be accepted as a bus driver bearing a professional license. Now, those who want to become professional bus drivers must undergo 18 hours of initial driving training as well as rigorous and stricter driving instruction for operating trucks, buses and heavy equipment.

“Before we even give professional licenses for buses, we now require them to undergo at least at NC2 level TESDA driving courses.

Without any evidence of passing these courses, we will not issue these licenses,” Baltazar added.

Driving courses for professional bus drivers are being conducted at the Land Transportation Office and LTFRB. The only private bus training course outside of government is being managed by Victory Liner Inc. Victory is the only bus company with its own training school based in Dagupan, Pangasinan.

Baltazar said they were encouraging other bus companies to help support government training programs for professional drivers.

AIRPORT authorities rescued eight more victims of human trafficking syndicates in Manila and Cebu.

First to be rescued by Immigration agents at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport were five women going to Dubai while three other female passengers were intercepted at the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said the five female passengers intercepted at NAIA last Feb. 13 and 16 were all bound for Bangkok.

She added that the women were illegally recruited to work as household service workers in Dubai.

“They claimed that they were traveling to Thailand as tourists but later admitted that their purpose in going abroad was to work,” said Sandoval.

“They hid their visas and connecting flights from immigration authorities.”

Sandoval said the human trafficking attempts were foiled at the height of implementation of the travel ban on passengers from China, Hong Kong and Macau due to the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak.

In Cebu City, three women were stopped from leaving last Feb. 10 while they were about to board their flight to Japan.

Sandoval said the passengers presented spurious documents purportedly showing that they are gainfully employed in the country. Joel Zurbano

DPWH completes anti-flood projects THE Department of Public Works and Highways announced on Tuesday it has completed two major anti-flood projects worth more than P92 million in Metro Manila.

In Malabon City, the DPWH National Capital Region finished the construction of the P27.3-million flood control project that is seen to alleviate flooding around the city during rainy season. The project involves two pumping stations along Barangay Muzon.

“The construction of the pumping stations is among the flood control projects that aims to improve management of floodwaters within affected areas through new and modernized flood control facilities,” said DPWH-NCR director Ador Canlas.

He said flooding in the surrounding areas particularly in barangays Baritan, Concepcion, Muzon and Bayan-Bayanan and parts of barangays Dampalit and Hulong-Duhat will be minimized.

Meanwhile, the agency also announced the early completion of the P65.16-million drainage-improvement project in Sampaloc, Manila.

Canlas said the vicinity of Estero de Calubcob is provided with a new flood mitigation system targeting all local drainages connected to Washington to P. Margal Drainage Main in Sampaloc.

Joel Zurbano

DSWD owes LB P82.72m—COA THE Commission on Audit has revealed the Department of Social Welfare and Development owes Land Bank of the Philippines P82.72 million in unpaid service fees of accredited private conduits for the government’s dole-out program dubbed as the Conditional Cash Transfer.

The COA Commission Proper, in a decision dated Jan. 27, 2020, granted the petition for money claim filed by the LandBank which covers CCT payouts in 2013 and prior years.

But it adjusted DSWD’s obligation to P82.72 million which is lower than LandbBank’s original claim of P87.05 million and the amended claim of P92.27 million.

LandBank filed the petition for money claim on Nov. 13, 2015 and the DSWD acknowledged its obligation but explained that but the account has to validated by government auditors to release the money.

The COA said the only issue to be decided is how much is DSWD’s actual obligation.

“There is no question that LBP is entitled to payment of the service fees of CCT conduits. The obligation to pay LBP for the same has also been admitted by the DSWD in its Answer dated Jan. 11, 2016. In view of the foregoing, this Commission resolves to grant the Petition for Money Claim in the reduced amount,” the COA pointed out.

Maricel V. Cruz

Sports

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

sports@manilastandard.net;

sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

WEDNESDAY, A8 FEBRUARY 19, 2020

HORROR CRASH. Ryan Newman, driver of the #6 Koch Industries Ford, and Corey LaJoie, driver of the #32 RagingBull.com Ford, crash during the last lap of the NASCAR Cup Series 62nd Annual Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Denny Hamlin sealed back-to-back victories in an incident-packed Daytona 500 on Monday, winning a photo finish in a race marred by a horrific crash that left veteran driver Ryan Newman seriously injured. However, Hamlin’s celebrations were muted by a last-lap crash that left Roush Fenway Racing’s Newman hospitalized. The 42-yearold Newman’s Ford Mustang had led on the final lap but spun out of control, hit the wall and flipped onto its roof before bursting into flames at the Daytona International Speedway.

Newman’s car was also sent flying into the air after being struck by Go Fas Racing’s Corey LaJoie. NASCAR executive vice president Steve O’Donnell later told reporters that Newman was in serious condition at a local area hospital, but his injuries were deemed non-life-threatening.

Galedo, 7-Eleven try to regain dominance MARK Galedo and 7 Eleven CliqqAir21 by Roadbike Philippines will make a much-awaited return as they seek to reclaim their dominance in the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 10th anniversary race unfolding February 23 in Sorsogon and concluding on March 4 in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Galedo, 34, vows to go all out to reclaim the title they last won in the second edition in 2012 as he will spearhead a team that included equally strong Marcelo Felipe and Rustom Lim in this 10-stage race staking P1 million to the overall individual champion.

“We will do our best to try to win it,” said Galedo.

Galedo once lorded it over Philippine cycling as he followed up his 2012 Ronda conquest by copping the Southeast Asian Games gold the next year and reigning supreme in the 2014 Le Tour de Filipinas.

Galedo is on a comeback trail after battling various injuries the past few years, hoping this year will be a positive one in this race presented by LBC and sponsored by the Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation.

“I’m feeling good and confident now especially with the team that I have,” said Galedo, whose other teammates are Mervic Corpuz, Aidan James Mendoza, Nichol Pareja, Jhonrey Buccat and Tomas Mojares.

Galedo will also have a score to settle against former tormentor Reimon Lapaza, who came out of nowhere to snatch the 2013 title out of the former’s grasp.

Lapaza, like Galedo, is also making a grand a comeback as he will race for Celeste Cycles PH-Devel Project Pro Team and will try to relive the glory of 2013 when he snatch the crown going into the last two stages of the third edition of Ronda.

Galedo, however, stressed it was all in the past now.

“It’s part of the race, we’ll just try to focus on the present,” said Galedo.

Other teams seeing action are powerhouse Standard Insurance (Navy), Go for Gold, Scratch It, Bicycology (Army), Bike Xtreme, Tarlac/Central Luzon, Ilocos Sur, South Luzon/ Batangas and Nueva Ecija.

Tough grind for Petron spikers in Superliga GP

By Peter Atencio

P

ETRON is expected to have a tough grind in the 2020 Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix.

After winning three straight titles, the Blaze Spikers have only four veterans left, with Emil Lontoc replacing Cesael delos Santos as coach.

“Ako ‘yung coach na kapag materials, maski bago, nagtitiwala ako na kaya kong mapa-angat ‘yan,” said Lontoc during the league’s launching yesterday at the Eurotel in Makati City.

Import Katherine Bell will be on her third stint with Petron and she will help the team get far with remaining veterans Ces Molina, Aiza Maizo-Pontillas, Remy Palma and Angelica Legacion.

The last time around, Bell hit 42 points in their last game of the final as the Blaze Spikers beat the F2 Logistics Cargo Movers.

With many teams rebuilding, Petron’s rivals are expected to put up a tough fight this time .

This includes the Ramol de Jesus-coached F2 Cargo Movers, who will have an intact roster led by Abigail Marano and returning import Lindsay Stalzer.

On her seventh straight stint with F2, Stalzer is seeking a fourth crown for the Cargo Movers.

Only one import is allowed for each of the eight teams, one of the changes that the league is implementing this season, according to PSL president Ian Laurel.

“This is to give more exposure to local players and make the games more exciting,” said Laurel.

Imports of the coming Superliga GP are shown here. They are (from left) Hana Cutura of Marinerang Pilipina, Katherine Bell of Petron, Tatjana Bokan of Chery Taggo, Shaina Joseph of Sta. Lucia and Elizabeth Vicet Campos of Generika.

In the previous six years, the PSL allowed each team at least two imports.

Elizabeth Vicet Campos from Cuba is the youngest at 20. She was part of the Cuban squad that competed in the 17-nation 2017 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship.

The Sta. Lucia Lady Realtors, who are on a rebuilding mode, has Shainah Joseph, who played in the prestigious 2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Championship with the Canadian women’s volleyball national team.

Then, there’s Cignal’s Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani for Cignal, who used to play for the United Volleyball Club in the United States.

PHILIPPINE polo is moving forward in the right direction and the leadership of the Philippine National Federation of Polo Players is extremely happy about the continued rise of the national team in the Asian standings.

Proof of its new-found confidence was the impressive runner-up finish of the GlobalPort-PH team in the recent 5th All Asia Cup 2020 that saw them score a vengeful win over Indonesia at the VS Sports Club & Siam Polo Park in Preng, Thailand.

Though the PH team was beaten by host team in the final of the 6-nation tournament, PNFPP founding director and House Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero said the team’s performance was something to look forward to especially after beating some of their Southeast Asian rivals.

“Up against some of the best teams in the Asian region, we proved we can be at par with them,” said Romero, a member of the PH team that won bronze medal in last year’s SEA Games held at the world-class Miguel Romero Field in Calatagan, Batangas.

“Given more time to train and play in various tournaments abroad, I strongly believe we can play much better the next time,” added Romero.

“The chemistry is there so we just have to sustain it.”

The Thailand event is considered as one of the toughest in the region and many polo players are one in saying it has a similar standard as the Asian Games.

After dropping its initial game—also against Thailand—the PH team, composed of Anthony Garcia, Adrian Garcia, Robert Esguerra and Romerim beat Brunei, 10-9, in a tense quarterfinal clash.

Arevalo takes control with 68, leads by 5

Solid start puts Arevalo way ahead of the pack.

STEFAN Stojacic, who played for Serbia when it won the Fiba 3×3 World Cup for the third straight time in 2018 when the Philippines hosted the tournament, is the new head coach of the national team.

Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas President Al Panlilio said this yesterday when he announced the four players seeing action for the Philippines in the FIBA 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

The recommendation was led by the SBP Selection Committee, chaired

by Executive Director Sonny Barrios, with coaches Jong Uichico, Pat Aquino, Ronnie Magsanoc and Eric Altamirano as members.

“It is an honor for the Philippines to be with the top 20 countries vying for seats at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. We ask our countrymen to rally behind our team in its quest to be part of the Olympiad,” said Panlilio.

Stojacic, who replaced Magsanoc, started handling the national pool last December when he held a training camp.

Making it to the national squad are cagers Joshua Eugene Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, Moala Tautuaa and Jaymar Perez.

Munzon and Pasaol gained entry for having gained rankings for playing in local tournaments in the Philippines and abroad.

Tautuaa and Perez are chosen from the recommendations of the Philippine Basketball Association.

The OQT is set from March 18 to 22, 2020 in Bengaluru, India.

There are 20 teams joining in the four pools, which is composed of five teams each.

The top two teams from each pool will advance to the playoffs and the top three finishers will qualify to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Peter Atencio

Virus exposes flaws in sports, event planning

GlobalPort-PH runner-up in All Asia Cup

THE GlobalPort-PH team members, led by Rep. Mikee Romero (3rd from left), pose with Thailand Polo Association President Kanoksakdi Bhinsaeng after a runner-up finish in the 5th All Asia Cup 2020 at the VS Sports Club & Siam Polo Park in Preng, Thailand. Also shown (from left) are Adrian Garcia, AirAsia Vice Chairwoman Sheila Romero, Anthony Garcia and daughter Bailey, and Robert Esguerra.

Serbian world champ is new PH 3x3 coach

ABBY Arevalo bucked the heat and the sleek putting surface with a superb all-around game, shooting a bogey-f ree th ree-under 68 and seizing a huge five-stroke lead over Rianne Malixi at the start of the Philippine Ladies Open at the Manila Golf Club in Makati yesterday.

The SEA Games team gold medalist flaunted impressive form off the mound and came away with a number of solid approach shots that produced birdies inside 12 feet on Nos. 5, 6 and 10 as she finished with a pair of 34s in her first official tournament at the tight, well-kept layout.

“This is my first time to play this course and I’m happy to shoot a 68 despite the heat,” said the 20-year-

old Arevalo, seeking to bounce back from a playoff setback to the young Malixi in the National Stroke Play at Riviera last month and keep the country’s premier championship at home for the fifth straight year.

While the rest of the 70-player cast struggled on the unreceptive greens all day, Arevalo, a product of the San Jose State U in the US, banked on her familiarity with such kind of a surface to turn in the day’s lone under-par card in the 58th staging of the event sponsored by San Miguel Corp., Diamond Motors, Sunsports and Eva Air. “The greens were a bit fast but I think it suits my game. It’s like playing in the US,” she said, “I just love the greens and I could’ve scored lower had I holed in more putts.”

HONG KONG—The coronavirus exposes an ignorance of China’s lucrative sports market and poor contingency planning, experts say, after Formula One became the most highprofile casualty of a mass pullout from the country.

Formula One chiefs are scrambling to fit the Shanghai race into this season’s schedule after the April 19 grand prix last week joined the World Athletics Indoor Championships and European Tour and LPGA golf tournaments in being shelved because of the deadly outbreak.

The Formula E Grand Prix, badminton, skiing and Olympic qualifying events have all been cancelled, postponed or moved elsewhere in recent weeks.

All activity in the country’s two most popular sports—football and basketball—has been suspended, but the obliteration of the sporting calendar is regarded as unavoidable given the circumstances.

The virus, which emerged in December in the central city of Wuhan, has killed more than 1,800 people, almost all in China, and sparked global alarm.

The world’s most populous country has become a major sporting destination in the last decade and top clubs and organisations, among them the Premier League, FIFA and NBA, have courted fans— and their money—in the world’s second-largest economy.

Marcus Luer, founder and chief executive of sports marketing agency TSA (Total Sports Asia), said that it will be business as usual once the virus clears but a lesson has been learn that extends beyond China.

“This could happen anywhere in the world and federations and organizers need good contingency plans, especially in an Olympic year, where athletes are still qualifying for the Games (Tokyo 2020),” said Luer.

“I think that’s a global learning for major sports organizations to be ready and have a good Plan B in case something like this happens again in the future anywhere in the world.

“Honestly, I don’t think any sport or event had a Plan B in place.”

Professor Simon Chadwick echoes that sentiment.

Chadwick, director of the Center for the Eurasian Sport Industry based in Shanghai, also said that European football clubs in particular had failed to grasp the opportunity to show support for China and its people. AFP

IN BRIEF

Cusi swears in new PNOC-EC president

ENERGY Secretary Alfonso Cusi on Monday sworn in retired Philippine Air Force Commanding General Rozzano Briguez as new president of state-run PNOC Exploration Corp..

Briguez replaced former PNOC EC president and chief executive officer Pedro Aquino Jr. Aquino served as officerin-charge-president of parent Philippine National Oil Co. in 2006. He was later appointed PNOC Exploration president in 2012 and re-appointed by Duterte in January 2017.

President Rodrigo Duterte asked Aquino to resign effective October 14 for allegedly approving an agreement with a Russian company to develop a multilateral cooperation in oil products and trading, and joint participation in oil refining without the permission from the board or Cusi.

PNOC EC is a subsidiary of PNOC and currently holds a 10-percent stake in the $4.5-billion Malampaya gas project in northwest Palawan.

The board of state-run PNOC EC approved an operating budget of P10.593 billion for 2020 to finance exploration and production projects and other capital expenditures. Alena Mae S. Flores

Business

Steel Asia teams up with BSE of Germany

STEELASIA Manufacturing Corp. has tapped Germany’s Badische Stahl-Engineering GmbH (BSE) for the design and curriculum development of its world-class training center that will open in the second quarter of the year.

SteelAsia president and chief executive officer Benjamin Yao said the company engaged BSE to ensure the training center, which would produce SteelAsia’s future workers, applied the best practices in the world.

“We believe that we are in the best position to determine the type of skills that are needed for our operations. With SteelAsia’s rapid growth, we have to ensure that we have the competent and skilled manpower required in our manufacturing plants. And a training center with the help of the best in the world— BSE—will allow us to achieve this goal,” he said.

“With this training center located in southern Luzon, we are not only addressing the company’s manpower needs but we also hope to provide skills training and employment opportunities to the unemployed near our plants, even if they are unskilled,” Yao added.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

B1

By Darwin G. Amojelar

UDENNA HEADQUARTERS. United Kingdom’s Prime Ministerial Trade Envoy to the Philippines Richard Graham (second from right), British Ambassador to the Philippines Daniel Pruce (left) and UK Trade and Investment Director Richard Colley (right) visit Udenna Corp. chairman and CEO Dennis Uy at Udenna’s headquarters in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. The meeting explored possible trade opportunities and strategic commercial partnerships, especially in the fields of education, sports and technology.

St. Luke’s leases 13-ha. property in Aseana City

By Jenniffer B. Austria

P

ROPERTY developer D.M. Wenceslao & Associates Inc. said Tuesday it agreed to lease a 13,896-square-meter lot in Aseana City to St. Luke’s Medical Center for a period of 50 years.

Aseana City in Parañaque is a 107.5-hectare development along the coastal waters of Manila Bay. DMW said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the latest lease agreement with SLMC would expand the company’s leasable portfolio to 261,888 sq. m., including 171,974 sq. m. in leased land area and 89,914 sq. m. in total leasable floor area.

“DMW’s success has always been

based on anticipating the needs of our customers and providing them the solutions they require to make long-term investments to grow their businesses,” said DMW chief executive Delfin Angelo Wenceslao.

“We are thrilled that St. Luke’s Medical Center has chosen Aseana City for its flagship hospital in the Manila Bay area. The signing of this agreement with the country’s leading healthcare institution achieves another important milestone towards the development of Aseana City. It will accelerate our ability to deliver a complete community in our next generation city development,” Wenceslao said.

SLMC is one of the leading and most respected healthcare institutions in the Philippines. Its two facilities in Quezon City and Global City, Taguig have a combined 1,146 rooms, with 60,321 average in-patient admissions and 2.7 million outpatient consultations annually.

“We see a compelling opportunity for St. Luke’s Medical Center to expand and scale operations to respond to our customers’ needs,” said Dr. Arturo De La Peña, president and chief executive of SLMC. “Aseana City not only offers the right location to capture the robust healthcare growth in the country and Southeast Asia, it also takes a holistic approach throughout its master plan, while setting standards for sustainability,” De la Peña said.

“With access to all terminals of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport and the rapidly growing population centers south of Metro Manila, this new facility will be at the forefront of convenience to patients and health practitioners alike. We look forward to continue delivering high-quality, patient-centered care for all our hospital patients and to contribute to improved health outcomes through advanced technology,” he said.

Jollibee unveils plan to open 600 stores in 2020 FASTFOOD chain operator Jollibee Foods Corp. on Tuesday announced an aggressive expansion this year by opening 600 stores.

Jollibee said in a disclosure to the stock exchange that of the 600 stores, about 250 to 300 outlets would be in the Philippines and 350 in other countries, marking the first time in the company’s history when international business would generate greater organic store expansion than the Philippine business.

The company, however, said net income fell 14.4 percent in 2019 to P6.33 billion from P7.4 billion in 2018 on lower operating income.

Revenues rose 11.4 percent to P179.6 billion from P212.1 billion in 2018. Foreign business grew 59.3 percent, boosted by the acquisition of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in September, the opening of new stores and 2-percent growth in same-store sales.

Jollibee chief executive Ernesto Tantantiong said while 2019 was “a very tough year” for the group, the company was expected to post higher sales and profit this year.

“We are very encouraged by the continued rise in customer visits to our store, the strong growth in our store network with sustained healthy return on invested capital, the strong momentum in the delivery business, the recovery of the Red Ribbon product supply in the Philippines and the very good indicators of recovery of Smashburger business in the United States,” Tanmantiong said.

“We look forward to a much stronger sales and profit performance in 2020 and the years ahead even as we consolidate the financial performance of CBTL into our financial results,” he said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com

Business groups ask Congress to renew franchise of ABS-CBN

Grab bares 3 services in San Jose Del Monte

GRAB Philippines has teamed up with the city government of San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan to launch three services by next month.

Through the partnership, Grab will launch daily services in the city, including GrabTrike, GrabFood and GrabExpress by March 2020.

The partnership is expected to create thousands of livelihood opportunities for residents and energize the thriving economy of the city.

Grab is supporting San Jose Del Monte’s vision as a digital-ready city. The introduction of Grab’s services in San Jose Del Monte is poised to banner and democratize technology to improve public service in the city and expand economic opportunities for local businesses and create livelihood opportunities for thousands of driver and delivery partners.

“We have always placed our faith in the hard work, dedication, and determination of the Filipino people, and with responsible use of technology and innovation, we hope to continue in helping realize the aspirations and dreams of many Filipinos— by providing them honorable and equitable livelihood opportunities that they can all be proud of,” said Grab Philippines president Brian Cu. Darwin G. Amojelar

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

FOUR business groups led by the Makati Business Club expressed support for the renewal of ABS-CBN Corp.’s congressional franchise for another 25 years.

“We, the undersigned business organizations, express our strong support for a balanced, fair and timely consideration of the bills filed by several lawmakers on the renewal of ABS-CBN Corp.’s broadcasting franchise,” MBC said.

The other business groups that issued the resolution were the Management Association of the Philippines, Institute for Solidarity Asia and Institute of Corporate Directors.

“We fervently urge Congress to judiciously address any issues raised against the company while taking serious account of the bedrock issues of media freedom and free enterprise, which allow businesses to flourish for the overall welfare of our economy and our people,” the groups said.

They issued the statement as Congress has yet to act on the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN and after the Solicitor General filed a petition before the Supreme Court to cancel the media company’s franchise.

The media company led by the Lopez family earlier said that the Office of the Solicitor General’s filing of a quo warranto case against ABS-CBN on alleged violations of its franchise appeared to be an effort to shut down the broadcast network, to the serious prejudice of millions of Filipinos who rely on the network for news, entertainment and public service.

“These allegations cited by the Office of the Solicitor General in his press statement are without merit.

ABS-CBN complies with all pertinent laws governing its franchise and has secured all necessary government and regulatory approvals for its business operations,” the company said.

The network said that its broadcast offerings, including KBO, received the necessary government and regulatory approvals and were not prohibited by its franchise.

The company said ABS-CBN Holdings’ Philippine Deposit Receipts or PDRs were evaluated and approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Philippine Stock Exchange prior to its public offering.

PAL increases capital stock by 130% to P30b

NEW FUJITSU OFFICE. Fujitsu Philippines Inc., a leading information technology systems integrator and solutions provider, launches its new office in the Clark Freeport and Special Economic Zone to strengthen operations and extend cloud offerings.

Attending the launching ceremony are (from left) Fujitsu Philippines assistant vice president Tetsu Maruo, managed services business unit head Mark Pandy, marketing director Marje Balbuena, chief finance officer Kristine Leaño, product platform business unit head Carmina Angeles, president-CEO Raul Santiago III, Mitch Viernes of Digital Innovation Center, Fujitsu Philippines security infra solutions and services business unit head Amy Tabiliran-Castillo and head of mobility solutions Randy Escuyos.

Questions on DICT intel funds to affect National Cybersecurity Plan LAWMAKERS called for an investigation on the P300-million confidential funds of the Department of Information and Communications Technology led by Secretary Gregorio Honasan after Undersecretary Eliseo Rio raised the issue last month.

Members of the House minority bloc filed House Resolution 702 directing the House committee on good government and public accountability to conduct an investigation on reports that DICT advanced P100 million each on Nov. 22, Dec. 2 and Dec. 17 as confidential funds for surveillance.

Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said, however, said the Presidential AntiCorruption Commission could conduct its own investigation on the issue.

Senate Majority Floor leader Juan Miguel Zubir called for inquiry not only on allegations on the misuse of

funds but also on DICT’s alleged acceptance of billions of pesos in socalled intel funds.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III and Senator Panfilo Lacson earlier pushed for Senate Resolution 310 to create an oversight panel to investigate the intelligence fund allocation of government agencies, including the DICT. The DICT defended the use of intel funds, saying it would urgently address the cybersecurity problems and protect national security through the National Cybersecurity Plan 2020.

An immediate cybersecurity concern is the alleged threat that DITO Telecommunity’s partnership with China state-owned China Telecom poses.

Several legislators expressed concern about ChinaTel’s ability to violate the national security of the Philippines.

Senator Francis Pangilinan said, “Chi-

na’s National Intelligence Law states that any organization or citizen shall support, assist and cooperate with State Intelligence work in accordance with the law.”

ChinaTel, for one, is potentially in a position to execute a breach of security―national and personal in the Philippines, lawmakers warned.

Rio, in introducing the NCP 2020, said that DICT would provide a roadmap for ICT stakeholders to secure their online environment.”

Rio said, “there is no physical or economic security without cybersecurity and the government is at the forefront of protecting every Filipino in cyberspace.”

Rio, who resigned last week, said that of the P300-million intel funds disbursed, DICT has no use for it nor the mandate to conduct surveillance or intelligence activities.

PHILIPPINE Airlines on Tuesday raised its capital stock by 130 percent as a part of a strategy to sustain profitability and keep a higher level of competitiveness.

The flag carrier controlled by tycoon Lucio Tan increased its authorized capital stock from P13 billion to P30 billion. The adjustment was approved by a majority of the company’s stockholders during a special meeting held at the Century Park Hotel.

The increase in capital stock will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

PAL’s parent firm PAL Holdings Inc. earlier reported a net loss of P7.86 billion in the first nine months of 2019, up 139 percent from a P3.29-billion loss in the same period in 2018.

Consolidated revenues in the January-to-September period amounted to P117.92 billion, up 5.6 percent from P111.62 billion in the same period in 2018.

PAL Holding’s consolidated operating expenses rose 2.2 percent to P117.13 billion from P114.67 billion in 2018.

“This was due to the increase in maintenance expense by 8.8 percent and aircraft and traffic servicing expenses by 2.7 percent driven by the growth in fleet, passenger and network operations. Reservation and sales likewise increased by 10.7 percent due to the growth in passenger volume,” the company said.

PAL flies to 43 international and 35 domestic destinations using 95 aircraft, one of the youngest fleets in the industry with an average age of just five years. Darwin G. Amojelar

B2

Business

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks close flat; ICTSI climbs

T

HE stock market closed flat Tuesday in mixed trading amid fears over the wider impact of the new coronavirus on corporate earnings and economic growth.

The Philippine Stock exchange Index dipped 3.96 points, or 0.05 percent, to 7,322.89 on a value turnover of P5.3 billion. Losers beat gainers, 101 to 86, with 45 issues unchanged.

DMCI Holdings Inc. of the Consunji Group fell 2.2 percent to P5.70, while Bank of the Philippine Islands, the third-biggest lender in terms of assets, declined 1.3 percent to P83.50.

International Container Terminal Services Inc., the biggest port operator, rose 3.1 percent to P119.60, while PLDT

Inc., the largest telecommunications firm, added 1.6 percent to P1,036.

The rest of Asian markets tumbled Tuesday after Apple warned the new coronavirus had hit output and demand in China.

Investors looked past a positive lead from European bourses to focus on the spiraling fallout from the virus that has so far killed more than 1,800 people and infected nearly 72,500, mostly in mainland China.

As well as denting company bottom lines, the virus has sparked panic buying, economic jitters and the cancellation of high-profile sporting and cultural events.

“Best to buckle in as we could be in for a bumpy ride (over) the next few weeks,” said Stephen Innes of AxiCorp.

“I’m struggling to find any research report that doesn’t suggest (COVID-19) could significantly affect short term

earnings.”

Apple suppliers in Asia were hit by the tech giant’s warning that it would miss its quarterly revenue forecast because of the virus, dragging markets lower.

Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.4 percent—its fourth straight session in the red—a day after data showed the economy shrank in the December quarter, even before the effects of the virus hit Japan.

Hong Kong was down 1.3 percent as banking heavyweight HSBC reported a 33 percent fall in 2019 pre-tax profits alongside an announcement that it was cutting 35,000 jobs.

Mainland China’s benchmark Shanghai Composite Index recovered earlier losses to close up 0.1 percent.

Elsewhere, Singapore fell 0.4 percent as investors digested the government’s decision to cut its economic growth forecast for this year as the virus batters

the city state’s tourism and trade.

Seoul was off 1.5 percent and Taipei lost one percent. Sydney shed 0.2 percent.

Investors have taken some comfort from a slowdown in new infections outside hardest-hit Hubei province, which Chinese officials say is a sign that the outbreak is under control.

But World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the trend “must be interpreted very cautiously.”

IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said Sunday there could be a cut of around 0.10.2 percentage points to global growth but stressed there was much uncertainty about the virus’s economic impact.

Further moves by China’s central bank on Monday to cushion the world’s second-largest economy against the health crisis appear to have done little to allay concerns. With AFP

Manila Standard BuSineSS daily StockS review tueSday, FeBruary 18, 2020

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

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

53 84.2 149 0.81 25 18 11.44 3.51 845 0.44 58.5 11.2 31.95 178.7 21.95 170.5 58.65 1.12

53.1 85 150 0.81 25.05 18 11.5 3.77 845 0.445 59.5 11.7 32.05 179.3 21.95 174.9 58.85 1.12

53 83.5 148 0.81 25 18 11.44 3.51 845 0.405 58.5 11.2 31.95 177.7 20.4 170 58.65 1.12

FINANCIALS 53.1 960 83.5 1,320,400 148 1,461,360 0.81 40,000 25 215,800 18 15,000 11.46 129,800 3.77 6,000 845 340 0.405 460,000 58.6 2,580,790 11.66 30,900 32 486,800 177.7 120 20.5 55,400 170 139,580 58.65 3,600 1.12 33,000

50,900 110,780,968.50 216,671,613 32,400 5,395,120 270,000 1,488,058 21,320 287,300 192,350 151,729,367.50 360,148 15,577,240 21,395 1,138,820 23,818,205 211,144 36,960

-23,739,954.50 -163,133,798 -270,000 -64,194 26,980,929.50 -1,951,520 1,777 -15,141,268 192,958.50 36,960

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

32.15 2.16 7.25 0.63 2.9 0.224 88.5 1.57 15.04 193.9 8.45 15.6 59.9 63 2.12 4.5 8.52 12.34 8.45 7.28 3.16 20.1 66.95 1.87 35.6 1.51 12.1 5.98 1.26 189.6 3.13 12.62 9.9 14.98 268.8 5.27 1.84 3.6 3.48 9.94 11.58 29 4.8 5.05 1.51 1.52 1.21 9.5 74.85 9.15 0.121 0.95 149 1.12 0.96

32.2 2.17 7.4 0.66 3.08 0.224 88.5 1.58 15.1 193.9 8.59 15.6 60 63 2.12 4.6 8.57 12.34 8.64 7.7 3.16 20.1 66.95 1.97 35.6 1.51 12.14 6.5 1.26 189.7 3.13 12.78 10 14.98 268.8 5.27 1.84 3.72 3.49 9.94 11.8 29.5 4.8 5.2 1.61 1.52 1.25 9.5 76.6 9.31 0.121 0.95 151.8 1.13 0.99

31.6 2.12 6.86 0.62 2.9 0.217 88.5 1.53 15.04 175.1 8 15.6 59.85 63 2.1 4.5 8.45 11.8 8.45 7.26 2.89 19.92 66.85 1.87 35 1.46 11.94 5.98 1.17 185.2 3.12 12.34 9.69 14.7 266 5.27 1.83 3.6 3.46 9.7 11.58 28.6 4.74 5.05 1.5 1.52 1.15 9.14 74 9.12 0.121 0.9 148.8 1.11 0.96

INDUSTRIAL 31.6 2,338,500 2.13 450,000 7.3 1,580,400 0.66 3,080,000 3.01 2,847,000 0.224 150,000 88.5 100 1.55 5,361,000 15.1 106,700 178 170 8.14 953,400 15.6 500 59.85 1,030 63 20 2.1 85,000 4.6 7,000 8.45 3,370,300 11.82 1,202,800 8.45 170,600 7.51 1,791,200 2.9 3,442,000 19.96 1,662,700 66.9 149,300 1.92 35,186,000 35 14,300 1.48 6,937,000 12.06 620,000 6.2 4,713,300 1.17 229,000 185.2 500,990 3.12 2,000 12.48 3,173,200 9.7 180,800 14.8 266,900 268.8 105,100 5.27 2,100 1.84 430,000 3.72 19,000 3.46 907,000 9.8 9,600 11.8 77,300 29 64,300 4.8 32,000 5.1 5,100 1.57 564,000 1.52 110,000 1.17 819,000 9.15 2,540,300 76.6 266,210 9.17 37,300 0.121 100,000 0.94 274,000 149.2 443,650 1.13 3,203,000 0.98 139,000

74,377,180 969,460 11,325,950 1,995,630 8,567,690 33,460 8,850 8,336,830 1,611,022 30,575 7,842,075 7,800 61,671 1,260 179,100 31,980 28,518,796 14,300,522 1,441,663 13,202,395 10,306,320 33,193,139 9,983,052 67,863,970 502,000 10,268,960 7,479,698 29,325,144 274,410 94,163,351 6,250 39,641,008 1,779,413 3,950,842 28,126,892 11,067 789,940 68,760 3,150,400 93,294 905,974 1,875,695 153,370 25,950 865,500 167,200 984,930 23,796,996 20,146,079 343,185 12,100 248,520 66,519,880 3,608,720 133,930

-53,732,260 -19,350 7,158,220 -6,500 -861,000 -2,192,180 -135,944 8,550 -28,047,455 -12,035,724 -801,062 3,118,885 529,500 -14,703,358 -2,259,529.50 286,280 35,000 -7,236,090 976,506 -2,064,439 -45,724,014 -6,250 2,443,012 112,040.00 -3,447,608 2,079,684 -152,250 -572,890 -1,426,100 -36,600 -193,289 -8,175,842.50 -20,993,108 -96,000

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

0.9 51 10.46 0.67 6.1 10.18 0.89 0.9 750 2.48 6.29 5.81 12.02 0.22 731 74.9 6.64 0.49 3.81 10.2 0.57 3.2 4.8 1.09 133.2 1,018 1.16 163.5 0.205 0.184

0.92 51 10.46 0.68 6.19 10.18 0.9 0.9 755 2.5 6.29 5.81 12.1 0.22 739.5 75 6.64 0.49 3.81 10.3 0.59 3.23 4.8 1.11 135 1,024 1.16 169.9 0.222 0.205

0.89 50.35 10.28 0.67 6.1 9.99 0.88 0.9 750 2.46 6.24 5.68 12 0.22 726 73.65 6.64 0.485 3.77 9.93 0.57 3.14 4.43 1.09 131.1 1,007 1.13 163 0.205 0.184

HOLDING FIRMS 0.91 13,973,000 50.4 913,240 10.3 3,655,400 0.68 50,000 6.19 18,200 9.99 4,300 403,000 0.9 0.9 100,000 752 211,480 2.46 108,000 6.24 209,400 5.7 11,096,100 12 30,900 0.22 30,000 735 69,530 75 1,385,300 6.64 5,700 0.49 30,000 3.77 138,000 9.98 1,118,200 0.59 153,000 3.14 12,054,000 4.43 6,000 1.11 24,000 135 45,850 1,012 147,195 1.13 50,000 169.9 2,340 0.22 1,030,000 0.186 23,320,000

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

14.7 0.64 1.59 0.79 41 1.62 4.56 0.475 0.78 0.82 0.175 0.41 9.18 18.62 0.39 1.42 1.08 3.98 0.2 0.44 1.02 0.32 2.12 24.55 1.94 3.13 41.6

14.72 0.66 1.59 0.79 41.3 1.65 4.56 0.485 0.78 0.82 0.175 0.425 9.2 19.06 0.39 1.43 1.08 4 0.203 0.44 1.08 0.32 2.12 25.3 1.96 3.13 41.7

14.7 0.61 1.59 0.78 40.55 1.61 4.48 0.475 0.78 0.78 0.175 0.385 9.06 18.6 0.39 1.41 1.08 3.96 0.199 0.42 1 0.32 2.08 24.55 1.94 3.04 40.75

PROPERTY 14.7 1,063,100 0.64 555,000 1.59 45,000 0.78 150,000 41.1 13,736,400 1.62 358,000 4.53 163,000 0.48 8,720,000 0.78 23,000 0.81 24,000 0.175 500,000 0.385 7,670,000 9.15 322,700 18.86 119,800 0.39 20,000 1.41 25,227,000 1.08 122,000 3.96 4,917,000 0.2 3,630,000 0.435 750,000 1.05 3,681,000 0.32 140,000 2.1 14,000 24.6 735,300 1.96 161,000 3.06 283,000 41.7 23,553,300

NAME

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND VISTAMALLS

2.52 1.63 6.9 5.18

2.52 1.72 6.93 5.18

2.5 1.63 6.83 5.01

2.51 1.67 6.85 5.17

70,000 3,433,000 1,463,000 87,100

175,640 5,760,510 10,023,690 445,013

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL ALLHOME APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CHELSEA DFNN INC EASYCALL GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN BRIA HARBOR STAR IMPERIAL INTL CONTAINER IPM HLDG ISLAND INFO ISM COMM LEISURE AND RES LORENZO SHIPPNG MACROASIA MANILA BULLETIN METRO RETAIL METROALLIANCE A METROALLIANCE B MLA BRDCASTING NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PAXYS PHIL RACING PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRANSPACIFIC BR WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

8.9 17.62 1.34 9.71 0.395 0.048 2.68 8.72 0.046 80.5 4.45 4 7.58 1,964 5.4 418 1.15 1.53 116 6.5 0.105 2.04 2.06 0.88 11 0.495 1.86 1.17 1.29 10.6 2.17 2.05 7.25 2.97 8.94 144 3.35 1,020 0.53 0.315 38.3 71 8.85 2.22 0.58 0.245 0.54 18.72

8.9 18.4 1.45 10.78 0.395 0.049 2.71 9 0.047 80.6 4.53 4.19 7.58 1,964 5.43 423.8 1.17 1.53 121.8 6.5 0.105 2.07 2.1 0.94 11.38 0.495 1.86 1.35 1.4 10.6 2.27 2.05 7.4 2.97 8.94 149.9 3.39 1,038 0.54 0.315 38.35 72 8.85 2.25 0.59 0.245 0.56 18.86

8.7 17.54 1.34 9.71 0.39 0.047 2.66 8.72 0.046 79.5 4.45 4 7.11 1,936 5.39 418 1.12 1.53 116 6.5 0.1 1.8 2.05 0.88 10.76 0.46 1.82 1.16 1.27 10.6 2.11 2 7.25 2.97 8.94 144 3.15 1,020 0.52 0.305 38.15 71 8.8 2.2 0.58 0.236 0.54 18.72

SERVICES 8.8 17.54 1.45 10.78 0.39 0.048 2.68 8.88 0.047 80.3 4.46 4.08 7.13 1,937 5.39 420 1.16 1.53 119.6 6.5 0.102 1.82 2.1 0.94 10.9 0.46 1.82 1.29 1.29 10.6 2.14 2 7.4 2.97 8.94 149.9 3.28 1,036 0.52 0.315 38.2 71.4 8.8 2.22 0.59 0.24 0.55 18.74

52,900 750,500 3,000 3,593,200 810,000 5,000,000 156,000 3,407,300 9,800,000 97,760 559,000 376,000 10,100 33,050 240,700 340 227,000 6,000 2,733,210 1,400 650,000 100,125,000 415,000 35,000 5,640,700 3,290,000 143,000 1,060,000 74,000 1,400 2,010,000 54,000 2,900 1,000 100 18,900 1,226,000 61,385 22,191,000 1,260,000 1,704,000 191,740 17,000 462,000 512,000 1,080,000 647,000 2,787,800

465,540 13,367,584 4,240 36,385,369 317,950 237,500 418,690 30,308,045 452,900 7,851,476 2,495,640 1,525,650 72,328 64,214,510 1,299,903 142,754 259,370 9,180 321,393,742 9,100 65,390 192,306,310 854,230 30,860 61,849,542 1,537,500 262,670 1,357,070 95,880 14,840 4,350,630 108,810 21,265 2,970 894 2,748,489 4,034,600 63,485,360 11,658,080 388,200 65,115,540 13,686,383.50 149,900 1,024,940 297,280 256,480 354,470 52,266,846

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

0.0013 6.85 0.97 2.22 11.44 1.1 3 0.27 6.58 1.31 0.207 0.096 0.091 0.76 2.58 1.01 0.01 0.011 0.01 2.86 7.85 20

0.0014 7.45 0.98 2.3 11.5 1.1 3.02 0.27 6.85 1.31 0.208 0.097 0.091 0.82 2.64 1.01 0.01 0.011 0.011 2.89 7.85 20.15

0.0013 6.81 0.97 2.22 11.4 1.1 3 0.27 6.58 1.29 0.2 0.093 0.091 0.75 2.58 1 0.0098 0.011 0.01 2.83 7.62 19.9

MINING & OIL 0.0014 11,000,000 6.99 129,500 0.97 671,000 661,000 2.24 11.5 5,900 1.1 5,000 3.01 170,000 0.27 100,000 6.61 13,700 1.29 745,000 0.206 440,000 0.094 680,000 0.091 2,390,000 0.75 865,000 2.61 1,321,000 1.01 3,000 0.01 8,000,000 0.011 13,100,000 0.011 11,300,000 2.88 16,000 7.7 325,100 20.15 110,100

14,500 919,358 654,360 1,481,070 67,544 5,500 512,240 27,000 91,791 965,400 91,070 63,970 217,490 670,930 3,453,230 3,020 79,540 144,100 121,600 45,940 2,505,729 2,201,427

-96,660 -446,880 -1,251,070 5,500 -81,590 164,190 -17,160 77,000 -181,778

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2R ALCO PREF C CPG PREF A GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B PCOR PREF 3A PCOR PREF 3B PNX PREF 3B PNX PREF 4 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

15.9 500 495 103 101 5.3 990 987 96.6 100.5 1,020 1,040 1,070 107.5 1,050 77.6 75.65 75 76.5 76 76

16.3 500 500 103 102 5.31 990 990 99.8 101 1,020 1,040 1,070 107.5 1,050 77.6 75.65 75 76.6 76 76

15.88 500 493 103 100.8 5.23 990 987 96.5 100.2 1,020 1,040 1,070 107.5 1,050 77.5 75.65 75 76.5 76 76

PREFERRED 15.88 540,800 500 500 500 180 103 2,000 102 8,900 5.23 57,000 990 133,770 990 59,760 99.8 7,790 100.5 73,140 1,020 100 1,040 5 1,070 55 107.5 560 1,050 2,030 77.5 2,490 75.65 140 75 251,600 76.5 15,680 76 670 76 1,000

8,621,058 250,000 89,320 206,000 897,723 302,030 132,432,300 58,986,920 766,490 7,357,318 102,000 5,200 58,850 60,200 2,131,500 193,025 10,591 18,870,000 1,199,649 50,920 76,000

-4,140,774 -53,600 53,750 -

LR WARRANT

1.12

1.17

1.12

WARRANTS 1.12 14,000

15,880

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

3.26 9.63 0.79

3.26 9.75 0.8

3.21 9.5 0.78

3.21 9.5 0.79

FIRST METRO ETF

110.1

110.7

110

USD DMPL A1 USD TECH B2

10.26 0.95

10.26 0.95

10 0.95

MS 12,677,080 46,053,612.50 37,676,228 33,800 111,790 43,017 359,630 90,000 158,979,665 267,580 1,309,074 63,324,650 372,138 6,600 51,091,740 103,545,020.50 37,848 14,650 523,300 11,152,955 87,950 38,196,130 26,950 26,440 6,079,480 149,904,045 57,850 392,401 226,560 4,501,540

21,991,440 11,475,062 56,120 -46,425,965 366,060 -19,991,052 22,534,595 7,792,575 -101,940 -4,658,291 -8,768,800 -2,771,688 -12,544,835 -341,439 -156,740

15,637,300 346,320 71,550 117,270 564,212,570 580,800 733,840 4,181,050 17,940 19,170 87,500 3,054,600 2,940,044 2,262,326 7,800 35,782,460 131,760 19,503,690 727,620 324,200 3,844,250 44,800 29,520 18,162,540 315,330 864,910 968,526,370

213,150 4,293,375 -17,830 58,500 -820 21,000 -2,567,569 -412,086 -21,131,790 -11,072,000 392,950 -11,956,915 1,950 -802,310 380,739,540

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

OPEN

Trading Summary

SHARES

FINANCIAL

7,805,248

INDUSTRIAL

91,144,296

HOLDING FIRMS

72,656,416

PROPERTY

104,859,283

SERVICES

174,643,027

MINING & OIL

52,154,359

GRAND TOTAL

503,896,016

SME

36,000 321,700 266,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 110.1 7,580 10 0.95

DDS

39,400 300

-5,000,791 -462,025 -9,677,186 -3,867,292 1,211,109.50 -218,540 16,923,315 -26,680 -6,634,077 -1,050 -1,192,180 -628,170 5,345,910 -40,220 -175,000 2,020 9,425 807,286 -24,287,440 -237,590 44,726,795.00 -1,967,627 0 3,957,918

-

117,000 3,073,826 209,500

9,520 7,900

836,075

35,232

401,644 285

-

VALUE 1,727.30 (down) 17.31 597,923,614.25 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 8,958.48 (down) 32.82 708,372,073.642 HOLDING FIRMS 7,146.35 (down) 0.88 1,226,316,356.66 PROPERTY 3,927.97 (up) 1.09 1,454.76 (up) 18.82 1,788,744,050.135 SERVICES MINING & OIL 7,077.38 (up) 47.30 992,683,498.04 PSEI 7,322.89 (down) 3.96 14,339,380.782 All Shares Index 4,340.98 (up) 2.28 5,332,621,383.16 Gainers: 86; Losers: 101; Unchanged: 45; Total: 232

All Home on track to hit P1-b net profit goal

By Jenniffer B. Austria ALLHOME Corp., the construction supply retailing company of billionaire Manuel Villar, said its 2019 net income is on track to hit at least P1 billion on aggressive store expansion and higher sales.

AllHome vice chairman Camille Villar said in a statement strong fourthquarter sales due to holiday spending would boost the company’s net income to at least P1 billion.

“We are confident of ending 2019 with at least P1 billion in net income given that historically our fourth quarter performance is typically our strongest when it comes to sales as our stores would benefit from the holiday season as they are strategically located and are part of our innovative ecosystem of world class retail concepts surrounding it,” she said.

AllHome registered a 225-percent jump in net income to P746.2 million in the first nine months of 2019 from P229.7 million in the same period last year. Total revenues increased 72 percent to P8.2 billion from P4.8 billion in the comparable period a year ago.

AllHome plans to roll out more stores in 2020 to end the year with 450,000 square meters of selling space from 313,000 sq. m. at the of end 2019.

“We are set to bring AllHome to more locations in 2020,” said AllHome chairman Manuel Villar Jr. “Our expansion program is both sustainable and strategic by taking advantage of the synergies between our real estate companies such as Vista Land as well as the opportunities in the home improvement industry in the Philippines,” he added.

Meanwhile, the company said it has secured enough inventory needed for the planned store expansion.

“It was fortunate that we were able to get funding for our working capital in October last year through our initial public offering which contributed to our increased inventory cover. We already secured the needed inventories for our planned store expansions as well as for our existing stores which can last between 6 to 8 months,” said Allhome president Benjamarie Therese Serrano.

Ortigas Land eyes P16b in sales from new 51-story tower ORTIGAS Land, formerly called Ortigas & Company, plans to raise P16 billion in revenues from a soon-to-belaunched high-end residential tower within the Ortigas Business District.

Ortigas Land assistant vice president and head of project and business development Jenna Belardo said in a press briefing the company would launch on February 29 the 51-story tower called Residences at the Galleon.

Belardo said Residences at the Galleon would offer 509 residential units with sizes ranging from one-bedroom, two-bedroom and penthouse units and 64 square meters to 411 sq. m.

The average price of one- and twobedroom unit ranges from P24 million to P46 million, while penthouse units cost between P102 million and P162 million.

“The tower offers professional and families with an intimate experience by providing an optimal peaceful and uncrowded living environment with each floor housing only 12 units,” Belardo said.

The luxury development also offers smart home features for residents in addition to state-of the art building management system and amenities that include a mini-theater room, game room, swimming pool, gym and a sauna room.

Located along ADB Avenue and strategically located within the heart of Ortigas Center, the project offers convenience and accessibility to residences with its close proximity to EDSA and Ortigas Avenue.

The project is scheduled for completion in fourth quarter of 2028 The project is part of the second phase of The Galleon, the only mixeduse development in Ortigas Business District with office residential and retail components. The first phase involved a high-end office for sale development that generated strong demand from buyers. It registered sales of P8.8 billion during the first day of launch. Jenniffer B. Austria

Manila

World

Standard WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

B3

TODAY CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

China arrests an activist who criticized Xi over coronavirus

THE VIGIL CONTINUES. In this picture taken on February 14, 2020, a hostess wearing a protective face mask stands at a transit area at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Kuala Lumpur. The World Health Organization has warned against a global overreaction to the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic following panic-buying, event cancellations and concerns about cruise ship travel as China’s official death toll neared 1,900 on February 18. AFP

BEIJING―Police in China have arrested a prominent activist who had been a fugitive for weeks and criticized President Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus epidemic while in hiding, a rights group said Tuesday.

Anti-corruption activist Xu Zhiyong was arrested on Saturday after being on the run since December, according to Amnesty International.

China’s ruling Communist Party has severely curtailed civil liberties since Xi took power in 2012, rounding up rights lawyers, labor activists and even Marxist students.

The death this month of a whistleblowing doctor who was reprimanded by police for raising the alarm about the deadly new virus before dying of it himself triggered rare calls for political reform and freedom of speech.

The “Chinese government’s battle against the coronavirus has in no way diverted it from its ongoing general campaign to crush all dissenting voices,” said Patrick Poon, China researcher at Amnesty International, in an emailed statement.

Another source, who spoke to AFP on the condition of anonymity, said Xu had been arrested in the southern city of Guangzhou.

Guangzhou police did not respond to requests for comment.

Xu went into hiding after authorities broke up a December gathering of intellectuals discussing political reform in the eastern coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, prior to the coronavirus crisis.

Over a dozen lawyers and activists were detained or disappeared after the Xiamen gathering, according to rights groups -- and Xu’s detention appears linked to his presence at the meeting, explained Poon.

But while on the run, Xu continued to post information on Twitter about rights issues.

On February 4 Xu released an article calling on Xi to step down and criticised his leadership across a range of issues including the US-China trade war, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests and the coronavirus epidemic, which has now killed nearly 1,900 people. AFP

Chinatowns feel the brunt of virus panic M ELBOURNE― Normally bustling centuryold Chinatowns from Melbourne to San Francisco have fallen quiet and businesses are struggling to survive as fears over the deadly novel coronavirus outbreak ripple around the world.

“Scaremongering is rampant,” complains Max Huang, owner of the Juicy Bao restaurant in Melbourne’s historic Chinese district. “Customers won’t come in if they can avoid it.”

Huang’s eatery sits among dozens of restaurants making up Australia’s oldest Chinatown enclave, dating back to the influx of fortune-seekers during an 1850s gold rush.

Although the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic is more than a ten-hourflight way, and Australia has seen just a handful of cases, the stigma of a disease that has claimed more than 1,800 lives is pervasive.

Streets are notably quieter, face masks are a commonplace and even a Lunar New Year dragon dance failed to bring in the usual crowds.

Businesses report their earnings have dropped by more than half and they have been forced to cut staff hours dramatically, a situation echoed in Chinatowns across the world.

At the usually buzzing Empire Seafood Restaurant in Vancouver’s Richmond suburb, getting a table is now a breeze.

“Usually we’d have a large line-up time of approximately five-ten tables, but today there is no line up at all,” assistant general manager Ivan Yeung said.

“Some people have already canceled their parties and banquets. Many restaurants are seeing the same thing. Hopefully, this gets back to normal really soon.”

A ban on travelers from China has hit many neighborhoods particularly hard.

“Usually we have Chinese tourists coming at this time, but now it’s like zero,” said Tony Siu, manager of the popular Cantonese restaurant R&G Lounge in San Francisco.

Bezos launches $10-billion fund to combat climate change

IN BRIEF

US Boy Scouts file for bankruptcy WASHINGTON―The Boy Scouts of America filed for bankruptcy Tuesday in what it said was an effort to safeguard compensation payouts for sexual abuse victims.

The organization has been accused of covering up generations of abuse inflicted on thousands of its young members and failing to do enough to root out pedophiles using the youth movement to prey on minors over its 110-year history.

Bankruptcy proceedings will help the Boy Scouts to “equitably compensate” victims through the establishment of a victims’ compensation trust and allow the organization to continue at a local level, a statement from the group said.

“The BSA cares deeply about all victims of abuse and sincerely apologizes to anyone who was harmed during their time in Scouting,” chief executive Roger Mosby said in the statement.

More than 12,000 members of the Boy Scouts had been sexually abused in the organization since 1944, victims’ lawyer Jeff Anderson said last year.

He also said the files maintained by the Boy Scouts listed more than 7,800 alleged perpetrators of sexual abuse.

The existence of that documentationknown as the “perversion files” and listing scoutmasters or troop leaders accused of sexual abuse―was first revealed in a 2012 court case.

Founded in 1910, the Boy Scouts of America has around 2.2 million members between the ages of five and 21, the organization said.

AFP

Cuba burning tires to power factory

HAVANA―The Cuban government has ordered a cement factory to burn old tires to power its operations and save on oil, amid a worsening fuel shortage brought on by US sanctions on the Communist island.

On orders of President Miguel Diaz-Canel, the firm Cementos Cienfuegos, located in the center of the country, will receive an increasing supply of used tires to burn, the official daily Granma said Monday.

Cuba has been suffering oil shortages since last September, when the administration of President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on ships carrying petroleum to the island from its main fuel supplier Venezuela.

Washington introduced the sanctions to step up pressure on Havana to stop backing Venezuela’s leader Nicolas Maduro, whose rival Juan Guaido has been recognized by the United States and other western states as the country’s acting president.

The US sanctions have forced Cuba to adopt a slew of emergency measures to make ends meet, such as slashing bus and train services and cutting the length of the working day in the public sector. It has also had to use oxen to pull farm machinery and horses to transport goods in wagons.

Officials said the cement business was currently burning between 130 and 150 tires every day and aims to increase that to 400 a day, with the goal of reducing its consumption of fuel oil by five percent.

The cement plant is planning on importing 100,000 tons of crude this year. AFP

“They often get the sea bass or the But such measures appear to have had salt and pepper crab, that are our famous limited success. dishes.”

Rebecca Lyu, a Chinese student living In Australia, the travel ban has been in London, has a hard time convincing compounded by almost 100,000 Chi- friends to join her to eat or shop. nese students being unable to fly Down “Some of my friends refused to go eat Under to start the academic year. at restaurants in Chinatown because they “Our main customers are from Chi- are worried about the virus,” she said. na... [so] it’s very difficult,” said Su Yin, Many believe xenophobia has worswhose pancake store sits downstairs ened the situation further. from a Melbourne college with a large Fred Lo’s souvenir store in San FranChinese student base. cisco is usually frequented by tourists Hoping to reassure would-be custom- from Europe and South America.AFP ers, some businesses have tacked up and well-being given that she has REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES notices saying they disinfect their inalways used Javier as her surname REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION in all her records and it is the name teriors regularly to prevent disease. known to her friends and relatives; BRANCH 217 - QUEZON CITY and, in order to synchronized her Others have gone a step further inrecords; to avoid confusion and for her MATTER OF THE PETITION stalling hand sanitiser for guests and INFORTHECORRECTION future private and public transactions.

OF ENTRIES IN the petition is hereby set THE CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH giving staff face masks and rubber OF JUDY ANNE JAVIER SERRANO forWherefore, hearing anew on March 6, 2020 at (A) ENTRY NO.1 - FROM JUDY ANNE 8:30 in the morning before this Court gloves.

ROYALS. From left, Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Albert II of Belgium and King

Philippe-Filip of Belgium stand after a special Mass to commemorate the deceased members of the Belgian Royal Family at the Onze-Lieve-Vrouwkerk-Eglise Notre-Dame, in Laeken-Laken, Brussels, on February 17, 2020. AFP

Weinstein jury to begin deliberations NEW YORK―Jurors will begin deliberating the fate of ex-Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein on Tuesday in his high-profile sex crimes trial that marked a watershed moment in the #MeToo movement.

The disgraced movie mogul, 67, faces life in prison if the jury of seven men and five women convict him of predatory sexual assault charges in New York.

More than 80 women have accused Weinstein of sexual misconduct since allegations against him ignited the #MeToo global reckoning against men abusing positions of power in October 2017.

But the jury is considering charges related to just two: ex-actress Jessica Mann and former production assistant Mimi Haleyi, with many claims too old to prosecute.

Mann, 34, says Weinstein raped her in March 2013, while Haleyi alleges he forcibly performed oral sex on her in July 2006.

The proceedings, which began hearing testimony on January 22, threw up complicated issues surrounding consent

and abuse of power for the jury.

Under cross-examination, both Mann and Haleyi acknowledged at least one consensual sexual encounter with Weinstein after the alleged assaults.

Defense lawyers presented dozens of emails and text messages in court that appeared to show both Mann and Haleyi on friendly terms with Weinstein years after the alleged attacks.

His team said the relationships were consensual and transactional, arguing that the accusers used sex with the defendant to advance their own careers.

Prosecutors said he was a career sexual predator who took advantage of his powerful position in the American film industry to prey on aspiring young actresses.

Weinstein, the producer of “Pulp Fiction” and “Sin City,” is the first man accused of abuse in the #MeToo movement to face a criminal trial.

In closing arguments Thursday, lead attorney Donna Rotunno urged the 12 jurors to make themselves “unpopular” by acquitting Weinstein, insisting he had been innocent from the start. AFP

WASHINGTON―His company is often criticized for its environmental record, but Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon and the world’s richest man, said Monday he was committing $10 billion to a new fund to tackle climate change.

In a post to his 1.4 million followers on Instagram, the ecommerce tycoon said the Bezos Earth Fund would “fund scientists, activists, NGOs―any effort that offers a real possibility to help preserve and protect the natural world.”

“Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet,” said Bezos, whose net worth is estimated to be around $130 billion.

Hundreds of Amazon employees last month signed a blog criticizing the online retail giant’s climate policies and demanding it do more to tackle climate change.

Amazon has been accused of creating vast amounts of waste from the packaging it uses for doorstep deliveries, as well as for the greenhouse gas emissions from huge fleets of vehicles.

The company, which in December said its workforce had hit 750,000, has also been denounced over its carbon footprint because of the high energy consumption of its server farms for its lucrative cloud computing activities.

“I want to work alongside others both to amplify known ways and to explore new ways of fighting the devastating impact of climate change on this planet we all share,” Bezos said in his announcement on Monday.

Bezos, who maintained his status as the world’s richest person despite an expensive divorce last year, said his new foundation would begin issuing grants later this year.

Last September, he said Amazon would pledge to become carbon neutral by 2040 and vowed that the company would order 100,000 electric delivery trucks.

Rather than make investments that the business guru might profit from, the fund would allocate grant money to projects, The New York Times said, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the initiative. AFP

located at Room 238, Second Floor, Hall of Justice, Diliman, Quezon City at which place and on which date and time, all interested persons must appear and file their opposition/s to the petition.

Let a copy of this Amended Order to be published once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation throughout the Philippines.

- versusFurther, let a copy of the petition, SP CASE NO. R-QZN-19-15072-SP and of this Amended Order be served upon the Office of the Solicitor THE LOCAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OF General, Local Civil Registrar of QUEZON CITY, THE ADMINISTRATOR Quezon City and the Philippine AND CIVIL REGISTRAR GENERAL Statistics Authority who may file their OF THE PHILIPPINE STATISTICS opposition thereto within fifteen (15) AUTHORITY (PSA) formerly days from notice of this petition.

NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE SO ORDERED. (NSO), ORLY A. SERRANO, ELIZA T. Quezon City, Philippines, December JAVIER AND ALL OTHER 6, 2019.

INTERESTED PARTIES, Respondents.

(Sgd.) SANTIAGO M. ARENAS x -------------------------------------------------x Judge JAVIER SERRANO TO JUDY ANNE JAVIER (B) ENTRY NO.3 - DATE OF BIRTH FROM 1977 TO 1997 (C) ENTRY NO. 18 - DELETING SAID ENTRY AS HER BlOLOGICAL PARENTS WERE NOT MARRIED JUDY ANNE JAVIER SERRANO, a.k.a. JUDY ANNE JAVIER, Petitioner,

AMENDED ORDER

This is a verified petition for correction of entries in the Certificate of Live Birth of Judy Anne Javier Serrano a.k.a. Judy Anne Javier filed by the petitioner herself.

The petition alleges that petitioner Judy Anne Javier Serrano a.k.a. Judy Anne Javier was born outside wedlock to her biological parents Orly A. Serrano and Eliza T. Javier on April 19, 1997 in Quezon City; that there were material errors in some of the entries in the petitioner’s birth certificate in the following bracketed portions: 1) entry no. 1 – petitioner’s name; 2) entry no.

3 – petitioner’s year of birth; 3) entry no. 18 – date and place of marriage of parents; that the instant petition was filed for the petitioner’s best interest

Cc: PUBLIC ATTORNEY’S OFFICE 6F Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma Hall, DOJ Building, Quezon City Hall Compound, Diliman, Quezon City Office of the Solicitor General Makati City Office of the City Prosecutor Quezon City Office of the Local Civil Registrar Quezon City Philippine Statistics Authority PSA Complex, ‘East A venue, Diliman, Quezon City

Eliza T. Javier Blk. 13 Lot 37 Phase 2 Eastwood Greenwood Subd., San Isidro, Rodriguez, Rizal Orly R. Serrano 7 Zambales Street, Brgy. San Martin De Pores, Quezon City (MStandard - Feb. . 5, 12 & 19, 2020)

Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION Branch 220, Quezon City SPOUSES BENJAMIN A TANGO and NENA F. TANGO Plaintiff - versus

Civil Case No. R-QZN-19-05832-CV For: Declaration of Nullity of Transfer Certificate of Title, Deed of Absolute Sale, Real Estate Mortgage, Reconveyance with Damages.

ANGELA F. MEJIA, BPI FAMILY SAVINGS BANK and the REGISTER OF DEEDS OF QUEZON CITY; Defendants. x-------------------------------------------------x

SUMMONS TO:

ANGELA F. MEJIA No. 0202 Standford Street, South Points Townhouse, Sun Valley, Parañaque City,

Greetings: You are hereby required, within SIXTY (60 ) DAYS after service of this summons upon you, to file with this Court and serve on the third-party plaintiff your answer to the complaint, copy of which is attached, together with the annexes.

You are reminded of the provision in the IBP-OCA Memorandum on Policy Guidelines dated March 12, 2002 to observe restraint in filing a motion to dismiss and instead allege the grounds thereof as defenses in the Answer. If you fail to answer within the time fixed, the plaintiff will take judgment by default and may be granted the relief applied for in the complaint.

WITNESS my hand under the seal of the Court, this 18th day of October, 2019.

(Sgd.) ANA LISSA B. AMORIN Officer-In-Charge

Republic of the Philippines REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION Branch 220 Quezon City SPS. BENJAMIN A. TANGO & NENA F. TANGO. Petitioners.

-versusCIVIL CASE NO. R-QZN-19-05832-CV For: Declaration of Nullity of TCT, Deed of Absolute Sale, Real Estate Mortgage, Reconveyance with Damages ANGELA F. MEJIA. ET AL..

Respondents. x--------------------------------------------x

ORDER

Acting on the Motion for Leave of Court to Serve Summons by Publication filed by the plaintiffs, through counsel, on September 24, 2019, finding the same to be well-grounded, the same is hereby GRANTED. Accordingly, let a Summons by Publication be served to the defendant, Angelia Mejia, and at the same time Summons to be served simultaneously at her last known address.

SO ORDERED. Quezon City, Philippines, September 27, 2019 (MStandard-Feb. 19 & 26, 2020)

(Sgd.) JOSE G. PANEDA Judge

Isko is ‘strongest online’ per study MANILA Mayor Francisco “Isko’’ Domagoso has the strongest voter generation potential online among an initial list of leaders measured through big data analytics, campaign consultancy firm BluePrint revealed.

This finding was based on BluePrint’s Big Data Index (BDI) Report generated on Feb. 2, and extracted from Nov. 1, 2019 to Feb. 1, 2020 using nearly 195 million data points online.

BDI is part of BluePrint’s big data ecosystem used to design and implement campaigns and advocacies.

Included in the initial list of personalities analyzed through big data are Vice President Leni Robredo, Senators Leila de Lima, Manny Pacquiao, Christopher “Bong” Go, Imee Marcos, Cynthia Villar, Panfilo Lacson, Richard Gordon, Grace Poe, Pia Cayetano, and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.

The list also includes House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Transportation Secretary Art Tugade, Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez, Interior Secretary Eduardo Ano, former Senate President Manny Villar, former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, lawyer Chel Diokno, and broadcaster Erwin Tulfo.

LGUs

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

B4

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

QC ‘extra service’ spas shuttered Q UEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte has lauded the Quezon City Police District for its relentless drive against spa and massage parlors offering “extra . service” to customers.

“We thank the QCPD for its untiring and relentless campaign to rid our city of illicit massage parlors,” said Belmonte, who recently ordered the QCPD to launch a massive crackdown against the illegal activity of some massage parlors in the city.

The crackdown recently yielded more

Manila

Standard

results following the raids and closure of two more establishments allegedly offering sexual favors to customers.

Quezon City Police District Station 11 in Galas raided Intensecity Spa that serves as front for prostitution along E. Rodriguez cor. Hemady St. on Sunday (Feb. 16), where they rescued three female and three

Nm = the Newcastle index (USD/MT) published on the 25th of the calendar month; provided that if such day falls on a non-Business Day, the Newcastle index on the immediately preceding Business Day shall be used

TODAY Republic of the Philippines

ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

JPUm= the JPU reference coal index (USD/MT) published on the 25th of the calendar month; provided that if such day falls on a non-Business Day, the JPU ref erence coal index on the immediately preceding Business Day shall be used

IN THE MATTER OF APPLICATION THE FOR APPROVAL OF THE ANCILLARY SERVICES PROCUREMENT AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE NATIONAL GRID CORPORATION OF THE PHILIPPINES AND AP RENEW ABLES, INC. (For MAKBAN B), WITH PRAYER FOR THE ISSUANCE OF PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

FXm = the average of the daily PHP/USD exchange rate for the last three calendar months prior to the Billing Period for which the Invoice is being prepared, as published in the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas website Operation and Maintenance Rate (OM) = PhP 0.8121/ kWh REVWESM = WESM Revenue attributable to the kWh dispatchfor RPS

ERC CASE NO. 2019-101 RC NATIONAL CORPORATION OF PHILIPPINES AND AP RENEWABLES, INC., Applicants. x ---------------------------------------------------------- x

13.

Applicants submit that the rates represent a reasonable recovery to provide the procured AS.

14.

The rates under ASPA was subjected to a simulation by NGCP, the results of which are as follows:

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

Ancillary Service

Indicative Rate Impact Php/kWmonth

PhP/kWh equivalent

Reactive Power Support-Lagging (Makban B)

0.8170

0.0015

Reactive Power Support-Leading (Makban B)

0.0511

0.0001

TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: Notice is hereby given that on 27 December 2019, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) and AP Renewables, Inc. (APRI) filed an Application, seeking the Commission’s approval of their Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement (ASPA) for Makban B, with prayer for the issuance of provisional authority.

A copy of the Rate Impact Simulation is attached as Annex “C” .

The pertinent provisions of the said Application are hereunder quoted as follows: NATURE OF THE CASE 1.

This Application is for the approval of the Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement (“ASPA”) between the NGCP and APRI dated 18 November 2019 pursuant to the Decision dated 3 October 2007 in ERC Case No. 2006-049RC entitled: “In the Matter of the Application for the Approval of Ancillary Services - Cost Recovery Mechanism (ASCRM) of the Ancillary Services Procurement Plan, with Prayer for Provisional Authority.”

15.

Consistent with the AS-CRM, all the related and incidental expenses which NGCP will incur as a result of the procurement and operation of the ancillary services shall be recovered from all the load customers in the Luzon Grid.

16.

The ASPA shall be effective for a period of five (5) years, to commence immediately upon the effectivity of the provisional approval (“PA”), or in the absence thereof, the final approval (“FA”) of the instant Application. In the event that the PA or FA, as the case may be, does not state a particular date of effectivity, the Agreement shall be effective on the date agreed upon by the Parties.

THE PARTIES 2.

3.

17.

Applicant NGCP is a corporation created and existing under the laws of the Philippines, with office address at NGCP Building, Quezon Avenue corner BIR Road, Diliman, Quezon City. It holds a franchise under Republic Act No. 95111 to engage in the business of conveying or transmitting electricity through highvoltage back-bone systems of interconnected transmission lines, substations and related facilities, and for other purposes. The franchise also includes the conduct of activities necessary to support the safe and reliable operation of the transmission system.

Applicant APRI is a corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines with principal office at NAC Tower, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. It may be served with orders, notices, and other legal processes through its undersigned counsel. It is the owner and operator of a Geothermal Power Plant (“Generation Facility”) located in Calauan, Laguna Province, which was certified and accredited by NGCP to be capable of providing Ancillary Services (“AS”) in the form of Reactive Power Support (“RPS”).

Republic Act No. 9136 provides that it is the responsibility of NGCP to ensure and maintain the reliability, adequacy, security, stability and integrity of the nationwide electrical grid in accordance with the performance standards for its operations and maintenance2 , as set forth in the Philippine Grid Code (“PGC”), adopted and promulgated by the Honorable Commission, and to adequately serve generation companies, distribution utilities and suppliers requiring transmission service and/or ancillary services through the transmission system.3

5.

Similarly, the PGC provides that NGCP, as System Operator, is responsible for determining, acquiring, and dispatching the capacity needed to supply the required Grid AS and for developing and proposing Wheeling Charges and AS tariffs to the ERC.4

6.

AS as defined in Section 4(b) of the EPIRA “refer to those services that are necessary to support the transmission of capacity and energy from resources to loads while maintaining reliable operation of the transmission system in accordance with good utility practice and the Grid Code to be adopted in accordance with this Act.” These services are essential in ensuring reliability in the operation of the transmission system and consequently, in the reliability of the electricity supply in the Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao grids.

7.

8.

9.

10.

NGCP agreed to procure and APRI agreed to supply RPS under a non-firm arrangement. A copy of the Ancillary Services Procurement Agreement for AP Renewables Inc. dated 18 November 2019 is attached as Annex “A”.

During the period of negotiation, NGCP conducted several tests on the Generation Facility, and certified that the generating units have met and complied with the Standard Ancillary Services Technical Requirements of the ASPP as capable of providing RPS. A copy of NGCP Accreditation Certificate No. 2019-L022 dated 1 August 2019 is attached as Annex “B”.

NON-FIRM CONTRACTED CAPACITY RATE AND IMPACT SIMULATION 11.

Under Clause 3 of the ASPA, APRI shall provide NGCP with the following AS as specified in Schedule 1 of the ASPA: Non-Firm Contracted Capacity: Reactive Power Support (RPS) Available capacity of Reactive Power outside the range of 85% lagging and 90% leading power factor, as provided in Schedule 6.

Note that the nomination and schedule shall be based on the latest AS Accreditation Certificate.

12.

The Applicable Rates under the ASPA as provided in Schedule 3 are as follows, to wit:

Certificate of Filing of Amended Articles on Incorporation (Company Reg. NO. CS200715979)

“E”

2019 General Information Sheet

“F”

2018 Audited Financial Statements

“G”

Certificate of Compliance (COC No. 15-05-M-00008L)

“H”

WESM Registration Approval Form of APRI

“I”

APRI Acquisition Cost and Additional Investments in the Plant

“J”

18.

It is a declared policy of the State to ensure the quality, reliability, security and affordability of the supply of electric power (Section 2(b), EPlRA). To this end, there is a need to comply with the system requirements for AS to ensure grid system security and reliability. As mentioned above, NGCP has the mandate to procure the required AS.

19.

The current levels of available contracted AS in the Luzon Grid have not yet reached the desired levels necessary for the system security and reliability. Thus, Applicants executed the ASPA. A copy of the relevant actual data showing the RPS Simulation for APRI MAKBAN is attached as Annex “K”, respectively.

20.

As the demand for power in the Luzon increases, the requirements of the system to ensure stability, reliability, and security likewise increases. Ensuring the integrity of the system is essential to protect the interests of the public.

The absence of system reliability and stability will certainly discourage investments and growth. The importance of AS, from APRI to ensure and maintain the reliability, adequacy, security, stability and integrity of the Luzon Grid cannot be overemphasized.

21.

Applicants respectfully submit that the immediate approval of the ASPA by this Honorable Commission is a necessity to maintain the reliability, adequacy, security, stability and integrity of the Luzon Grid. In support of these allegations, NGCP submits a copy of the Judicial Affidavit of Engr. Lisaflor Bacani-Kater of the Revenue and Regulatory Affairs Department of NGCP, which is attached as Annex “L”.

a) b)

APPROVE, after notice and hearing, the subject ASPA.

On 17 January 2020, APRI filed a Motion to Set Venue for Hearing (Motion), praying that the hearing be set at the ERC Main Office considering that the location of Makban B, along with other potential venues for hearing in Batangas, where the hearing is to be held, is still at risk due to the unpredictability of the possible explosion of the Taal Volcano.

The Commission granted the said Motion pursuant to the Order dated 21 January 2020.

Likewise, the Commission has set the Application for determination of compliance with the jurisdictional requirements, expository presentation, pre-trial conference, and presentation of evidence on 12 March 2020 (Thursday) at ten o’clock in the morning (10:00 A.M.), at the ERC Hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center Building, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig 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 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 Applicants rest their case, subject to the requirements under Rule 9 of the 2006 Rules of Practice and Procedure. No particular form of Opposition or Comment is required, but the document, letter, or writing should contain the following: The name and address of such person;

Incidental kVARh Rate: Php 4.00/ kVARh

2)

A concise statement of the Opposition or Comment; and

Compensable kVARh = Actual kVARh - Base kVARh

3)

The grounds relied upon.

Base kVARh = corresponding kVARh at 0.85 power factor lagging or 0.9 power factor leading, for the unit’s MW loading. For clarity, the MW loading is the unit’s Pmin, or RTD schedule, whichever is greater.

B. Energy Payment IERPS = [G x (Fuel + O&M) ] - REVWESM

al Commission for Culture and the Arts, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, and the Provincial Government, in recognition of the language which are among the roots from which the modern national forms have sprung, and where remnants of archaic Tagalog forms can be found.

On Feb. 20, an art workshop titled “Sining SikLAVan sa Sentenaryo” will be led by wellknown artist Maestro Fernando Sena who hails from Gasan and the Miss Marinduque Centennial Queen pageant with sentimental OPM singer Myrus.

Celebration peaks with Araw ng Marinduque on Feb. 21 featuring the Parade of Floats around the province, the Moryonan parade of moryons, the launch of the Philpost commemorative stamp, and the Gawad Marinduqueño Awards & Baliktanaw sa Kasaysayan at Kulturang Marinduque.

Immediately ISSUE a provisional authority to implement the subject ASPA executed on 18 November 2019; and

1)

Actual kVARh = actual reactive power provided within each interval

THE island province of Marinduque kicked off its weeklong celebration for its centennial founding anniversary with the unveiling of the plaque of the historic Boac Cathedral declaring it an Important Cultural Property (ICP) last Feb. 16.

Officially known as the Immaculate Conception Parish Church, and regarded as the greatest monument of faith and history, it was given the accolade by the National Museum of the Philippines in December 2018.

Situated southeast of mainland Luzon, Marinduque was reestablished by the American authorities on Feb. 21, 1920, after a brief reign as a separate province in 1901, and part of Batangas and Mindoro, and a sub-province of the former Tayabas province (now Quezon).

Other major events include the unveiling of the Centennial Monument and the BantayogWika, an initiative of the Nation-

Applicants pray for other just and equitable relief.

Total Payment = kVAR Payment + Energy Payment

Where:

Marinduque kicks off weeklong centennial fete

PRAYER

Payment of Cost of Incidental Energy (IE) for RPS

Real Time Incidental kVARh Utilization while providing energy. This shall be paid based on the total recorded kVARh delivered/absorbed beyond 0.85 power factor lagging or 0.9 power factor leading from the time when the dispatch of RPS was instructed. The compensable kVARh shall be paid at:

“D”

At the signing of the certificate of turnover and acceptance of Important Cultural Property Marker are (seated from left) Marinduque Gov. Presbitero Velasco, Jr., Raquel DC Flores of the National Museum, Immaculate Conception Church parish priest Eulogio Mangui, Boac Mayor Armi DC Carrion, Sergio Serpico Nepomuceno of the National Museum, Boac Bishop Antonio Maralit Jr., and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Jay Velasco.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, Applicants respectfully pray that the Honorable Commission:

Payments to the AS provider shall have the following components, depending on the way the RPS was scheduled and utilized by the System Operator:

A. kVAR Payment = Incidental kVARh Rate x Compensable kVARh

Annex

Summary of Existing Power Supply Agreements of Aboitiz Power Renewable Inc. (APRI)

ALLEGATIONS IN SUPPORT OF THE PRAYER FOR PROVISIONAL AUTHORITY

In order to implement and regulate the procurement of AS, the Honorable Commission approved the Ancillary Services Procurement Plan (“ASPP”) through its Order dated 9 March 2006 in ERC Case No. 2002-253 and the Ancillary Services-Cost Recovery Mechanism (“AS-CRM”) through its Decision dated 3 October 2007 in ERC Case No. 2006-049RC. Pursuant to its mandate, NGCP on 25 June, 2 July and 9 July 2018, published in the Philippine Star and Philippine Daily Inquirer5 a Notice of Invitation for Prospective Ancillary Services Providers, inviting all grid-connected merchant plants and independent power producers to participate in the provision of ancillary services. Upon receipt of the intention from APRI to provide RPS, NGCP commenced negotiation for the execution of an ASPA.

Attached are copies of relevant documents proving APRI’s due registration as a generation company, the Certificate of Compliance of the Generation Facility issued by the Honorable Commission, APRI’s audited financial statements, and other documents, as follows:

Document

ANTECEDENT FACTS 4.

male therapists, one female receptionist, massage therapists to the custody of the and three male personnel.

SSDD while appropriate charges will be Police Major Bernardo Pascua Jr., act- filed against the registered owner of the ing Station 11 commander, said the raid place before the Quezon City Prosecutor was conducted with the Department for Office.

Women, Children and Persons with DisOn Valentine’s Day, elements of QCPD abilities, Women and Children Protection Station 2, together with representatives from Desk, Social Services and Development the four city departments and the hospital, Department, Quezon City General Hos- raided Inflorscense Spa along Roosevelt pital, and Business Permits and Licens- Avenue in Barangay. San Antonio. ing Department as part of the team.

Police Lieutenant Colonel Rodrigo In his spot report, Pascua said the sta- Soriano, Station 2 commander, said they tion received several reports from con- conducted the raid after receiving inforcerned customers that the spa was being mation from concerned customers the used as prostitution den. establishment was also offering “extra Authorities turned over four female service.” YELLOW BLACK CYAN MAGENTA

By Maricel V. Cruz

All such persons who wish to have a copy of the Application may request from Applicants that they be furnished with the same, prior to the date of the initial hearing. Applicants are 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 DEVANADERA 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.

Where:

JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT Commissioner

G = summation of energy dispatched to produce the scheduled kVAR less the energy for the BCQ 1

2 3 4 5

An Act Granting the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines a Franchise To Engage in the Business of Conveying or Transmitting Electricity Through High Voltage Back-Bone System of Interconnected Transmission Lines, Substations and Related Facilities, and for other Purposes; Section 9 (c) and in relation to RA No. 9511; Section 9 (d); Section 6.3.1.2; Recently, NGCP published Notices of Invitation on 07, 14, 21 and 28 October 2019 in the Philippine Daily Inquirer; and on 21 & 28 October, 4 & 11 November 2019 in the Manila Times.

(MS-FEB. 12 & 19, 2020)

FIRST HARVEST. Officers of the 7th Infantry (Kaugnay) Division join locals and patrons in the first harvest and inauguration of the Hardin ng Lunas project at Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija on Monday. Seated are (from left) Tarlac Heritage Foundation co-founder Dr. Isa Suntay, Philippine Army Commanding General Lt. Gen Gilbert I. Gapay, 7th ID Commander Maj. Gen. Leonard T. Agustin, and Assistant Division Commander BGen. Henry A. Robinson. Standing are (from left) SSG Frederick V. Perolino, Anthony Cortes of Corvill Agricom Inc., Noel Lazaro of East West Seed Company, and Ltc. Galahad Apolinar H. Trabado of REPEWC.

‘Super Health Centers’ eyed for Manila health dept. staff

By Willie Casas MANILA Mayor Francisco “Isko” Domagoso has revealed that the city government will soon provide free temporary residences for the employees of the Manila Health Departmentw.

“The city government will start in a few weeks the vertical housing program. We want to uplift the standards of our employees,” said Domagoso during Monday’s Consultative Meeting with the Medical Health Sector in Manila at Bayleaf Hotel in Intramuros.

“We opted to choose at least some areas just to begin with so that our health workers in the health sector, from administrative workers to doctors, where they

could have a place they could call their own,” the mayor said.

“That is our dream for you.

We want your suggestions, your challenges, in your own offices,” he said.

With the revelation, Domagoso sought to uplift the standards of MHD employees so they could perform better.

“What we want to do is to be more efficient in the delivery of service. The three minimum basic needs are healthcare, education, and housing,” he said.

“We will build a housing for the health center, that is for the Manila Health Department employees. This is a two-bedroom design as long as you remain in the service,” said Domagoso.

Life

Bernadette Lunas, Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife @MStandardLIFE

FASHION AND BEAUTY

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

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Love unwrapped R

By Monica Sanchez

OSES are red, violets are blue. We’re not planning to make anything rhyme, just a post-Valentine’s Day gift guide for you.

Oops. The heart wants what it wants, and sometimes, what it wants is available in your neighborhood department store.

Blushing babe

She always looks prim and on-point, a pleasing sight to behold.

And she really adores soft, blush pink. (In photo) SM Accessories bag, Dickies girl sunglasses, F&C jewelry heart pendant with chain, Bobbi Brown Intensive Skin Serum Foundation, and Dear Dahlia Lip Paradise Intense Satin Lipstick.

Athletic gal

She’s ready to take on any athletic challenge. Despite her active lifestyle, she still manages to look fresh and smell fresh. (In photo) Vans Retro Sport Style Sneakers, Bvlgari Omnia Amethyste Eau de Toilette, and MAC Extra Dimension Skin Finish in Double Gleam.

Femme petals

For the classy woman who only needs a few things to get ready and stay ready. Oh, and she always smells nice, too. (In photo) Marc Jacobs Daisy Eau de Toilette, SM Accessories blossom earrings, and Parisian Avery shoes.

Casual cool dude

“Cool and breezy” best describes him because he doesn’t need too much to go about his day, just the essentials. (In photo) Calvin Klein CK One Eau de Toilette, SM Accessories Bucket Hat, Sunnies Studio Sunglasses, Kenneth Cole Classic Watch, SM Accessories Belt Bag, and Givenchy Gentleman Only Eau de Toilette.

Tropical goddess

They say it’s still a couple months early for the beach, but she says summer is a state of mind and exudes in many things. (In photo) Parisian Blair Bag, Kenneth Cole Watch, Clarins Joli Rogue Lipstick, F&C Jewelry Love Necklace, and MyBurberry Eau de Parfum.

City adventurer

He’s ready for any kind of adventure, because he is always ready—which makes him more attractive. (In photo) Travel Basic Quill Backpack, Ralph Lauren Polo Eau de Parfum, Kenneth Cole Transparency Silver Watch, SM Accessories Blue Tracker Watch, and Sprint Quavo Basketball Shoes.

These women’s and men’s beauty and fashion items are available at The SM Store nationwide.

VANITY CORNER

Prints for spring TRUE to its brand DNA, and quite literally its name, Plains and Prints launches a spring collection featuring its first-ever signature print.

The brand’s new Print Collective introduces the Spring Harvest print that features fruitfulness, elegance, and “stepping out to embrace the boundless beauty of nature.”

“Prints have always been embedded in our aesthetic and DNA,” says Plains and Prints co-founder Roxanne Farillas. “The Spring Harvest print is a testimony to our brand heritage and strong suit of our team.”

The local fashion brand’s new design is translated into various methods and surface treatments, manipulating color, texture, size, and silhouette to explore its versatility. The result is a range of stylish dresses, tops, trousers, and accessories that blooms with the season.

To kick off the release of The Print Collective: Spring Harvest Collection, Plains and Prints has partnered with digital influencer Rei Germar, who gave her own youthful spin to the collection.

The Spring Harvest Collection is now available at all Plains and Prints boutiques nationwide.

Plains and Prints co-founder Roxanne Farillas (right) with influencer Rei Germar

The Spring Harvest print in wrap dress

The palette trio Glow Getter comes with contour, blush, and highlighter.

Glow-getter NATURAL glow comes in one on-the-go, lightweight palette.

Featuring versatile shades, it comes with a blush in coral hue that gives off a natural-looking flush, an easy-to-wear neutral brown contour that adds dimension to face, and a peachy highlighter that brings out glow.

The trio, dubbed Glow Getter, is made of “blendable and buildable” formula that can be applied in thin layers for that natural-looking finish.

This palette from local cosmetics brand Careline is available at department stores, drugstores, and online at Lazada.

A version of the print on a sleeveless top

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Life

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

manilastandardlife@gmail.com

NEW KICKS On and off tennis court

K-Swiss is known for its tennis-inspired shoes, with styles that include (clockwise) Court Pro II, the iconic ST329 sneaker, and CR Castle.

Iconic American footwear brand known for its tennis court shoes has recently relaunched at SM Makati.

Established in 1966, K-Swiss was born from two Swiss brothers’, Art and Ernie Brunner, desire to create a footwear brand focused on tennis.

As avid skiers and tennis players, the brothers took inspiration from leather ski boots to create a court shoe that supported the aggressive side-to-side movement of tennis.

K-Swiss brings to the Philippines its popular designs, including the ST329 sneaker, the original tennis training shoe the brand developed made with durable rubber outsole, sturdy tread, and K-EVA cushioned midsole and full-length memory footbed; CR Castle, made with mesh and leather for lightweight support and breathability; Altezo, a ‘90s bestseller featuring the brand’s iconic tennis designs with rugged appeal; Clean Court, casual white sneakers; Court Pro II, featuring nubuck upper, metal D-rings, and three-piece toe; and ST429, made with Shock Spring midsole and Ortholite footbed.

K-Swiss is available at selected SM Stores nationwide.

Nike React Infinity Run has a soft, responsive platform and a widened midsole.

Run minus risks

The shoes the keep runners running, while reducing injury, come to life in Nike’s React Infinity Run. The Infinity Run provides a soft, responsive platform and delivers it with a widened midsole.

Similar to the geometry of the Zoom Vaporfly 4%, launched in 2017, the Infinity has a rocker-like bottom that yields a more fluid transition from foot strike to toe off.

The Infinity’s rocker-geometry encourages a slight lean forward, moving a runner’s foot strike from heel to midfoot, or even forefoot; this creates a natural forward feel of propulsion.

Meanwhile, the wider platform and the suportive foam that accompanies it, provide a reassuring feel—the shoe gently guides the foot in a smooth, straight line, reducing side-to-side wobbling and movement.

The Nike React Infinity Run is now available nationwide for P8,095.

Lacoste T-Clip features an urban look inspired by tennis and 1980s aesthetics.

Drawing the lines

Inspired by tennis and 1980s aesthetics, Lacoste’s T-Clip sneakers are urban and athletic, modern but classic.

Mixing the outlines of the Sideline and Thrill models, the T-Clip presents a refined design with clear and angular lines like those which criss-cross a tennis court.

A cupsole guarantees optimum cushioning and abrasion resistance, while its upper is trimmed with leather, suede, and mesh panels on the tongue and the front, recalling the mesh of a net.

Care has been taken with its details: the quarters are perforated like the handle of a racket and subtly embossed with the crocodile; the tongue is decorated with a retro badge marked Lacoste.

The T-Clip is available at Lacoste outlets nationwide.

Beauty from within ACCORDING to a gender difference study by the University of Texas in Austin, women are more prone to low selfesteem compared to men. Similar studies also show that girls believe they are generally not good enough, especially when it comes to their appearance.

Cultural expectations, external pressures, and social media are just some that contribute to someone being hypercritical of themselves.

Learning to love and take care of oneself can be a long and hard road.

But every journey begins with its first few steps.

A local beauty brand encourages women to love what they see in the mirror with the help of these three simple steps.

Keep it real

“Everything starts and ends with you, and you alone.” With this in mind, try to see yourself from a third-person point of view—in a mirror for example.

Doing so can build up your self-awareness, according to psychology experts.

By embracing your identity and being in peace with your flaws, you are enabling self-love.

SPOTTED

Stars sparkle in Cartier DEMI Moore, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Timothée Chalamet were some of the stars seen wearing Cartier to the Vanity Fair Oscars After Party.

Young actor Chalamet wore a Cartier Tradition brooch made of 18k white gold, platinum, rubies, and diamonds.

English actress Mbatha-Raw, on the other hand, was dripping in diamonds and 18k yellow gold wearing Cactus de Cartier earrings and ring.

Moore posed for the camera in Cartier High Jewelry earrings (platinum, sapphires, diamonds), Juste un Clou bracelet (18k white gold, diamonds), and Pantheré de Cartier ring (18k white gold, emeralds, onyx, diamonds).

Love what you see in the mirror? A local beauty brand shares tips to help women love themselves fully, flaws and all.

“This isn’t being rude, it’s understandA good manifestation of self-love is ing your boundaries and limitations, learning to say “no,” if you don’t feel and, yes, this applies to your friends like doing something. According to and family.” psychotherapist Alena Gerst, saying Invest in self-care “no” when you genuinely mean it will One implication of low self-esteem promote good overall emotional health. is self-negligence. Spending time and money on improving oneself should be prioritized. Depending on what kind of person you are, there are a number of ways you can do this and that includes taking a social break, traveling, adopting a pet, or even physical exercise to get endorphins pumping.

Another way of doing this is by taking care of your skin. “When someone is depressed or anxious, a [skin care] routine provides a sense that they have control over their skin, body, and consequently part of their life,” says dermatologist Dr. Amy Wecher in an interview with Marie Claire magazine.

Proper skin care does not have to break the bank. For example, Flawlessly U offers quality papaya- and calamansi-infused facial soap, lotion, Psychologists encourage women to identify both their strengths and weaknesses. and facial cleanser at affordable prices.

No means no

Gugu Mbatha-Raw

Demi Moore

Timothée Chalamet

Entertainment

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

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nickie.standard@gmail.com

ABS-CBN, DZMM shine at 4th Gems Awards

L

EADING media network ABS-CBN and DZMM Radyo Patrol 630 continue to have the trust and approval of the academic community after being named TV Station of the Year and Radio Station of the Year, respectively, for the fourth straight year at the 2019 Guild of Educators, Mentors, and Students (GEMS) Awards.

The Kapamilya network walked home bagged 23 trophies including Best TV Series (The General’s Daughter), Best TV Program-Drama/Investigative/Reality (Maalaala Mo Kaya), and Best TV Program-Entertainment/ Variety (ASAP Natin ‘To).

Angel Locsin led the list of winners from ABS-CBN, bagging the Natatanging Hiyas ng Sining sa Telebisyon award. Other Kapamilya stars that were recognized were Vice Ganda (Best TV Program HostEntertainment/Variety for It’s Showtime), Dimples Romana (Best Actress for a TV Series for Kadenang Ginto), Jhong Hilario (Best Actor for a Single Performance in Ipaglaban Mo), Joanna Ampil (Best Actress for a Single Performance in MMK), Kit Thompson (Best Performance in a Supporting Role for Mea Culpa: Sino Ang May Sala), and Andrea Brillantes (Best Performance in a Supporting Role for Kadenang Ginto).

The network was also recognized in

Teen actress Andrea Brillantes (center) receives the award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for ‘Kadenang Ginto.’

Dimples Romana with GEMS president Norman Mauro Llaguno

the film categories with Star Cinema picking up the Natatanging Hiyas ng Sining sa Pelikula award. The country’s top grossing movie, Hello, Love, Goodbye, was also named Best Mainstream Film, while Cathy Garcia-Molina was hailed Best Mainstream Director.

Charo Santos-Concio was also honored as Best Supporting Actress

for her performance in the hit horror movie, Eerie. Meanwhile, Cinema One Originals’ also bagged awards, including Natatanging Pelikulang Pangkasarian (Sila Sila), Best Indie Film (Metamorphosis), and Best Indie Film Director for Jose Enrique Tiglao (Metamorphosis). Cinema One is a cable channel under the ABS-CBN subsidi-

ary Creative Programs Inc. Completing the list of winners for the Kapamilya network are MOR 101.9 (Best FM Radio Station), DJ Popoy (Best Male Radio DJ), DZMM anchor Maresciel Yao for Usapang de Campanilla (Best Female Radio Broadcaster-Public Service), and ABS-CBN News icon Gus Abelgas (Best TV Program Host Drama/

Investigative/Reality).

The Guild of Educators, Mentors, and Students (GEMS) Awards is composed of teachers, academic professionals, and students from prestigious academic institutions in the Philippines. It aims to recognize excellent projects and personalities in the field of television, film, radio, literature, and theater.

Robi introduces Greenwich’s

new pizza variant

PIZZA and pasta chain Greenwich, with ambassador Robi Domingo, has unveiled the Hawaiian BBQ Overload – a new limited time offer pizza flavor that will blissfully remind you of warm, trouble-free tropical days spent idly with your closest barkada.

The Hawaiian BBQ Overload is another mouthwatering way of enjoying Greenwich’s best-selling Hawaiian Overload. Everyone’s soon-to-becraved-for pizza flavor is generously drizzled with Greenwich’s tangy and tasty barbecue sauce, sprinkled with Pik- Nik Shoestring Potatoes for an even more perfect bite.

“What everyone will love about our new Hawaiian BBQ Overload is the complementary yet unexpected blend of textures and flavors. Much like summer itself, the toppings of the Hawaiian BBQ Overload give a sense of

fun, adventure, lightness, sweetness, and good vibes,” said Pam Reyes, marketing head of Greenwich, during its official media launch at Greenwich’s Barkada BBQ Blowout at Le Reve in Quezon City.

The new variant’s refreshing taste is intriguing enough for pizza lovers to keep craving for more.

“The perfect blend of sweetness, tanginess and crunchiness of the Hawaiian BBQ Overload will surely capture the hearts and taste buds of pizza lovers like me. It’s summer on a pizza with a twist,” said TV host and Greenwich ambassador Robi Domingo.

Load up on summer feels for as low as P99 for a 6” solo pizza. Get your Hawaiian BBQ Overload good vibe fix in all Greenwich stores nationwide, visit greenwichdelivery.com or call #5- 55-55.

Nueva Ecija’s Alexangela Salvador

Talent competition for a cause

HALF of the forty candidates of Bb. Pilipinas 2020 search threw their hats in the Miss Talent competition held at the New Frontier Theater on Valentine’s Day. Ticket sales proceeds went to the Philippine Red Cross. A Red Gala fashion show was also held featuring all 40 candidates wearing red gowns by Filipino designers.

Some of the outstanding performances were Arianne Deseree Viardo’s ballet dance, and Alexangela Salvador and Maria Ruth Erika Quin’s exquisite painting skills. Shanon Tampon’s dramatic monologue, Francesca Taruc’s declamation piece, and Danica Acuna’s puppeteering were also a hit. Vianca Marcelo performed magic tricks and Anna Thea Cenarosa did a dribbling show.

Singing abilities abound this year with Princess Ann Guanzon, Justine Felizarta, Jashmin Dimaculangan, and Mercedes Pair.

Dancing prowess was seen in candidates Samantha Panlilio, Rowena Sasuluya, Lois Anne Badando, Meiji Cruz, Hazel Joy Ortiz, Alexandra Rosales, Noriza Valerio, and Alexandra Garcia.

The show was hosted by Emma Mary Tinglao and Prince de Guzman. Sitting as judges were reigning Binibinis Gazini Ganados, Patch

GMA...

From C4 Nominated in the History & Society category is news magazine program Brigada for its “Aeta Squadron/Female Spies” episode which probed the situation of Aeta

Aspiring beauty queens need to maintain a youthful, fresh complexion, and favor a number of brands and specific beauty products that make them feel confident about themselves. Beauty is empowering and the Lueur Lauren International Corp. (LLIC), where beauty and lifestyle meet, focuses on giving its customers high-quality health and beauty products.

LLIC, which recently had its successful grand launching held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, is the distributor of products created by one of the reputable and

well-known manufacturing companies in South Korea.

With celebrity endorser, Jeff Serrano, a professional TV and print ad model, the premium Korean beauty products include the Cleansing Foam with moisturizing agents Betaine, Sorbitol, Snail Secretion Filtrate, Collagen and Sodium Hyaluronate supply to maintain skin’s balance; White & Wrinkle Spot Cream with Titanium Dioxide that brightens up the dull areas of the skin; and the Collagen Essense White & Wrinkle Sheet Mask with ingredients Panthenol and coenzyme Q10 and Humectants like Phellinus Linteus extract, Hyaluronic acid, Snail Secretion Filtrate, Collagen and Lipidure-PMB balance moisture level on skin to keep it hydrated for a long time.

Other products are the BB Cream for Whitening which contains the anti-aging components Peptides & antioxidants such as vitamins A, E & C and moisturizing workhorses like Hyaluronic Acid and Glycerin. Intense Whitening Cream with Collagen that minimizes the appearance of dark spots and visibly lightens complexion for healthy, white skin; and Intense Whitening Toner with moisturizing ingredients such as Snail Secretion Filtrate, Hyaluronic Acid and Collagen that help skin hydrated and moisturized all day.

Squadron 30, whose contribution to defending the country during World War II seemed to be unrecognized as they have yet to receive or enjoy any military pension.

Investigative Documentaries is also short-listed in the Social Issues category for its “Tulaylay” episode featuring bridges that instead of pro-

viding convenience, put the lives of Filipinos at risk because these projects were left unfinished by the government.

Meanwhile, eight-time New York Festival World Medalist Reporter’s Notebook is nominated for its “Project Pilipinas: Medical Facility” episode in the Social Issues category. “Project

Magtanong, Resham Saeed and Aya Abesamis with last year’s Miss Talent winner Cassandra Chan. Winner of Miss Talent will be known during the grand coronation night on April 26.

* * * * *

Beauty products for aspiring beauty queens

Robi Domingo with executives from Greenwich

Pilipinas” was an Election Special Series by the investigative news magazine program where hosts Maki Pulido and Jun Veneracion went to the poorest provinces all over the country to check on various government projects that were abandoned and left unfinished.

Completing the list of Kapuso final-

ists this year is GMA Program Support Department’s TV spot for Bonifacio Day which is nominated for Best Graphic Design under the Promotion/ Open and IDs category.

Last year, GMA Network took home four world medals and a finalist certificate at the New York Festivals “World’s Best TV and Films” Competition.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2020

It’s a wrap for ‘Coming Home’ T WAS quiet on the set. Everyone was busy but the atmosphere was all chill. Former senator Jinggoy Estrada was seated in a corner with some of his co-stars.

Sylvia Sanchez, Ariella Arida, Jake Ejercito, and Martin del Rosario were in front of the vanity mirror while the makeup artists prepare them for the next scene. Julian Estrada, Edgar Allan Guzman, and Shaira Diaz were also on the set.

“It’s our last day [of taping] today. It’s a wedding scene,” he told Manila Standard when we approached the 57-year-old former politician.

The movie they’re filming is a family drama, it tackles the complex dynamics of a Filipino family dealing with issues and challenges that threaten to tear it apart.

“But the story revolves around how the power of love prevails, and how forgiveness and redemption can put the broken pieces back together,” Jinggoy shared.

The story centers on the triumphs and travails of Benedicto “Benny” Librada (Jinggoy) who rises from his humble beginnings to further his studies and eventually provides for his family’s brighter future as he works as an OFW in Qatar.

But even the toughest and most loyal patriarchs can stumble and succumb to temptation.

Away from family and caught at his most vulnerable moment, Benny soon finds himself smitten by the charm of Mercy Dungca (Ara Arida), a registered nurse working in a Qatar hospital, who eventually ends up as Benny’s “reluctant mistress.”

Through all her family’s turbulent storms, Salve Librada (Sylvia) threshes out her role as martyr wife to the hilt—maxing her strength and sacrificing her own interests just to keep her family together, and even doing her best to conceal her terminal illness until it’s too late.

“I wanted to do an action film for my comeback movie, but I think I’m too old for that.

You think I can still do it? You’re kidding me,” Jinggoy said in jest.

Line produced by ALV Films and produced

by Maverick Films, Coming Home eyes to premiere in April as part of the inaugural Summer Metro Manila Film Festival.

With Ariella Arida who plays a pivotal role in ‘Coming Home.’

Jinggoy with brother Jake Ejercito (left) and son Julian who both play his sons in the movie.

Former senator Jinggoy Estrada returns to showbiz via ‘Coming Home,’ a family drama directed by Adolf Alix, Jr.

*****

‘Untrue’ unspools tomorrow

Xian Lim and Cristine Reyes top bill ‘Untrue,’ a film by Sigrid Bernardo (inset)

WRITER and director Sigrid Bernardo describes her film Untrue as acting piece, the cast as brilliant, and the location as gloomy and mysterious.

“The actors gave their all. When you see them onscreen, you will see the characters they play not the celebrities that they are,” Sigrid told Manila Standard.

“And you will see the connection between the characters and the city where the film was shot. It’s gloomy and mysterious, just like Mara and Joaquim in the story. There are so many things that need to be uncovered. The place is unfamiliar and that adds character to the film. We could’ve chosen a different city but that means the story would change, too,” she carried on.

Untrue was partly shot in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. In this big-screen project, Cristine Reyes and Xian

Lim star as two lonely Filipino migrants in the country.

After finding solace and companionship in each other, they hastily get married, without even getting to know each other very well.

When their fiery romance turns into heated arguments and physical abuse, Mara (Cristine) goes straight to the Georgian police. Following her narration of how she married a mad man, Joaquim (Xian) defends himself with his own version of the events, pointing to his wife as the real lunatic.

In this he-said/she-said film, a strange apparition of a woman adds to the suspense. As Mara and Joaquim fight to discredit each other, truth, lies, and a dark past are brought to the surface.

From Viva Films, Untrue premieres tomorrow in cinemas nationwide.

GMA earns 9 nods at New York fest

LEADING broadcast company GMA Network scores nine nominations at the 2020 New York Festivals “World’s Best TV and Films” Competition, once again having the most number of shortlisted entries from the Philippines.

Pioneering mobile journalism newscast Stand for Truth, which is also seen on TV via GMA News TV, earns its first-ever awards nomination as it made it to the finalists in the Coverage of Continuing News Story category for its reportage on the Hong Kong protests.

Meanwhile, the Luzon Earthquake coverage of GMA News TV’s flagship newscast State of the Nation (SONA) with Jessica Soho is in the running for Best Newscast category.

The coverage saw the newscast delivering the latest developments after a 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck Central Luzon last April 2019.

Documentary program The Atom Araullo Specials added two nominations for the country, one for “Babies4Sale.PH” and another for

“The Patient is Out”.

The Atom Araullo Specials: Babies4Sale.PH is short-listed in the Best Investigative Report category. The documentary investigated the alarming baby transactions prevalent in social media. The Atom Araullo Specials: The Patient is Out, on the other hand, is nominated in the Human Concerns category. Host Atom Araullo documented the plight of patients from Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao and zeroed in on the elusiveness of adequate health care in the Philippines.

Earning another nomination is the country’s pioneer environmental program Born To Be Wild for its “Big Catch” feature. Short-listed in the Climate Change & Sustainability category, the two-part special by Doc Nielsen Donato and Doc Ferds Recio was an eye-opening documentary on the state of Philippine fisheries and showed how a country so rich with marine life is slowly depleting its resources.

Continued on C3

Documentary program ‘The Atom Araullo Specials’ received two nominations for the country at the 2020 New York Festivals ‘World’s Best TV and Films’ Competition.

EXTRA INTERNATIONAL

Actor Jim Carrey attends a screening in Los Angeles, California, of ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ on Feb. 12.

‘Sonic’ booms to top of box office

DEFYING expectations, Paramount’s new adventure comedy Sonic the Hedgehog took in $57 million this weekend to leap to the top of the North American box office, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

That figure, based on a Fridaythrough-Sunday estimate, is expected to grow to $68 million when Monday›s Presidents Day holiday in the US is included, proving an exception to the rule that films based on video games rarely excel at the box office.

An early trailer for the film had bombed, Variety reported, prompting the studio to redesign the title character. The result: a Sonic boom.

Far back in second place was last week›s leader, Warner Bros superhero film Birds of Prey, at $17.1 million for the three-day weekend ($19.5

million for four days). Margot Robbie stars as former Joker girlfriend Harley Quinn.

In third was another new release, Sony›s horror film Fantasy Island, at $12.4 million ($14 million). Michael Pena and Maggie Q star in the remake of a 1970s TV show, which has drawn some vicious reviews (“a tide of numbing stupidity,” said CNN).

Another new film, Universal’s romantic drama The Photograph, opened in fourth place, at $12.3 million ($14 million). It stars Lakeith Stanfield and Issa Rae. And in fifth, after weeks at or near the top, was Sony’s action comedy Bad Boys for Life, with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as wise-cracking detectives. It took in an estimated $11.3 million ($12.8 million). AFP