Manila Standard - 2020 February 24 - Monday

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HIGH COURT TOUGH ON TROS, SOUTH KOREA GETS ON HIGHEST ALERT AS INJUNCTIONS INFECTIONS SURGE (Story on A2)

Bato: Drug lords killed BuCor lawyer

VOL. • 3• SECTIONS 1616 PAGES • P18 MONDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 24, 2020 2020 •• www.manilastandard.net www.manilastandard.net •• mst.daydesk@gmail.com mst.daydesk@gmail.com VOL.XXXIV XXXIII••NO. NO.14 372 3 SECTIONS PAGES • P18 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY

House defers action on ABS-CBN

By Maricel Cruz, MJ Blancaflor, Rey Requejo SPEAKER Alan Peter Cayetano said the House is likely to delay hearings on ABS-CBN’s franchise until May or August, even though President Rodrigo Duterte said he wants lawmakers to discuss the issue before the franchise expires on March 30.

In a press briefing, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said the President had nothing to do with the delay in Congress or the quo warranto petition filed by Solicitor General Jose

Calida seeking to revoke ABS-CBN’s franchise.

“What is important is, the President said, they should do something about it. Meaning to say, do their job. If there is a pending application before Congress, then members of Congress should deliberate on it and decide whether or not to grant or to deny the extension,” Panelo said.

There are 11 bills seeking to extend ABS-CBN’s franchise for another 25 years are pending, but Cayetano said the House would be able to tackle Next page

SOUTH Korea is raising its alert on the new coronavirus to the “highest level,” President Moon Jae-in said Sunday, as the country reported 123 new infections.

By Macon South Korea Ramos-Araneta has seen a rapid surge in and ReyofE.coronavirus Requejocases in recent the number days after a cluster of infections emerged DRUG lords atsect the in New from a religious the Bilibid southernPrison city belast behind the killing of Bureau of ofcould Daegu week.

Corrections former The national toll oflegal 556counsel cases isAnthonow nyhighest Fredricoutside Santos,China, also aapart witness the the frominthe Good Conduct Time Allowance anomaDiamond Princess cruise ship in Japan. ly, saidCOVID-19 Senator Ronald “Bato” Rosa “The incident facesdela a grave turning point. The next few days will be

crucial,” Moon said following a government meeting on the virus.

“The government will raise the alert level to the highest level of ‘grave’ acon Thursday. cording to experts’ recommendations Rosa, who served our as BuCor diandDela drastically strengthen response rector before he ran for senator, came system,” Moon said. He also urged offiup withnot thistostatement basedtaking on his“unprecown excials hesitate from periences. edented powerful measures” to contain likely, those behind the killing, the “Most outbreak. based on myJustice experience, the drug lords In Manila, Secretary Menardo jailed in Bilibid ordered the killing of our Guevarra said the Task Force on EmergNext page ing Infectious Diseases could discuss a Next page

Immigration man tags 5 in ’pastillas’ Syndicate behind scheme exposed in Senate probe

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and MJ Blancaflor

F

ORMER airport officials and employees of the Bureau of Immigration are behind the VIRUS-PROOFING. Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant at a market in the city of Daegu on Feb. 23, as a preventive measure after the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak.

South Korea reported additional “pastillas” system bytwowhich deaths from coronavirus and 123 more cases on Feb. 23, with nearly two thirds of the new patients connected to a religious sect. The national toll of 556 cases is now the second-highest outside of China. AFP Chinese workers and fugitives enter the country by paying bribes, a whistleblower said Thursday.

Exit from virus ship Tuesday

In a Senate hearing on human trafficking and prostitution, Immigration officer Allison Chiong said these officials were behind the syndicate that facilitated the smooth entry of Chinese nationals who enter the country to work in Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators.

Chiong said these groups worked with China-based travel agencies, who send them a list of names of people who are about to enter the country.

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta “The syndicated groups would often compete with each other to gain favor fromTeodoro the ChineseLocsin travel agencies,” OREIGN Affairs Secretary Jr. Chiong said. on Sunday said the Filipinos thethey Diamond Heaboard revealed that gave bribes ranging from P50,000 and P200,000 that Princess cruise liner docked off Yokohama, Japan sowill the Chinese nationals—even those that be facilitating repatriated on Tuesday.

I DO. Immigration officer 1 Allison Chiong (top left) tells a Senate committee hearing Thursday he is the source of the video showing officers the immigration process have been blacklisted—can freely enter for Chinese POGO workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Chiong named the current and former immigration officials involved in the bribery scheme as Traffic Control the country, passing through Immigration Enforcement Unit officers Bien Guevarra, Glenn Comia and Den Binsol. Chiong said these officials were under Ports Operation Division Chief Marc Mariñas. Ey Acasio The Red Filipinos were decounters without any“Those question.already Next page supposed to return Sun- A FILIPINO in Singapore has clared COVID-positive day, but their departure tested positive for COVID-19, are in Japanese health was moved back two Foreign Affairs Undersecre- facilities and will be days to complete labo- tary Brigido Dulay said. The brought back after they ratory tests and comply Filipino is now in isolation at recover,” he added. with quarantine proto- Singapore’s National Center for As of Friday, the tion health from the if he feared for told reporters. DOH said the number cols, offigovernment cials said. Infectious

By MJ Blancaflor Diseases. his life, and assured “If Espenido would want to askinfected for any Department of For-him that President of Filipinos PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will not let Duterte would not hurt anyone ‘‘outside protective measure from the government, eign Affairs spokesperonboard the cruise ship “They have economies scale,” Duque

By Macon Ramos-Araneta embattled Lt. Colonel Jovie Espenido to son legalEdprocesses. thenrisen he can so request just like any other Meñez said test results for the has to 52. said, adding that this made their vaccines be harmed, the Palace said Thursday after crew “Ifshould that iscome the fear of Colonel Espe- citizen. out Tuesday.

“Two of them were successfully treated THE Philippines has no budget to devel- cheaper.

Espenido said the government could go nido, we cannot stop him from andMeanwhile, welcomed the “Ourthen government has decided to bring discharged,”Espenido said Foreign Affairs Unop its own vaccines, which would need He dismissed reports that developing after him since he was included in its drug entertaining such apprehension.

But due process granted by Philippine Nathem home but [we are] hoping that all dersecretary Brigido Dulay said. billions and billions of pesos that it can- countries are being sidestepped in the watchlist. the declared President will not allow Chief Gamboa to the are COVID-free beforeanyone doing tional The Police DFA said theArchie repatriated Filipinos not afford, Health Secretary Francisco distribution of vaccines, saying big comPresidential Spokesman Salvador Panto be hurt outside legal processes or policemen on Duterte’s latest drug watch so.

We expect all the test results will be will be brought to Athletes’ Village in Duque III said Thursday. are mandated leadhas in the develop'COMPLETLEY CHAOTIC'. Aboardpanies the Diamond Princess, to which biggest cluster of COVID-19 infections outside of elo said Espenido could ask for protec- issued methods sanctioned by offi law,cialPanelo Nextpage page Next

by Feb. 25,” the DFA said. list, including him. theIn Chinese epicenter, over the situation is 'completely to an infectious disease expert.

AFP an interview radio dzMM, ing chaotic,' vaccinesaccording for diseases such as the new Duque said it was more cost-effective coronavirus (COVID-19). to buy vaccines from rich countries that Duque pointed to research in China have the capacity to develop the drugs.

Next page

Locsin presses for repatriation amid infection of 52 PH crew

F

Fund lack blocks move to develop Palace offers govt protection to controversial cop vaccines; Duque prefers buy option

Garbage crisis in Metro:China A ticking time bomb PAO readies more cases as vaccine 'Pastillas' unwrapped, goes after its citizens MJ Blancafl or, Rey E. claims 13-year-old its 153rd victim ByRequejo, (First of two parts) Rio N. Araja

By Rio N. Araja and MJ Blancaflor

“This boy is the 153rd victim of Dengvaxia,” Acosta told the Manila Standard.

THE Public Attorney’s Office said 153 She said those behind the procurement children have now died after being given of the P3 billion worth of the anti-dengue the anti-dengue vaccine Dengvaxia, with vaccine Dengvaxia and its widespread the death of a 13-year-old boy who had use could face more lawsuits. received a single dose of the controversial On Feb. 21, the Department of Justice drug. indicted former health chief Janette GaPAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta said rin, now Iloilo representative, and other the parents of the 13-year-oldThe boydeadly had apformer and health offi for reckSUMMIT AGENDA. coronavirus is setactive to dominate thecials agenda of proached PAO, requesting an autopsy of less imprudence resulting in homicide the high-level Vientianne summit Thursday, as China’s foreign minister meets with his for Next page the boy’s remains.

Southeast Asian counterparts whose countries’ economies have been hard-hit over fears of widespread contagion. Inset is a photo taken Wednesday showing a laboratory technician holding samples of virus at a laboratory in Hengyang in China’s central Henan province. AFP

Duterte: No time to watch ABS-CBN probe

Virus control efforts working—China

By MJ Blancaflor

VIENTIANE, Laos―China’s efforts DESPITE his deadly repeated threatsofagainst to control the outbreak a new ABS-CBN, RodrigoBeijing’s Duterte coronavirus President “are working,” istopnotdiplomat interested in Thursday, watching the Senate said attributing hearing on inthenew renewal an easing cases of to the his network’s country’s legislative franchise that is “forceful action” against thescheduled illness. today, Monday,in theLaos Palacebefore said Sunday.

Speaking talks with Presidential Spokesman SalvadorAsian Panpeers from the 10 Southeast elo said President Duterte would work(ASEAN) countries, Wang Yi be said the ing instead. outbreak was “controllable and curable” Meanwhile, the panic Senate committee despite the global it has seeded. on

public services, led by Senator Grace Poe, will hold its rst hearing three daysitsbefore “China is finot only protecting own the initial 27.world,” he people butschedule also the of restFeb. of the “The is Vientiane, not interested.

He has so told thePresident summit in referencing many work, Panelo said in a radio interview. a recent sharp drop in new cases of the vicontrary the assertion of SpeakrusAnd inside China,towhere it has killed more er Alan Peter Cayetano, Senate Minority than 2,100 people.

Leader Franklin Drilon on Sunday dePhilippine Foreign Minister Teodoro fended the decision of the Senate to hear Locsin Jr. thanked China for its “unprecthe application of ABS-CBN franedented domestic measures for anditsquick chise renewal that is still pendingtoin the the action”―apparently referring House of Representatives.

Nextpage page Next

and MaconGulle Ramos-Araneta

By Jimbo

PRESIDENT Rodrigo confi rmed IF YOU think Metro Duterte Manila’s traffi c is over the weekend the existence of a problem, the garbage situation will,thein “pastillas” scheme by which tell Immigramodern social media-speak, you to tion offi cials allow Chinese nationals to “hold its beer.” enter the country illegally in exchange for bribes.

Pundits and critics alike say the Na“I hadCapital it verifi ed. There’s truth... that’s tional Region’s trash output is a why I said, there’s no other way to do it ticking time bomb, indicative of a similar except to experienced suspend them and the investigate problem across country, them,” President Duterte said, referring and recent statements by government oftoficials Immigration offiunderscored cials and employees have only the issue.in an Last interview with GMA News that aired December, Environment Secretary Saturday.

Roy Cimatu said the country was in the The bribery schemecrisis.” was Waste revealed by middle of a “garbage generSenator Risa Hontiveros in a Senate hearing where she claimed that some

ation, he said, had become unprecedented, Chinese in the PhilipFilipinosnationals selfishly arriving threw their refuse evpines would pay P10,000 each as a “sererywhere―mostly into water systems― vice fee” in exchange for being and massive clean-up drives onlyallowed moved to enter and work in Philippine Offshore tons of litter from one place to another.

Gaming Operators evenforum without In an environmental thatgovernmonth, ment permits.

Cimatu said the Department of EnvironTheand Chinese Embassy on Sunday said ment Natural Resources would issue, China is cracking down on its citizens Turn to A3 who are involved in telecommunication fraud and other crimes overseas.Next page

SANDERS VP Robredo's mom passes away, 83 WINS BIG IN NEVADA CAUCUS

SALLY Gerona, Vice President Leni Robredo’s mother, died on Saturday night, and she confirmed her passing in her Facebook account.

Robredo said Gerona was 83. She did not specify her ailment, but last month she said her condition had “turned for the worst.

Malacañang on Sunday expressed its condolences to Robredo.

“In this time of bereft, we also offer our thoughts and sympathy to the family, relatives and friends of Ms. Gerona, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

He described Gerona as a''selfless and WORLD dedicated who molded countLAKAS GATHERING. Officers and members of teacher Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats led by House Majority Leader Martin of young minds across B3 Romualdez (center) pose for posterity during less the lunch meeting of the partygenerations. at the House of Representatives. Romualdez has said the Leni Robredo and her mother Salvacion Gerona page VP party will always be a partner of the administration to ensure the swift passageNext of President Duterte’s legislative agenda.

Ver Noveno

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News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

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PH mango prospects soured by infestations CECID fly infestation threatens the yield of the “sweetest fruit” in the world, even as government researchers are finalizing studies on how to address the problem caused by the bug.

Agriculture Secretary William Dar has ordered Undersecretary Evelyn Lavina of the high-value crops program to help in research and development initiatives that could help end the Cecid fly or “kurikong” infestation.

“Finalize the ideas immediately and start the projects in two weeks,” Dar was quoted as saying in a statement released by his department.

“Together, let us save the Philippine mango industry and maintain our distinction of producing the ‘sweetest fruit’ in the world.”

The Cecid fly is a mosquito-like insect that lays its eggs on the fruit’s surface and in young mango leaves, where its larvae bore into the fruit and feed on it.

Such infestation is threatening Philippine mango production, which was 737,928 metric tons in 2019 and worth P24 billion.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority show that the export of fresh and dried mangoes amounted to $17.88 million last year, which was 4 percent higher than in 2018.

“Together, let us harness the power of science and technology to cure ‘kurikong’ and other major concerns confronting our mango industry,” Dar said.

PAO...

From A1

the deaths of eight children who died after receiving Dengvaxia shots.

The Palace on Sunday distanced itself from the indictment of Garin.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said Malacañang has neither interfered nor policitized the case involving health officials.

“That’s for the court to decide. As long as it is in court, we do not interfere.

Let the court do its work,” Panelo said in a radio interview.

The Department of Justice prosecutors found probable cause to indict nine other officials of the Department of Health, as well as former and current executives of the Food and Drug Administration, and Research Institute for Tropical Medicine for distributing Dengvaxia to 830,000 public school children during the Aquino administration.

Sanofi Pasteur Inc., the manufacturer of the controversial vaccine, was also charged since the Justice panel found that the company indirectly admitted that Dengvaxia was a defective product due to the risk it poses to seronegatives—or those that had not come in contact with dengue before.

According to the prosecutors, Garin and the other respondents were careless in implementing the mass immunization program as they failed to fully inform the Dengvaxia recipients of the nature and risks of the vaccine and obtain informed consent.

In a statement, Garin maintained her innocence, noting that of the seven criminal cases filed against her, six have been dismissed for “lack of basis and substance.”

She also insisted that there is no scientific evidence that Dengvaxia leads to deaths.

“Science has proven over and over again that no deaths have been linked to the Dengvaxia vaccine. Almost the whole world is using it now and no case like ours has surfaced,” Garin said in a statement.

The Philippines implemented in 2016 the use of Dengvaxia, the world’s first dengue vaccine, but prosecutors said clinical trials were not yet completed.

In November 2017, Sanofi disclosed that those without prior dengue infection are at risk of having “severe disease” if immunized with Dengvaxia and the Health department has since stopped the vaccination program.

Duterte:...

From A1

Drilon, a four-time Senate President, rejected that today’s hearing on the franchise of ABS-CBN was ''unconstitutional.

“We are saddened by the accusation.

That is not true. There is nothing wrong and unconstitutional if we hear the franchise of ABS-CBN, Drilon said.

Senator Sonny Angara echoed Drilon.

Rep. Joselito Atienza on Sunday slammed Congress’ inaction on several pending measures to renew the franchise of ABS-CBN.

Virus researchers: Many blanks to fill COVID-19, as the disease is known, is more lethal than the average seasonal flu, but less so than the previous epidemics stemming from coronaviruses.

We do not yet know its precise mortality rate.

World Health Organization data released Sunday identified 2,442 deaths from 76,936 confirmed cases in China, for a rough rate of 3.07 percent.

The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention published last week a study of 72,314 confirmed, clinically diagnosed or suspected cases as of Feb. 11.

According to the most extensive study done so far, the novel coronavirus was benign in 80.9 percent of the cases, “serious” in 13.8 percent and “critical” in

4.7 percent.

The remaining 0.6 percent was not specified.

According to the China CDC study, the mortality rate increased substantially with age, and those over 80 were most at risk with a rate of 14.8 percent.

Patients who already suffered from cardiovascular diseases were also particularly at risk, ahead of diabetics and those who suffered from chronic respiratory diseases or hypertension.

Global estimates of the mortality rate are risky, however, because we do not know how many people have actually been infected.

Other strains of coronavirus, such as SARS and Mers, have established mortality rates of 9.5 percent and 34.5 per-

cent, respectively.

Specialists generally agree that each person who falls ill with coronavirus will infect between two and three others on average.

That is a higher rate than a typical winter flu (1.3), lower than an infectious disease such as measles (more than 12), and comparable to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or SARS (3)―the last major virus that broke out in China, in 2002-03.

Some experts warn, however, that we might be seriously underestimating the number of cases.

A study published Friday by the Imperial College Center for Global Infectious Disease Analysis said: “We estimated that about two thirds of COVID-19 cases exported from mainland China have remained undetected worldwide, potentially resulting in multiple chains of as yet undetected human-to-human transmission outside mainland China.”

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus voiced concern on Friday about

Exit...

Saturday as Japan’s health minister apologized after 23 others were allowed to leave without being properly tested.

The news came as a Japanese woman who left the ship on Wednesday tested positive for the virus after returning home to Tochigi Prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported, citing the prefectural government.

She is the first person to have tested positive for the virus among the group of about 970 passengers who disembarked earlier this week, it said.

The 100 passengers who left on Saturday had been in close contact with infected people on board, local media said.

They included the last group of Japanese passengers to leave the ship, while some foreign passengers were still waiting on board for their governments to send chartered aircraft.

Television footage showed a driver in a white protective suit at the wheel of a bus with the curtains drawn so that passengers could not be identified.

They will be quarantined for two weeks near Tokyo, officials said.

At a news conference on Saturday, Health Minister Katsunobu Kato apologized for 23 passengers having been allowed to leave the ship without undergo-

ing all the required tests.

“We deeply regret that our operational mistake caused the situation,” Kato said, adding that the passengers would be tested again.

With the latest disembarkation, a 14day quarantine is expected to start for more than 1,000 crew still on board.

Many of them were not placed in isolation as they were needed to keep the ship running -- preparing food and delivering meals to cabins.

Critics have charged that they were inadvertently spreading the virus throughout the ship, which has seen more than 600 cases of the potentially deadly COVID-19 disease.

Kato defended Japan’s on-board quarantine, telling a TV program Saturday there was no medical facility large enough to admit more than 3,000 people at once.

Speaking at the news conference, Kato said six Australian passengers tested positive after leaving Japan.

Meanwhile, 18 repatriated Americans and one Israeli who returned home from the ship have tested positive, authorities from the two countries announced Friday.

Kato also confirmed that a Japanese hospital on Saturday used the anti-influenza medication Avigan, also known as

R

ESEARCHERS want to know everything about the latest coronavirus, from its mortality rate to its origins, incubation period and much more, and they still have blanks to fill in.

From A1

New Clark City in Capas, Tarlac for a 14day quarantine.

The DFA is securing clearances and permits for the disembarkation, land transfer, as well as the arrangements for the chartered flights for the repatriation, the DFA said.

Philippine officials are also working with the Japan Self Defense Forces to arrange the land transfer of the repatriates from Yokohama Port to Haneda where the chartered flight will take off.

The first batch of repatriates were 30 Filipinos from Wuhan, China—the epicenter of COVID-19 outbreak—who finished their 14-day quarantine at New Clark City on Saturday.

Upon the return of the Yokohama repatriates, a team of health professionals from the DOH will provide immediate medical assistance if needed, the DFA said.

They will also be provided with food, medicine, masks, and other supplies.

About 100 more passengers were allowed to disembark from the coronavirusstricken Diamond Princess cruise ship on

‘Pastillas‘...

From A1

“In order to crack down on crossborder telecommunication fraud crimes, the Ministry of Public Security of China has obtained a list of Chinese nationals suspected of committing long-term telecommunication fraud crimes abroad,” the embassy said.

The statement came after China’s Ministry of Public Security canceled passports of its nationals working in POGOs, particularly those suspected of committing fraud abroad.

“Such operations are aimed at the suspects of Chinese nationals who have committed telecommunications fraud crimes in different countries,” it said.

The embassy said China always requires its citizens abroad to “abide by local laws and not to work illegally in foreign countries.”

The Chinese Embassy said it has been coordinating with Philippine authorities.

“The Chinese side would like to continue to work closely with the Philippines to combat such crimes as telecommunications fraud, illegal online-gambling, money-laundering, illegal employment, kidnapping, extortion, torture, [and] murder...so as to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of nationals of the two countries, and to promote the China-Philippines friendship and cooperation,” the embassy said.

Thousands of Chinese nationals work in the POGO industry after Beijing

banned online gaming in China.

However, the influx of Chinese workers has generated problems such as tax violations, kidnapping, prostitution, and more recently, bribery of Immigration officials.

A party-list lawmaker, meanwhile, said POGOs should pay the withholding tax of their employees.

Interviewed on radio dzBB, ACT-CIS Rep. Eric Go Yap said POGOs are getting away with merely paying their license fees.

“They [POGOs] have only helped us in terms of license fees of P6 billion a year to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. The value-added tax has not yet been incorporated since these are offshore [operations], they do not pay VAT,” he said.

“But POGO companies have to pay the withholding tax for their workers,” he added.

Also on Sunday, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies to crack down on Chinese syndicates in the POGO industry.

“The PNP, NBI and the BI need to step up their efforts in hunting down these syndicates who are not only into kidnapping... but at the same time have been operating prostitution dens and many forms of human trafficking. They should go to jail”, Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian made the call amid reports of kidnapping perpetrated by Chinese syndicates against their fellow nationals working in the offshore gaming industry.

VP...

Robredo thanked the people who offered their prayers and sent their condolences.

From A1 According to the Office of the Vice President, Gerona, a teacher, served at Gerona’s wake began Sunday in Naga the Universidad de Sta. Isabel in Naga, City. The funeral details will be an- one of the oldest schools in the Philipnounced after a few days. pines. Rio N. Araja and MJ Blancaflor He told dzMM, Atienza such failure was “bordering on illegality.”

To take up the issue of the network’s franchise issue was a “responsibility” of the House of Representatives, and not a matter of discretion, he said.

“The papers [of ABS-CBN] are just stuck inside the drawer of the committee on franchises. That, to me, is bordering on illegality,” he said.

Poe, the adopted daughter of ABS-CBN actors Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces, earlier said that the issues raised by Solicitor General Jose Calida in his quo warranto plea could be discussed in the Senate hearing on the network’s franchise renewal.

The Palace has repeatedly distanced itself from Calida's petition, saying it was his job to file cases against transgressors and Duterte had not ordered him to do so.

Calida's petition accuses ABS-CBN of unlawfully exercising its franchise by allegedly offering paid broadcast without government approval and by allegedly allowing foreign ownership.

The broadcast giant has denied it violated any laws and received support from several media groups.

Duterte has repeatedly threatened that ABS-CBN will lose its franchise.

With Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rio N. Araja

South...

From A1

travel ban to South Korea in its next meeting.

On Sunday, South Korea reported 123 new cases and two deaths, taking the countrywide toll to four.

One of the victims was a patient being treated for mental health issues at a hospital in Cheongdo, a southern city linked to the religious sect where around 100 new cases were reported.

Among the latest infections, 75 involved the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the nearby city of Daegu, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

More than 300 cases have been linked to the church, starting with a 61-year-old woman who developed a fever on Feb. 10 and attended at least four church services in Daegu before being diagnosed.

Some 9,300 Shincheonji members in Daegu have either been quarantined or have been asked to stay at home, said KCDC director Jung Eunkyeong, with more than 1,240 saying they had symptoms.

Daegu—South Korea’s fourthbiggest city, with a population of 2.5 million—reported more than 90 new cases on Sunday, bringing the city’s total to 247, mayor Kwon Young-jin said.

“The crisis level of Daegu and the North Gyeongsang province is grave,” said Kwon, who advised locals to stay indoors.

The mayor asked all Shincheonji members with symptoms to come forward and be tested. Authorities have yet to reach around 670 members of the church.

Shincheonji is often accused of being a cult, and claims its founder has donned the mantle of Jesus Christ and will take 144,000 people with him to heaven on judgement day.

But with more church members than available places in heaven, they are said to have to compete for slots and pursue converts.

“Hiding is not the answer. If you hide, it could hurt your health, your family’s health, and will not help in the early cessation of the situation,” Kwon said.

Daegu and Cheongdo—the birthplace of Shincheonji’s founder Lee Man-hee—were designated as “special management zones” on Friday.

Among the new cases were 18 people who recently returned from a group pilgrimage to Israel, the

“the number of cases with no clear epidemiological link, such as travel history to China or contact with a confirmed case.”

Asymptomatic cases, where people show no symptoms, are another cause for concern.

The incubation period is estimated to be two to 10 days, and has led experts to decide on an observation period of 14 days for suspected cases or for people who have been repatriated from areas such as China’s Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak.

The virus is mainly transmitted by respiratory means and physical contact.

Drops of saliva expelled when an infected person coughs is a common example, and researchers believe that generally occurs over a distance of around one meter at most.

Health advisories emphasize measures such as washing your hands often, coughing or sneezing into the crook of your elbow or a paper handkerchief, and wearing a mask if you know you have been infected. AFP

Favipiravir, to treat a patient infected with the virus.

Earlier in the day, Kato said the government would push for the use of such medicines if they were confirmed to be effective.

Outside the Diamond Princess, Japan has seen 105 cases of the new coronavirus.

Infectious diseases specialist Kentaro Iwata said the situation on the ship was “completely chaotic” and violated quarantine procedures, in blunt criticism rarely seen in Japanese officialdom.

The Kobe University professor later said he had heard from a colleague on board that quarantine procedures had improved, but still recommended that all those disembarking the ship should be monitored for at least 14 days and should avoid contact with others.

In Manila, Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said a decline in new cases of COVID-19 was no reason to be complacent because nobody knows yet exactly how it is transmitted or how long its incubation period is.

“Nobody can tell if the COVID-19 virus is already at its end, if we are headed to the end of this pandemic,” she said.

With AFP KCDC said.

It was unclear how they had contracted the infection, but authorities said one of the victims were likely exposed to the virus before their trip, given Israel has reported only one confirmed COVID-19 case so far.

Israel has issued an entry ban on South Koreans and refused to allow non-Israelis to disembark from a Korean Air plane on Saturday.

The US State Department on Saturday raised its travel advisory for South Korea, joining a handful of countries bolstering their vigilance after its rapid spike in the number of infections.

US citizens were asked to “exercise increased caution” when traveling to South Korea, where “sustained community spread” has been reported.

“Sustained community spread means that people in South Korea have been infected with the virus, but how or where they became infected is not known, and the spread is ongoing,” the State Department said on its website.

Separately, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also issued an “Alert Level 2” travel health notice, saying “older adults and those with chronic medical conditions should consider postponing nonessential travel.”

Britain has also advised its nationals “against all but essential travel to Daegu and Cheongdo.”

China’s death toll from the coronavirus epidemic rose to 2,442 on Sunday after the government said 97 more people had died, all but one of them in the epicenter of Hubei province.

The National Health Commission also confirmed another 648 new cases in China.

The vast majority of both deaths and new infections were in the hardhit Hubei provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December.

China’s total infections reached 76,936, the commission said in its daily update.

The coronavirus has spread to more than 25 countries and is causing mounting alarm due to new pockets of outbreak in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

China’s numbers of daily new infections are well down from the outbreak’s early height.

But China has sowed confusion about the data by repeatedly changing its counting methods. Rey E. Requejo with AFP

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

INTERRUPTED. A resident of Road 10 Tondo, Manila fills

Revilla seeks P1-m insurance coverage on bank deposits

up water containers on Saturday Feb. 22, as the Maynilad announced a water interruption in that area in Metro Manila.

Norman Cruz

By Macon Ramos-Araneta TO LURE the public to deposit their money in banks and encourage existing bank clients to increase their deposits, Senator Bong Revilla filed a measure seeking to increase the maximum deposit insurance coverage for bank depositors from P500,000 to P1 million.

He cited a 2015 Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas data showing that four out of 10 Filipino adults or 43 percent had savings, 32.3 percent used to save in the past but have stopped saving money while 24.5 percent never experienced saving money.

The same data showed that seven out of 10 adults or 68 percent who saved money kept their savings at home while 32.7 percent of adults with savings placed their money in banks. The others saved through cooperatives (7.5 percent), non-stock savings and loans associations (0.8 percent) and informal savings groups (2.6 percent).

BSP record also showed that six out of the 10 adults or 62.8 percent with bank accounts indicated that the bank’s reputation is their number one consideration in opening a deposit account.

A 2017 survey conducted by Financial Inclusion showed the percentage of adults with savings increased to 48 percent from 43 percent in 2015.

The aforementioned data prompted Revilla to file Senate Bill No. 1260 amending the insurance coverage for the depositing public.

“Apart from the benefits that individual depositors will enjoy, it will also redound to advantages in the macro level by invigorating our financial system and the economy as a whole,” said Revilla.

Revilla said that SBN 1260, also known as An Act Further Increasing the Maximum Deposit Insurance Coverage, Amending For This Purpose Republic Act No. 3591, As Amended, Otherwise Known As The Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp.

Charter, also seeks to increase the present P500,000 maximum insured deposits on joint accounts to P1 million.

Under current laws, joint account shall be insured separately from any individually-owned deposit account.

PDIC, an attached agency of the Department of Finance, is mandated to insure the deposits of all banks to protect the depositing public from illegal schemes and promote financial stability.

A 2019 PDIC and Kantar Philippines Inc. survey showed that 51 percent of 1,500 respondents, aged 18 and above, had experienced maintaining deposits in bank but only half of them or 24.5 percent continued to maintain bank deposits, Revilla said.

Revilla said the bill is in line with the policy of the State to strengthen the deposit insurance coverage system and encourage the public to save and deposit in the formal banking system.

BLOOD FOR LIFE.

A member of the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group, Philippine National Police’s anti-scalawag unit, donates blood during a bloodletting activity held at the IMEG compound in Camp Crame, Quezon City on Tuesday (Feb. 18).

The bloodletting activity is part of IMEG’s first anniversary celebration.

Reignite the spirit of EDSA Revolution, solon urges youth

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EPUTY Speaker and Basilan Representative Mujiv Hataman today called on the Filipino people to reignite the spirit of the 1986 EDSA Revolution and value the freedom gained 34 years ago, as he encouraged the “woke” generations of today to learn from the experience of those who fought hard and won against the dictatorship.

Hataman, a human rights activist, encouraged Filipino millennials and those belonging to the so-called Generation Z to “seek true stories” of the past and not be blinded by the historical revisionism prevalent in today’s digital era of fake news and half-truths.

“Noong araw, may iba kaming tawag sa pagiging ‘woke.’ Sa amin, ‘mulat’ ang equivalent nito, yung mulat ka sa nangyayaring injustice sa paligid mo.

Yung may kamulatan ka para ipaglaban ang iyong mga karapatan. This is why I encourage the youth to dig deeper and find truth and wisdom in the 1986 People Power Revolution,” the former governor of the now-defunct ARMM expressed.

“I call on the next generations to stand for their rights, and seek true stories of how there came to be an EDSA People Power Revolution, and how Filipinos gained their freedom as a result. Finding the true meaning of EDSA People Power will give the youth more understanding of what their rights are as citizens,” he added.

The Basilan legislator said that the youth of today are more assertive of their rights and have more ways to express dissent and their grievances given the free access to social media and the Internet.

“If you study the lessons of EDSA, you can discern that the enemy of democracy is oppression. Then you will know what to fight for when the

time comes to stand as one against tyranny. I also call on the parents of our youth to explain to their children what EDSA was and what it represented,” Hataman, a former community organizer, said.

He also said the “truth” about EDSA is now being blurred, as even in school textbooks, history is being obscured.

“Let us not glorify people and sinners of the past. There are now books in school that even hail the oppressors during martial law. Let us not allow these people to blur the truth and propagate their own version of what happened,” said Hataman.

“I am hoping that one of these days, there will be justice against the oppressors of the past, and that the new generation should continue to demand accountability for abuses and excesses that were committed. Let us all do our part so that none of these dreadful events be repeated in their time,” he added.

“Pag walang accountability, maaaring mangyari sa panahon ninyong mga millennials ang malagim na nangyari sa panahon ng aming mga magulang noong namamayani pa ang kamay na bakal. That is why it is important to learn the true meaning of EDSA.”

ACT lauds IPU decision to probe harassment vs. opposition

By Willie Casas ASSISTANT Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-List France Castro has welcomed the decision of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians at its 161st session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to consider and examine their complaints of continuous harassment due to their opposition to the policies of the Duterte administration.

Rep. France Castro, along with former Rep. Antonio Tinio, former Rep. Ariel Casilao and Kabataan Rep. Sarah Elago submitted complaints to the IPU for what they claimed were the continuous harassment they have faced due to their opposition to the anti-people policies of the Duterte administration.

The IPU has considered to examine cases of Castro and Elago while they noted that the cases submitted by Tinio and Casilao has already been dismissed.

However, the IPU recognizes and will consider the cases of Tinio and Casilao

should there be other allegations about ongoing harassment that are directly related to the previous parliamentary mandate.

“After having been subjected to multiple acts of harassment violations against us, we welcome the consideration of the Inter-Parliamentary Union to examine our cases and investigate on the human rights violations against oppositions like us,” Castro said.

Castro cited the case filed against her and the rest of the Talaingod 18 who were part of the National Solidarity Mission who were detained and later arrested and charged in the course of their effort to rescue Lumad students and teachers of Salugpungan Ta’tanu Igkanugon Community Learning Center Inc. and of Community Technical College of Southeastern Mindanao last November 2018.

The case also considered against members of parliament being subjected to arbitrary detention and illegal arrest.

The IPU is a global organization of national parliaments promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue.

It has also been examining cases of Senator Leila de Lima, former Senator Antonio Trillanes and of former Representatives Satur Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño, Liza Maza and Rafael Mariano.

“This administration has been targeting critics of its anti-people policies from incumbent and former legislators to lawyers, journalists, teachers, human rights advocates, farmers and the youth.

This administration uses public funds and has made it a policy to target its critics and silence their opposition to the anti-people policies. Executive Order 70 creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict is being wielded as a weapon to surveil and further curtail the rights and shrink the already narrow democratic space in the country,” Castro said.

‘Joyride’ joins food delivery service providers

By Rio N. Araja AN EXECUTIVE of ridehailing JoyRide motorcycle service on Sunday disclosed a plan to join the food delivery service to generate economic opportunities for merchants and delivery-partners.

Noli Eala, JoyRide vice president for corporate affairs, said the Filipino-owned firm wants to help not only restaurants to skip costs for food delivery, such as buying motorcycles and salary and for delivery crew, but also micro entrepreneurs loans to merchants to enable them to grow their business.

“Food delivery is a natural extension of our transport offerings. Since we have overwhelming pool of bikers, it is really inevitable to venture to this business. We also wanted to provide more livelihood opportunities for the Filipino people,” he said.

“Food is the most popular product in the delivery service industry. When the delivery service was born many years ago, it was the variety of food products that encouraged the door-to-door service.

JoyRide also hopes to deliver positive impact into the lives of our people by providing them economic opportunities especially for local businesses and to create jobs for deliverypartners,” he added.

JoyRide is set to compete with food delivery services of Singaporean-owned Grab Philippines and HonestBee, and the Germany-based FoodPanda.

Apart from its plan to have a food delivery service platform, JoyRide would also introduce various features of their online applications that could cater to all kinds of customers.

Pay employees who work on Feb. 25–DOLE THE labor department reminded private sector employers to properly pay their workers who will report for work on Feb. 25, the Anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution.

In Labor Advisory No. 8 Series of 2020, Acting Secretary Ana Dione directed employers to observe the proper payment of wages on said date, which is a special non-working holiday.

Dione said that employees who will work on the said day shall be paid an additional 30 percent of their basic wage in the first eight hours. Their basic wage shall be multiplied by 130 percent plus COLA. If the employee did not work, however, the “no work, no pay” principle shall apply unless there is a favorable company policy, practice, or collective bargaining agreement

granting payment on a special day.

If they work in excess of eight hours, they will be paid an additional 30 percent on their hourly rate. The computation is ‘hourly rate of the basic wage x 130 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked.’

For work done during a special day that also falls on the workers’ rest day, they shall be paid an additional 50 percent of their basic wage on the first eight hours of work, or [(basic wage x 150 percent) + COLA].

Lastly, for overtime work during a special day that also falls on the workers’ rest day, they shall be paid an additional 30 percent of their hourly rate.

Thus, the computation will be ‘hourly rate of the basic wage x 150 percent x 130 percent x number of hours worked.’

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Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Partnering CROSSROADS

J.A. DE LA CRUZ WITH the twin uncertainties engendered by the coronavirus outbreak and the termination of the Visiting Forces Agreement, there is need for reasonably quick response measures if we are to be on track with our security and development goals for 2020 and beyond.

Are we prepared, or are we just now preparing such counter measures?

China is not only the world’s second-biggest economy. It is a major production base and consumer hub as well.

This is the question that should be asked of our economic and security managers as we grapple with the impact of these two major developments just two months into the new year.

Already, a lot of business leaders are sounding the alarm especially in those sectors whose continued growth depends on the health of China, the world’s second biggest economy. When before in the middle of the second decade of the 21st century, as economic slump consumed most of the developed world, China was ever ready to take the slack, now it is itself grappling with the impact of the COVID-19 virus. It will take time before things normalize if at all, specially with the lockdown imposed by Chinese authorities themselves which in effect slowed down its

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

motors for growth.

We need not emphasize that China is not only the world's second-biggest economy. It is a major production base and consumer hub as well. It is a major trading partner of the US and the OECD countries -that elite club of the world's largest economies - and has expanding relations with Middle East and African countries. It also holds a substantial part of the financial instruments oiling the global economy.

Closer to home, it is the main economy around which the ASEAN countries orbit, besting Japan, Korea and even the United States. And with its aggressive Belt and Road development initiative, that economic partnership has become even more pronounced. When before there was only one major economy— the United States—and its major allies in Asia, Japan and South Korea, plus most of Europe around which the global economy revolved, now that distinction is increasingly being shared with China. China has become such a presence the world can no longer ignore.

So, are we prepared to partner with it and its globally competitive companies to get things going?

The way I see it, things are iffy at best. Just some days back, Honda Philipines, the country’s fourth largest car manufacturer, announced plans to shut down its Sta. Rosa plant and will supply automobiles and parts through its Asia and Oceana regional network. Not only will close to a thousand workers be laid off as a result, but hundreds of suppliers will be forced to take the heat. There is no word on the other manufacturers yet but it is not far fetched they will also look at downsizing operations or closing down altogether. And this is not just in the car industry. A lot of sectors have become heavily embedded with China

U

Tracking falsehoods

NITED States President Donald Trump made 56 false claims last week. This is even lower than his weekly average of 59, according to network giant CNN, which since last year has been counting the nontruths the president has been spewing.

This week, Mr. Trump made false claims on immigration, the economy, his political rivals the Democrats, the investigation liking him to Russia, and on health care and impeachment. He lied when being interviewed, when speaking before supporters and ordinary citizens, and when meeting with governors.

According to CNN, the President has made 1,873 false claims since July 8.

Among the most egregious claims is that he did not win the popular vote in New Hampshire state: There were hundreds and hundreds of buses of improper voters, he said, that were shipped up from Massachusetts. He also said that the funds to build the border wall would be coming from

redemption money from illegal aliens. But there is no such thing as redemption money, immigration experts say. And then he retweeted a columnist who wrote that his approval rating climbed 10 points.

Except that, in his tweet, he said she said he gained 20.

Many will say it is useless to expect Mr. Trump, or any other leader with a propensity to bend the truth to suit their own purposes, to start being more truthful. They have always been this way, so the best response is always not to take their words at face value and rather regard them as accessories that make up a largerthan-life personality.

It could be for self-aggrandizement, to escape blame or liability, to claim credit where none is due, to

malign opponents, and many other reasons. It does not mask the fact that such leaders who lie in small things can do so in big things.

But must a people lower their standards for the truth just because their leader is notorious for falsehoods?

We can imagine how keeping track of Trump’s statements just to check his words against the truth could be exhausting. But it is a job that should not even be there in the first place. People should always be able to take their leader’s words at face value. They should not make allowances for the state of mind, or body, he is in, if he is speaking literally or figuratively, or if there is a chance he is misinformed, or just piqued, or just toying with his listener’s minds.

Life is difficult enough as it is.

Keeping track of lies, and then deciding which words to believe and which to be wary of, are unnecessary exercises, and huge impositions by an unworthy leader.

Turn to A5

R&D LAST week, together with our commercial counsellor, we met top officials of a Taiwanese company who had earlier expressed interest to invest in the Philippines. The planned investment was more than a billion US dollars, and we hastened to check if their interest had waned after the travel ban our government imposed last February 10.

That ban has since been reversed on Valentine’s Day, and both government and business officials in Taiwan appreciated the quick action.

While waiting for the arrival of the company Chairman and CEO, we sat in conference with other officials of the company, led by their Vice Chairman who was an economic minister at the turn of the century.

He told us that the secret of Taiwan’s economic advancement, despite its small size and lack of natural resources, and despite security threats, could be summarized in a short phrase: Research and Development—R & D. Government put up research facilities for agriculture, for manufactured product development, for information technology, for medical science, for alternative energy, even robotics.

Then, it partnered with the private sector, which then manufactured the products that their technological research developed. In agriculture and aquaculture, research developed ways of cutting costs, increasing yield, and adaptation to both natural threats such as typhoons and droughts, or the challenges brought about by climate change. In information technology, they developed software that could compete with other highly developed countries.

And government assisted start-ups in practically every industry, particularly for exports and IT, providing them with business incubators, and arranged financing from government banks or even private banks where government maintained stock holdings.

In the ’80s and ’90s, GDP was growing at higher than 10 percent per annum.

These have since tapered off by the turn of the century, but by then, Taiwan was

already highly developed and was even a huge investor in the economic boom that happened in mainland China after Mao. *** I took mental note of what a highly respected writer, Marlen Ronquillo, whom I have known, since the start of the Cory administration, wrote in a recent column in The Manila Times.

His article rued the fact that no president of the Philippines has given much importance to science and data. Neither have most cabinet members. He mentioned that hardly any ordinary citizen knew who is, or was, the secretary of the science and technology department.

Our next leader should have the vision to anchor our future on the primacy of science and technology.

I particularly agreed with his obserobser vation that “a government with no regard for strategic investments for education and health [has] no concern for human capital…does not base its public expenditures on science and data.”

I recalled what he wrote during my conversation with the retired economic minister who was now vice-chairman of a huge corporation. Indeed, Taiwan invested in education and health and based its public priorities on science and data. Human capital is what made Taiwan prosperous, not natural resources, not even a huge population for a domestic market base.

In contrast, other countries profit from our human capital in the form of overseas workers because neither our government nor the oligarchic business interests that have made mega-billions on regulatory capture had invested enough in research and development, in science and data that would enrich our human capital.

Ronquillo concludes with the suggestion, perhaps more of a pipe dream, that “it’s about time we stopped electing professional politicians to the presidency,” decrying that “we have been through exhausting cycles of leaders Turn to A5

A failure of law enforcement LAST week, the Bureau of Immigration announced the relief of five of its airport officers from their posts following the discovery of a payoff scheme which allegedly allowed hundreds of thousands of Chinese to enter the country and work for Philippine overseas gaming operators without permits. That scheme is dubbed as the pastillas scheme—the money paid was usually rolled up like the popular milk candy.

This was uncovered in a Senate investigation wherein an Immigration personnel divulged that Chinese tourists who wanted to work in the country illegally were simply made to pay a P10,000 “service fee” in cahoots with private tour operators.

Of the P10,000, P8,000 is said to go to the syndicate or the private tour operators while the P2,000 goes to Immigration personnel, broken down as follow: Duty Immigration Supervisor— P470; Immigration Officer—P650; Travel Control Enforcement Unit— P280; Border Control Intelligence Unit—P240; Operations (admin, clerical work)—P260; and Terminal Head—P100.

Although I find the division of the loot ridiculous as I cannot fathom why would the supposed corrupt officers and personnel over at the BI would agree that the tour operators would get 80 percent of the bribe money and that they

Look not at the POGOs, but the NOGOs. would be dividing among themselves loose change, I believe the scheme is nearest to the truth as I have written about this almost two years ago. At that time, no one was listening.

In my column published in November 2018, I raised the question why the

BI was allowed to issue special working permits for these supposed POGO workers, which was a duplicity, if not a usurpation on the powers of the Department of Labor and Employment to issue alien employment permits.

But then, even if it is the BI issuing a special working permit or the DOLE issuing an alien employment permit, those have to be supported by documentary requirements proving they are to work in a PAGCOR-accredited POGO or its attached service providers.

Now the question: If those Chinese applying for special working permits upon arrival to the country are legal and have the necessary supporting documents, then why would they bother to shell out additional P10,000 per head?

According to Senator Risa Hontiveros, the payoffs since 2016 have totaled around P10 billion. But these Chinese businessmen would not be shelling out this large amount of money if they are legal.

Which then brings us to PBA Congressman Jericho “Koko” Nograles’ revelation about the existence of the Turn to A5

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Opinion

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Eco-waste management convergence strategy

The Church and Duterte THE FIFTH GOSPEL JUDE ACIDRE “THE Church is two hundred years out of date.” So said, not President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, but the late Archbishop of Milan and Jesuit theologian Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini, in a final interview just before his death. Once favored as a papal contender, Cardinal Martini was a prominent voice in the Catholic Church especially among Catholic progressives. Giving a cutting description of a Church that failed to move with the times, in the same interview, he lamented the fact that “our culture has aged, our churches are big and empty and the church bureaucracy rises up.”

Clearly for Cardinal Martini, the only way forward was for “the Church [to] admit its mistakes and begin a radical change, starting from the pope and the bishops.” Then came the painful admission, “The pedophilia scandals oblige us to take a journey of transformation.”

It is not always easy to criticize a person, or an institution that one loves dearly. That is why, as a Catholic who supports the President, it was painful for me to hear him lambast the Church at the recently held 1st National Assembly of the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas in Pasay City.

In 25 years, the President said, the Catholic Church will be no more.

It is a familiar Duterte rhetoric, one that he has repeated on countless occasions. He has criticized the Church and her bishops, for the failings of her clergy and their supposed “meddling” in politics. He once mentioned being allegedly abused as a student in a Catholic school, and under his watch, sedition charges were filed against bishops and priests perceived to be siding with the opposition. In a country that is overwhelmingly Catholic, such tirades against the Church by political leaders were once unheard of. That is—until Duterte came along.

Ever since our country was conquered by the Spanish, using the cross and the sword, Filipinos have always a constant love-hate relationship with the institutional Church. Despite being deeply religious and socially deferent, Filipinos were often wary of the social power structure that placed the Church at its apex. The Philippine Revolution at the turn of nineteenth century was, in fact, ignited by the so-called abuses of the Spanish friars, notwithstanding the fact that throughout the 300 years of Spanish rule, the same friars served as our nation’s first educators, scientists and engineers. The Aglipayan schism which led to the creation of a separate Filipino church, stemmed demands that the Vatican appoint Filipinos to replace the Spanish bishops. Even in recent years, bishops and priests find themselves at odds with the political establishment, as they did during the EDSA Revolution, and the ouster of former

President Joseph Estrada.

But despite these, the people’s faith in the Catholic Church has not diminished, and has remained fervent, as evidenced by the crowds of millions that welcomed Saint Pope John Paul II in 1995, and recently, Pope Francis in 2015.

Thus, it is not surprising, to say the least, for the Filipino people to support Duterte, yet remain unshakenly Catholic.

While when circumstances call for it, the Church must be morally indignant, it must also learn to listen and learn from this paradox.

When you’re a Catholic supporter of the President, how do you reconcile what you hear with what you believe?

In many countries abroad, migrant Filipino Catholics have breathed new life to dying Catholic congregations.

They bring with them, not only their attachment to the Church’s teachings and worship, but also the warmth, spontaneity and joy of Filipino Christianity— as opposed to the formality and rigidity of Western church life. This has resulted in a new form of Christian witness, that despite the difficult demands and moral complexities of modern life, especially among Filipino migrant workers, faith has and will always retain its enduring value.

It must be one of the reasons why Pope Francis has selected a Filipino to take charge of the Church’s evangelization’s efforts.

At home, however, the Church is criticized by its very own president.

The obvious tendency is to aversely react to his statement, and cry blasphemy—as the political opposition has already done.

But come to think of it—while President Duterte has criticized the Church, often in sad and vulgar language, however, he has not, notwithstanding allegations of extrajudicial killings, taken any act or adopted any official policy that is diametrically opposed to the teachings of the Church. In fact, he has even signed the law declaring the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, the principal patroness of the Philippines, a special non-working holiday.

On the other hand, the previous administration, despite President Benigno Aquino being surrounded by clergy supporters, forced Congress to approve the controversial Reproductive Health Act, which among others, promoted artificial contraception, in blatant disregard for official Church teaching.

Ironically, these very same critics of the current administration and deride the alleged extrajudicial killings were among the loudest promoters of so-called “culture of death” that Saint Pope John Paul

R&D From A4

crafting policies without the underpinning science and data.”

Meanwhile too, it has been reported here that a team of scientists led by an associate researcher at Taiwan’s Academia Sinica Institute of Chemistry had managed to replicate the anti-viral drug remdisivir which was recently cited as a promising cure for CoViD 19.

Laboring round-the-clock from Feb. 6 to 20, they were able to synthesize the drug with a purity level of 97 percent.

Their team leader told media that “each of them felt a strong sense of duty and was looking forward to contributing

A failure...

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NOGOs—the Non-registered Offshore Gaming Operators.

According to Nograles, these NOGOs which have been operating without the necessary permits and licenses, could be behind those illegal activities which have put the POGOs in bad light and which have been the subject of congressional probes by both chambers of Congress.

In a media forum, Nograles supported the opinion of this writer that the legitimate POGOs, now a P283-billion industry which constitutes 1.4 percent of the country’s GDP, has now been politicized as maybe because of the fact that most of the POGOs are owned and operated partly by Chinese businessmen while our own President is being accused of being largely pro-China.

That since the issue of the POGOs have been politicized, lawmakers conducting the probe have overlooked the fact the issues concerning the POGOs are more or

II so strongly condemned.

When President Duterte said that the Catholic Church would “disappear” in 25 years, my initial impulse was to say—he is wrong.

But not according to Pope Francis.

In his Christmas message last year, the pope himself gave a very stern warning, “Today we are no longer the only ones that produce culture, no longer the first nor the most listened to.” He asks us to avoid “rigidity that is born from fear of change and ends up disseminating stakes and obstacles in the ground of the common good, turning it into a minefield of misunderstanding and hatred.”

Disseminating stakes and obstacles in the ground of the common good that leads to misunderstanding and hatred.

That is exactly what happens with a politics that divides rather than one that unites. The worse even happens, when politics drags religion into its own sphere.

One cannot be emphatic enough, there is no justification enough for anyone, including the President, to use derisive language against the Church. But then again, the President is the better judge of his own statements.

On the other hand, one must be careful to listen to what one can learn from this unhappy situation. Cardinal Martini, in the same final interview, clarifies, “The word of God is simple, and it seeks a heart that listens. Neither the clergy nor church law can replace man’s internal judgment. All the external rules, laws and dogmas are given to us to clarify our internal voice and our discernment of the Spirit.”

These days, admittedly, Catholics are often torn on how they can remain good Catholics and at the same time support the President. The Church and the clergy, however, cannot simply replace the value of an individual Catholic’s prudent and informed judgment about how to apply moral principles to concrete political situations. It is good to be reminded, that as Catholics, while we have the foremost duty to listen to what the Church authentically teaches and to rightfully inform our own conscience, we also have an equal responsibility act according to what we think will best bring about a just society, including our own political choices.

The challenge therefore is for Catholics—not to be silent or cowed in the face of criticism or opposition—but more importantly to provide a more authentic Christian witness in public life.

This means finding a common ground that serves the welfare of the people. It means a consistent radicalism to bring the Gospel into the secular realm, not only when it is expedient or convenient to one’s political aims. It means being open to dialogue, despite and in spite of the differences in opinion, mindset or ideology—knowing that there is no other higher ideal than that of charity.

“The Church is two hundred years out of date. Why don’t we rouse ourselves?

Are we afraid?”—Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini.

to the containment of the epidemic.”

Remdesivir is currently being developed by an American biopharmaceutical company called Gilead Sciences, and has been found to have encouraging results when administered to the first US patient infected with the coronavirus. *** Science and data. R & D. Not to suggest that we should elect a scientist like the late Indonesian president Habibie to be our leader come 2022 when a strong-willed president would end his term with so many things yet undone, but one who would have the vision to anchor our future on the primacy of science and technology, and would give it priority in policy-making, government budgets and programs.

less, a failure of law enforcement.

What are the issues concerning POGOs? Bribery and Corruption at the BI? Chinese Prostitution dens? Kidnapping? Human smuggling? Abusive Chinese who pee in public places, drive without license, spit on the floor of a fastfood chain, etc?

But we have the appropriate laws on these matters. The problem is reporting it to the authorities and enforcement. It seems people who witness criminal acts committed by foreigners are more concerned in taking videos and posting it on social media for a rather than reporting it to authorities for proper disposition.

And then there’s the local government units who are sleeping on the job.

Take the case of Manila Wellness Spa located at Diamond Bay Towers in Roxas Boulevard. Manila Wellness Spa was raided in November last year being suspected of fronting for a prostitution den catering to Chinese POGO workers. The Diamond Bay Towers, owned by a certain Benny Cuason, was then ordered closed by the Parañaque City Government last December for operat-

ing without the necessary business permit and a certificate of occupancy.

However, my sources tell me that Diamond Bay Towers is in full operation again this year, hosting the same suspected prostitution den and a POGO— or NOGO. How can a legitimate POGO secure a business permit and a letter of no objection or lono if the office space it is renting has no business permit and certificate of occupancy?

Again, these are issues of law enforcement which our lawmaker-probers have apparently overlooked. They are more concerned on the Pogos which are operating on legitimate grounds.

Maybe if they will focus more on Nograles’ exposè on the NOGOs and the glaring failure of law enforcement to attend to the issues of criminality concerning this particular industry, maybe we could have a smooth sailing operation for these POGOs, sans the criminal activities it had been unjustifiably linked to.

Why kill the goose that lays the golden eggs when you can separate the bad eggs?

A5

THE “Battle for Manila Bay,” the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ call to all sectors for pro-active initiatives to clean-up Manila Bay and all water tributaries, recently marked its first year at the Baseco Beach, a 500-meter shoreline which for decades was a heaping monstrosity of trash dumped and washed ashore.

This is a result of irresponsible garbage disposal from the inhabitants of cities and municipalities connected to the bay by esteros and rivers. The Baseco Beach became the symbolic ground zero of what many thought was an impossible mission that many administrations failed or never dared confront.

I saw how it was during my young volunteer years for some community anti-poverty programs. I saw the pollution, the filth and extremely unsanitary conditions that the residents of the Baseco compound had to live with.

Now, though swimming is understandably not yet allowed, the tons of garbage are gone and the sandy beach is open to the delight of the Baseco community.

Administrative Order No. 16 says: “The convergence of national government agencies and LGUs (local government units) in the Manila Bay Region, and their active participation, are necessary to facilitate the robust and integrated implementation of all rehabilitation and restoration efforts at the Manila Bay.” This complements existing provisions of Republic Act 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000 that “encourage greater private sector participation in solid waste management,” opening up the potential of public-private partnerships between LGUs and private corporations to implement appropriate projects that would push towards total compliance with environmental regulations.

One of the most significant initiatives responding to this convergent approach is the P1-billion recycling facility that Coca-Cola Beverages Philippines Inc. will be building. This is going to be the first that the company will set up in Southeast Asia and will be the Philippines most technologically advanced PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic bottle recycling facility. This is under the Coca-Cola’s World Without Waste global program that aims to boost the Philippine’s waste management systems. This project will integrate a metropolis wide PET bottle collection system that will significantly reduce the tonnage of plastic bottles leaking into the waterways and illegal dumpsites.

According to Coca-Cola Philippines’ public affairs and sustainability director Jonah de Lumen-Pernia. “Coca-Cola does not want its bottles to end up in landfills, the oceans or elsewhere, and instead wants them recycled. We want every single bottle that we put out in the market back by 2030.”

The City of Manila, unfortunately because of geographic factors, has become the catch basin of garbage flowing in from all the water tributaries passing through many cities and municipalities around Manila Bay. Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko” Domagoso, recognizing the need for a holistic and all-sectors approach, and the value of the pri-

vate sector as a strategic stakeholder in solving the complex dynamics of solid waste management, has recently forged a partnership with Coca-Cola and the city government.

Among the components of the partnership are the allocation of RPET (recycled PET bottle) benches, collections bins and capability training to support Manila’s cleanup projects. The project will also develop a sustainability model that can be adapted by other LGUs.

A strong recycling industry can have a strong multiplier effect.

WWW initiatives are being expanded in other LGUs such as recyclable bottle collection systems in Davao. This program will be integrating with local recycling technology partners to transform post-consumer recyclable plastic bottles into, benches, trash bins and even school chairs. A similar program is also being implemented in Siargao in support of sustainable tourism and environmental protection in the country’s surfing capital.

Iloilo, Bacolod, Cavite, Bataan, Marinduque, Negros Occidental, and Sarangani are also benefiting under the WWW program’s bandwidth of waste management initiatives.

Philippine Business for Environmental Stewardship Convenor Carmelo Bayarcal, a proponent of developmental approach to environmental policies, sees a potential multiplier effect of a strong recycling industry.

“The expansion of the local recycling industry will be creating new economic opportunities such as jobs and linked industries benefiting from an ecosystem that will emerge as the nation learns to integrate responsible stewardship of the environment in every aspect of daily life,” Bayarcal said.

On the other hand, some environmental groups are calling for the outright banning of plastics. This hard-line stance are headline catching sound bites but disregards the economic disruptions that will greatly burden the poor consumers who can only afford sachet-size purchases.

In a recent public hearing, the Senate committee on environment chairperson Cynthia Villar said that banning single-use plastic may be impossible, pending the availability of alternatives to packaging and sees recycling as a more practical and viable option.

A common factor that many experts and environmental thought leaders have underlined is the behavior problem. The 2017 Ocean conservancy report traced 521,000 tons of leaked plastics flowing into our waterways from informal settlers and private hauler companies dumping to our waterways.

This is not just an enforcement problem but also a social marketing challenge that government and the private sector communication gurus can certainly design and execute.

Building the infrastructure to collect all our garbage is a very doable with enough resources and the appropriate implementation. Instilling the discipline of proper waste disposal and eventually becoming a subconscious habit will be the biggest challenge in developing a leak-proof circular economy.

Partnering From A4

and Chinese companies and, before the coronavirus came into the scene, were planning on increased investments.

Contrast this with the developments in our neighbors in ASEAN. Toyota Motors is reportedly moving the city production of car seats from China to Thailand while Samsung is moving parts of its production in China to India or Vietnam. A number of garments and textile companies in China likewise are also thinking of moving out, not to the Philippines but other locales. We can go on and on enumerating possibilities of partnerships in the economic and business sectors with Chinese companies—but are we prepared?

On the other hand, our security situation will now have to be reckoned without the VFA. Although we still have 180 days to think of ways to ensure the continued partnership with the United States in security and defense matters, there appears to be a lack of preparation which attended this call. While we are focused on the need to balance our relations in the sector with our avowed pivot to an independent foreign policy, that should not deter us from coming out with a realistic substitute to the existing terms of our partnership with the US. How will we work out the sharing of intelligence? Or the inter operability of our weapons systems? Or, closer to home, how are we going to arm our forces to protect us from both internal and external threats? These and other questions should be on the table if we are to rebalance our existing partnership terms with the US while opening up new ones in pursuit of our national interest. We await with bated breath the comprehensive coping measures the administration has put or is putting in place as we secure the best terms and of course the best future for our people.

Let the new future in the face of the ever spreading COVID-19 and VFA’s end set in.

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

PCUP, DILG seek resolution with Aranetas on demolition

By Rio N. Araja

WOKE. Fine Arts students from the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City create murals with the theme ‘Magmulat, Magtanghal at Makibaka.’ Manny Palmero

No excuses: Go wants to hasten Marawi rehab

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Christopher Lawrence ‘‘Bong’’ Go has cracked the whip on concerned government agencies to hasten the rehabilitation of war-torn Marawi City, saying there should be no excuses since funds have already been made available by the Duterte administration.

Go noted that it has been almost three years since the five-month Marawi siege began on May 23, 2017, yet residents have remained displaced.

“The President has two years left in Malacañang. We want to know how the rehabilitation can be completed,” he said.

“We don’t want the responsible officials to be negligent now and then put the blame on the President later on when his term ends,” Go added.

Earlier, Deputy Speaker and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman expressed dismay over the reversion to the National Treasury of some P406.5 million in 2018 Marawi rehabilitation funds.

He urged the national government, through Task Force Bangon Marawi, to prevent this from happening to the 2019 and 2020 rehabilitation funds for the war-destroyed city.

“As a leader in the House of Representatives, I will do everything in his power to prevent the 2019 and 2020 Marawi rehabilitation funds from being unused and reverting back to the treasury,” said Hataman.

“Let us learn from what happened to the 2018 Marawi budget, where more than P400 million remained unused and reverted back to the national coffers,” he added.

Go said there are many matters that need to be addressed immediately— including an audit of the funds.

“How have the amounts allocated as budget for the Marawi rehabilitation efforts been utilized? How will the government bridge the gap between the diverse culture and beliefs of the internally displaced persons or IDPs in Marawi and the government sector?”

“Have the IDPs been consulted and included in the planning, the timetable, the use of resources, the choice of contractors or even the design of their new homes to reflect their culture and consider the particular needs of their Muslim community?” Go said.

E. Visayas dev’t body to spur investments

By Rio N. Araja

T

HE House of Representatives’ committee on government enterprises and privatization has approved a proposed measure to create the Eastern Visayas Development Authority to spur investment promotion and implement economic development strategies in Region 8.

Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez and her husband, House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, are the principal authors of House Bill No. 1155 which seeks to create the EVDA. “With EVDA, we can ensure that our investment priorities and promotion strategies are in sync with our development needs and our regional strengths, such as our geographical location, our skilled human resources, and our immense tourism potentials,” the party-list lawmaker said.

The proposal serves as proof of

their commitment to empower local government units in the Eastern Visayas region, she said.

The panel would still have to wait for the approval of the House committee on appropriations, chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, on the measure’s budget component before its endorsement for plenary passage.

“For example, a foreign investor interested in investing in Eastern Visayas need not go to all the local government units in the regions or to a disinterested national government agency. He doesn’t even have to be in Tacloban. But through

EVDA, one can get the right and concise information and support that he or she needs,” the Leyte lawmaker said.

“There is a need for the people of Eastern Visayas to build our confidence in the future,” he added.

According to the Romualdezes, Eastern Visayas plays a very important role in the country’s economy due to its location, serving as island bridges between the northern island of Luzon and southern region of Mindanao.

“One of the most ecologically diverse regions of the country, the three islands of Samar, Leyte, and Biliran are blessed with land, mineral, energy, and marine resources, making it favorable for agricultural, fishery, and industrial potentials. Its geothermal resources have also been tapped, producing electricity for the national power grid. Its coconut, abaca, and other agricultural produce have contributed toward increasing the national economic supply. But in spite of its immense potentials and vast resources, Eastern Visayas remains one of the poorest regions in the country today,” read the proposed House Bill No. 1155.

100% foreign ownership to boost public service ALLOWING 100 percent foreign ownership in public utilities, with certain restrictions, will solve the unending woes suffered by consumers caused by poor but costly services of the country’s three vital industries; power, telecommunication and transport, Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, said.

Salceda, chairperson of the House Ways and Means Committee, said amending the Public Service Act will open up competition in these industries, lower their costs, improve service quality and create jobs.

In a a four-page aide memoire sent to Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and

Majority Leader Martin Romualdez, Salceda said consumers’ woes stem from the “ambiguity in the definition of public utility that is interchangeably used with public service under the 84-year-old Public Service Act.” He said this allowed monopoly for decades to the detriment of consumers and progress.

The aide memoire responded to key issues on House Bill No. 78, principally crafted by Salceda himself, which seeks to amend the old Public Service Act and provide a clear statutory definition of public utility.

Salceda said electricity, power, telecommunications, and water, with excessively strong market power for the few players being capital intensive but subject to foreign ownership restrictions, “lack competition and therefore, limited choice for consumers, ultimately result to market failure.”

The 1987 Constitution restricts the operation of a public utility to Filipinos only. There is no definition of a public utility, however, in existing laws.

The old PSA only defines a public service and not a public utility, hence the ambiguity, Salceda said in his aide memoire.

SIGN OF THE TIMES. Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto ordered the closure of Chinese restaurant Fu Yuan Ji for operating without a business permit.

From the Facebook page of Mayor Sotto

THE Presidential Commission on Urban Poor and Department of the Interior and Local Government have teamed up to strengthen efforts to resolve the looming demolition of structures in Pangarap Village in Caloocan City that would affect former Malacañang employees and groups of informal settlers.

PCUP chairman and chief executive officer Alvin Feliciano said he recently met with DILG Undersecretary for Operations Epimaco Densing III to strategize concrete steps to address the problem through clear communication with the Araneta-owned Carmel Development Inc. He said as per the directive Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, PCUP and DILG will determine the exact land area and number of beneficiaries of the Malacañang Homeowners Association occupying the place.

Feliciano said he would send a letter to Medialdea to invite the CDI for a meeting within 30 days.

The government shall discuss with the Araneta Group the possibility of giving the affected families a portion of land in Pangarap Village, selling and expropriating a portion of land in favor of the Caloocan City government or national government, and/or constructing medium-rise buildings to be sold at a much lower cost.

Densing has pushed for a series of inter-agency talks to discuss a possible negotiation with the developers to at least enter into a compromise, Feliciano said.

Medialdea, according to the PCUP head, wanted a serious dialog with the Araneta Group and the two major homeowners’ associations in Pangarap Village to exercise the “moral suasion” of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Feliciano earlier asked the Philippine National Police to step into the peace and order situation affecting over 40,000 families in Pangarap Village who were complaining of threats and coercion from CDI personnel.

TESDA gives skills training to Taal residents THE Technical Education and Skills Development Authority will provide additional training for residents who were displaced by the phreatic eruption of Taal Volcano.

TESDA chief Isidro Lapeña said residents from within Taal’s 14-kilometer danger zone who were allowed to return home since the lowering of volcano’s status are being provided with project-based skills training since Feb. 17.

“We also plan to provide other skills training together with the Provincial Cooperative, Livelihood and Enterprise Development Office.

Priority beneficiaries (of the additional training) would be residents of Taal Volcano Island,” Lapeña said.

The project-based skills training, he said, are being done in the communities or at relocation sites.

Training includes rag or doormatmaking, hollow block-making using ash, as well as construction painting, carpentry, masonry, scaffold erection, and electrical installation and maintenance.

Lapeña said TESDA-Batangas targets 225 beneficiaries for the project-based skills training and other short-term programs.

“TESDA trainees have also mass produced face masks and pastries.

We have provided short-term training programs such as bread making (ensaymada, donut, banana muffins); powder detergent making; dishwashing liquid making; plastic bottles repurposing; siomai making; rag/doormat making; fish deboning; sardines making; solar power light operation and maintenance; fruit juice making; halayang camote and pastillas making,” he said.

Sports

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Filipino pug loses world title match

Four teams in the hunt for U15 boys championship

LAS VEGAS, United States—Filipino boxer Jeo Santisima failed in his bid to win a world boxing title when he lost to World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight world champion Emanuel Navarrete.

Navarrete dominated Santisima on the way to an 11th-round technical knockout Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) to retain his World Boxing Organization super-bantamweight world title.

Mexico’s Navarrete made his fifth defense of the crown in convincing style against the Filipino challenger, who was a heavy underdog fighting for a world title for the first time.

After a conservative start, Navarrete began to ramp up the pressure in the third round.

Santisima managed to back Navarrete into a corner in the fourth, but the champion unloaded on him in a big fifth round, rocking Santisima with a left hook.

Navarrete had Santisima in trouble again in the 10th and finally finished him in the 11th with a series of unanswered blows that prompted referee Russell Mora to wave it off at 2:20 of the round. Filipino Jeo Santisima (right) exchanges punches with WBO super bantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete at MGM Grand Garden Arena The champion’s impressive finish in Las Vegas, Nevada. AFP came despite an apparent problem with his right hand.

“I hit him weirdly with my right and I hurt my thumb,” said Navarrete, who switched to a southpaw stance a few times late in the fight. “But I had to plough through it and get the win tonight.

Navarrete improved to 31-1 with 27 wins inside the distance. Santisima fell to 19-3 with 16 knockouts.

The fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena was on the undercard of the heavyweight world title rematch between Deontay Wilder and Tyson Fury. AFP

THE search for the Stars of Tomorrow has reached its climax as the PFF U15 Boys National Championship 2019 enters its Final Round which is slated on February 26 and 28 2020 at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite.

The teams from National Capital Region FA, Mount Apo RFA, Davao-South RFA, and Negros Occidental FA will play in the in the semifinals on February 26 for the right to play in the final on February 28.

The four remaining teams confirmed their participation in the Final Round after finishing in the top two of their respective groups in the National Championship Round held in Carmona for Group 2 November 11 to 19, 2020 and Davao City for Group 2 December 13 to 18, 2020 respectively.

Group 1 winner, the team from National Capital Region FA will face Group 2 runner-up Mount Apo RFA. Group 2 winner Davao-South RFA will face Group 1 runnerup Negros Occidental FA. The semifinal losers will faceoff in the 3rd/4th place play-off while the winners of the two semi-final ties will face off in the final.

Meanwhile, the best attacking team in the tournament showed why by scoring 74 goals: 42 from their unbeaten campaign in Luzon Group B, and 32 from their Group 1 campaign.

They have gone 10 matches unbeaten, winning their first eight convincingly before drawing with Negros Occidental FA in a 3-3 draw last November 17, 2019, finishing on top of the group with a superior goal differential.

Armed with international experience, the boys of coach Richard Leyble is looking to extend their streak as they lean on the dynamic duo of skipper Dominic Tom and Matthias Xavier Lozano who led the team with combined total of 28 goals, with the former scoring 7 goals in the National Championship Round.

Diaz, Petecio headline SMC-PSA Awards Night

Curry joins full-contact scrimmages SAN FRANCISCO, United States— Golden State star Stephen Curry took part in his first full-contact practice since breaking his left hand in October on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) and is targeting a March 1 NBA return.

“He got an ovation today when I told the group he was going to scrimmage with us,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters. “Everyone was excited. It’ll be good for our young guys to feel what it’s like to play with him, and vice-versa.”

Curry, 31, required surgery after breaking a bone in his left hand on October 30 in a game against the Phoenix Suns.

Although his return date is not certain, he has indicated he’s aiming for the Warriors’ March 1 game against the Washington Wizards.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving will have surgery on his right shoulder and miss the remainder of the NBA season.

Point guard Irving tried to play through a shoulder impingement first diagnosed in November, but eventually missed 26 games.

In hoping to avoid surgery he received a cortisone injection on December 24 that allowed him to return to action on January 12.

He played in nine games before spraining his right knee in a game against the Washington Wizards on February 1.

Speaking to reporters on February 4 he said he would consider surgery if his shoulder continued to trouble him.

Irving was averaging 27.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game this season.

At 25-28 the Nets are seventh in the Eastern Conference, two games ahead of the Orlando Magic occupying the eighth and final playoff spot.

Curry said he has nerve damage in his non-shooting hand that could affect his play.

“I’m getting used to what the new normal is,” Curry said. “It definitely feels different than the right, but you can try to get it to the point where when you’re actually playing basketball, you don’t think about it.”

Curry averaged 20.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.0 rebounds in four games before the injury.

The Warriors have reached the past five NBA Finals, taking titles in 2015, 2017 and 2018 before losing to Toronto in last year’s championship series.

But without Kevin Durant, who left for Brooklyn after suffering a torn Achilles tendon in last year’s NBA Finals that has sidelined for this season, and injured star guards Curry and Klay Thompson, the Warriors are currently last in the Western Conference.

A return for Curry would give him time to play alongside new teammates like recently acquired Andrew Wiggins as the Warriors try to build momentum heading into next season. AFP

W

EIGHTLIFTING World Cup triple gold medal winner Hidilyn Diaz and boxing world champion Nesthy Petecio are among those to be awarded major awards in next month’s annual SMC-PSA (Philippine Sportswriters Association) Awards Night at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel.

Diaz and Petecio lead the 12 personalities who are the recipients of major awards from the country’s oldest media organization in the March 6 gala night presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, MILO, Cignal TV, Philippine Basketball Association, Rain or Shine, and Air Asia.

The two lady athletes are also members of Team Philippines which will be honored with the coveted Athlete of the Year award on account of its successful regaining of the Southeast Asian Games overall championship.

Diaz, 29, won three golds in the 2020 Weightlifting World Cup in Italy, a silver medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics, a silver in the Asian Championships and a pair of bronze in the World Weightlifting Championships.

Petecio, 27, won the featherweight gold in the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Ulan-Ude, Russia.

The country’s first qualifier in the Tokyo Olympics in pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena is also a major awardee for topping the qualifying meet in Chiara, Italy.

He also won golds in the Asian Athletics

Championship and the Summer Universiade.

Two other world boxing champions are also in the honor roll list in reigning International Boxing Federation (IBF) superflyweight title holder Jerwin Ancajas and World Boxing Organization (WBO) bantamweight king Johnriel Casimero.

Not to be left out are major awardees in basketball composed of the undefeated, sixth-time UAAP women’s champion National University, five-time PBA Philippine Cup winner San Miguel Beermen, and five-time MVP June Mar Fajardo.

Completing the list of major awardees are golfers Juvic Pagunsan, Aidric Chan, and Princess Superal, and Horse of the Year Union Bell.

Still to be named are recipients of special citation, the MILO Junior Athletes of the Year, the regular Tony Siddayao awardees, and the Chooks-To-Go Fan Favorite Award.

Manila, Makati forge MPBL semis duel

Manila big man Gabby Espinas (10) tries to score against a Pasig defender in their MPBL match won by Manila.

MALOLOS CITY—Manila squeaked past Pasig, 82-80, while Makati foiled Bulacan anew, 86-78, to forge a semifinal tussle in the Chooks-to-Go MPBL Lakan Season North division at Malolos Sports & Convention Center.

Ahead by eight points with 1 minute and 31 seconds left, the Manila Stars watched as Philip Manalang drilled in back-to-back triples and pushed the Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors to within 80-82.

It turned out to be the final count, however, as the Realtors’ Jeric Teng flubbed a possible game-tying floater with three seconds left and Argel Mendoza missed a buzzer-beating triple that could have reversed the outcome.

Former pro Carlo Lastimosa led the Frontrow-backed Stars with 21 points, followed Chris Bitoon with 19 points, seven rebounds, plus six boards, and Aris Dionisio with 14 points plus eight rebounds.

Mark Dyke also sparkled with 13 points, eight in the fourth quarter, and 10 rebounds as the Stars repeated their 91-88 conquest of the Realtors on February 18.

The Realtors got 25 points and 10 rebounds from Jeric Teng, 21 points and 10 rebounds from Josan Nimes, 14 points from Leo Najorda, and 12 from Manalang.

After losing the home court edge as the Guadalupe Viejo Gym failed to meet league standards, the Super Crunch were determined to beat the Kuyas at their lair.

“Losing the homecourt, I told the players we just have to stay together,” said Makati coach Beaujing Acot, whose charges hurdled past the Kuyas, 94-88, in the series opener on February 18.

With Makati already ahead, 72-67, Joseph Sedurifa drilled in two triples in an 8-2 salvo that padded the lead to 11 poinrs and sent many Bulacan fans to the exits with 2:48 left.

Cedric Ablaza and Joshua Torralba fired 22 points each for Makati, which also drew 16 points, nine boards and seven assists from Jeckster Apinan and 11 points, 13 rebounds, plus five assists from Sedurifa.

Bulacan drew 16 points from Stephen Siruma, 12 from Jovit Dela Cruz, and 11 from JR Alabanza.

Halep claims 20th career title with Dubai triumph DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – Simona Halep defeated Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) to secure her 20th career title with victory at the Dubai Championships and claimed she felt “pretty dead”.

The world number two from Romania, who also won the title in Dubai in 2015, clinched her first trophy since Wimbledon last summer.

“I love playing here, I gave everything I had,” said Halep who had been 1-3 down in the final set and took victory after coming back from a set down for the third successive match in Dubai.

“Now, actually, I’m pretty dead.”

Rybakina, 20, who will rise to 17 from 19 in the new rankings next week, was

playing her fourth final from five tournaments in 2020 having won the Hobart trophy last month on the eve of the Australian Open.

“She’s a talented player,” Halep said of her opponent who has a WTA-leading 19 match wins for the season.

“She’s young and has many more years ahead of her.”

Rybakina, who was just inside the top 200 this time last year, took the tight final set into a deciding tiebreaker when she broke Halep as the top seed served for victory.

“I may have been a bit nervous,” Halep said. “I just kept trying to fight for every ball.

“I’m really proud of this week, I think I gave my best. I enjoy every match I play

here.”

Rybakina took the early initiative, gaining a 4-2 lead but struggling to close out the opening set.

The Kazakh had to save two break points as she served for the set leading 5-3.

The 20-year-old double-faulted on a first set point before finally claiming the set on her third opportunity after 38 minutes, saving a pair of break points.

Halep struck back in the second, breaking for 3-1, but Rybakina answered in the seventh game with a break back before losing serve again to trail 3-5 after salvaging three break points.

Halep squared the match at a set each from Rybakina’s backhand error a game later. AFP

Romania’s Simona Halep celebrates after winning over Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina in the final of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in the United Arab Emirates. AFP

Sports

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

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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

British boxer Tyson Fury (right) batters US boxer Deontay Wilder during their World Boxing Council (WBC) Heavyweight Championship Title boxing match at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. AFP

Fury batters Wilder to win title rematch LAS VEGAS, United States—Tyson Fury reigns again as a heavyweight world champion after battering Deontay Wilder on the way to a stunning seventh-round stoppage in their World Boxing Council title rematch.

Fourteen months after their dramatic split-decision draw, Britain’s Fury dominated the American champion – who had blood streaming from his left ear and leaking from his mouth when referee Kenny Bayless called a halt at the behest of Wilder’s corner.

“The king has returned to the top of the throne,” said Fury, who had dropped Wilder in the third and fifth rounds as he remained unbeaten – and handed Wilder the first defeat of his career.

The self-styled “Gypsy King” from northern England – who was borne to the ring on a golden throne – had put on a boxing masterclass in their first fight, but he was clearly ready to brawl from the opening bell on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time).

A massive right from Fury knocked down Wilder in the third and Wilder struggled to regain his legs – although when he went down again moments later it was ruled a slip.

A left to the body had Wilder down again in the fifth, and Fury was raining blows on Wilder when Bayless called a halt at 1:39 of the seventh round after Wilder’s corner threw in the towel.

Wilder, 34, suffered his first defeat in 44 fights, falling to 42-1 with 1 drawn and 41 knockouts.

The “Bronze Bomber” was unable to surpass Muhammad Ali’s record of 10 successful heavyweight title defenses.

“I just want to say a big shout out Deontay Wilder,” said Fury, who improved his own unbeaten record to 30-0 with one drawn and 21 knockouts. “He manned up. He really did show heart of a champion.

“I hit him with a clean right hand and dropped him, and he got back up and battled on into round seven.

“He is a warrior, he will be back, he will be champion again.”

As a pro-Fury crowd at the MGM Grand cheered, Wilder briefly protested the stoppage. AFP

Bordeos rules Stage 1 of LBC Ronda Pilipinas

By Peter Atencio

S

ORSOGON City—Light rains lasting less than 20 minutes greeted an 11-man pack, led by Mark Julius Bordeos, that reached the finish in three hours, six minutes and seven seconds.

The 24-year-old Philippine Army-Bicycology rider Bordeos said he did not need to cool down while being hosed by a standby firetruck crew after he took the Stage 1 honors at the start of the 10th LBC Ronda Pilipinas here.

And his conquest of the 129.5 km route around the province of Sorsogon will be his best finish in this bikefest, after last seeing action in 2017.

“Hindi inaasahan na mananalo kasi maraming sprinter. Tignan ko kung kaya ko po hanggang 10th stage. Hindi po ako kalakasan sa ahon,” said the private first class from Loac, Pangasinan.

Utah Jazz dancers perform before the game against the Houston Rockets at vivint.

SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. AFP

NM Retanal rules 4th Riyadh Resident Chess Championship PHILIPPINE National Master Elwin Herbias Retanal dominated the 4th Riyadh Resident Chess Tournament at the Mena Hotel, Olaya Street, Riyadh City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia last weekend.

The Cebuano native Retanal, 1997 national junior champion, scored 7 points on 7 wins to rule the 7-round tournament and successfully defended his title.

Candidate Master Khairat Ahmed of Egypt settled for second with 6 points.

Abdel Fatah Mohamed Hamed of Egypt and Mohammad Salahat of Jordan were tied at 3rd to 4th places with 5.5 points each while Nelson Lagutin and Eduardo Valenzuela of the Philippines led the group of five pointers that includef

Surgery on his appendix forced Bordos out of action back in 2016, and he had been joining numerous races afterwards.

Bordeos was with a big group of riders that chased down veteran 7Eleven/Cliqq/ Air21 rider Mark Galedo.

The 24-year-old Galedo took the lead when they left the Sorsogon Baywalk starting line. He held the lead for the first 84.5 kilometers of the race When Galedo went up the steep roads of Bulusan Volcano Natural Park, he sensed a crosswind coming in his favor.

And Galedo used the strong windy conditions to his advantage, as he went

downhill after ruling the King of the Mountain portion.

From there, Galedo led a smaller 24man breakaway pack as it turned and headed north for 48 kilometers, and headed for Prieto Diaz.

Galedo was still around when this group splintered into an 11-man pack, in the last 500-meters when Bordeos finally took over.

As the rains kept the riders wet and cool, Scratch It rider Jerry Aquino accompanied Bordeos in crossing the finish line with 7Eleven’s Rustom Lim and and Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance.

Also included in the 11-man group, and 12 seconds behind at the finish, are 7Eleven’s Aidan Mendoza, Marcelo Felipa and Mervin Corpuz, Navyman Jan Paul Morales, and Celeste Cycle’s Alvin Benosa.

On the other hand, a laidback Galedo stayed back for fifth place, and was three seconds behind.

Gamal Abd Alhakm of Egypt, Ababneh Ghayth of Jordan, Mortada Haytham, Mahmoud Houssam and Elizamar Ahmad of Egypt.

Other Filipino entries are 13th placer Richard Matibag (4 points) and 18th placer Emmerson Vicencio (4 points).

With the victory, Retanal’s performance boosted the nation’s image as chess champions, said Arena Grandmaster Robert Ramos Suelo Jr., 1996 national junior champion.

“Once again our flag has been raised in this foreign land after knowing that our Filipino kababayan Philippine National Master Elwin Herbias Retanal dominated the 4th Riyadh Resident Chess Tournament,” he said.

Batangas extends season BATANGAS—After a subpar showing in the elimination round, Batangas City-Tanduay’s Adi Santos made sure to take his game up a notch in their do-or-die quarterfinals game in the 2019-20 Chooks-to-Go/MPBL Lakan Season.

The 6-foot-3 swingman laid it all on the line for his squad to extend his team’s season.

Santos countered Zamboanga’s offensive attack by crashing the offensive glass and pouring five-straight points for the Athletics, to restore an 11-point advantage, 78-67, with 1:46 remaining the game.

Moreover, his hustle paved the way for Genmar Bragais and Jeff Viernes to close out the game with Batangas taking an 84-75 victory over Zamboanga, forcing a win-or-go-home Game Three on Thursday.

“He’s been big for us coming off the bench, energy, rebounding, putbacks, iba siya, iba. He’s contagious, he’s contagious, offense and defense he’s contagious,” said Batangas head coach Woody Co right after the win.

Santos, who just posted 6.8 points and 6.1 rebounds in the elimination phase, upped his averages to 11 points and seven rebounds per contest for the Athletics in the playoffs.

“Ayoko pa magpahinga e. Ayoko pang magbakasyon, gusto ko pang ma-extend yung series kaya talagang focus kami sa training, extra hour para sa training,” Santos revealed, as he’s taking the extra time after practice to work on his craft.

“Kailangan na kasi naming magtulong tulong lahat e, kasi kung hindi wala na kami. Maaga kaming magpapahinga, magbabakasyon kaya sinunod namin yung game plan ng mga coaches tapos work hard talaga kami,” he added.

As one of the longest-tenured player in the squad, the product of University of the East made it a mission to give back to the City of Batangas – who recently suffered from a major calamity earlier this year.

Rockets cruise past Jazz, Kings beat Clippers LOS ANGELES, United States— James Harden and Russell Westbrook combined for 72 points as the Houston Rockets beat the Utah Jazz on the road for the second time in four weeks, winning 120-110 on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time).

Harden scored a team high 38 points and added five rebounds and seven assists while Westbrook scored 34. It was Harden’s sixth three-pointer with 2:13 remaining that silenced the Jazz for good.

Utah had cut a 16-point deficit to 115108 before Harden nailed a long threepointer that lifted Houston to its seventh win in the last nine contest.

Eric Gordon and Ben McLemore scored 12 points apiece off the bench for the Rockets, who finished 20 of 48 from behind the arc at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

It was the Rockets’ three-point prowess that set the late tone with McLemore, Austin Rivers and Gordon all connecting from long range to spark a 17-5 run after Utah closed to within 83-80 on a three-point play from Mike Conley.

Donovan Mitchell led Utah with 31 points while Jordan Clarkson added 22 off the bench.

Utah scored 64 points in the paint, but that wasn’t enough to counter the Rockets’ explosive shooting.

Elsewhere, reserve Kent Bazemore scored 23 points as the Sacramento Kings are off to a roaring start to the second half of the season with a 112-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.

De’Aaron Fox and Bogdan Bogdanovic each scored 20 points for Sacramento, who were coming off Thursday’s 129-125 win over Memphis in their first game back after the All-Star break. AFP

Tokyo 2020 organizers postpone training of volunteers TOKYO, Japan—Tokyo 2020 Olympic organizers postponed training for their army of volunteers due to the coronavirus outbreak but reiterated that there was “no consideration” of cancelling the Games.

In a press release Tokyo 2020 said: “As part of efforts to prevent the spread of infection of the novel coronavirus, we have decided to postpone training.”

They said volunteers would be informed individually of the rescheduled dates and insisted the postponement would have no impact on the preparations for the Games, due to start on July 24.

“We will evaluate the immediate need for each Games-related event on a caseby-case basis,” organizers said, adding that participants at Tokyo 2020 events would be asked to take preventative mea-

sures to stop the spread of the disease.

Organizers have been at pains to stress there is no question of cancelling or postponing Tokyo 2020 despite mounting fears over the potentially deadly virus spreading fast around the globe.

There are around 100 cases in Japan— with three deaths—and more than 600 positive cases found aboard a cruise ship moored in Yokohama near Tokyo.

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike announced that she would postpone or cancel all indoor events or outdoor events involving food hosted by her organization.

But she hit back at a proposal from a candidate in London’s mayoral election that the British capital could step in as hosts if needed.

“I think we are not yet reaching that point,” said Koike when asked if there

would be any changes to the Games schedule.

The International Olympic Committee has also said there is no need for a contingency plan to postpone, cancel or move Tokyo 2020, despite new cases of the deadly virus emerging daily in Japan.

“I can confirm Tokyo 2020 remains on track,” top IOC official John Coates said last week in Tokyo, while Games CEO Yoshiro Mori has criticised “irresponsible rumors” about the Games.

Nevertheless, sporting events have already fallen foul of the virus in Japan and around the region.

The Tokyo marathon on March 1 has been restricted to elite athletes only, while a Paralympics test event for boccia was scaled down with international athletes asked not to attend. AFP

IN BRIEF

Cusi eyes Chevron area as energy city

ENERGY Secretary Alfonso Cusi recommended the 120-hectare property of National Development Co. in Batangas for energy development by 2021.

NDC subsidiary Batangas Land Co. Inc. owns the property which it leased to Chevron Philippines Inc. (formerly Caltex Philippines) for P0.74 per sq. m. a month, or four percent of the current monthly fair market rental estimate of P17.90 per sq. m.

This prompted the Finance Department to order the shut down of BLCI by 2021 on alleged onerous provisions in the more than four-decade contract with Chevron, which uses the property as an oil import terminal.

“What we want to do their in that place is to be the energy city also,” Cusi told reporters, as he assured no impact on oil supply once Chevron shut down the terminal.

Cusi cited a previous draft executive order to transform the BLCI property into an energy city. The directive put on hold pending the resolution of the Chevron issue. Alena Mae S. Flores

PSALM to track down delinquent power firms POWER Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. will go after independent power producer administrators with delinquent accounts totaling P33.62 billion.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III instructed PSALM to pursue all legal remedies to compel the IPPAs to pay at once.

Following its stepped-up collection drive in response to Dominguez’s directive, Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin said PSALM collected a combined P70.41 billion from several IPPAs last year, San Miguel Corp.’s South Premiere Power Corp., which administers the capacity of the Ilijan gas-fired power plant in Batangas City, has the highest unpaid account in the sum of P23.94 billion as of Dec. 31, 2019.

SPPC is asserting another formula for computing payables to PSALM in a pending case before the RTC of Mandaluyong City. The case is pending since September 2015. Julito G. Rada

Business COVID-19 hurts Ayala’s hotel, mall businesses

By Jenniffer B. Austria

A

YALA Land Inc. said mall and hotel businesses suffered a 10-percent decline in the first six weeks of 2020 following the eruption of Taal Volcano and the outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 in China.

ALI president Bernard Vincent Dy said during a recent analyst briefing that while demand for residential projects remained strong, the group’s mall and hotel businesses faced challenges because of COVID-19 and the recent volcano eruption.

Dy said foot traffic at shopping malls declined by up to 10 percent in the first one and a half months of 2020, as people avoided crowded places. The hotel business also fell by up to 10 percent, he said.

Dy said given these factors, it would be “quite challenging” for the company to hit its target of P40 billion in net income for 2020. He said to meet the target, net income for this year should

grow by at least 20 percent.

“We will continue to push really hard to achieve the P40-billion target. We are still working on trying on to push our core businesses to be able to grow the business still at fairly healthy pace,” Dy said.

“We came in at P33.2 billion [in 2019]. To be able to reach P40 billion without the balance sheet adjustment, we need to grow by about 20 percent which could be quite challenging particularly with one [month] to one-anda-half months of the year, with Taal explosion and COVID-19 being the major challenges,” Dy said.

The P40-billion net income target for 2020 is a part of the five-year master-

plan set by ALI in 2015.

ALI registered a 13-percent increase in net income in 2019 to P33.2 billion from P29.4 billion in 2018.

ALI plans to launch P125 billion worth of residential projects this year as demand across all market segments remains robust.

Dy said the company earmarked P110 billion for 2020 capital expenditures, or the same level it spent last year.

Consolidated revenues climbed 2 percent in 2019 to P168.8 billion, driven by office, commercial and industrial lot sales and supported by higher contributions from new leasing formats.

Revenues from property development went up by 3 percent to P117.6 billion, boosted by sales of office, commercial and industrial lots.

Residential sales fell 8 percent to P93.2 billion from P101 billion in 2018 even as reservation sales rose 3 percent to P145.9 billion.

Commercial leasing revenue increased by 13 percent last year to P39.3 billion, fueled by strong contributions from newly opened malls, office and hotels.

RCBC recommends diversified portfolio A LOCAL fund manager has urged Filipinos to diversify their investment portfolio amid the changing global economic landscape, as headwinds such as the impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is seen to affect certain sectors.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp.

Trust and Investments head Mario Miranda urged Filipinos to opt for for strong defensive investment positioning due to heightened local and global risks.

He cautioned investors on the risks brought about by the effect of the COVID-19, that may dampen economic growth. Despite stringent measures being taken to prevent the spread of the virus, an increase in terms of risk aversion in global and local financial markets is seen as a result of this.

“We see interest rates trading sideways with a slight downward bias due to risk off sentiments and expect the equity market to trade higher following the rebounding economic growth forecast,” Miranda said.

Uy’s DITO begins tapping $500-m fund for telecom rollout next year DITO Telecommunity Corp., a joint venture of businessman Dennis Uy and China Telecoms, said it has sufficient money to fund the rollout of telecom services nationwide.

“We have already drawn from the initial facility worth $500 million through the Bank of China,” DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamano said.

The company vowed to invest P257 billion over a five-year period, including P150 billion in its first year of operations.

Tamano said the company was on track to meet the March 2021 commercial rollout as set by the National Telecommunications Commission under its certificate of public convenience and necessity.

“We are on track. We are going to be launching this telco … By July, we would have a technical launch, the first audit that the government will do,” Tamano said.

He said the network would be ready with 37-percent coverage and 27 mbps speed by July this year.

“We don’t want to give the same lousy service. That’s why we have a technical launch. We want all the underlying things to be ironed out for customers before the commercial launch,” Tamano said.

Tamano said there was a misunderstanding between technical launch and the commercial launch of its telecom services.

Tamano said that by September, DITO would conduct pre-commercial trial to test the stability of its network.

“We have a very ambitious goal to reinvent the telco industry. We’re confident that we could offer better products,” Tamano said. Darwin G. Amojelar

DECONGESTION PROJECTS. The Department of Public Works and Highways is working towards the completion of three EDSA decongestion projects by end of 2020. DPWH Undersecretary Emil Sadain (third from left), who is in-charge of Unified Project Management Office operations and technical services, identifies these projects crossing Pasig River as the Bonifacio Global CityOrtigas Center Link Road, Estrella-Pantaleon Bridge and Binondo-Intramuros Bridge. Sadain has secured the commitment of contractors and consultants to fast-track the project completion delivery by the end of this year.

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

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Honda closes Laguna factory that assembles City and BR-V HONDA Cars Philippines Inc. said it will shut down its manufacturing facility that employs 387 workers in Sta. Rosa, Laguna next month.

HCPI said in a statement the decision to close the Philippine plant that assembles subcompact model City and compact SUV model BR-V aimed to optimize its production operations in Asia.

The company said it would continue its automobile sales and after-sales service operation in the Philippines through the utilization of Honda’s Asia and Oceania regional network.

“To meet Honda’s customer needs in the Philippines for reasonably priced and good-quality products, Honda considered efficient allocation and distribution of resources,” the Japanese carmaker said.

“As such, after consideration of optimization efforts in the production operations in Asia and Oceania region, Honda decided to close the manufacturing operations of HCPI,” it said.

HCPI started its assembly operations in 1992 under the Philippine government’s Car Development Program with a total capital investment of P1.9 billion.

It currently employs 650 workers with 38 dealers nationwide and about 60 parts and materials suppliers.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said in a statement he would meet with HCPI officials on Monday to consider alternative options to minimize the impact of the plant closure.

Lopez said the department would also study the need to impose safeguard duty and other support measures to protect the local vehicle manufacturers.

“The cost structure of their local car assembly, which has about 380 workers, is basically challenged and there is no protection, thus making imports of vehicles as a cheaper alternative. Vehicle imports have been growing, causing injury to the industry from assembly to local parts supply network in the country,” Lopez said.

Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said the closure of Honda’s plant would create just a “minimal” impact on the economy. He said despite the latest development, “many foreign companies that are coming in.”

HCPI said it would continue providing highly attractive products to its customers in the Philippines and continue contributing to the local society which has been an ongoing effort for the last 50 years since Honda was established in the Philippines.Jenniffer B. Austria

Lawmaker opposes calls for PSE to take over WESM operations

By Alena Mae S. Flores A MEMBER of the House energy committee rejected calls for the Philippine Stock Exchange to take over the operations of the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the country’s trading floor of electricity.

“PSE is a stock market. They have experience, and they have capability, but as a market of equities and not as electricity spot market,” Puwersa ng Bayang Atleta (Rep. Jericho Nograles said during the NANKA Media Forum on Friday.

Nograles, who serves as House energy committee vice chairman, said the PSE

had no experience in running an electricity spot market, which is an important requirement under the implementing rules and regulations of the Electric Power Industry Reform Act of 2001.

Nograles also said the decision to award the contract to operate the WESM to the current operator Independent Electricity Spot Market was legally flawed and as such, the former should be abolished.

The former WESM operator Philippine Electricity Market Corp. transferred to IEMOP through an operating agreement the operation of WESM on Sept.

26, 2018 as approved by the Energy Department. PEMC currently supervises

WESM. “The operating agreement between PEMC and IEMOP is void ab initio.

What should be done by the secretary or IEMOP, for IEMOP to recognize its legal infirmities to avoid further prosecution, all they have to do is rescind and give up the market operation and give it back to PEMC which is back to status quo,” Nograles said.

The lawmaker said that if WESM’s operations are returned to PEMC, “we can move forward by creating the proper independent market operator as envisioned by the EPIRA law.

“Let’s just go back to PEMC. I don’t

see it a problem if we go back to PEMC because it is not about who is running the market. It is the legality of the juridical entity that’s running the market,” Nograles said.

He said the House and Senate’s energy committees along with the Energy Department could then create a technical working group to revisit the IRR of the EPIRA law and “ clarify all the gray matters.”

Nograles also said that upon the course of the investigation of the committee, there were some relationships in IEMOP that were put into question that could be a ground for graft and corruption.

NLEX extension to España eyed in 2021

By Darwin G. Amojelar NLEX Corp. said it expects to complete the first section of an elevated expressway from Caloocan to España Boulevard in Manila by 2021.

“As you know we have already awarded the contract to DMCI. The notice to proceed was awarded last month, and we are already mobilizing,” NLEX president Luigi Bautista told reporters.

NLEX awarded to D.M. Consunji Inc. in November last year the P8-billion contract to build the first section of the NLEX-SLEX Connector Road. The section will span from Caloocan Interchange to España Boulevard.

“The full-blast construction will start next month, and they will bring heavy and big equipment on the side. Neces-

sary equipment will be used for board piling. The intention is to complete the project next year,” Luigi said.

Bautista said the company would also bid out the contract for the second section of the project from España to PUP Sta. Mesa where it would meet the Skyway Stage 3 which is a part of the South Luzon Expressway.

“I cannot name the bidders for the moment, but there were 6 or 7 [contractors]. They are being evaluated, if they are qualified to bid,” Bautista said.

The P23.3-billion NLEX-SLEX Connector Road is an eight-kilometer elevated four-lane expressway extending NLEX southward from the end of Segment 10 on C3 Road Caloocan City to PUP Sta. Mesa, Manila and connecting to Skyway Stage 3 by mostly traversing the PNR rail track.

MICROINSURANCE FORUM. The Microinsurance MBA Association of the Philippines, also known as RIMANSI, with the support of Citi Foundation, holds its annual National Microinsurance Forum at the Philippine International Convention Center. Attending the forum are (from left) Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas managing director of the Center for Learning and Inclusion Advocacy Pia Roman-Tayag, MiMAP chairman emeritus Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, Finance Assistant Secretary Teresa Habitan and Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed.

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Business

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market poised to trade sideways S

By Jenniffer B. Austria

HARE prices are expected to move sideways during this shortened trading week on renewed worries about the viral outbreak in China.

Several countries including China, South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy reported an increase in COVID-19 cases.

But analysts said the good earnings report from listed companies could provide a boost on the market amid growing worries over the coronavirus.

“Trade the market for now as investors are expected to weigh corporate earrings against COVID-19 concerns and January’s balance of payment deficit,” Philstocks Financial Inc said.

“Take positions from banks and properties amid their robust earnings,” it added.

Among the companies scheduled to release 2019 earnings are Manila Electric

Co., Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Manila Water Co. Inc. and SM Investments Corp.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange Index last week rose 1.2 percent 7,369.78, while the broader All Shares Index added 0.6 percent to 4,346.76.

Except for the financial index which dipped 0.02 percent, all other sub-indices posted week-on-week increases, led by holding firms which climbed 2.4 percent, financials which advanced added 0.6 percent, and property which rose 0.4 percent.

Mining and oil increased 0.4 percent while services also added 0.3 percent.

Foreign investors were net sellers for

the week by P1.24 billion while the average daily value traded stood at P6.13 billion from previous week’s average of P6.1 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were ABSCBN Corp., which rose 14.7 percent to P12, Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corp., which increased 8.6 percent to P2.40 and AC Energy Philippines Inc., which climbed 7.6 percent to P2.27.

Weekly top price losers were LT Group Inc., which declined 8.6 percent to P9.50, Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., which fell 6.5 percent to P6.81 and Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp., which tumbled 5.8 percent to P4.17.

Meanwhile, more cases of the new coronavirus outside China along with warnings by major companies that their earnings could be hurt caused most stock markets to pull back on Friday.

“Coronavirus was back at the top of the agenda on Friday, with a rising number of new cases in China and South Korea

putting the fear in investors,” remarked Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell.

More than 2,200 people have died from the disease in China, which has infected more than 75,000 people there and over 1,000 abroad, fueling concerns the epidemic will become a bigger problem for neighboring economies.

As a growing list of companies warned of an expected hit to their bottom lines, investors seemed unwilling to hold on to shares and moved into safe havens.

Wall Street tumbled for the second day, with the broad-based S&P 500 dropping 1.1 percent.

European markets struggled to benefit from upbeat manufacturing survey data, and closed with losses of around half a percent.

Two more people died in Iran while infections nearly doubled in South Korea and clusters surfaced in Chinese prisons, rekindling concerns about the outbreak.

With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS WEEKLY STOCKS REVIEW STOCKS

FEBRUARY 17-21, 2020 Close Volume

Value

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

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

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

51.25 147.50 84.00 0.87 25 18 11.56 3.79 0.63 1.08 805.50 0.410 60.85 0.75 13.3 19.00 31.85 52.45 110.3 176 20.45 170.2 1820.00 58.00 1921000

4,370 7,186,800 16,487,400 150,000 1,075,400 381,200 522,100 12,000 8,000 23,000 520 1,630,000 14,499,850 227,000 180,800 15,500 2,431,300 3,690 1,000 9,170 1,914,300 1,470,580 755 14,050 5,188,010

FINANCIAL 227,433.50 1,066,403,398.00 1,401,599,267.50 121,100.00 26,883,590.00 6,860,008.00 6,031,498.00 43,880.00 4,640.00 25,330.00 436,720.00 678,150.00 868,611,362.00 169,100.00 2,160,846.00 294,472.00 78,054,730.00 191,497.00 110,300.00 1,620,789.00 39,232,600.00 252,671,465.00 1,393,000.00 818,054.00 3,310,730.00

Aboitiz Power Corp.

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

Axelum Basic Energy Corp.

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

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

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

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Petron Corporation Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

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

Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

31.7 2.27 7.75 0.64 1.22 3.16 0.224 88.5 15.12 1.49 15.1 228 8.22 64.7 67 30.05 2.15 5.4 4.8 8.230 11.86 8.63 7.55 2.65 20.05 66 1.91 36.45 1.5700 13.58 5.2 1.220 189.00 34.05 4.8 3 6.87 12.22 9.7 14.6 0.162 270.00 5.20 1.83 3.74 3.46 9.70 11.78 28.95 4.8 5.26 1.61 1.52 1.17 9.06 74 9.29 0.117 0.92 150 2.41 1.22 15.10 0.96

4,592,900 13,553,000 10,686,600 13,851,000 127,000 15,522,000 360,000 200 6,600 40,317,000 1,602,500 2,780 8,970,100 3,090 980 2,400 286,000 35,000 22,000 9,669,900 1,958,200 8,074,700 4,007,200 16,361,000 4,508,800 576,620 143,331,000 82,500 20,247,000 7,050,400 12,509,500 1,287,000 4,803,810 100 711,000 71,000 100 18,377,900 422,300 6,584,300 2,080,000 599,310 5,800 4,966,000 208,000 5,291,000 63,700 454,700 453,900 283,000 16,900 4,886,000 317,000 5,731,000 4,641,300 1,330,580 303,300 2,440,000 1,013,000 3,353,140 55,000 43,572,000 5,000 3,630,000

INDUSTRIAL 146,338,635.00 29,804,670.00 81,393,726.00 8,976,610.00 152,600.00 47,231,660.00 79,920.00 17,675.00 102,742.00 61,047,380.00 24,163,674.00 560,128.00 77,316,726.00 189,286.00 67,848.00 72,405.00 603,920.00 188,964.00 102,620.00 81,123,821.00 23,258,330.00 23,866,534.00 29,807,342.00 48,667,710.00 89,924,267.00 38,486,321.50 278,490,310.00 2,895,075.00 30,619,470.00 87,807,406.00 72,408,852.00 1,579,910.00 900,251,397.00 3,405.00 3,444,170.00 218,700.00 687.00 229,026,158.00 4,122,596.00 95,895,408.00 325,760.00 163,858,734.00 30,157.00 9,190,360.00 712,860.00 18,413,830.00 616,226.00 5,335,508.00 13,170,650.00 1,363,190.00 87,032.00 7,620,340.00 481,850.00 6,784,490.00 43,588,134.00 99,803,842.50 2,808,020.00 288,160.00 916,370.00 504,663,063.00 132,360.00 50,587,620.00 75,500.00 3,478,560.00

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

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

Lopez Holdings Corp.

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

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

0.880 50.50 10.26 0.70 6.10 10.02 0.930 0.940 750 2.490 6.26 5.62 3.6 12.30 2.140 731 4.71 75.60 6.64 5.21 5.51 0.485 3.88 9.5 0.590 3.19 4.2800 1.100 2.70 133.00 2.02 1038.00 1.16 0.80 166.000 155.00 0.2290 0.189

65,657,000 7,136,880 33,410,000 100,000 34,600 31,300 3,220,000 587,000 1,492,820 2,395,000 889,500 41,867,000 5,000 31,900 2,370,000 424,120 109,000 5,862,230 281,500 1,100 200 1,850,000 7,604,000 5,746,600 1,316,000 144,012,000 61,000 279,000 383,000 575,470 8,000 2,503,370 285,000 143,000 12,740 1,760 3,120,000 32,390,000

HOLDING FIRMS 58,074,710.00 362,728,841.00 347,033,034.00 68,200.00 211,830.00 313,527.00 2,941,330.00 542,980.00 1,122,589,400.00 5,981,940.00 5,563,072.00 238,810,516.00 18,000.00 384,468.00 520,990.00 310,518,090.00 515,470.00 439,168,756.00 1,865,754.00 5,731.00 1,102.00 889,450.00 29,049,980.00 56,591,353.00 762,800.00 460,456,320.00 266,950.00 304,610.00 1,034,980.00 76,467,217.00 16,280.00 2,556,121,425.00 320,320.00 110,950.00 2,095,866.00 285,510.00 692,210.00 6,202,480.00

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

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

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

Phil. Realty `A’ Primex Corp.

14.700 0.63 9.67 1.580 0.780 42.250 1.58 4.59 6.49 0.510 0.77 0.810 0.171 0.380 9.000 18.4 0.385 1.40 1.04 3.8 0.200 1.0800 0.4550 0.310 2.08

4,639,700 2,189,000 24,800 89,000 2,073,000 73,025,300 4,377,000 3,116,000 105,400 33,893,000 130,000 30,000 3,910,000 57,920,000 601,700 1,477,400 2,010,000 86,207,000 3,238,000 91,147,000 27,240,000 21,453,000 12,770,000 820,000 686,000

PROPERTY 68,261,642.00 1,369,500.00 238,841.00 141,490.00 1,617,630.00 3,063,026,260.00 6,996,200.00 14,091,000.00 645,194.00 16,501,210.00 100,890.00 24,000.00 690,810.00 23,719,100.00 5,458,052.00 27,874,758.00 758,500.00 121,925,150.00 3,363,070.00 361,988,490.00 5,511,590.00 23,495,520.00 5,783,000.00 256,100.00 1,411,490.00

FEBRUARY 10-14, 2020 Close Volume Value 53 148.50 86.00 0.80 25 17.98 11.3 3.79

9,580 5,805,900 9,688,590 382,000 816,900 2,612,600 1,176,000 555,000

508,710.50 871,703,343.00 837,954,215.50 306,500.00 20,457,505.00 47,047,968.00 13,131,434.00 2,030,310.00

1.15 858.00 0.420 58 0.82 11.2 19.02 32.00 51.5 110.3 176 20.5 170 1859.00 58.90 1.14

23,000 290 54,020,000 10,329,590 200,000 74,700 200 1,541,500 3,370 70 3,670 95,000 1,197,670 835 43,590 450,000

26,390.00 246,910.00 25,423,300.00 609,783,003.50 158,340.00 826,940.00 3,804.00 49,366,945.00 174,688.00 7,721.00 632,042.00 1,963,415.00 178,031,896.00 1,548,420.00 2,570,536.00 498,560.00

32 2.11 7.23 0.65 1.24 2.82 0.225 99.95 15.70 1.47 15.02 171 9.15 61.05 62.25 30.05 2.14

4,135,400 11,335,000 22,011,700 12,952,000 57,000 10,690,000 2,350,000 100 600 22,582,000 2,537,100 410 21,593,300 3,660 3,050 233,500 150,000

133,000,665.00 23,368,620.00 167,319,686.00 8,102,980.00 67,410.00 30,561,770.00 519,280.00 8,945.00 9,508.00 32,161,450.00 38,101,430.00 77,069.00 215,756,986.00 234,503.50 193,945.50 7,038,030.00 321,120.00

4.5 8.600 12 8.31 7.26 2.8 19.9 66.85 1.87 36.00 1.5900 11.54 6.12 1.250 185.20

121,000 5,716,900 197,500 5,175,100 21,883,900 77,862,000 9,408,300 4,214,510 241,519,000 19,900 21,980,000 4,683,500 2,160,100 1,459,000 2,835,780

565,520.00 49,600,429.00 2,388,074.00 44,699,357.00 158,663,042.00 221,966,540.00 136,808,839.00 281,864,453.50 465,782,320.00 702,080.00 35,305,690.00 48,710,462.00 13,895,372.00 1,811,220.00 541,270,649.00

4.15 3.1 6.87 12.42 9.82 14.8 0.163 262.00 5.20 1.83 3.74 3.46 9.70 11.90 29.35 4.73 5.20 1.51 1.51 1.15 9.42 75 9.11 0.117 0.96 149 2.4 1.12 15.10 0.99

17,000 47,000 11,600 56,922,500 51,077,600 2,116,800 2,720,000 1,128,280 2,200 3,818,000 603,000 2,916,000 118,500 210,400 1,800,900 8,359,000 36,900 1,563,000 19,000 18,498,000 2,365,500 692,090 709,500 1,560,000 1,806,000 8,805,270 28,000 32,644,000 5,000 7,464,000

72,240.00 147,410.00 75,966.00 718,341,904.00 508,105,641.00 102,986,586.00 454,880.00 302,779,942.00 10,968.00 7,025,440.00 2,072,910.00 10,216,310.00 1,166,408.00 2,477,104.00 53,627,205.00 39,431,950.00 191,364.00 2,410,590.00 28,730.00 23,207,700.00 22,360,405.00 52,463,647.00 6,570,351.00 184,600.00 1,754,970.00 1,318,573,600.00 67,620.00 36,686,890.00 75,500.00 7,528,650.00

0.890 49.40 10.30 0.68 6.20 9.98 0.900 0.910 745 2.500 6.29 5.84

68,982,000 4,014,440 41,312,400 905,000 184,600 30,700 8,149,000 659,000 1,417,370 7,067,000 19,621,600 31,479,700

60,250,560.00 202,917,055.00 430,747,060.00 631,490.00 1,117,923.00 306,792.00 7,249,880.00 595,190.00 1,067,618,935.00 18,686,760.00 123,680,398.00 187,098,964.00

12.60 0.213 721.5 4.91 74.50 6.69 5.21

45,600 5,930,000 858,420 61,400 5,147,460 555,800 5,800

571,742.00 1,306,220.00 623,336,440.00 303,904.00 375,182,769.00 3,707,709.00 30,162.00

0.49 3.8 10.4 0.580 3.07 4.5000 1.140 2.80 132.70 2 992.00 1.17 0.82 165.000 183.00 0.2060 0.189

311,000 11,217,000 20,010,200 42,000 124,360,000 35,000 489,000 54,000 899,740 16,000 1,668,980 78,000 513,000 12,580 650 1,890,000 7,950,000

152,765.00 42,150,050.00 210,936,966.00 22,960.00 385,946,150.00 151,900.00 553,650.00 1,150,630.00 120,466,747.00 32,040.00 1,667,779,415.00 87,180.00 405,640.00 2,110,458.00 115,335.00 405,660.00 1,520,670.00

14.700 0.66 9.67 1.600 0.790 41.100 1.62 4.5 6.62 0.470 0.76 0.820 0.174 0.350 9.020 18.5 0.380 1.41 1.11 3.9 0.203 1.0200 0.4600 0.310 2.08

4,313,200 2,053,000 3,700 76,000 2,585,000 65,677,000 4,739,000 1,947,000 9,500 25,017,000 58,000 60,000 7,970,000 4,080,000 617,000 3,447,500 840,000 74,576,000 3,577,000 130,675,000 48,250,000 12,397,000 30,230,000 1,560,000 1,825,000

63,453,842.00 1,318,150.00 33,661.00 124,930.00 2,021,570.00 2,851,278,175.00 7,661,920.00 8,769,340.00 60,277.00 12,013,575.00 43,000.00 48,980.00 1,402,790.00 1,470,150.00 5,554,244.00 64,514,730.00 324,350.00 106,972,880.00 3,813,360.00 508,397,800.00 10,223,020.00 12,349,630.00 12,742,750.00 477,950.00 3,732,530.00

STOCKS

FEBRUARY 17-21, 2020 Close Volume

FEBRUARY 10-14, 2020 Close Volume Value

Value

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes Vistamalls

25.30 2.05 3.09 41.30 2.49 1.620 6.810 5.160

9,221,800 1,088,000 597,000 72,743,000 415,000 27,734,000 22,142,500 462,200

233,593,260.00 2,108,780.00 1,820,040.00 2,995,881,515.00 1,030,500.00 46,228,690.00 151,834,395.00 2,360,336.00

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

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

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

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

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

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Waterfront Phils.

Wilcon Depot

8.2 19.66 1.42 10.5 0.405 0.047 17.5 2.79 9.00 0.0450 79.8 6.52 4.17 4.00 6.98 890 1889 5.40 418.00 13.36 1.14 118 1.53 8.92 6.50 0.098 1.6800 2.05 12.14 2.03 0.94 10.02 12.00 0.440 2.96 1.79 1.83 1.80 2.190 2.04 7.00 2.97 4.80 8.5 150.00 3.21 1025.00 0.310 0.550 38.00 72.35 8.73 2.14 0.570 0.238 0.560 18.760

352,400 9,519,800 194,000 12,092,600 3,690,000 20,400,000 2,600 1,666,000 15,543,500 62,700,000 687,240 8,600 4,347,000 844,000 61,100 2,050 157,855 2,661,400 1,260 477,400 1,688,000 8,247,070 7,000 26,400 1,400 5,930,000 346,426,000 6,000 10,100 1,032,000 35,000 24,909,500 1,800 11,170,000 121,000 3,150,000 15,626,000 1,353,000 21,064,000 161,000 19,900 1,000 16,000 1,700 276,230 5,572,000 267,920 12,850,000 108,922,000 9,212,100 937,830 112,700 4,739,000 3,653,000 6,090,000 1,884,000 8,636,300

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

United Paragon

0.0014 7.1000 1.09 2.40 11.60 1.1500 1.1000 2.98 0.270 6.73 1.300 0.200 0.095 0.097 0.0075 0.0075 0.72 2.59 1.01 0.4500 0.6300 0.0099 0.0120 3.02 7.60 0.0100 19.90 0.0050

MINING & OIL 717,000,000 959,400.00 499,000 3,546,134.00 10,519,000 10,882,230.00 686,000 1,537,770.00 29,100 332,100.00 1,000 1,150.00 5,000 5,500.00 1,595,000 4,800,400.00 220,000 59,400.00 61,500 410,054.00 3,029,000 3,933,460.00 1,120,000 228,250.00 6,730,000 634,640.00 4,180,000 383,430.00 30,000,000 223,000.00 3,000,000 22,500.00 1,965,000 1,449,560.00 13,255,000 34,566,480.00 54,000 53,720.00 1,480,000 666,100.00 327,000 209,760.00 123,100,000 1,227,140.00 1,094,700,000 11,296,500.00 3,856,000 11,575,830.00 3,880,400 30,125,388.00 86,300,000 898,600.00 1,899,300 37,861,522.00 51,000,000 256,200.00

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

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

16 100 103 500 500 101 101 105 500 502 5.3 999 1000 99.8 100.4 1038 1070 1085 102 107.5 1050 77.6 75.65 76.5 76.5 75.95 76 77

4,987,700 10,870 2,000 7,460 550 31,800 3,250 2,330 2,100 1,600 165,400 143,080 64,670 21,410 232,770 1,140 17,670 14,470 1,240 660 15,015 97,790 400 354,020 73,080 2,010 125,970 17,230

LR Warrant

1.060

179,000

SERVICES 2,896,736.00 189,877,112.00 263,470.00 124,478,566.00 1,462,750.00 962,700.00 45,500.00 4,540,560.00 139,588,695.00 2,937,600.00 55,116,527.50 56,135.00 18,827,060.00 3,394,680.00 437,448.00 1,824,500.00 302,260,420.00 14,375,638.00 529,384.00 4,739,440.00 1,937,100.00 994,978,114.00 10,710.00 200,813.00 9,100.00 594,840.00 648,405,430.00 11,050.00 122,768.00 2,097,600.00 30,860.00 272,408,154.00 19,790.00 5,175,950.00 363,650.00 5,688,660.00 24,766,230.00 2,180,130.00 46,676,080.00 323,090.00 144,264.00 2,970.00 72,400.00 14,661.00 41,327,215.00 18,048,300.00 276,243,730.00 3,986,050.00 58,560,610.00 351,817,660.00 67,222,179.00 990,378.00 10,259,610.00 2,093,870.00 1,444,700.00 1,033,070.00 161,912,122.00

PREFERRED 82,636,782.00 1,087,118.00 206,000.00 3,730,000.00 274,340.00 3,209,533.00 328,252.00 245,414.00 1,049,000.00 803,200.00 875,612.00 141,714,990.00 63,895,180.00 2,108,461.00 23,402,178.00 1,145,060.00 18,461,410.00 15,626,015.00 126,480.00 71,100.00 15,765,750.00 7,581,065.00 30,266.50 26,621,372.00 5,590,749.00 152,609.50 9,575,560.00 1,321,035.00

WARRANTS & BONDS 198,370.00 SME 2,369,830.00 7,525,155.00 3,597,930.00

24.50 2.07 3.07 41.70 2.53 1.760 7.290 5.230

4,844,100 4,379,000 87,000 107,411,100 2,642,000 24,301,000 17,938,700 442,300

119,706,150.00 8,709,820.00 268,780.00 4,512,398,655.00 6,610,810.00 43,356,430.00 125,943,275.00 2,270,882.00

8.5 17.14 1.32 10 0.390 0.048 18 2.67 8.66 0.0450 78.5 6.52 4.43 4.18 7.00 890 1944 5.40 428.00 13.38 1.15 119 1.56 9 6.80 0.100 1.9000 1.87 12.4 2.08 0.96 11.10 10.60 0.465 2.97 1.80 1.28 1.39 2.060 2.06 7.00 2.97 4.50 8.96 145.20 3.25 1000.00 0.310 0.550 38.20 71.65 8.98 2.24 0.570 0.238 0.540 18.880

87,900 2,321,500 785,000 4,236,400 4,140,000 25,000,000 200 11,850,000 22,286,200 197,010,000 584,430 1,100 3,431,000 50,000 98,600 250 136,990 2,740,300 73,020 8,800 2,579,000 4,274,480 13,000 148,800 2,200 18,200,000 525,396,000 14,000 5,000 1,190,000 148,000 20,380,400 5,600 161,901,000 103,000 5,361,000 6,655,000 733,000 6,825,000 321,000 22,700 5,000 30,000 2,400 8,110 11,986,000 473,210 20,720,000 824,352,000 3,967,500 1,680,570 238,600 4,613,000 8,483,000 7,110,000 5,879,000 5,102,500

780,991.00 39,145,044.00 1,085,240.00 41,430,510.00 1,620,050.00 1,171,900.00 3,550.00 36,246,550.00 197,591,870.00 10,380,250.00 46,333,815.50 7,172.00 15,549,800.00 204,480.00 710,641.00 222,500.00 271,695,835.00 14,810,209.00 31,141,376.00 117,036.00 2,937,660.00 526,784,782.00 20,280.00 1,314,971.00 14,950.00 1,939,790.00 1,092,080,460.00 24,980.00 61,344.00 2,540,530.00 131,740.00 217,257,782.00 68,342.00 93,087,840.00 304,980.00 9,908,470.00 9,066,660.00 983,520.00 14,562,580.00 652,070.00 164,848.00 14,750.00 121,790.00 12,488.00 1,113,300.00 40,375,000.00 482,657,230.00 6,541,000.00 416,886,350.00 152,455,285.00 124,234,529.00 2,082,868.00 10,162,130.00 4,900,680.00 1,729,230.00 3,297,190.00 96,060,466.00

0.0014 6.9900 0.97 2.21 11.30 1.0500

1,768,000,000 603,200 3,221,000 1,125,000 34,500 10,000

2,502,200.00 4,351,398.00 3,179,980.00 2,493,060.00 355,064.00 10,500.00

3 0.270 6.55 1.280 0.197 0.095 0.092 0.0076 0.0090 0.78 2.56 1.01 0.4700 0.6800 0.0098 0.0110 2.86 8.45 0.0100 19.90 0.0054

3,911,000 200,000 70,000 20,054,000 1,940,000 7,040,000 9,560,000 17,000,000 2,000,000 114,000 24,458,000 109,000 1,722,000 395,000 313,300,000 30,400,000 866,000 1,233,500 112,700,000 2,636,900 33,000,000

11,650,880.00 54,400.00 459,339.00 26,675,620.00 397,470.00 658,460.00 869,050.00 131,100.00 18,000.00 87,130.00 63,361,200.00 107,480.00 881,725.00 257,140.00 3,135,180.00 334,400.00 2,460,290.00 10,547,743.00 1,194,800.00 52,948,351.00 170,500.00

15.6 99.5 103 500 504.5 101 101 107.9

1,304,400 380 6,000 7,960 100 4,100 125,020 3,370

19,710,168.00 38,846.00 618,110.00 3,982,800.00 50,450.00 414,393.00 12,605,605.00 363,295.00

500 5.21 990 987 99 100 1030 1050 1063 102.5 109 1050 77.5 74.8 75.05 76.95 75.1 76 76

620 1,022,500 1,670 9,370 79,210 59,680 1,165 68,150 6,575 11,460 4,010 33,780 188,270 98,340 247,700 285,570 118,850 18,300 558,200

310,000.00 5,304,138.00 1,653,100.00 9,213,300.00 7,862,470.00 5,968,780.00 1,200,825.00 71,566,900.00 6,988,780.00 1,172,610.00 437,160.00 35,157,035.00 14,555,196.00 7,367,354.00 18,587,564.00 21,955,802.50 8,920,120.00 1,377,988.50 42,397,147.00

1.130

273,000

299,090.00

3.26 9.92 0.78

1,698,000 2,092,100 3,376,000

5,782,410.00 21,099,105.00 2,671,340.00

Italpinas Kepwealth Xurpas

3.2 9.49 0.83

731,000 787,100 4,474,000

First Metro ETF

110.5

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 32,020 3,552,108.00

109.2

81,570

9,051,545.00

10.26 10.3 0.95

DOLLAR DENONIMATED SEC. 106,000 1,081,288.80 9,700 99,851.20 15,800 15,010.00

10.28 10.28 0.95

14,920 970 75,000

153,078.60 9,965.60 71,250.00

USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2 USD TECH B2

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Oriental Pet. `B’ Abra Mining ISM Communications Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Fruitas Holdings Oriental Pet. `A’ Premium Leisure Megaworld Philodrill Corp. `A’ Filinvest Land,Inc.

VOLUME 1,094,700,000 717,000,000 346,426,000 144,012,000 143,331,000 123,100,000 108,922,000 91,147,000 86,300,000 86,207,000

STOCKS Ayala Land `B’ SM Prime Holdings SM Investments Inc. Bank of PI Ayala Corp `A’ Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. I.C.T.S.I. Jollibee Foods Corp.

Metrobank ISM Communications

VALUE 3,063,026,260.00 2,995,881,515.00 2,556,121,425.00 1,401,599,267.50 1,122,589,400.00 1,066,403,398.00 994,978,114.00 900,251,397.00 868,611,362.00 648,405,430.00

Megaworld sees sales of P1.4b in Cavite condominium MEGAWORLD Corp., the biggest lessor of office spaces, expects to generate around P1.4 billion from a newlylaunched residential development within its 140-hectare Maple Grove township project in General Trias, Cavite province.

Megaworld said the 16-story La Cassia Residences, its second residential development in Maple Grove, would offer 238 units in sizes ranging from 27.5 square meters to up to 88 sq. m.

Eugene Em Lozano, first vice president for sales and marketing, said Megaworld launched its second residential project in Maple Grove to meet the growing demand for residential condominiums in Cavite.

“There is a growing demand for residential condominiums in this part of Cavite especially among the next generation Caviteños who are excited to see the next phase of Cavite and experience a more dynamic lifestyle,” Lozano said.

“Inspired by nature’s grand design, La Cassia Residences will not only offer complete lifestyle experience for its residents but also a prime address surrounded by natural foliage while introducing the beauty of the outdoors into each home. Even the amenities will complement the lushness of its surroundings,” he added.

Scheduled for completion by 2025, La Cassia Residences is strategically located in front of a green park.

It will feature amenities that include a swimming pool with pool deck, function hall, fitness center, outdoor fitness facilities, daycare center and a walkway area.

Megaworld in 2017 launched the Maple Grove Commercial District, in which 363 commercial lots were sold out in just less than a year. The district will be surrounded by seven green and open park, including an expansive ‘Central Park.’

A year after, the company launched its first residential development, the 10-story The Verdin at Maple Grove alongside its first office development, the 17-story One Corporate Place that offered 93 office units for sale.

Megaworld is also constructing a two-level ‘greenhouse-inspired’ Maple Grove Town Center, its first mall development in General Trias.

Maple Grove boasts of several sustainability features that include a rainwater park, a two-hectare tree park designed to be a catchment basin for rain water runoff, a landscape drip irrigation system, bike lanes, pocket gardens and tree parks, as well as vertical gardens in several buildings around the township.

The property firm earlier earmarked P15 billion to build the township within 10 years. Jenniffer B. Austria

PLDT speeds up bid to transform into 5G network

By Darwin G. Amojelar PLDT Inc. said customers can expect faster seamless delivery of digital services as it speeds up efforts to transform its digital transport network through a new training program supported by the US Trade and Development Agency.

The company earlier secured a $1-million grant from the US Trade and Development Agency to support the training, skills upgrade and capacity building of PLDT’s technical and managerial staff implementing the project.

“This investment will equip our people with the skills and knowledge needed to transform PLDT as an organization as we march toward the 5G-powered future,” said PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan.

“The future of this company depends a lot on how we transform, not only our network, but also our people,” he added.

The training program will boost PLDT’s transport network transformation project. It will also enable PLDT to manage traffic congestion, minimize network outages and launch new digital services faster.

Courses that will be delivered under the training grant have been developed jointly by Cisco and PLDT, and are designed to support PLDT’s transformation and digitization initiatives. These are geared toward PLDT management and technical staff.

The training program will be conducted by US technology company Cisco, PLDT’s partner in its Transport Network Transformation Program launched last year. Under the program, PLDT and Cisco are transforming PLDT’s IP transport infrastructure into a 5G-ready, fully automated, software-defined IP transport network.

The courses are aimed at supporting the implementation of PLDT-Cisco’s network transformation project, which will allow PLDT to seamlessly deliver customized digital experiences to customers.

Business/World Israel readies for third election

Cuba struggles to pay its debts HAVANA―Foreign companies going unpaid, creditor countries told to be patient: as Cuba struggles under the weight of US sanctions it has also been struggling to pay its debts, raising serious concern among its partners.

Having negotiated a restructuring of its debt with 14 countries through the Paris Club of creditors in 2015, Cuba last year failed to make timely payments to six of them: Austria, Belgium, Britain, France, Japan and Spain.

The Caribbean nation was supposed to pay those countries “$32 to $33 million” of the total $82 million due in 2019, one diplomatic source said. Its failure to do so leaves it facing stiff interest payments of 9 percent.

Facing this difficult problem, Cuba’s deputy prime minister Ricardo Cabrisas has sought to offer reassurance. In a letter to Paris Club president Odile RenaudBasso and seen by AFP, he promised that Cuba would make its overdue payments by the end of May. “They have to propose a precise calendar,” one ambassador said, expressing the general sense of impatience, even while admitting that the Cuban government “is going through a bad pass; they have no liquidity.”

Several diplomats interviewed by AFP expressed concern over what they said was the “precedent” of the overdue payments.

As one European diplomat put it: “They said they were going to pay their debts. There is no plan; there is a lack of credibility.”

Another diplomat noted that “we met Cabrisas at the beginning of the year” and he had a “defeatist tone.”

“But he told us that his country really did not want to default,” as it did in 1986, when it suspended its debt payments.

The Communist island was largely cut off from international markets from then until the 2010s, when several countries canceled the majority of Cuba’s debt: China in 2011 forgave $6 billion in debt, Mexico in 2013 canceled $400 million, and Russia in 2014 forgave $35 billion. AFP

Report: Eastwood backs Bloomberg WASHINGTON―Clint Eastwood, the iconic actor and director who infamously delivered a speech to an empty chair at the 2012 Republican convention, is endorsing Michael Bloomberg for president and not Donald Trump, whom he supported four years ago.

In a wide-ranging interview, the 89-year-old multiple Oscar winner told The Wall Street Journal that while he appreciates some of the good that Trump has done, he laments the bad and the ugly nature of today’s “ornery” politics in America.

Trump should act “in a more genteel way, without tweeting and calling people names,” said Eastwood, who endorsed the brash billionaire over Hillary Clinton in 2016 because, as he said at the time, he feared she would “follow in [president Barack] Obama’s footsteps.”

“The best thing we could do is just get Mike Bloomberg in there,” he said in the interview released late Friday, referring to the US media tycoon who jumped into the Democratic presidential nomination race in November.

Bloomberg, 78, is the former mayor of New York, meaning the two men have a sliver of political experience in common.

While Eastwood is best known for his Hollywood career―starring in popular westerns and as the rogue cop “Dirty Harry” Callahan, and directing “Unforgiven,” “Gran Torino” and last year’s “Richard Jewell”―he also served for two years as mayor of Carmel, California. AFP

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CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Vietnamese monk, Nobel nominee, dies at 93

IN BRIEF JERUSALEM—Israel is bracing for an unprecedented third election in under a year, with voters eyeing an end to the deadlock but polls indicating another tight race despite criminal charges against the prime minister.

Two previous votes in April and September last year failed to produce a clear winner between right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his main challenger Benny Gantz, who heads the centrist Blue and White party.

Ballot-weary Israelis have shown limited enthusiasm ahead of the March 2 election, with some grudgingly accepting the possibility of a fourth run before the year ends.

But there have been significant developments since Israelis last went to the polls.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving premier, has become the first to be indicted while in office.

Charges unveiled in November and filed in court last month accuse him of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

The prime minister denies wrongdoing in the case that involves multiple alleged offenses.

The most serious allegation is that Netanyahu offered mogul Shaul Elovitch regulatory changes worth millions of dollars to his telecoms giant Bezeq in exchange for positive coverage on Elovitch’s Walla! news website.

The trial starts on March 17.

Since the last election, US President Donald Trump has unveiled his controversial plan to end the decades-long IsraeliPalestinian conflict. AFP

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

CARNIVAL NIGHT. A reveler of the Mocidade Alegre samba school performs during the second night of carnival in Sao Paulo, Brazil, at the city's Sambadrome early on February 23, 2020. AFP

Sanders solidifies his status as front runner

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AS VEGAS―Progressive firebrand Bernie Sanders earned a decisive victory Saturday in the Nevada caucuses, solidifying his front runner status in the race to choose the Democratic nominee who faces President Donald Trump in November’s election.

His win is a substantial accomplishment in a state seen as an important bellwether because it is the first diverse electorate to weigh in on the 2020 presidential race.

It also shows that Sanders has been able to broaden a coalition beyond the narrow limits of leftist voters, refuting the argument used by several moderates in the race that he would not be able to bridge the divide between progressives and centrists.

By late Saturday Sanders was comfortably ahead with half of all precincts reporting.

The 78-year-old senator from Vermont was leading with about 46 percent, followed by former vice president Joe Biden at 19 percent.

South Bend, Indiana’s former mayor Pete Buttigieg, who scored a shock narrow win in Iowa to start the race

nearly three weeks ago, stood in third at 15 percent.

The two female US senators in the running, progressive Elizabeth Warren and pragmatist Amy Klobuchar, were on 10 and four percent respectively.

Sanders was quick to claim victory, saying his “multi-generational, multiracial coalition” that won Nevada was “going to sweep this country.”

His progressive policies, including universal health care, higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations, and raising the minimum wage have struck a chord with millions of Americans.

“The American people are sick and tired of a government which is based on greed, corruption, and lies. They want an administration which is based on the principles of justice,” he told a raucous rally, which responded with chants of “Bernie! Bernie! Bernie!”

Sanders was speaking in El Paso, Texas, one of the 14 states that votes on “Super Tuesday” on March 3.

Buttigieg congratulated Sanders on his Nevada victory. But the moderate, 38-year-old military veteran offered a stern warning against picking a selfdescribed democratic socialist who sees “capitalism as the root of all evil” to go up against the populist Trump.

“Senator Sanders believes in an inflexible, ideological revolution that leaves out most Democrats, not to mention most Americans,” Buttigieg said.

With Sanders coming in virtually tied for first in Iowa and then winning New Hampshire last week, he is in the driver’s seat as the race turns toward South Carolina and then Super Tuesday.

“Looks like Crazy Bernie is doing well in the Great State of Nevada,” Trump tweeted, maligning other candidates before adding: “Congratulations Bernie, & don’t let them take it away from you!”

With the race soon taking on a national dynamic, several candidates like Klobuchar, Warren or congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard will be under pressure to decide whether they fight on or throw in the towel. AFP

Rethinking ‘systems viability’: Implications for social enterprises PERHAPS the best maxim that represents systems viability is this: ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.’

Viability, as elaborated by Stafford Beer, refers to the capability of a system or an organization to independently exist and adapt to a changing environment. The word ‘system,’ which has a Greek etymological root, refers to an ‘organized whole.’ This implies that a system consists of parts that possess a certain degree of autonomy, but are interdependent in enabling a system’s existence.

To help explain systems viability, Beer uses the human body as an analogy. Just as humans are composed of different parts, organs, and subsystems (e.g., nervous system, respiratory system, etc.), organizations must also possess different sub-units that are able to perform primary activities, coordination, monitoring and control, intelligence, and policy-making. Just as humans must be able to relate with other humans, fight harmful viruses (hello, nCov!), or take advantage of vitamins and probiotics to reinforce one’s own system, social enterprises and purposedriven organizations too must be able to take care of its stakeholders, mitigate threats and exploit opportunities for growth.

At first glance, this seems a fitting analogy already. However, upon further reflecting on this, I realized that there is more to the organizations-as-humans analogy beyond the similarities of having subsystems. My insight comes from the difference between functional existence and purpose.

In my conversations with my friends

PATRICK ADRIEL H. AURE

Green LiGht and colleagues who have medicinal background, we were able to appreciate how the medical field can help alleviate or restore a person based on diseases or ailments one could suffer. In a way, the medical field has allowed a person to increase the chance of preserving one’s functional existence, or in other words, preserve one’s life (i.e., parts of the body can still function, therefore, one is still technically alive). Analogous to this, organizations can tap on external parties like donors, government and investors to be able to survive. But overlooked in Beer’s definition is the importance of identity and purpose. What is the identity and purpose of a system, beyond merely being capable of existing on its own and adapting to its environment?

Progressive medical doctors begin to emphasize the importance of holistic patient treatments and the notion of quality of life. Quality of life goes beyond the technical functions of a human body and asks whether a medical treatment could still allow a person to enjoy pursuing his normal activities or even live to pursue his dreams. In other words, should a treatment restore a person’s quality of life, then the person must be able to pursue who he wants to be (identity) and translate his potential into achieve a goal (purpose).

Extending this analogy to social enterprises and purpose-driven organizations, the notion of systems viability goes beyond being able to functionally operate and adapt to the

environment. Rather, a more holistic perspective of systems viability is the continuous capability of an organization to enable the flourishing of its internal and external stakeholders. Mere functional existence does not equate to viability. A human’s existence can depend on one’s functional ability to breathe just as an enterprise’s existence can depend on its functional ability to raise funds; but should an organization aspire to be viable, it must have internal and external mechanisms to pursue its mission and purpose. And to pursue this, the only way is to establish interdependencies among stakeholders from the external environment and the organization itself. True systems viability requires synergies that allow integral human development and human flourishing.

‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’ Reexamining this maxim, I contend that ‘greater than the sum’ goes beyond existence or monetary value; but rather, ‘greater than the sum’ is about allowing every stakeholder to flourish greater than they would have if they were functioning alone.

Rethinking systems viability means going from mere functional existence to flourishing of identity and purpose.

Shouldn’t every human and organization aspire for this?

The author is the Vice-Chair of the Management and Organization Department. He can be reached at Patrick. aure@dlsu.edu.ph.

The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.

HANOI―Thich Quang Do, a dissident Buddhist monk who has effectively been under house arrest since 2003 and was nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, has died aged 93.

Head of the banned Unified Buddist Church of Vietnam (UBCV), the vocal patriarch was born on November 27, 1928 in northern Thai Binh province and spent most of his life advocating for religious freedom and human rights in communist-run Vietnam.

His staunch activism landed him under what was effectively house arrest in Ho Chi Minh City in 2003, where he was under constant surveillance.

Do died on Saturday night at Tu Hieu pagoda, UBCV announced on Sunday morning.

According to his will signed on April 2019, Do requested a “simple funeral, not more than three days”.

“After the cremation, my ashes will be scattered at sea,” said the statement quoting his will.

The UBCV also requested for followers not to bring money, as is customary for Vietnamese funerals.

“There will be no final words, no biographies, no emotional showings... just praying.”

Do has long been a thorn on the side of communist-run Vietnam, and he has been nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize for his vocal advocacy for democracy.

The formative event of his life came in 1945, the year Ho Chi Minh declared Vietnam’s independence from France, when a teenage Do witnessed the execution of his religious master by a communist people court.

“Then and there I vowed to do all that I could to combat fanaticism and intolerance and devote my life to the pursuit of justice through the Buddhist teachings of non-violence,” Do wrote, according to a biography issued by the UBCV’s Paris office. AFP

Syrians eye escape over Turkey wall KAFR LUSIN, Syria―Abu Jabber has a plan to escape the Syrian regime’s advance: he has built a ladder from rusty metal for him and his 11 children to climb over the Turkish border wall.

Six months ago, the family fled deadly fighting in Idlib province of northwest Syria, seeking shelter near the border village of Kafr Lusin, where dozens of families live in an informal camp for the displaced.

Newcomers live in tents while others, like Abu Jabber, his children and his parents, have built makeshift homes at the foot of a cement wall that separates Turkey from Idlib province.

Turkey, which already hosts the world’s largest number of Syrian refugees with around 3.6 million people, has placed barbed wire and watchtowers along the wall to prevent any more crossings.

Ankara fears that an offensive launched in December by Russianbacked Syrian government forces against the last major rebel and jihadist bastion in Syria could spark another influx.

The government has this month escalated its offensive and seized dozens of villages and towns in Idlib and the neighbouring province of Aleppo.

“When I saw that the situation was getting worse, I decided to build a ladder,” said Abu Jabber, standing outside his new home among the olive groves of Kafr Lusin.

“I did this in case the regime makes further advances,” he explained, undaunted by the formidable fortifications erected by Turkish authorities to keep his and other displaced families at bay.

“We will climb over the wall to protect the lives of our children,” he said, pointing to the do-it-yourself ladder he made with bits of rusty metal.

Abu Jabber said there was no other solution. “Either they (regime forces) kill us all or we enter Turkey.”

He and his family have been displaced several times since Syria’s war erupted almost nine years ago. AFP

LGUs

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

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LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Powering countryside one LGU, EC at a time

By Jimbo Gulle

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(First of 2 parts)

OMETIMES, a great business idea travels an unlikely path. For William Che Hon Ngai, it came to him as he was resting in a cabin in the mountains of a mining venture in the Philippines, his adoptive country for the last three decades.

It wasn't the ore of the mine site that gave him a flash of inspiration. It was the glint from a solar panel that powered the cabin that got the Chinese-Canadian businessman thinking: how could he bring cheap, reliable electricity to the unpowered countryside, where 16 million Filipinos had no access to electricity?

William Che Hon Ngai

With his background in telecommunications, some serious research and reliable partners in China, Ngai formed SunSmart Solar Power Technology Inc. in 2016, and now he's powering the Philippines' far-flung areas with an innovative solar power system—one electric cooperative and local government unit at a time.

“I believe in the potential of the Philippines, and what it can do with more power for its people,” said Ngai in an interview with the Standard. And believe in the country he has, since he first entered the local business scene through Infopage Telecom, the first and largest paging system locally at the time, then Nextel, the two-way radio and cellular phone system, in the early 1990s.

This was understandable, since the Hong Kong native cut his teeth in business as an early mover in the Chinese territory's telecom scene, working with the eminent

billionaire Li Ka-Shing. Ngai believed in the Philippines' potential so much that he waited seven years to get more radio frequencies for Nextel and its Motorolabased phones, sadly to no avail.

So during this fallow period in the local telecom scene, as he turned his attention to mining, Ngai saw the photovoltaic (PV) solar panel at his mountain retreat and asked himself, can this be improved? Why not offer the power of the sun to those who couldn’t get electricity from the national grid?

The next few years for Ngai spent on researching how solar energy systems could be made intelligent, practical, mobile, and hybrid, yet could be fully integrated with the power grid—perfect for areas that are miles away from the nearest transmission lines, like hinterland settlements and island communities.

The final push for bringing the SunSmart integrated solar power (ISP) technology to the Philippines came from Ngai's wife, SunSmart president Jenny Lin Maaño-Ngai. She proposed that they test the system in her hometown of Mabalacat in Pampanga, where they owned a resort. That place has become a showcase for what their system can do, off-grid or on a grid.

“I talked to Jenny, she said this is good for the Philippines. We knew that power is important, so we put in a lot effort to go back (to China) and do R&D (research and development),” Ngai said.

Soon, they partnered with a Shanghai based Solar PV manufacturing company, -PERLIGHT Solar— which specializes in high-efficiency PV cells.

This firm also owns an exclusive world patented German technology called i-Smart Black Solar PV Panels, which can harvest optimum sun energy even at low and weak light conditions.

Perfect, Ngai said, to incorporate with SunSmart's innovative and integrated solar hybrid power systems.

“We've worked together with full support from Perlight group, which eventually led us forming another JV company, SMARTPERLi for integrated and hybrid energy storage management systems and distinctive A.I. Power Solutions, " he added.

Their system is thus capable to do remote and wireless monitoring, control, transmission, generation, smart metering, weather forecast, load schedule calibration and detection and more," which are all readily available," Ngai said.

(To be continued)

MORO CENTER. Sarangani Governor Steve Chiongbian Solon (fifth from left) presents the certificate of award to Saidi Saidona

(4fourth from left) for topping the the 24th Regional Qur’an Reading Competition held at the provincial capitol gymnasium in Alabel town. The tilt is part of the groundbreaking of the P3-million Moro Resource Center, which will be a venue for Moro initiatives of the provincial government, showcase Moro culture through the display of ancestral heirlooms, and house the education programs of the Sarangani Madaris Federation. In photo (from left) are National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Commissioner for Youth Samer Allong; lawyer Ryan Ramos, chief of staff of Rep. Ruel Pacquiao; NCMF Director for Bureau of Muslim Cultural Affairs Laman Piang; Saidona, NCMF Commissioner for Ulama Abdulhadi Daguit, and Sangguniang Panlalawigan members Member Tranquilino Ruiz and Jess Bascuna.

Econest rebuts Hermosa’s cease and desist order BALANGA CITY, Bataan—Econest Waste Management Corporation CEO lawyer Beulah Coeli Fiel recently rebutted the cease and desist order issued against them by the local government of Hermosa during a press conference here.

The corporation operates sanitary landfill facilities in Barangay Mambog, Hermosa.

“The power to issue cease and desist order against violations of environmental laws particularly in the area of solid waste management practices belongs to Environmental Management Bureau [EMB],” Fiel pointed out.

“It is also the EMB that issues environmental compliance certificate for

the construction and operation of sanitary landfill facilities. The LGU has no power to issue CDO,” she also said.

“Hermosa’s findings of violation against Econest is uncorroborated by the EMB. The EMB had previously visited the Hermosa sanitary landfill facilities and made no derogatory findings against Econest and instead made suggestions on how to better improve our operations,” the CEO said.

“The EMB even recommended the Hermosa sanitary landfill facilities for benchmarking by other LGUs that desire to operate their own SLF,” she added.

“Econest has been experiencing harassments from municipal officers where-

in they have inspecting the area even without a mission or travel order presented to the company,” Fiel lamented.

“Mayor Jopet Inton inspected the facility in September 2019 and hurled invectives at the officers of Econest,” she lamented.

“On the issue of accepting mixed waste, the municipality of Hermosa, under the PPP agreement, has agreed to allow a grace period for segregation by other LGUs and other waste generators,” the lawyer explained.

“The PPP agreement allows Econest to accept waste from other clients and the LGU agreed to allow the clients a reasonable period of time to segregate,” she said. Butch Gunio

SJDM becomes newest GoWiFi city in Bulacan

At the MOA signing between the local government of San Jose Del Monte and Globe GoWiFi are (from left) Meanne Quiambao, vice president - Enterprise Group; Janis Racpan, director, Business Development and Marketing - Digital Solutions Group; Albert de Larrazabal, chief commercial officer; SJDM Mayor Arthur Robes; and Vice Mayor Efren Bartolome.

KNOWN as the province of Bulacan’s first officially declared city, San Jose Del Monte will soon be able to boast of an Internet connection that’s easier, faster, and free.

With free Internet powered by Globe's GoWiFi services, the city of over half a million constituents can soon enjoy more of their favorite content and online activities within key locations in their community.

This is made possible through a Memorandum of Agreement signing recently held at the Activity Center of San Jose Del Monte.

The ceremony was led by Albert De Larrazabal, Chief Commercial Officer at Globe and Hon. Arthur Robes, Mayor of San Jose Del Monte in the presence of other Globe executives and local government officials.

With a formal partnership in place, free and high quality connectivity powered by GoWiFi can be accessed in select public areas in the city such as the Municipal Hall of San Jose Del Monte, San Jose Del Monte Public Market, Ospital ng San Jose Del Monte, and City College of San Jose Del Monte.

AGREEMENT. The Department of Public Works and Highways Regional IV-A, Batangas 1,2,3,4 sign a Budget Partnership Agreement with (from left, seated) Rody A. Angulo, Dist Engr. IV, Prescilla R. Ramos, Dist. Engr. III, Sonia D. Paglicauan, Dist. Engr. II and Joel F. Limpengco Dist. Engr. I, with the Chief Planning and Design Section, Engr.

Florencia G. Cordova DEO I, Engr. Ariel V. Armedilla, DEO II, Engr. Nieves C. Lasala, DEO III, and Engr. Jehel G. Roxas, DEO IV at the DPWH Batangas III training Room in Tanauan City, Batangas. Roy Tomandao

NV jail’s innovations help PDLs SM Foundation techvoc scholars in Pasil graduate CEBU CITY—Forty SM Technicalvocational scholars from Don Bosco TVET Center in Pasil, Cebu have completed their 15 month-long training in Machining NC II and Automotive Servicing NC II. Don Bosco TVET Center in Pasil, Cebu City as part of the the Don BoscoOne TVET Philippines, Inc. a network of 18 TVET centers in the country.

The center in Pasil, Cebu offers courses in Automotive Servicing, Dressmaking, Furniture Finishing, Machining, Motorcycle Small Engine Servicing, and Shielded Metal Arc Welding. After a 10-month training, students undergo five months of On-the-Job Training to complete the course requirement.

At the graduation ceremony, Fr. Lamberto Paradiang of the Salesians of Don Bosco congratulated the graduated and

exhorted them to be better persons.

"One educated and skilled person is one criminal off the street. Somebody ordinary can become extraordinary,” he told the graduates.

SM Foundation has partnered with Don Bosco TVET Centers to provide scholarships to the youth who choose to pursue technical and vocational courses instead of the four-year college education.

The graduates of Don Bosco TVET Center in Pasil, Cebu City are part of the Don Bosco One TVET Philippines Inc. a network of 18 TVET centers in the country, supported by SM Foundation.

By Ben Moses Ebreo

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya— The various program innovations inside the Provincial Jail here are a big help to the Good Conduct Time Allowance among the Persons Deprived of Liberty.

“Our PDLs here are given various productive opportunities while they are being taken cared and rehabilitated. Our worthwhile activities account for the PDLs’ GCTA,” said Provincial Warden Carmelo Andrada.

He said livelihood, educational, spiritual and health programs and activities are being conducted inside the Provincial Jail to help PDLs into a complete transformation once they are released.

These programs and activities are

contributing a lot to the PDLs GCTA, thereby shortening their stay at the PJ. PDLs inside the PJ are offered to enroll in Alternative Learning System ALS), join religious and spiritual activities, physical fitness exercises and various livelihood skills development training.

“Recipients of our skills development trainings are now involved in producing local products and are now earning for their families,” Andrada said.

The innovative programs and activities are conducted and offered by the PJ in partnership with the religious sector, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Trade and Industry, DepEd and nongovernment organizations.

Life

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

FOOD

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

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Fabulous food at The Fort Text and additional photos by Ayunan G. Gunting

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HOICES are aplenty when it comes to dining in BGC. One particular establishment serves a variety of fabulous dishes in its fancy restaurants and casual bars.

Shangri-La at The Fort’s executive chef Joris Rycken is on top the hotel’s nine restaurants and a bar, the banquet, in-room dining, and the staff cafeteria. Preparing an average of over a thousand to 2,500 meals a day, he has to make sure that the staff follows the same standard of attention to detail, flawless execution, warm and efficient service to deliver an unforgettable experience.

The Dutch-born Rycken gives a rundown of the hotel’s offerings.

the food to the taste profile of the Filipino market.

Cantonese cuisine is cooked a la minute to maintain the freshness and to bring out the flavors,” says Rycken.

The dishes are plated in a modern way while preserving the authenticity of the flavors. The menu throws in a few surprises such as the black pepper beef with foie gras.

Tasty crab dish from Ministry of Crab.

Ministry of Crab

This outlet sources crabs from the mangroves of Pampanga, Roxas City, Masbate, and Cagayan de Oro. They are lightly cooked and seasoned with pep pepper sauce, chili, and garlic. The price depends on the weight, for instance, a 500-gram crab is worth P3,200 while a 2-kilo “Crabzilla” is P11,500.

Diners can then head to the Back Room bar for drinks.

Piqueo Tres De Ceviches, Arroz con Mariscos, and more.

Samba Peruvian Cuisine

Raging Bull’s juicy tomahawk steak.

Raging Bull Chophouse and Bar

Arguably the hotel’s most successful outlet, it has been consistently in the country’s list of best steakhouses. Its supplier, Jack’s Creek from Australia merited the World’s Best Steak Awards.

“Our variety comes from the different kinds of cows not just the cuts. Customers have a choice of the grain-fed steak which is robust and intense or the grass-fed beef which has less fat but is more flavorful,” says Rycken “Our Wagyu has higher marbling. When the fat melts, it lends a richer flavor.”

Prices range from P2,000 for the tenderloin to P10,500 tomahawk cut which is good for three people.

The Latin American restaurant draws elements from the Amazon with its use of fresh fish; the Spanish influence of rice, wheat, beef, pork and chicken; and Nikkei, the Japanese version of sushi and sashimi. Its staples are corn, potatoes, and chili peppers. “Ours is home-cooking style,” shares Rycken.

Among its bestsellers is the arroz con mariscos, Peru’s signature rice dish with an abundance of seafood. The empanada is made of fluffy dough shell filled with beef, egg, onion, garlic, and oregano. The ceviche consists of lapu-lapu, tuna, salmon, squid, prawns, and shellfish, marinated in lime and perked up by chili from Peru.

Executive Chef Joris Rycken

Mighty Beast Burger

Raging Bull Burgers

Burger lovers can enjoy the classic Kick Ass made of 150 grams of Angus beef patty with special barbecue stuffed in a soft cornbread bun. The Mighty Beast is a protein lover’s indulgence with maple bacon and aged cheddar cheese. The magnum opus is the robust flavored Wagyu burger spiked with chili chutney.

People eschewing meat are offered other alternatives such as the grouper fillet burger, chicken thigh fillet burger, and the vegan burger made with mushrooms, kidney beans, lentils, onions, and pepper.

Buffet station at High Street Café

High Street Café

Although people come for the international buffets, the ala carte menu features daily specials. Coffee shops pander to Filipino tastes, thus the modern interpretations of lugaw, the High Street Silog with its tapa, longganisa, danggit, and egg over fried rice, and the tablea chocolate moist cake.

Brownies, Conscious Cookie, and Oatmel Raisin Cookie.

Bake House

Modern Cantonese appetizer

Canton Road

This Chinese restaurant combines old and new with Huaiyang and Cantonese cuisines. One of China’s main cuisines, Huaiyang focuses on choice ingredients, precise workmanship, and delicate flavors. Pork, freshwater fish, and crabs are the meat base.

Cantonese cuisine uses a variety of edible meats and cooking techniques while maintaining the balance of flavors. “Other Chinese restaurants adapt

The new bakery-café specializes in cakes for take-out as well as sourdough breads. The 14-yearold mother dough keeps the good bacteria alive for gut health, enhances the sourness, and creates the dense and chewiness.

The hotel uses Belgian brand Puratos flour which is made using fermentation technology that eliminates the yeast, which is good news for those who are yeast intolerant. The most popular breads are the farmer’s and multigrain sourdough.

Diners can choose snack options such as the chicken pot pie and the prosciutto and arugula toast. People with sweet tooth, on the other hand, can enjoy the granola bars, madeleines, apple turnovers, chocolates.

The Conscious Cookie echoes the outlet’s zerowaste principle. The leftover dough is mixed with nuts and chocolates for a sinful confection.

Hard Rock Café Makati serves new menu

By Angelica Villanueva HARD Rock Café in Makati has become part of many employees’ Friday night—bonding with friends over food and drinks, with a side of music, after a long work week—until its closure in 2017.

Fans of the American bar and restaurant have to wait no longer as its Makati branch officially reopens its door on Feb. 24 with new menu but same rock ‘n roll vibe.

Hard Rock Café’s newest menu includes starters such as the Spinach and Artichoke Dip, perfect for all-time favorite nachos, featuring the creamy blend of Romano and cheddar cheese, spinach, and artichoke hearts.

Pizza lovers are invited to try the Three Cheese and Roma Tomato Flatbread, topped with mozzarella, Monterey Jack and cheddar cheese, Roma tomatoes, and fresh basil, and drizzled with cilantro pesto.

Valentine-themed high tea set for two

High Street Lounge

The lobby lounge has the most modern selection of foods among Shangri-La properties in the country. The healthy and fusion choices include the kiwi and cucumber lemonade, avocado toast with poached eggs and nori crumble, carrot and quinoa with Malagos cheese and pickled brine chicken. Filipino comfort food items like egg fried rice with embotido are also served.

Rycken adds that the in-room dining menu has express dishes delivered in 15 minutes and healthy dishes whose ingredients include “superfoods.”

The executive chef is married to a Filipina whom he met in Dubai. He likes Filipino food particularly the sinfully indulgent crispy pata.

Although he can cook sinigang and adobo, he admits the taste isn’t as authentic. “You can’t replicate the exact flavor unless you were raised in that culture. That’s why we have Chinese chefs in Canton Road and foreign chefs doing the cuisine that they grew up with.”

Food photos from the restaurants’ Facebook pages

California-style Cobb Salad

On the refreshing side of the appetizer spectrum, there’s California-style Cobb Salad, a combination of grilled chicken, avocado, roasted corn, black beans, Monterey Jack cheese, pomegranate seeds, and toasted pepitas on a bed of fresh mixed greens with a creamy ranch dressing.

New main dishes include pastas and burger.

The new Truffle Mushroom Pasta is topped with shiitake mushroom, tartufata, garlic, onion, cream, truffle oil, and parmesan cheese. Meanwhile, the Spicy Vongole Pasta is made with clams, fresh tomatoes, garlic, onion, celery, white wine, chili flakes, and lemon juice.

Hard Rock Café’s new burger couldn’t get any fancier as it comes with a 24-karat edible gold leaf.

The 24 Karat Gold Leaf Burger is made with premium grade beef burger, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and onion.

Turn to C2

Cookie and Cream and Hot Fudge milkshake

New cocktails

Legendary Burger

Life

C2

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

BITES

Jollibee’s bestselling pies return

The restaurant and café serves coffee concoctions and dessert items, including the bestselling Tablea Cake.

Tondo’s newest Kuya

A

IN CASE you missed it: fast food chain Jollibee brings back two of its beloved pie variants; one is sweet, and the other one is savory (with a kick).

The always sold out Buko Pie is now available for a limited time.

Customers can once again relish the sweet custard and chunky buko filling waiting beneath that satisfying golden crispy crust.

“The initial reception to the Jollibee Buko Pie was absolutely great, and we wanted to give Filipinos another taste of their favorite snack with that familiar and comforting local flavor,” said Kay Segismundo, Jollibee senior marketing manager for complementary products.

A solo order is available for P30, while the 3-pies-to-go is priced at P89.

Meanwhile the Original Tuna Pie comes right in time for the Lenten season.

“It can’t be denied that there’s always a resounding clamor for eve-

ryone’s favorite Tuna Pie. Fans are excited to be able to order this Jollibee classic once again,” said Mari Aldecoa, Jollibee marketing director for core products.

Along with the return of the creamy tuna pie is the introduction of its spicy variant. The Spicy Tuna Pie features the same crispy crust and tuna filling but with hot and spicy kick.

“As we pride ourselves on having something for everyone as much as we can, we also wanted to give an extra surprise for fans of spicy food with new Spicy Tuna Pie, which they’ll definitely love!”

A solo order of Jollibee Tuna Pie is available at P45, while the tuna trio is priced at P132.

Both buko and tuna pie variants are available for dine in, takeout, drivethru, and delivery at all Jollibee stores nationwide.

NEW restaurant and café opens in Tondo, Manila.

Homegrown chain Kuya J opens its second Café + Restaurant outlet at Deca Mall in Tondo. The newly opened branch serves comforting coffee brews such as the rich Kuya J Café House Blend, creamy cappuccino, and chocolatey tablea coffee, along with favorite desserts such as guava cake, tablea cake, and salted egg cheesecake.

Customers can also enjoy single servings of Kuya J’s bestsellers such as the Grilled Scallops, Beef Caldereta, and Chorizo Dinamitas.

Gracing the opening were Kuya J Group president Winglip Chang, marketing director Ton Gatmaitan, chief Kuya J Café and Restaurant opens its second branch at Deca Mall in Tondo, Manila. operating officer Richard Joseph Li, Kuya J Café + Restaurant Deca Mall Anton Dator, 8990 Holdings, Inc. chair- the third Kuya J Café + Restaurant has franchise owners Cherry Rocha, Aileen man emeritus Luis Yu, Jr., and singer recently opened at Rockwell Sheridan in Mandaluyong City.

Rocha, and Joanne Rocha, Comisario Pops Fernandez.

Central, Inc. chief operating officer Following the Tondo branch launch,

Present at the opening are (from left) Kuya J Group marketing director Ton Gatmaitan; chief operating officer Richard Joseph Li; president Winglip Chang; Pops Fernandez; Kuya J Café + Restaurant Deca Mall franchise owners Cherry Rocha, Aileen Rocha, and Joanne Rocha; Comisario Central, Inc. chief operating officer Anton Dator, and 8990 Holdings, Inc. chairman emeritus Luis Yu Jr.

Tuna Pie

Buko Pie Trio

Hard Rock...

From C1

Customers registering online get a free Pancake House’s House Specials Set A.

Feel-good rewards

IN LINE with its commitment to continuously deliver feel-good dining experiences through its well-loved meals, Pancake House launches its new Rewards Card for loyal customers.

The rewards card, now available with a single-receipt purchase of P1,000, comes with exclusive access to deals such as an outright 10 percent discount for dine-in or take-out transactions worth at least P600.

Included in the annual subscription, cardholders can also enjoy free pancakes on their birthday month, a free House Specials Set A when they register online, and many more feel-good freebies.

“We are introducing the Pancake House Rewards Card as a way to show appreciation to our regular diners and to connect with them in new ways,” says Pancake House senior marketing

Pancake House Rewards Card comes with exclusive deals and discounts.

manager Cherry Hernandez.

“We hope this program gives Filipinos another reason to ‘Choose to Feel Good’ every day of the year and will encourage them to come home to familiar comfort at Pancake House.”

From the Core Classics, Hard Rock Café serves its bestselling Original Legendary Burger and Hickory Smoked Ribs.

The Legendary Burger is made legendary with fresh steak burger, smoked bacon, cheddar cheese, crispy onion ring, lettuce, and vine-ripened tomato, and served with fries and signature steak sauce on the side.

Meanwhile, the classic Hickory Smoked Ribs boasts tender St. Louisstyle ribs, rubbed with signature seasonings and basted with hickory barbecue sauce.

Hard Rock Café also introduces new alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

Making Happy Hour a whole lot happier are Rockin’ Fresh Rita, Tropical Margarita (made with Patrón Silver Tequila with fresh fruit flavors and Cointreau liqueur); Rhythm and Rose Mule (Absolut Vodka and rosé winebased drink with ginger beer); Blackberry Sparkling Sangria (red wine with Hickory Smoked Ribs

Rock ‘n roll lives on at Hard Rock Café’s Makati branch.

fresh flavors of blackberries, cranberry juice, squeeze of orange, and Prosecco); Espresso Martini (features a richly sweet combination of Grey Goose Vodka, Kahlua, and freshly brewed es-

presso); Classic Caribbean Mojito (Bacardi Superior Rum, mint, lime juice and sparkling soda, Añejo floater, and powdered sugar sprinkle); Sparkling Blue Hawaiian (Malibu Coconut Rum and Absolut Citron Vodka with Blue Curaçao); Banana Berry Colada (Malibu Coconut Rum, Bacardi Black, fresh banana, Monin strawberry, and coconut cream); Passion Fruit Mai Tai (a Tiki classic invented in the 1940s in California); and Rock House Rum Punch (Bacardi Superior Rum, Bacardi Black, tropical juices, and ginger beer).

But for those who’s not into alcoholic drinks like me can opt for the new Pineapple Lemonade, Cookies and Cream Milkshake, and Hot Fudge Milkshake.

Hard Rock Café Makati at Glorietta 3 (previously NBA Café) is open Monday to Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.

Entertainment

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020 nickie.standard@gmail.com

C3

MOVIEMAKERS

The Making of Tamaraw Studios The principles of pleasure and pain

At its heydey, Tamaraw Studios was one of the biggest production outfits in the country, with over a hundred titles on its catalog.

By Sara Grace Fojas

Remy, Lalaine Bennett, and Lou Salvador, Jr. It introduced the Korean stars Kim Sung Ho, Park Noh ITH more Shik, Choi Ji Hee, and Kim Un Hee. It was directed by Lamberto V. Avelthan a hundred lana. films under its “The first kissing scene in a Filipino movie was in No Man is an Island, catalogue, Tamaraw Stustarring Jeffrey Hunter, Marshall dios made a mark in the Thompson, and Barbara Perez.

To show you that it was very conPhilippine movie history. servative, Barbara’s request was that no kissing scene to come out in the Filipinos who have seen No Way Philippines. Barbara was the Audrey Out and Kahariang Bato may be faHepburn of the Philippines,” says miliar with one of the biggest movie Bobby. houses in the Philippines during the In 1970, the competition became ‘50s, Tamaraw Studios, owned by the very fierce. “Ang kalaban mo kasi Joseph brothers George, John, Alartista na. Paano mo lalabanan bert, Robert, and Michael. sina Fernando Poe, Jr., Aristorena, Nestled on a two-hectare lot in the Lapids, the Gonzales. So they just Marulas, Polo, Bulacan, the studio decided to lease the property, servhas the best movie equipment durices, and editing facilities but still had ing those days, backed with reliable several projects with Lamberto Aveltechnicians.

Robert "Bobby" Lim Joseph and his brothers lana. We would see Eddie Garcia.

“The history of it, even before it That was part of the growth.” was called Tamaraw Studios, my founded Tamaraw Studios “What killed the movie industry grandfather imported the distributor was the 35 percent amusement tax taDevry. It was a projector for sound, that was way before the war and the Josephs had 28 movie theaters. Kaya lang, noong pos magbabayad ka pa ng sinehan. It’s easier now to produce pumasok ang giyera, naubos lahat, ni wala kaming pang-back- a film kasi phone camera lang puwede na, noon hindi eh, magdadala ka ng camera mo, ang daming ilaw, ang laki-laki pay,” says Robert “Bobby Joseph, now a businessman.

Tamaraw then had three units so that they could shoot in ng power generator mo na ilalayo mo pa para hindi marinig different locations. It became the launchpad of the now Sena- kaya ang lalaki ng cablemo. The movie industry is very alluring, its lessons of ups and downs. Yung films ngayon, you can tor Bong Revilla’s acting career in the movieNardong Putik.

I used to go to shooting noon, sinasama ako ng daddy ko, easily copy, dati binibisikleta pa yan eh. Ang distribution and mga comedy, horror, nandoon sina Oscar Obligacion, Chiq- marketing noon napakahirap, ngayon showing agad in more uito, Chicay, Aruray, and Patsy. Minsan nasa sementeryo pa than 400 theaters nationwide,” he says.

Seeing the behind the scenes of creating a movie from kami nagshu-shoot. Tapos ang films noon four in one, kaya then until now, Bobby fell in love with the industry. He even madaming artista kasi apat na istorya.”

After the war, the father of Bobby Joseph and Joe de Vene- shared that he wanted to go into acting but his father did not cia would love watching movies and then they decided to put allow him. Now, on his free time, he loves watching Filipino up the Joseph brothers movie company and started producing TV shows which he believes has affected the culture of the Filipinos. films.

“Now, during my free time, I like watching Ang Probinsy“Those were the films that came out after the war until 1970.

During that time, we were producing over 200 movies, we ano and Sandugo. Most movies now even promote various were the largest filmmaker, next to India and the United States. tourist spots in the Philippines. It has greatly affected our culMy father, together with Mayor Villegas then started the Metro ture, nakita mo naman ang ginagawa sa Ang Probinsyano, may values, may dasal. Ang mga bata noon natuto mag-EngManila Film Festival.”

In 1963, Tamaraw Studios partnered with Korea in producing lish sa Sesame Street. Sa kultura, kasama din ang values, lanthe war movie No Way Out, starring Leopoldo Salcedo, Ronald guage, and history,” Bobby ends.

W

Extra International...

From C4

Irons has reportedly been accused of making comments suggesting abortion is sinful, downplaying sexual harassment and suggesting same-sex marriage could lead to incest.

Nazi links British Oscar winner Mirren will be feted at the festival with a lifetime achievement award, while former US presidential candidate Clinton will attend a screening of a five-part documentary about her life.

Other A-listers expected to attend include Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, and Salma Hayek, who all appear in “The Roads Not Taken” by British director Sally Potter.

Cate Blanchett will also be there to present the Australian series “Stateless” and Sigourney Weaver will attend for the opening film “My Salinger Year”, about the 1990s New York

Ronnie...

From C4

“ It was a challenging training. Such a humbling experience. At 4:00 a.m. we had to wake up. They were very strict when it comes to schedule. Dapat talagang mabilis ka kumilos. From eating your food to taking a bath. It

literary scene.

Further dampening Thursday event, the festival is also reeling from revelations that its founding director, Alfred Bauer, was a high-ranking Nazi.

The prestigious Alfred Bauer prize, previously won by the likes of Baz Luhrmann, was suspended after an investigation by newspaper Die Zeit highlighted Bauer’s standing in the Nazi party.

On Tuesday, festival organizers announced they had commissioned the Munich-based Institute for Contemporary History (IfZ) to investigate Bauer’s role in the Hitler regime.

This year’s Berlinale winner will be announced on Feb. 29.

The Berlinale, Europe’s first major film festival of the year, kicks off on Thursday.

Despite the Berlinale’s pledge to aim for gender parity, only six of the 18 films in competition are directed by women this year. AFP

involved a lot of physical activities but at the end of the day iisipin mo na malaki ang maitutulong nun sa charactermo and pagmamahal mo sa bayan natin.”

The actor received his black beret and mechanized patches as 2nd Lieutenant from Pambato Commander Maj. Gen. Robert Dauz as these symbolize respect, dedication, passion,

commitment, loving of what you do, and willingness to sacrifice your life for the country.

As a newly promoted 2nd Lt., he will still finish his commercial pilot course.

Last year, he got his pin as a private pilot.

Meanwhile, Ronnie is still very much into music. He’s promoting his collab song with Sarah Geronimo titled

A scene from Viva Films' 'Untrue' starring Cristine Reyes and Xian Lim

MY ORIGINAL title for today’s column should have been “Sex, Lies, and Videotapes.”

However, I don’t want to be accused of copying the title of the film that catapultedSteven Soderbergh to motion picture A-lister prominence, and yes, almost every film geek knows that it starred James Spader when he was still at his yummiest.

These words played in my mind because they captured the essence of the Sigrid Andrea Bernardo’s Untrue.

Yes, there are sex scenes a plenty and the sexual love moans coming from the character during their sexual congresses can make the virgins blush and uninhibited envious.

Affirmative on the lies, because like the story of Mara and Joachim, given life

by Cristine Reyes and Xian Lim, unfolds, to decipher who among these two demented individuals hold the truth sacred and who is the master or mistress of twisted and perverted lies, is not an easy pick.

And of course, a video recording of a truly kinky sex act between a hunky guidance counselor and a nubile femme will truly jolt one’s predictable existence, add the fact that it accidentally became a public delight and spectacle, well, we are all guilty as charged as this story arc is happening on a daily basis, for real.

Pardon me from getting ahead of my review of this second film, written and directed by Bernardo after the mammoth hit that was Kita Kita, which lorded the Philippine cinema box office some two years ago.

In a nutshell, the film tells the story of Mara Villanueva (Reyes) and Joachim Castro (Lim), two Filipinos by chance met in this Gotham-like country of Georgia.

Choosing Georgia as the location for this film is genius because there is a foreboding, even sinister quality to the places presented in the film. So many stones and statues that exacerbated that feeling of being alone and detached, devoid of real, human connection, the cruelty of the weather condition and an all-male quintet that sings in their native tongue on the street where you walk, are hardcore eerie and spooky elements.

Mara is a newbie to Georgia who just arrived three months ago, while Joachim has been living in it for halfa-decade and has a vineyard as his main source of income and power.

As expected, the two Pinoys gravitated towards each other, tied the knot and before we wish them their happily ever after, we all see Mara

inside the local police station, reporting that her husband is gone.

Now, the intriguing part of the film transpires, the he-said-she-said versions of Mara and Joachim, acted out by Reyes and Lim with a ferocious commitment to the truth that their characters consider as sacred. As the two share how their “love story” evolved, from strangers to lovers, to who is this person I am living with was shared by the duo with honesty so raw, one becomes so involved with their reveals. Who do we believe? Who gets our sympathies and hugs? Who do we crucify?

As Mara, Reyes was excellent in this film. One part, she is vulnerable and so caring, the other side of her, vindictive, full of rage and wrath. When she speaks about her woes and struggles with Joachim, you want to care for her and save her from the domestic mess she is in but when you witness that she knows how to scheme, calculate, plot out and make her revenge a reality, you know that Reyes did her homework. She is a heavyweight best actress contender in the 2020 awards season.

Lim, as Joaquim, I loved. So refreshing to watch him shedding off his well-groomed, squeaky clean image that has become too boring to a fault.

Hefty, scruffy, dangerous looked good on him. Cristine and Xian shared a different kind of chemistry that is both sugar and spice and all that is nice, combined with the tempestuous and a love that can kill you slowly but surely.

To see them act and take the challenge of giving life to characters that are extraordinary are testaments to their commitment to their craft as actors.

Another truly committed performance was delivered by newcomer Rhen Escano who plays Ana, a schoolgirl who became Joachim’s kryptonite. is an important character in the film also delivered a solid performance. Rhen’s character delivers a plot twist that changes the film’s landscape.

Kudos to director Sigrid Andrea Bernardo for giving a brave cinematic gem that pulls all the strings and punches, the attention and captivates the viewers with a Filipino psychological thriller which we have not seen in cinemas for the longest time.

Untrue is not an easy watch because it presents to us the horrors of a fictional relationship that started from sweet and how it reached sour and bitter proportions, is truly jolting and riveting.

Bet your hard-earned pesos on this one.

Untrue is currently showing in cinemas nationwide.

“Liwanag,” available on Spotify and other digital music platforms.

This year, he will produce new songs dedicated to his supporters. He’s also one of the performers for PAGCOR Tour and part of the upcoming movie under Viva that starsBela Padilla and Marco Gumabao.

“2019 was such a good year for me.

I feel so blessed that’s why I’m very

thankful to Boss Vic [del Rosraio] of Viva, sa family, and sa supporters ko.

I will continue making music. And will always find time to manage everything from being a pilot to being a 2nd Lt. Ngayon, mas lumalim talaga ‘yung pagmamahal ko sa bayan natin.I’m encouraging din ang mga kabataan to join the army and promote ROTC. Let’s all help each other,” Liang ended.

Entertainment

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

C4

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020

Ronnie Liang’s military stint earns praises from netizens SINGER and pilot Ronnie Liang’s announcement that he graduated from military training at the Armor “Pambato” Division (AD) in Tarlac on Feb. 14 received positive feedback.

Netizens praised Ronnie for exploring other things outside showbiz. He’s now a second lieutenant after finishing needed training. One comment said that the singer is truly an inspiration, especially to the young generation. “ I’m really thankful for the good words from netizens. People are congratulating me and saying that I kind of inspired them to volunteer and help the country. Ganun naman talaga, dapat nagtutulungan

tayong lahat lalo na sa panahong nadadapa tayo as a nation. In my own little way, being a 2nd Lieutenant, I will join activitiesna makatutulong sa tao at sa bansa. We help out people to uplift the image of the army,” Ronnie related.

He took the Mechanized Infantry Operations Training (MIOT) Course to further equip his reservist competencies in addressing conventional and external threats.

The “Ngiti” singer shared that he showed interest joining military in 2018 after that dramatic Marawi siege. Those trying times touched and affected him as a Filipino.

Shootings, diversity row mar Berlin film fest opening EUROPE’S first major film festival of 2020 opens in Berlin Thursday, with Helen Mirren and Hillary Clinton among those expected on the red carpet -- even as a deadly shooting and diversity row threatened to mar festivities.

The opening of the 11-day Berlinale was overshadowed by an an attack in the central city of Hanau which left nine people dead, along with the killer and his mother.

Festival organizers announced a minute’s silence to mourn the victims during the opening ceremony on Thursday evening.

“The Berlinale stands against violence and racism,” they said in a statement, after prosecutors said the suspect had held farright beliefs.

Yet festival spokeswoman Frauke Greiner said the Berlinale had no plans to boost security measures.

Organizers were in “constant exchange with the security authorities” and “able to adapt... at short notice”, Greiner told AFP in a statement.

The festival, which will showcase some 340 films from around the world, has also

been forced to defend its commitment to female film-makers.

Only six of the 18 films up for the top “Golden Bear” prize are directed by women, one fewer than last year.

One of the newly appointed heads of the film festival said last month the festival would “give room to diversity”, as debate rages over representation of women and minorities in film.

“Six films is not 50/50, but it’s a good path to reach it,” said Carlo Chatrian, who was appointed to lead the festival for the first time this year with Mariette Rissenbeek, replacing long-serving chief Dieter Kosslick.

This year’s jury head Jeremy Irons was also embroiled in controversy over past comments about same-sex marriage, women’s rights and abortion.

The British actor addressed the melee Thursday, saying he supported the “movement to address the inequality of women’s rights and to protect them from abusive, damaging and disrespectful harassment both at home and in workplace.” Continued on C3

The Berlinale 2020 film festival international jury posing on the red carpet

Senator Binay seeks to promote positivity online SENATOR Nancy Binay has launched Charcoal Confessions: 46 Home-Brewed Tips vs. Online Bullying, a new book where she detailed her experience with cyberbullying and imparted lighthearted ways to project positivity amidst online harassment.

“After three heat-intensive years of being the center of online hate, there are many personal realizations that somehow

Senator Binay with ABS-CBN Books head Mark Yambot

led me to understand the feelings of those who have been bullied in social media and the painful experiences they’ve been through,” she said.

Charcoal Confessions, published by ABS-CBN Books, is a product of the senator’s self-reflection and features tips on dealing with online bullies based on her own experience with bashers and also the experience of her family.

She also underscored her inspiration for writing the book. “Truth be told, social media has negatively impacted today’s generation. It has become more of an obsession rather than a way to help build relationships and encourage communication,” Senator Binay said.

“This is why I wanted to share how my perspective and positive attitude about life helped me in my journey towards healing,” she added, citing that the new read has tips on rebuilding one’s self worth and becoming self-aware and tips on ‘taking all the bad and making something good out of it.’

Charcoal Confessions follows the success of her first social media manual, “Make Love Not War,” also published

by ABS-CBN Books featuring her collaboration with social media celebrity/ parody Senyora Santibanez.

Find amusing ways to counter cyberbullying with Sen. Nancy Binay’s “Charcoal Confessions,” now available in ABS-CBN Store, Lazada, and Shopee and in leading bookstores nationwide for only P299.

“ I started this in 2018, but I didn’t want to tell anyone. I actually volunteered.

I said to serve the country, to help the community lalo na sa panahon ng pangangailangan. Remember Marawi siege? ‘Yun ang nagpagising sa akin na talagang kailangan natin magtulungan as a nation,” the singer explained.

Ronnie believes that he’s very much qualified for the army because of his being a pilot, his college degree, and ROTC background.

The rigorous course highlights battle drills, armored vehicle defensive driving, raid mission training, and lectures on enemy armored threats. Continued on C3

Ronnie Liang started volunteering for the Army in 2018, and called the Marawi siege in 2017 his 'wake-up call.'

Fielding powerhouse cast in new afternoon drama B

EGINNING today, three generations of women take on a quest to pursue their dreams on GMA Network’s much-awaited TV adaptation of the 1989 award-winning blockbuster movie by Regal Films, Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit.

hand, Kyline feels ecstatic to be part of such stellar cast, “Until now, hindi talaga nagsi-sink in sa akin na I’m part of this huge teleserye. I can’t believe na makakatrabaho ko sila knowing na nagsisimula pa lang ako sa industriya.

I feel really honored and at the same time pressured.”

Completing the star-studded cast are: Zoren Legaspi, Gabby Eigenmann, Ina Feleo, Yasser Marta, Divina Valencia, Candy Pangilinan, and Isabel Rivas.

Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit features the special participation of Ricky

Davao as Damian, calm and charitable husband of Cedes who serves as the leader of smalltime grape farmers in their town and Dante Rivero as Ramon, Martina’s successful husband who owns a liquor business.

The Dela Cruz is a humble family of grape farmers. Despite struggling to make ends meet, married couple Cedes (Nora) and Damian (Ricky) are warmly respected by their grape farm community.

They supply grapes to notorious liquor magnates Martina (Isabel) and Ramon (Dante). Nolie (Mylene), the diligent daughter of Cedes and Damian, is secretly in a relationship with the son of Martina and Ramon, Anselmo (Zoren) who is only pursuing the former for his selfish desires.

W h e n g r e e d consumes

The drama series is top-billed by the one and only Superstar Nora Aunor as Mercedes “Cedes” dela Cruz.

Playing equally important roles are highlyacclaimed actress Mylene Dizon as Magnolia “Nolie” dela Cruz and Kapuso Breakout Star Kyline Alcantara as Maggie dela Cruz.

Nora shares her excitement to be starring in a remake of her own award-winning film, “Masaya ako na magkakaroon ng remake ‘yung aming pelikula noon. Excited din ako dahil ang gagaling ng mga artista na makakasama ko dito.”

Mylene reveals that she is honored to be working with the legendary actress, “It’s really a dream come true.

I think it’s every actress’ dream to be able to work with Ms. Nora Aunor. I feel very privileged and lucky to be working with her for this project.”

On the other In 'Bilangin Ang Bituin Sa Langit," Nora Aunor, Mylene Dizon, and Kyline Alcantara represent three generations of actors showing their acting prowess on the boob tube.

The cast and director of GMA'a latest afternoon drama, "Bilangin Ang Bituin Sa Langit'

Martina, she orders the plantation to be burned down since the farmers who oppose selling their land.

This unfortunate incident has led to the death of Damian. Cedes goes berserk and accidentally kills Ramon. Making matters worse, Nolie finds out that she is also carrying Anselmo’s child - Maggie (Kyline).

Several years passed, their stars will once again align when Maggie meets Jun (Yasser), the son of Anselmo with Margaux (Ina), and falls in love with him. Meanwhile, Cedes is set to avenge the death of Damian and their stolen land with her newfound identity alongside Nolie who will likewise give Anselmo a taste of his own medicine.

Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit is directed by Laurice Guillen.