Manila Standard - 2020 February 27 - Thursday

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PH bans travel to S. Korea HIGH COURT GETS TOUGH ON TROS, INJUNCTIONS

(Story on A2)

Bato: Drug lords killed BuCor lawyer

Restriction also covers travelers from SoKor province, a virus hotspot

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo

By MJ Blancaflor

T

HE government has imposed a temporary travel ban on South Korea as COVID-19 cases there shot up by 169, bringing the total number to 1,146, the Palace said Wednesday.

VOL. XXXIII • NO. 372 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

DRUG lords at the New Bilibid Prison could be behind the killing of Bureau of Corrections former legal counsel Anthony Fredric Santos, also a witness in the Good Conduct Time Allowance anomaly, said Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa

on Thursday.

Dela Rosa, who served as BuCor director before he ran for senator, came up with this statement based on his own experiences.

“Most likely, those behind the killing, based on my experience, the drug lords jailed in Bilibid ordered the killing of our Next page

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo rising number of coronavirus infections.

Korea, and those who are leaving for said Filipino tourists are temporarily barred The ban, however, exempts Filipino study, as long as they sign a declaration Next page from traveling to South Korea due to the workers and permanent residents of South

House defers action on ABS-CBN

By Maricel Cruz, MJ Blancaflor, Rey Requejo

Immigration man tags 5 in ’pastillas’

Calida seeking to revoke ABS-CBN’s franchise.

“What is important is, the President SPEAKER Alan Peter Cayetano said said, they should do something about the House is likely to delay hearings it. Meaning to say, do their job. If on ABS-CBN’s franchise until May or there is a pending application before August, even though President Rodri- Congress, then members of Congress go Duterte said he wants lawmakers to should deliberate on it and decide discuss the issue before the franchise whether or not to grant or to deny the expires on March 30. extension,” Panelo said.

In a press briefing, Presidential There are 11 bills seeking to extend VOL. XXXIV • NO. Panelo 17 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com Spokesman Salvador said the ABS-CBN’s franchise for 27, another 25 President had nothing to do with the years are pending, but Cayetano said delay in Congress or the quo warranto the House would be able to tackle petition filed by Solicitor General Jose Next page

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 “pastillas” system by which Chinese workers and fugitives enter the country by paying bribes, a whistleblower said Thursday.

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 HOME FROM THE STRAIN. Airport authorities at the NAIA terminals (top right inset) train their thermal scanners on incoming passengers from South Korea, which has the biggest of country. coronavirus infections about tonumber enter the outside China. Above, at Clark Freeport airport, two chartered aircraft sit on the flightline as 445 steamed up Filipinos— the first flight carrying 309 passengers and the second 136—from the quarantined Diamond Pricess cruise “The syndicated groups would often ship in Yokohama, Japan are brought home by the government. After landing, all repatriates, as well as the DFA and DOH repatriation team members, and PAL flight crew were brought to the Athletes’ Village in New Clark City, compete with each other to gain favor Tarlac for the 14-day quarantine program of the DOH. from the Chinese travel agencies,” Chiong said.

He revealed that they gave bribes ranging from P50,000 and P200,000 so that the Chinese nationals—even those that DOZENS passengers who showing were al-officers Clark City in Tarlac. symptoms] to see a doctor and to take I DO. Immigration officer 1 Allison Chiong (top left) tells a Senate committee hearing Thursday he is theofsource of the video facilitating the immigration process have been blacklisted—can freely enter lowed off a coronavirus (COVID-19)Thebribery Japanese government contacted the tests,” Kato said. for Chinese POGO workers at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Chiong named the current and former immigration offi cials involved in the scheme as Traffichas Control country, passing through Immigration Enforcement Unit officersIsBien GlennisComia and Den Binsol. Chiong said these were under Division Chief813 Marcformer Red Mariñas.

Ey Acasio stricken cruisePorts shipOperation have developed passengers of the Diamond counters Japan has comeany under increasing without question.

Nextprespage WHAT is a pandemic? the Guevarra, novel corospreading uncontrollably, affecting allofficials navirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) al- continents, across the world,” he said in symptoms including fever and will be Princess. Around 970 were allowed off the sure over its handling of the crisis on the asked to take tests for the virus, Japan’s boat last week after testing negative for the vessel, particularly after it emerged that ready one? an interview with ABS-CBN News. virus, but several have subsequently been some passengers allowed to disembark No and no, according to Dr. Rabindra But since there have been “changes in health minister said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, 441 Filipino crew mem- found to be carrying the disease. after testing negative were subsequently Abeyasinghe, World Health Organization the classification in how we talk about The ministry found “45 people had cer- diagnosed with the potentially fatal virus. representative to the Philippines —and he pandemics. We haven’t recently had a bers and four passengers of the Diamond Princess who arrived before dawn in tain symptoms,” Health Minister KatsuThose allowed off the ship after a 14can’t tell the last time the world witnessed global pandemic,” Abeyasinghe added. tion from toldquarantine reporters.were asked to stay inside, a pandemic.

Regardless of a pandemic’s more the will or be quarantined for nobu Kato the toldgovernment parliament.if he feared for day

By Philippines MJ Blancafl life,asked and assured President “If Espenido would want to ask forpage any “A pandemic would be a disease that 14 days at the Athlete’s Village in New his“We all of him themthat [who have Next page Next PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will not let Duterte would not hurt anyone ‘‘outside protective measure from the government, “They have economies scale,” Duque

By Macon Ramos-Araneta embattled Lt. Colonel Jovie Espenido to legal processes. then he can so request just like any other said, adding that this made their vaccines be harmed, the Palace said Thursday after “If that is the fear of Colonel Especitizen.

THE Philippines has no budget to devel- cheaper.

Espenido said the government could go nido, then we cannot stop him from Meanwhile, Espenido welcomed the op 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 Nabillions and billions of pesos that it can- countries are being sidestepped in the watchlist. the President will not allow anyone tional Police Chief Archie Gamboa to the not afford, Health Secretary Francisco distribution of vaccines, saying big comthat ABS-CBN shouldlegal donateprocesses it instead to By MJ Blancafl or, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panto be hurt outside or policemen on Duterte’s latest drug watch Duque III said Thursday. panies are mandated to lead in developamethods charitablesanctioned institution ofby its choice.

Rey E. Requejo, elo said Espenido could ask for proteclaw, Panelo list, including him.

Next page In an interview over radio dzMM, ing vaccines for diseases such as the new “I accept the apology, of course,” By Maricel V. Cruz Macon Ramos-Araneta Duque said it was more cost-effective coronavirus (COVID-19).

President Duterte told reporters in a and Maricel V. Cruz to buy vaccines from rich countries that Duque pointed to research in China chance interview in Malacañang.

A LEADER of the House of Represenhave the capacity to develop the drugs.

Next page PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Duterte maintained that he did not in- tatives on Wednesday dared his fellow Wednesday said he accepted the apology struct Solicitor General Jose Calida to legislators to unmask a person whom of broadcast giant ABS-CBN but said he file a quo warranto petition before the he described as “ligaw at halang ang PunditsCourt and which critics seeks alike tosay the Naation, he said, hadwas become unprecedented, could not ask the Office of the Solicitor- Supreme revoke the kaluluwa,” who allegedly working (First of two tional Capital Region’s trash output is a to Filipinos selfi threwoftheir refuse evwithhold theshly release congressional General to withdraw a quoparts) warranto peti- network’s existing franchise. timesaid bomb, of a Calida similar projects erywhere―mostly into national water systems― under the 2020 budget. tion before the Supreme Court seeking to ticking He also heindicative cannot ask problem experienced across the country, and massive clean-up drives only moved In a privilege speech, Capiz Rep.

By Jimbo Gulle franchise. nullify the network’s to withdraw the petition despite ABSand recent statements by government of- Fredenil tons of litter from one place to another.

Castro, a former House majority The President also said he would not CBN’s apology.

IF YOU traffic is ficials have only underscored the SolGen issue.

In ansaid environmental forumhe that month, leader, his source, whom referred accept thethink P2.6 Metro millionManila’s that the network “I cannot tell him to stop. The a problem, the garbage situation in canLast December, Environment Secretary Cimatu said the Department of Environas a “butterfly,” whispered to him vowed to return to him over unairedwill, politalways announce that there is a to modern social the media-speak, tell adding you to Roy Cimatu said the countryNext waspage in the ment and Natural Resources would Nextissue, page ical ads during 2016 elections, “hold its beer.” middle of a “garbage crisis.” Waste generTurn to A3

WHO defines pandemic: Word doesn't apply to COVID-19 yet

Ship passengers told: Take tests for coronavirus

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

Duterte: ABS-CBN apology accepted Solon slams bid to block projects

Garbage crisis in Metro: A ticking time bomb

NEW GUIDELINES.

Devotees receive ash on their heads, unlike the usual cross on the forehead, during the of Ash Wednesday SUMMIT AGENDA. The deadly coronavirus is setobservance dominate the agenda of atto the Metropolitan Cathedral the high-level Vientianne summit Thursday, as China’s foreign minister meets with his of the Immaculate Conception Southeast Asian counterparts whose countries’ economiesinhave been hard-hit Intramuros, Manilaover (left) fears of widespread contagion. Inset is a photo taken Wednesday showing laboratory while the Catholicafaithful technician holding samples of virus at a laboratory in Hengyang in China’s wear masks (top) central as a Henan province. AFP preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus to receive the ash. Norman Cruz with AFP

Virus control efforts working—China Duque prays for more Mass services

VIENTIANE, Laos―China’s efforts to control the deadly outbreak of a new coronavirus “are working,” Beijing’s top diplomat said Thursday, attributing an easing in new cases to his country’s By Macon Ramos-Araneta “forceful action” against the illness.

SpeakingSecretary in Laos before talksDuque with HEALTH Francisco peersanxious from over the 10 Southeast Asian III, possible coronavirus (ASEAN) in countries, Yi said the infections churchesWang in predominantly outbreak was “controllable and curable” Christian Philippines, suggested more despiteservices the global panic itcrowds has seeded.

Mass to lessen and so-

“China is not only protecting its own people but also the rest of the world,” he told the summit in Vientiane, referencing a recent sharp drop in new cases of the virus China, where it has killed more cialinside interaction. than 2,100 people.

Latest figures showed more than 80,000 Philippine Minister Teodoro patients have Foreign been infected globally, with Locsin Jr. toll thanked China its “unprecthe death climbing upfor to near 3,000. edented domestic measures and quick The World Health Organization has action”―apparently referring to but the called it a global health emergency Nextpage page Next

CA okays Budget chief, 4 generals

By Macon Ramos-Araneta THE Commission on Appointments on Wednesday confirmed the ad-interim appointment of Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado and four senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

No commission member objected when a motion to approve Avisado’s ad-interim appointment was presented by Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, head of the commission’s Committee on Budget and Management.

AD-INTERIM APPOINTMENTS. The Commission on Appointments Senator Panfilo Lacson told Avisado confirms the ad-interim appointments of (from left) Maj. Gen. Fernando Reboja, to continue what he had been doing, Lt. Gen. Felix, Brig.

Gen. Maning Tawantawan, Budget Secretary Wendel LAKAS GATHERING. Officers and members ofSimeon Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats led by House Majority Leader Martin

Next pagetheAvisado, and Lt. of Gen. Contributed photo Romualdez has said the Romualdez (center) pose for posterity during lunch meeting theRoberto party atAncan. the House of Representatives. party will always be a partner of the administration to ensure the swift passage of President Duterte’s legislative agenda. Ver Noveno

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News

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

House coup rumor junked

By Maricel V. Cruz A LAWMAKER on Wednesday doused cold water on the reports Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano is facing ouster as a result of the controversy involving the renewal of the franchise of the ABS-CBN network.

“This is the first time I’ve heard about this rumor. There is no coup against the Speaker,” Cebu City Rep. Raul del Mar, who belongs to the opposition Liberal Party, said in a television interview.

“I should know because I am always there [in the House of Representatives].”

Del Mar was asked about the speculations that some congressmen dissatisfied with Cayetano’s stance on the issue of ABS-CBN’s franchise might move against him.

Senator Grace Poe, chairman of the public services committee that heard the case, said Monday’s Senate hearing strengthened the people’s clamor for the House to do its job―and because it revealed truths that had been obfuscated by people with vested interests and a propensity to abuse their power.

“There is no longer any reason for the House of Representatives to sit on this matter, Poe said.

“Doing so would be a violation of the trust that had been given to them by their constituents.’’

After ’pastillas,’ Morente probed

By MJ Blancaflor PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he will let Congress and the Department of Justice finish their respective investigations before deciding on Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente’s fate in the wake of the “pastillas” scheme.

The President, however, maintained that the Immigration personnel who were allegedly involved in the scheme should be booted out from the bureau.

“I think there’s going to be an investigation with Congress. I defer to Congress first before I make any decision,” Duterte told reporters in a chance interview in Malacañang.

In a Senate hearing, some Immigration personnel have been accused of asking bribes from Chinese nationals to illegally enter the country to work in offshore gaming hubs.

CA...

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particularly on the national budget.

“He [President Rodrigo Duterte] cannot do it without your input and wise counsel. Please continue what you started,” Lacson said.

Meanwhile, the CA also confirmed the ad-interim appointments of Roberto T. Ancan to the rank of Lieutenant General Simeon Z. Felix Jr. to the rank of Major General Fernando M. Reboja to the rank of Brigadier General Maning S. Tawantawan to the rank of Brigadier General.

Duterte has appointed National Bureau of Investigation’s Assistant Director Eric Bito-on Distor as the agency’s officer-in-charge following the retirement of Director Dante Gierran, Malacañang announced Wednesday.

An appointment letter signed by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea showed that Distor’s appointment had been effective on Feb. 23 “until a replacement is appointed or until otherwise” directed by his office.

“There is a new officer-in-charge of the National Bureau of Investigation following the retirement of the director. It's Mr. Eric Bito-on Distor effective February 23,’’ Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo told reporters.

Lacson reminded Avisado about his earlier remarks about withholding P84 billion because it did not undergo the usual budget evaluation process.

With MJ Blancaflor

Solon...

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about the alleged plan to deprive congressional districts of the needed projects to propel economic developments in the countryside.

“Last Monday, while I was meditating at the garden of the Lower Chamber, a butterfly landed on my shoulder and whispered that a wayward soul is trying to stop the allocation of funds for the congressmen,” Castro told lawmakers at the plenary session Wednesday without naming names.

“According to this butterfly, the wayward soul is also planning to stop the implementation of projects that have been lined up,’’ Castro said, adding that the House of Representatives would identify the ‘‘ligaw na kaluluwa’’ soon.

“Mister Speaker, I do not know why there are parties who are trying to stop the allocation of the members of the Lower House because such is not only against the congressmen but more so against on the Filipino people,’’ Castro said.

Trump plans Asean summit

W

scheduled for November in the wake of major demonstrations.

Trump had likewise skipped an ASEAN summit and parallel East Asia Summit last year in Bangkok.

He instead sent his national security advisor, Robert O’Brien, in the lowestlevel participation ever by the United States in the East Asia Summit.

Most ASEAN leaders snubbed a meeting with O’Brien, sending junior officials who were of more parallel rank.

The low-level presence in Bangkok came after years of US efforts to show that the United States is committed to Asia in the face of a rising China.

In Bangkok, O’Brien renewed the US call for freedom of navigation and accused China of using “intimidation” to stop ASEAN nations from exploiting resources in the South China Sea. Last week, China’s foreign minister met his Southeast Asian peers in Laos for crisis talks over the coronavirus which has seeded panic and constricted economies dependent on the flow of goods and tourists.

Wang Yi held talks with counterparts from the 10ASEAN countries in Vientiane in a hastily-convened meeting over the health scare. AFP

telemedicine and another through actual physical examination.

They will be provided with food, hygiene kits, and appropriate health services.

An ambulance team is also on standby 24/7 to conduct hospital referrals, if needed. DOH hospitals in Central Luzon are prepared to cater to those who may manifest respiratory symptoms or fever.

“As observed in other countries, there is still a possibility that our nationals may eventually test positive upon their return.

We have prepared and equipped our hospitals and laboratory facilities, and allocated all necessary resources ... should this happen,” Duque said.

“We have placed measures for the appropriate isolation and management of individuals who may eventually test positive for COVID-19 to contain transmission. We are ready to address any possible scenario,” said Duque.

The COVID-19 outbreak swelled on Wednesday with cases in South Korea surging past 1,000 after deaths soared in Iran and infections appeared in previously untouched countries, prompting dire warnings that the world was not ready to contain it.

The virus has rapidly spread in parts of Asia, Europe and the Middle East, even as the number of fresh cases and deaths decline at the disease epicenter in China.

Towns and cities have been sealed off in an attempt to stop the contagion, while hotels in the Canary Islands and Austria were locked down on Tuesday because of suspected cases.

In Iran, which has reported 15 deaths out of nearly 100 infections, even the country’s deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi said he had contracted the virus.

At the World Health Organization headquarters in Geneva, Bruce Aylward, who headed an international expert mission to China, hailed the drastic quarantine and containment measures taken by the country.

But he told reporters that other nations

were “simply not ready” to contain the outbreak.

“You have to be ready to manage this at a larger scale... and it has to be done fast,” Aylward said.

The virus has killed 2,715 people and infected over 78,000 in China. There were 52 more deaths reported on Wednesday—the lowest in three weeks—with no fatalities outside the epicenter in central Hubei province.

The National Health Commission also reported a drop in new infections to 406, with only five outside Hubei—a figure that will boost confidence that the rest of the country is containing the epidemic.

In the rest of the world, there have been more than 40 deaths and 2,700 cases.

The disease has now reached dozens of countries, with Austria, Croatia and Switzerland the latest to declare cases.

The epidemic’s disruption has also grown, with stock markets tumbling around the world, restrictions imposed on travelers and sporting events cancelled.

The WHO has called for countries to “prepare for a potential pandemic”— a term used to describe an epidemic that spreads throughout the world.

Poor countries are particularly at risk, the WHO has warned.

South Korea reported 169 new infections on Wednesday, raising its total tally to 1,146—by far the largest outside China—while an 11th person died.

A 23-year-old US soldier stationed at Camp Carroll in Daegu was also infected.

Some 28,500 American troops are deployed in South Korea.

The vast majority—90 percent—of the new infections were in Daegu, the country’s fourth-largest city and the epicenter of the outbreak, and the neighboring province of North Gyeongsang.

The streets of Daegu—which has a population of 2.5 million—have been largely deserted for days, apart from long queues at the few shops with masks for sale.

Authorities urged the public to exercise

extra caution, advising citizens to stay home if they have a fever or respiratory symptoms.

China quarantined 94 air passengers arriving in Nanjing from Seoul after three people, all Chinese, on the flight were discovered to have fevers on Tuesday.

In the Middle East, Iran has emerged as a major hotspot, with three more people dying from the COVID-19 disease on Tuesday.

The country has been scrambling to contain the epidemic since last week when it announced its first two deaths in Qom, a center for Islamic studies and pilgrims that attracts scholars from abroad.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, whose country came to the brink of war with Iran earlier this year, said Washington is deeply concerned Tehran “may have suppressed vital details” about the outbreak there.

Gulf countries announced new measures to cut links with Iran in an attempt to stop the spread.

Meanwhile Italy—which has reported 11 deaths and more than 300 cases—has locked down 11 towns and ordered Serie A football games to be played to empty stadiums.

A young man who returned to Croatia from Italy became the first case in the Balkans region.

In the United States, which has a few dozen cases, health authorities urged local governments, businesses and schools to develop plans such as cancelling mass gatherings or switching to teleworking as the country braces for the virus to spread further.

Russia on Wednesday warned against travel to Italy, South Korea, and Iran so as to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Noting the spike in cases in the three countries, consumer safety regulator Rospotrebnadzor urged Russians to avoid travel there “until the epidemiological situation stabilized.” With Macon RamosAraneta and AFP

Ship...

WHO...

but no formal measures restricting their movement were imposed.

As of Wednesday, at least two former passengers in Japan were confirmed infected despite previously testing negative.

Foreign passengers who said they had initially tested negative have also been diagnosed with the virus after being repatriated to Australia and Hong Kong.

Opposition lawmakers have blamed the government for failing to implement a fresh 14-day quarantine after the passengers left the cruise ship.

Countries that repatriated their citizens have required them to undergo another isolation period, suggesting they believe the on-ship quarantine was flawed.

In Manila, Health Assistant Secretary Rosette Vergeire told radio dzMM that none of the repatriates exhibited any of the COVID-19 symptoms.

Eighty Filipinos from the cruise ship had tested positive for the virus. Of these, 70 were still admitted in hospitals in Japan while 10 were discharged and preparing to go back to the Philippines, Vergeire said.

Malacañang on Wednesday thanked Japan for assisting the Filipinos aboard the Diamond Princess.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said the repatriates were allowed to disembark from the ship after they tested negative for the deadly virus. MJ Blancaflor with AFP

technical definition, the WHO official said COVID-19, the disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus, is still not considered a pandemic.

“It’s not uncontrolled transmission,” he said. “Containment efforts seem to be working in many of those places.”

“And in many of the countries the numbers of cases are still in double digits, not even a hundred cases,” Abeyasinghe added.

“The respective governments are still in a containment phase…So this situation does not warrant a classification of a pandemic as yet.”

Currently, countries outside China are in a “containment phase,” attempting to prevent the disease from spreading to communities.

“In a containment phase you need to make sure that anybody suspected of having the disease or is confirmed is ex-

cluded, isolated and managed,” the WHO official said.

Abeyasinghe said a pandemic would mean that there is “uncontrolled community transmission.”

“Isolation will no longer be the aim of the situation. The aim at that point would be to manage the severely ill patients and prevent the deaths [from happening],” he said. “This is a major strategic shift from a containment phase.”

He emphasized the need to prepare for this in advance. “That would mean they (governments) would identify which facilities they are going to manage those severely ill patients.”

Not everyone will also need to be tested and isolated.

“Naturally in that scenario, people who are mildly ill will be staying at home.

They will not be boarded in hospitals,” the doctor said. “But if you are severe or critical you need to be managed in hospitals.”

He said some hospitals may need to be

“repurposed” to accommodate that large number of patients.

The 2009 swine flu or H1N1 was called a pandemic, but the WHO changed its classification of pandemic shortly afterwards, he noted.

Using current definitions, H1N1 influenza is not considered a full-fledged pandemic, reportedly because of its level of severity.

With local transmissions already detected in some of these countries, the WHO is discussing with nations how to prepare for an actual pandemic.

“We already have more cases of COVID-19 than SARS,” Abeyasinghe pointed out.

He admitted the situation has changed in recent weeks, especially with the spike in cases in countries like South Korea and Italy.

Asked if the WHO agrees with experts claiming that it’s possible COVID-19 will eventually become a seasonal pandemic like the common flu, he said: “That’s speculation.”

The head of the Court’s Public Information Office, Brian Keith Hosaka said this would give the justices enough time to go over the pleadings submitted by the parties, including the comments recently filed by the respondents.

In seeking the forfeiture of the franchises of ABS-CBN its subsidiary ABSCBN Convergence, Calida accused the respondents various abuses, including illegal pay-per-view offering and foreign ownership.

A labor group “Defend Job Philippines” asked the Court to uphold the jobs of some 11,000 employees of the broadcast company, and safeguard press freedom and the Filipino people’s right to information.

The labor group’s spokesman, Thadeus Ifurung, said now was the best time for the justices to prove their independence from the two other branches of government.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon filed on Wednesday a concurrent resolution that would allow ABS-CBN to continue to operate pending the renewal of its franchise.

Drilon filed Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 6 expressing the sense of the upper chamber that ABS-CBN Corp. “should be allowed to operate under the terms of its existing franchise pending final determination of the renewal of its

franchise by the 18th Congress.

The network’s franchise expires on May 4, and with only eight session days remaining before Congress goes on a break starting March 13, lawmakers will need more time to discuss the network’s franchise bid, Dilon said.

He added that Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said a concurrent resolution may be in order for the National Telecommunications Commission to allow ABS-CBN to operate when its franchise expires in May. “Secretary Guevarra said that on grounds of equity, the ABS-CBN can continue. Again, this is an opinion expressed by no less than the secretary of Justice, whose opinion is binding on the entire executive branch, so this must be extended due respect,” he said.

The said resolution also seeks the issuance by the National Telecommunications Commission of the appropriate provisional authority to the media giant as bills on its franchise renewal remain pending in Congress.

Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has criticized the Senate for taking up the franchise issue, when bills such as this should emanate from the House of Representatives.

But Senator Grace Poe, chairperson of the Senate public services committee, defended her panel’s hearings.

ASHINGTON—US President Donald Trump has invited Southeast Asian leaders to meet next month in Las Vegas, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday, after a summit last year was scrapped.

Pompeo confirmed the date when asked at a news conference whether fears over the coronavirus outbreak would delay the summit with members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“The ASEAN summit is still, we’re working our way through it for ... the second weekend in March in Las Vegas,”

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signifying their knowledge and understanding of the risks involved in their travel.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases has also imposed a ban on the entry of travelers coming from South Korea’s North Gyeongsang Province, including Daegu City and Cheongdo County, Panelo said.

The task force will also conduct a risk assessment of the situation within 48 hours to analyze if it is also necessary to ban on the entry of travelers from other parts of South Korea, he added.

“In the meantime, strict protocols with respect to travelers entering the country from these areas in South Korea will continue to be observed,” Panelo said.

Despite the rising number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea, the Department of Labor and Employment has not yet received any request for repatriation from Filipino workers there or from the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in South Korean.

“So far, there is no request for repatriation,” said Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III. DOLE statistics show that there are more than 60,000 Filipino workers in South Korea, many in the manufacturing industry, construction and entertainment.

There are also hundreds of Filipinos nurses in that country.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, head of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATFEID), said Filipinos and their foreign spouses or children, and holders of permanent resident and diplomatic visas will be allowed entry subject to existing screening and quarantine protocols.

Meanwhile, Duque said, the 445 Filipinos repatriated from the COVID19-stricken Diamond Princess and quarantined at New Clark City in Tarlac will be assessed twice a day—once through

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Duque...

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has declined to use the label “pandemic,” a term used when a disease takes hold in multiple regions and spreads rampantly within communities.

But the dramatic spread in South Korea, Iran and Italy has stoked fears that COVID-19 could reach pandemic status.

Duque also exhorted those with cough and fever, not to go to Mass, remain at home and wear face mask.

In this way, he said they could not infect their family. “As much as possible, don’t interact with other people.”

As the nation observed Ash Wednesday, Duque called on Filipinos to pray at home after a spike in cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in South Korea was linked to church services.

Pompeo said.

Diplomats said that the summit would involve Trump and is scheduled to take place on March 12 in the desert gambling haven.

The United States began sounding out Southeast Asian leaders about visiting after Chile canceled a Pacific Rim summit

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Duterte:...

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violation of law. And he can investigate it. I cannot tell him, ‘Do not do it. Stop it,’” Duterte added.

Duterte also said he leaves it to the Congress to act on the pending bills seeking to grant another 25-year franchise to ABS-CBN. Earlier this year, he had vowed that the franchise would not be renewed, but on Wednesday, he said he would resign if any lawmaker would say he has been pressuring Congress over the renewal.

Appearing at a Senate hearing on Monday, ABS-CBN Corp. president Carlo Katigbak said it was not the intention of the company to not air Duterte’s campaign ads.

He said that of the P182-million commercial spots bought by Duterte in 2016, P7 million worth of ads was not aired. He also said the network was delayed in refunding P2.6 million to the Duterte campaign.

Duterte had repeatedly threatened he would block the franchise renewal of ABS-CBN—a move seen by critics as an infringement on freedom of expression.

The Supreme Court will start deliberating the quo warranto petition seeking to revoke the franchise of ABS-CBN Corp. on March 10.

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

4 ex-DA officials go to jail over 40 centavos

By Maricel V. Cruz

F

ORTY centavos was all it took for four former agriculture officials to earn prison terms and get disqualified from government service for life.

The four officials were found guilty by the Sandiganbayan for awarding a contract for P2.5 million worth of water supply system materials contract to a contractor whose bid exceeded the approved budget by a mere 40 centavos.

Former DA Region 11 officials Roger Chio, who was the regional executive director at the time; Romulo Palcon, regional technical

director and bids and awards committee chairman; Alma Mahinay, SBAC vice chairman and finance division chief; and Godofredo Ramos of the administration office and SBAC provisional member; were sentenced to six to eight years in jail and suffer disqualification from government employment for life.

The anti-graft court said the four

failed to dispute the prosecution’s allegation that the contract for water supply system materials was awarded to PZA Trading in Davao City in 2006 to the tune of P2,591,435.40 million when PZA Trading should have been disqualified since its bid is .40 centavos more than the approved budget of contract (ABC) which is P2,591,435.00.

The 24-page Sandiganbayan decision said, “An examination of Purchase Request 2006-3114,74 which predates the Invitation to Apply for Eligibility and to Bid would show that the total cost indicated is indeed P2,591,435.40.

But the amount in the Purchase

Request is not the ABC. The ABC is the amount indicated in the Invitation to Apply for Eligibility and to Bid, or P2,591,435.00. The difference may be minuscule, but there is no question that P2,591,435.40 is greater than P2,591,435.00.”

“Accused Palcon, Mahinay and Ramos should have rated PZA’s bid as ‘failed,’ and disqualified it outright. Accused Chio, for his part, should not have awarded the subject contract to PZA, and instead, should have rejected PZA’s bid and declared a failure of bidding, on the ground that the Special Bids and Awards Committee failed to follow the prescribed bidding procedures.”

In addition, the Sandiganbayan said Palcon, Mahinay and Ramos’s act of recommending the award of the subject contract, as well as Chio’s act of awarding the subject contract to PZA when it should have been disqualified, “constitutes gross inexcusable negligence at the very least.”

“The prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt all the elements of violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Wherefore, accused Roger Chio, Romulo Palcon, Alma Mahinay and Godofredo Ramos are found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of violation of Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.”

Ban single-use plastics now, says House leader

Du30 busy, asks Panelo to visit Leni’s mom’s wake

AN OPPOSITION leader in the House of Representatives on Wednesday lauded the national government for “leading by example” after the National Solid Waste Management Commission issued a resolution banning the use of single-use plastics in all government offices.

House Minority Leader Bienvenido Abante Jr. of Manila said the move highlighted the need to pass a law to permanently prohibit the manufacture, importation, sale, and use of single-use plastic products in the country.

NSWMC chair Department of Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu signed NSWMC Resolution No. 1363, Series of 2020 on Feb. 12. The issuance directs the DENR to prepare and implement the ban on the use of unnecessary single-use plastic products by national government agencies, local government units, and all other government-controlled offices.

The plastic products covered by the prohibition are cups less than 0.2 millimeter in thickness, drinking straws, coffee stirrers, spoons, forks, knives, “labo” or thin and translucent plastic bags, and thin-filmed sando bags lower than 15 microns.

“This is a step in the right direction and, I believe, a signal to those of us in Congress to finally pass a law to prohibit the use of single-use plastics in our country,” said Abante.

Abante filed House Bill 3773 or the “Single-use Plastic Product Ban of 2019.” The bill bans the manufacture, importation, sale and use of single-use plastic products.

If enacted, Abante said HB 3773 would prohibit the “manufacture, importation, sale, and use of all single-use products” one year after the effectivity of the law.

The measure defines single-use plastic as “disposable plastic products which are commonly used for packaging and include items to be used only once that are thrown away or recycled.” Examples of these products are grocery bags, food packaging containers and bags, water bottles, straws, stirrers, styrofoam, cups, sachets, and plastic cutlery. Maricel V. Cruz

By MJ Blancaflor

TOKEN GIFT. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte examine the token presented by incoming Presidential Security Group Commander Colonel Jesus Durante III during the PSG Change of Command Ceremony at the PSG Compound in Malacañang Park, Manila on Feb. 25, 2020. Presidential Photo

Create ‘resilience plan’ for PH, Angara urges gov’t

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Sonny Angara on Wednesday called on the government to urgently craft a “resilience plan” that will allow the economy “to deftly evade” the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic and the shutdown of plants and back offices of Honda, Wells Fargo and other multinationals in the country.

Angara said this as the Senate finance committee opened a series of hearings that will draw a roadmap to create world-class products and services that will proudly bear the “Tatak Pinoy” brand.

“Yes, there is no vaccine yet against the virus. But in terms of protecting our

economy, in increasing its defenses, I believe that government must have a contingency plan,” he said.

Angara said the virus can put “some vulnerable sectors of the economy like tourism in the ICU if we do not mount measures that will cushion its impact.”

Angara’s committee had scheduled “all hands on deck” workshops on how “to evolve a consuming economy to one that produces and invests” long before the global crisis incubated in Wuhan, China.

“So in addition to the agenda of creating more jobs within the next decade, we are now faced with the challenge of protecting jobs within the next weeks or months,” Angara said.

Senate to okay Win’s proposed energy ‘think tank’ Angara

PNP slams ‘digital vandalism’ at Crame THE Philippine National Police on Wednesday slammed the “digital vandalism” made by a group of artists and cultural workers on the walls of Camp Crame in commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution.

“Although the vandals did not leave any visible mark, the fact that the attack targeted a national historic site on the same day that the country commemorates the anniversary of NOT WANTED. In this photo from Facebook, the Concerned Artists of the Philippines the EDSA People Power Revolution makes it totally deplorable,” PNP use projectors to display a ‘Wanted’ poster showing President Rodrigo Duterte’s face at spokesperson Brig. Gen. Bernard the walls of the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Crame in Quezon City on Tuesday night. PNP spokesman Brig. Gen. Bernard Banac on Wednesday slammed the Banac said in a statement sent to ‘digital vandalism’ made by the group in commemoration of the 34th anniversary of the reporters.

EDSA People Power Revolution and called it ‘totally deplorable.’

While stressing that PNP respects freedom of expression, Banac said this right has its limits and should “not step beyond national interest.”

On Tuesday night, the Concerned Artists of the Philippines used projectors to display a wanted poster showing President Rodrigo Duterte’s face at the walls of the PNP headquarters compound.

Camp Crame is considered as a national historic site where events which led to the peaceful revolution unfolded in 1986.

It also served as one of the rallying points of protesters during the revolution.

Hataman lauds NCRPO for recalling controversial memo vs. Muslim students A LEADER of the House of Representatives on Wednesday welcomed the National Capital Region Police Office’s withdrawal of its order to local commanders to prepare a list of Muslim students in tertiary education institutions in their areas.

Deputy Speaker and Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman also offered to work with the NCRPO in its campaign against terrorism and violent extremism in Metro Manila, and maintained that the exercise should be a convergence of the efforts of all stakeholders of peace in the country.

Hataman earlier decried the NRCPO’s issuance of memorandum directing all station commanders of the Manila Police District to submit a list of Muslim students in all schools, colleges and universities within their area of jurisdiction. The memo was met with a barrage of

criticisms, saying it was tantamount to “profiling” Muslim students. It was withdrawn by the NCRPO on Saturday.

“Maybe the objective is good, if it is aimed at attaining peace. However, the way they are implementing it is unfortunately discriminating our Muslim children. That is not how you achieve peace. As I’ve said before, Muslim children are being bullied in schools. The police should ought to serve and protect them, not encourage their abuse,” Hataman said.

He said that his experience as former governor of the nowdefunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao gave him a lot of insight into the problem of extremism, citing the success of the Program Against Violent Extremism he launched in the Province of Basilan.

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte wants to visit the wake of Salvacion Gerona, the mother of Vice President Leni Robredo, but his busy schedule prohibits him from personally extending his condolences, the Palace said Wednesday.

Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said he will be going to Naga City, Camarines Sur to condole with Robredo and to represent President Duterte.

“We reiterate our condolences to the family of VP Leni, on the demise of the mother. I’m going there to express our condolences. Today. I’m leaving shortly,” Panelo told Palace reporters.

“He wants to go pero but he has a lot of work to do. For now, I’ll be the one going there. I’ll be representing him.

He wanted to go, that’s what he told me,” he added.

Gerona, a teacher, passed away last Saturday at the age of 83 after Robredo confirmed that her mother’s deteriorating health “turned for the worst.”

In a statement over the weekend, Malacañang extended its condolences to the Vice President.

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

In a statement, Panelo said Gerona was a “selfless and dedicated teacher” who served the Universidad de Santa Isabel in Naga City, Camarines Sur, one of the oldest schools in the country.

“We are willing to work with our police force on their anti-terrorism efforts and any campaign to mobilize Muslim communities without hurting or discriminating them. But the participation of every stakeholder is a must: the Muslim community, the government and the law enforcement agencies,” Hataman, a former governor of the now-defunct ARMM, said.

“PAVE is still being implemented in Basilan and, as of now, the program has resulted in the surrender and reintegration of some 257 former members of extremist groups. We have a working example of how to prevent and address terrorism and violent extremism. I believe that it can be done in Basilan and anywhere in the country,” Hataman added.Maricel V. Cruz

THE Senate is close to approving the creation of the Philippine Energy Research and Policy Institute, the country’s first energy think tank that could bridge research and policy gaps in the energy sector.

As the original proponent of the PERPI, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian said that energy is one of the most research-intensive fields within the public policy arena given its rapidly evolving technologies.

“I had the privilege of studying the best case practices of well-performing energy sectors in developed countries across the world. One element they had in common was the presence of academe-based energy institutes, which unfortunately we don’t have,” said Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee.

“PERPI will be an independent, multidisciplinary, and collaborative institution that will serve as the country’s backbone for the sector’s innovation and progress”, Gatchalian added.

Gatchalian’s vision for PERPI was inspired by world-renowned institutes, such as the Stanford Precourt Institute for Energy of Stanford University, the Solar Energy Research Institute of Singapore at the National University of Singapore, and the Energy Institute at Haas Berkeley in the University of California Berkeley.

Gatchalian explained that PERPI will be a laboratory, an innovation incubator, and a sparring partner of the government energy policy apparatus, all in one.

Senate Bill 1296, which Gatchalian authored, mandates the establishment of the PERPI at the University of the Philippines and will be composed of scholars and energy sector professionals. The UP President will be given the authority to appoint the Executive Director based on the recommendation of the Executive Board. Macon Ramos-Araneta

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Opinion

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

POGOs should go WITH news that COVID-19 is nearing pandemic proportions with more than 2,600 deaths in and outside of China, now comes another headache for Filipinos—a report that thousands of workers for Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators could be working here without passports.

According to reports coming from China itself, thousands of Chinese from the mainland who have been involved in telecommunication fraud have had their passports canceled but are working in POGOs.

Why do we allow these criminal elements to make the Philippines their playground?

My gulay, with no less than 60 POGOs now operating in Metro Manila and elsewhere, duly licensed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, with some 50 more operating illegally, we have become the sanctuary of Chinese criminals and syndicates!

In an effort to authenticate and verify this report, the Duterte administration, through the Bureau of Immigration, is said to be seeking a listing of the thousands of Chinese who have managed to illegally enter the Philippines.

But why through the BI, Santa Banana? Wasn’t it this bureau which allowed them to enter the country illegally in the first place?

I have been saying that with the Duterte administration’s pivot to China, there is nothing that stops criminals and syndicates from China from making the Philippines their playground.

I was right!

These criminals are under the guise of being POGO workers. I think it’s time we stopped the proliferation of POGOs.

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

Are the billions of pesos in POGO contributions worth what is happening to us? If China itself has outlawed offshore gaming, why on earth is the Duterte administration even allowing it and endangering our country? *** Now we know why President Duterte has been lambasting the Lopez-owned ABS-CBN radio and television network in connection with his political advertisements during the 2016 elections.

As admitted by network president and CEO Carlo Katigbak, the president’s ads were indeed not aired when they have already been paid for.

There was an ad by former Senator Antonio Trillanes that was aired; that ad attacked Duterte’s person.

ABS-CBN may have apologized for its shortcomings, but it is already too late in the game. I really don’t know whether Mr. Duterte will accept the apology, which came four years too late.

In any case, a solution may be in the works. There may be a congressional resolution to extend the franchise from its original expiration on May 4 (not March 30 as earlier reported).

Since only Congress can nullify or extend franchises, according to former Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno, I guess a joint resolution by the House and the Senate can resolve the impasse.

The problem as I see it is that the Supreme Court has already taken cognizance of the issue, whether or not ABS-CBN’s franchise should be extended or not. But if the High Court decides on the petition of Solicitor General Jose Calida, what becomes of the law that says only Congress can act on franchises?

Congress and the Supreme Court belong to separate branches of government.

The quo warranto asks “by what right” must ABS-CBN have its franchise renewed.

But what bothers me is why the Senate, under the committee of Senator Grace Poe, took it upon itself to preempt the House on the ABSCBN issue. My guess is that the Senate as a whole is in favor of the

W

The air we breathe

E CAN take some solace this week that the Philippines is nowhere near the top 10 list of the most polluted countries, nor is Manila among the most polluted cities, based on the 2019 World Air Quality Report from IQAir, a Swiss and American company specializes in technology solutions that help protect people from airborne pollutants.

The distinction of most polluted country belongs to Bangladesh, while the most polluted city in terms of air quality was New Delhi, India.

The report focuses on PM2.5 concentrations, which are ambient airborne particles measuring up to 2.5 microns in size. This type of pollutant is widely regarded as most harmful to human health, as its microscopic size allows particles to enter the blood stream through the respiratory system and travel throughout the body, causing far-reaching health effects, including asthma, lung cancer and heart disease.

Air pollution has also been associated with low birth weight, increased acute respiratory infections and stroke.

Out of 98 countries surveyed, the Philippines ranked 57th, with a PM2.5 concentration of 17.6 micrograms per cubic meter of air (μg/m3).

This compares favorably to 56 other countries, including Bangladesh (83 μg/m3), Pakistan (65.8), Mongolia (62.0), Afghanistan (58.8), and India (58.1).

Within Southeast Asia, air quality in the Philippines was better than Indonesia (51.7), Vietnam (34.1), Myanmar (31.0), Thailand (24.3), Laos (23.1), Cambodia (21.1), Malaysia (19.4) , and even Singapore (19.0).

Manila, which ranks 47th among the most polluted cities, had a score of 18.2 μg/m3, in comparison with New Delhi (98.6), Jakarta (49.4), Hanoi (46.9), Beijing (42.1), Seoul (24.8) and Bangkok (22.8).

That we are not as bad as our neighbors in the region or other nations in the world shouldn’t make us complacent, however.

The country’s 17.6 μg/m3 PM2.5

reading was actually higher than the 14.6 μg/m3 registered in 2018, indicating a drop in air quality. Similarly, Manila’s 18.2 μg/m3 in 2019 was higher than the year before, at 14.3 μg/m3.

Moreover, the country’s 17.6 μg/ m3 PM2.5 reading is 76 percent higher than the level recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), which sets an annual mean exposure of 10 μg/m3 to minimize health risks from PM2.5.

Environmental groups note that the IQAir report looks only at PM2.5 pollution and does not include other pollutants such as sulfur oxide, nitrous oxide, ozone and other contaminants that carry deleterious health risks.

A report released by Greenpeace Philippines earlier this month, for example, showed that these and other toxic emissions can result in 27,000 premature deaths and cost Filipinos as much as 1.9 percent drop in gross domestic product growth. The groups are calling for better air pollution standards in the Philippines, including improved monitoring, transparency and analysis—a call we should all get behind.

Turn to A5

All is fair in love and war FOR weeks now, the Executive and the Legislative branches have been immersed in the issue of ABS-CBN Corporation’s franchise renewal as a television and radio broadcasting network.

The franchise was granted in 1995, pursuant to Republic Act No. 7966, signed by then President Fidel Ramos.

On Monday, the Senate committee on public services held a hearing on the matter which was attended by chief officers of the network and officials from concerned government agencies.

We should resolve the ABS-CBN issue promptly so we can shift back our focus on ensuring the provision of other essential public services to the people.

There is no doubt that ABS-CBN’s shows are among the most popular in the country. The possible non-renewal will also affect the lives of thousands of its employees and their families, as well as the economy.

However, we have to assess carefully the actions of the network. Did ABSCBN properly fulfill its obligations under its franchise? Did the network pursue its interests unerringly, without sacrificing fairness and integrity?

As with any grantee of legislative franchise, the network’s services are imbued with public interest. As such, there is a reasonable expectation that they shall adhere to principles of justice, fairness, and morality. Complying with the law is a given. Thus, there is an obligation on the part of the broadcasting network to remain truthful in relaying news and information, and fair in giving parties equal opportunity to voice out and express their sides.

Let me highlight that legislative franchises are a privilege. Regulations are in place and must be followed. Public interest must be upheld. The perpetual debate between what is moral and what is legal comes into picture. While legally speaking there may be no violations incurred by the network, on an ethical and moral basis, we may have to reassess the network’s actions. With the network’s undeniably strong influence, it carries a sense of obligation to uphold moral standards befitting its privilege as a franchise.

Allegations of impartiality among networks are quite common. However, public communications must be fair regardless of political color and inclinations. The alleged bias of the network during the 2016 elections marred the integrity of the company in its duty to render public service in accordance with its franchise. Partisanship cannot pervade public service.

Credibility entails neutrality and impartiality. With this, I remain hopeful that the government and ABS-CBN Corporation will arrive at an amicable settlement without undue desecration of the principles behind legislative franchises and public service. I urge the government to resolve the issue promptly so we can shift back our focus on ensuring the provision of other essential public services to the people.

ManilaStandard

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City. Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial) 832-5554, (Advertising) 832-5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandard.net

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Fear and panic over virus grip Afghanistan, Pakistan

By David Stout, with Maaz Khan in Taftan WITH porous borders, creaking hospitals and large illiterate populations, Afghanistan and Pakistan face a potentially devastating health crisis after the new coronavirus erupted in neighboring Iran.

Islamabad has closed official border crossings while Kabul has suspended all travel to the Islamic republic, which has reported 15 deaths out of nearly 100 infections—making it one of the hardest-hit countries outside the virus epicenter China.

But experts fear the measures could prove ineffective with thousands of people—refugees fleeing violence, Shiite pilgrims, smugglers and migrants looking for work—likely

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Anita F. Grefal Baldwin R. Felipe Edgar M. Valmorida

Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Treasury Manager Head—Ad Solutions Circulation Manager

crossing the long, poorly patrolled frontiers every day.

The virus has spread to more than 25 countries, killing over 2,700 and infecting 80,000, mostly in China.

But new outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and in Asia have fanned fears of the contagion taking hold in poor nations which lack the healthcare infrastructure to cope.

Afghanistan announced Monday its first virus infection involving a patient who had recently been in Iran where millions of Afghans live.

Afghan television and radio broadcasts have begun advising people on how to prevent transmission of the virus, while residents have rushed to buy face masks—straining supplies and sparking a tenfold increase in the cost of a single mask at some pharma-

cies in the capital Kabul.

"We are worried, we don't have a proper functioning health system and the borders are open. All we can do is take some preventive measures and pray to God to help us," said Ihsanul Haq, a government employee.

Afghanistan's healthcare system is in tatters after more than four decades of war, with the few available hospitals focused mainly on basic care and trauma. They lack the expertise to deal with infectious diseases.

"It could be a disaster if the virus really spreads all over the country.

There aren't that many health centres," said Wali, a Kabul-based physician, who specializes in viral infectious diseases.

"The government is doing what Turn to A5

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua

Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor Opinion Editor

Emil P. Jurado

Honor Blanco Cabie Night Editor Jimbo Gulle City Editor Lino M. Santos Chief Photographer

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

Opinion

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

The ‘pastillas’ caper

BY ALL accounts, those Bureau of Immigration personnel involved in the socalled pastillas operation made a killing from what they did. No less than the President looked into the revelation and confirmed it to be true. One wonders whether the people involved realize the kind of damage they inflicted on the reputation of the country when they embarked on their profitable money-making scheme. These people put their greed ahead of the interest of the country they have sworn to protect. This is not only a simple problem of corruption because there are many attendant consequences with what they did.

Now, it is quite doubtful whether the government knows the exact number of Chinese who are here in the country.

This is because a lot of them are already embedded here, creating Filipino names and identities with the intention of staying here.

One might ask: Why would these much richer Chinese citizens prefer to stay here than live in their own country? One simple answer is that we are free in this country and this is very important to a lot of people. Some people might dispute that we are free but we are essentially a lot freer than people in China. We do not have a state security apparatus monitoring dissent. We elect our political leaders and we can do many things that one cannot do if one lives in China.

The problem started when the government opened the country to Chinese tourists with its visa-on-arrival program.

As a result, a lot of bad elements took advantage of the opening and came with the legitimate Chinese tourists and started many of the problems we are experiencing today. As the figures show, Chinese tourists will almost certainly eventually surpass South Koreans in being the largest group visiting the country for some time. Chinese restaurants have

started operating in many places followed by the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators. Although the operation was established here in the country, the clientele is Chinese in mainland China.

It is therefore a transnational gambling operation which is why it is difficult to monitor and control.

With the many Chinese employed by the different gaming companies, prostitution is a natural consequence. What would the Chinese employees who speak no word of English do to satisfy their sexual urges but establish the brothels? It is not exactly the same as the comfort women operation done by the Japanese soldiers during the second World War, but it is close. The difference is this time, the women are paid and are even imported from other countries including China. With prostitution, other crimes like kidnapping, drugs, murders and others followed.

Rid this agency of bad eggs. giv Clearly, this POGO operation is giving China a problem that the country does not need. For one, internet gambling is illegal in China. There are unconfirmed recent reports that Chinese authorities are already taking steps like the cancellation of passports to force those who are involved in offshore gaming to go back home. The problem is whether these people who are now embedded here and probably difficult to trace can still be found and deported.

This is one of the unwanted outcomes of this “pastillas” caper. The reports about some Chinese tourists spitting on people including policemen as a sign of contempt and total lack of respect is probably because of the impression they got with our immigration officials when they were entering the country.

They may be thinking that all officials here can be bought. This is what happens when our frontline agencies like the Bureau of Immigration, who are

supposed to exhibit the best of our law enforcement practices, can easily be bought at the airport.

No wonder the country’s standing in the corruption index among countries is not improving. On the contrary, it went down last year from number 99 to 113—a big drop. Considering that the anti-corruption campaign is a signature program of the President, this must be a big disappointment to him. What these people in the immigration did was to sabotage the President’s campaign.

Other frontline agencies like Bureau of Customs and Bureau of Internal Revenue that deal with many foreign businesses should be forewarned not to go the way of the Bureau of Immigration. This is because the polling for this yearly corruption index by an international polling company is done mostly on foreigners doing business in different countries. What this tells us is that our agencies should only exhibit our best practices in dealing with everyone, most especially foreigners, if we want to be respected and not taken for granted.

Let us not follow those myopic airport immigration officials who sold the reputation of the country down the drain for P10, 000 per transaction.

Many in the immigration bureau are now under investigation with regard to the “pastillas” operation but already, there seems to be an attempt to clear some people before the investigation could even start formally. Does this mean that the investigation will be limited to those who have been suspended or dismissed only and will not go any further?

Exonerating anyone should only be done when the investigation is completed and not before.

The operation mounted at the airport is something very hard to hide in an agency. As to the question of command responsibility, there is already a clear definition of what this is. This was defined during the term of former President Fidel Ramos and should be consulted if there is any confusion as to its meaning or scope. There is an opportunity to be able to rid an agency of bad eggs. Let us not blow it.

Opera star Domingo says sorry for ‘inappropriate activity’

By Hazel Ward OPERA star Placido Domingo, facing multiple allegations of sexual harassment, apologized for "the hurt" caused to his accusers, as a union probe found he engaged in a pattern of "inappropriate activity."

The 79-year-old—a mainstay of some of the world's most prestigious opera houses—delivered the apology as the American Guild of Musical Artists announced the wrap of an independent investigation into the storied tenor-turned-baritone, which was launched in early September over members' allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination.

At least 20 women have accused Domingo of forcibly kissing, grabbing or fondling them in incidents dating back to at least the 1980s. He has maintained that his relationships were consensual, and in the apology did not specifically confirm any allegations.

"I respect that these women finally felt comfortable enough to speak out, and I want them to know that I am truly sorry for the hurt that I caused them.

I accept full responsibility for my actions," he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, AGMA published a statement saying its internal probe "concluded that Mr. Domingo had, in fact, engaged in inappropriate activity, ranging from flirtation to sexual advances, in and outside of the workplace."

"Many of the witnesses expressed fear of retaliation in the industry as their reason for not coming forward sooner," the opera, choral and dance union said, indicating its board had "accepted the

Fear...

From A4

they can to contain the spread of the virus. But it is very difficult."

Adding to the challenge of limiting the spread of the virus is the Afghan tradition of greeting family and friends with handshakes, hugs and kisses.

A largely illiterate population also makes it difficult to educate people about ways to stop the transmission.

"People are illiterate, you can't get the message through to them," Wali said.

Unprepared Across the border in Pakistan, there

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Senators up for reelection in 2022 THE six-year term of the 24 senators of our republic may be divided into two parts. The first part is the first three years of the term, during which period a senator savors the sweet taste of victory and feels no

Who are the ones who always try to be in the limelight, filing a plethora of bills, especially those of the headline-catching kind? pressure to be productive. The second part of a senator’s term is the last three years of his term, during which period he or she experiences increasing pressure to do a good job of legislating. It is possible to tell which senators are in the second part of their term; they are the ones who try to be always in the limelight, filing a plethora of bills, especially bills of the headline-catching kind.

The senators who are always in the headlines or the news programs these days are the men and women who were elected to the upper chamber of Congress in 2016 and whose terms will expire in 2022. They are Leila de Lima, Franklin Drilon, Sherwin Gatchalian, Richard Gordon, Risa Hontiveros, Panfilo Lacson, Manny Pacquiao, Francisco Pangilinan, Ralph Recto, Vicente Sotto III, Joel Villanueva and Miguel Zubiri.

Having served the maximum two terms by then, Franklin Drilon, Vicente Sotto III and Panfilo Lacson will not be running for re-election in 2022. They will have, in Congressional parlance, graduated. One of the other nine Senators—Leila de Lima—has been an active member of the Senate notwithstanding her having been under detention since 2017.

Of the other eight re-electionists, only one—Manny Pacquiao—appears sure to be re-elected. His status as a boxing icon and his money

will almost certainly assure him of victory. As generally predicted, the Kamao ng Bayan has contributed very little to the work of the Senate.

Ralph Recto and Miguel Zubiri have held high positions in the present Congress; Recto is Senate president pro tempore and Zubiri is a name popular with Filipinos and therefore has excellent chances of being re-elected. Zubiri has managed to regain much of the public esteem he lost over the charge that he fraudulently defeated Aquilino Pimentel III in the 2007 senatorial election.

Richard Gordon has been a very active chairman of the Committee on Accountability of Public Officers, which is better known as the Blue Ribbon Committee. He probably will suffer some backlash from his widely perceived subservience to President Rodrigo Duterte.

The other female re-electionist in 2022—Risa Hontiveros—has been a very industrious senator, taking active part in the work of the committees of which she is a member.

With broad following among women’s and human rights groups, Risa Hontiveros will probably be in the winning circle in the 2022 senatorial election.

With every Liberal voter supporting him, the president of the Liberal Party, Kiko Pangilinan, is a virtual shoo-in for re-election in 2022. His dedicated involvement in the work of the Opposition’s Magnificent Five—the others being Franklin Drilon, Risa Hontiveros, Leila de Lima, Trillanes IV—Mr. Pangilinan has earned for himself a second tern in the Senate of the 19th Congress.

Joel Villanueva has been an industrious and conscientious chairman of the committee on labor. In the process he has endeared himself to this country’s labor groups. As in 2016 the former TESDA (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority) chief will have going for him something that the other re-electionists will not have: the backing of a sizeable religious group, his father’s JIL (Jesus is Lord) movement.

Sherwin Gatchalian has fulfilled the definition of a good senator. He, too, has been a steadfast participant in the work of the committees of which he is a member, especially the work of the committee on energy.

Like his nickname suggests, Sherwin Gatchalian should be a winner in 2022.

findings of the report and will take appropriate action."

It said the full probe would remain internal—hours before The New York Times reported inquiry finding leaks had spoiled a deal between AGMA and Domingo, which would see the union limit public statements regarding its findings.

The Times said a plan had been in the works for Domingo to pay the union $500,000 in exchange for privacy concerning the inquiry.

But a "flagrant breach of confidentiality" caused Domingo's legal team to drop the agreement, the paper said, citing an email from union leaders to its board.

The performer's spokeswoman, Nancy Seltzer, told AFP "what is truthful is we are in ongoing discussions with the union on how to move forward."

Queried by AFP regarding that report, AGMA representatives did not immediately respond.

Punished for saying no?

Harassment allegations against Domingo first began surfacing in August 2019. Two months later, he stepped down from the Los Angeles Opera and withdrew from further performances at New York's Metropolitan Opera, effectively ending his US career.

Many fans and fellow performers leapt to Domingo's defense, describing him as an innocent "ladies' man."

But reports drew a picture of a man who acted with impunity, shielded by his power as one of opera's foremost stars as a whisper network evolved warning women about his alleged reputation.

Several women said Domingo tried pressuring them into sexual relationships by dangling jobs, and then some-

times punished them professionally when they refused his advances.

Domingo said Tuesday that had "never" been his intention.

"I understand now that some women may have feared expressing themselves honestly because of a concern that their careers would be adversely affected if they did so."

"While that was never my intention, no one should ever be made to feel that way," said Domingo.

Empowering artists AGMA called for an industry-wide initiative to "positively change the culture."

"This will ensure that artists feel respected and empowered to address sexual harassment and related issues going forward," said AGMA director Leonard Egert.

The union vowed training programs to empower its members to speak out against harassment.

Domingo's statement came a day after former Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein was convicted of rape and sexual assault.

The emergence of sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein in October 2017 ignited a global reckoning over men who have abused positions of power.

In Europe, Domingo continues to receive standing ovations even as his US career came to a standstill.

Since the allegations surfaced, the Spanish megastar has performed in Austria, Hungary and Russia. He has a string of upcoming concerts in Europe, including a Hamburg performance set for March 22. AFP

franchise extension. *** Pathetic and pitiful—those two words came to mind as I looked at the photos of personalities who attended the commemoration of EDSA One the other day.

There were former government people who still believe that EDSA One was really a “People Power Revolution” that caused the downfall of the late strongman President Ferdinand Marcos, The true heroes Juan Ponce Enrile, Fidel Ramos and Gringo Honasan were not even there.

With all the rhetoric for EDSA One and what it should mean for millennials, I would like to ask: Was the gathering of just over 500,00, mostly

civil society representatives including priests, nuns and students, truly a revolution? I don’t think so. It was just a gathering of those who supported the breakaway group of Enrile, Ramos and Honasan.

I don’t think the event even merits a holiday. *** I don’t think there is such a thing as objective reporting anymore. Everything has become subjective. Thus, that journalists could be “objective” is a myth.

Long ago, journalism was about the 5Ws—who, what, when, where, why. But that seems to be a thing of the past now. News reports read and sound like editorials in the opinion page.

Requiring neutrality in reporting is indeed an exercise in futility. In the case of ABS-CBN, the oligarchs take sides and dictate the news, Santa Banana!

are growing fears over how the country would deal with a potential outbreak.

Islamabad has a history of failing to contain infectious diseases such as polio, tuberculosis and hepatitis.

Adding to the challenge, hundreds of thousands of quack doctors are thought to be working across the country and scandals involving the use of dirty needles in healthcare settings have eroded public trust in the system.

"If such a contagious illness were to enter the country, one can only imagine the toll it would take on the already overburdened and under-resourced healthcare system," read an editorial in the English daily Dawn.

Indeed, some Pakistani students

trapped in the Chinese city of Wuhan—where the virus was first detected in December—told AFP recently they were nervous about returning to their country if authorities were to evacuate them.

"We are worried about how the authorities are going to treat us when we go back to Pakistan—some students who went back told us the officials treated them very badly," Ruqia Shaikh said.

While Pakistan has closed land borders with Iran, it has maintained air travel to and from China—increasingly a source of trade and commerce for the country.

"There is a limited concept of pre-

vention unfortunately. I fear it's not well prepared at all for any health emergency," Pakistani public health expert Arshad Altaf told AFP. Pakistan this week moved quickly to quarantine at least 270 people near the Iranian border after a group of pilgrims returned and briefly mixed with other residents.

That came hours after Pakistan sealed off its frontier with Iran in southwestern Balochistan province, which remains vulnerable to a public health emergency.

Decades of fighting a separatist insurgency and militant violence, along with neglect from the central government, have left the impoverished area

with little infrastructure.

Ziaullah Langove, Balochistan's home minister, said there were nearly 10,000 Pakistanis still in Iran, mostly students and pilgrims that Iranian officials were planning to send back in small groups.

At the Taftan border crossing long queues of trucks waited in hope of being allowed into Iran, as residents and officials donned surgical masks.

"There is no information sharing whatsoever," said resident Khuda Baksh, chiding officials for failing to keep locals informed about the situation.

"There is fear and panic among the public, our business and lives are at risk." AFP

POGOs...

From A4

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News

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Del Rosario promises quick Marawi rehabilitation

Transport exec clueless on MRT 7 issue

By Maricel V. Cruz

By Rio N. Araja DEPARTMENT of Human Settlement and Urban Development Secretary Eduardo del Rosario vows to complete the rehabilitation of Lanao del Sur’s Marawi City within the timetable in December 2021.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Del Rosario said the Marawi rehabilitation would be completed within the remaining two years and four months of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“Our timetable for completion will be within the term of President Duterte. And we are on target,” he stressed.

This year, the department would focus on the construction of vertical infrastructure that could be as high as an eight-story building, he said.

“We have the budget because for 2019 and 2020, we have the fund to support the Marawi rehabilitation,” he told reporters.

On May 23, 2017, militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq, along with local terrorist groups Maute and Abu Sayyaf Group attacked Marawi City in a five-month long siege.

Del Rosario thanked the Senate’s special committee on Marawi City rehabilitation for holding its recent public hearing at the Mindanao State University in Iligan City to find for a “final solution” or the “ultimate solution” so that the rehabilitation could be finished.

“We are really thankful to the Senate committee for its concern to the ongoing efforts of Task Force Bangon Marawi,” he said.

Del Rosario heads the task force.

“Rest assured that the task force will take all the recommendations and assessments of our good senators positively,” he said in a statement.

“The visit of our senators clearly indicated that they are one with us in our efforts to rebuild a peaceful and a progressive new Marawi,” he added.

AIRBUS CHOPPERS. The Philippine Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral Joel S Garcia, inspects the maiden flight of one of the two new airbus helicopters H145 light twin-engine helicopter from Germany at PCG National Headquarters in Manila Wednesday.

H145 is a 4- ton-class twin-engine helicopter equipped with high-frequency radios, emergency flotation gear, fast roping, cargo sling, searchlight, and electro-optical systems to perform critical missions including search and rescue, medical evacuation, maritime patrol, and maritime law enforcement. Norman Cruz

Immigration stops 110 undocumented workers

By Vito Barcelo and Joel Zurbano

T

HE Bureau of Immigration intercepted 110 undocumented Filipino workers at the Zamboanga International Seaport who were attempting to leave to illegally work in Malaysia and in the Middle East countries.

Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said a total of 110 female passengers were intercepted in three separate incidents by members of the BI Travel Control and Enforcement Unit.

The Filipino workers attempted to board the M/V Antonia 1 bound for Sandakan, Malaysia who presented altered passports and supporting documents.

It was later found out that most were bound for Qatar and Dubai, where they were recruited to illegally work without the proper employment documents.

All the female workers admitted that they would work as household workers or caregivers abroad.

Meanwhile, authorities on Wednesday deported another batch of Japanese

nationals wanted for telecommunications fraud in their country.

The foreigners—Kubo Takumi, Fukata Yuji, Shirai Yoshiki, Tsujimura Koki, Miyauchi Ryunsuke, Sendai Masanori, Miyake Hiroshi, Yamaguchi Shouta, and Ken Kamitani—were among the 36 Japanese nationals arrested in Makati City last November by Immigration agents.

The nine Japanese were flown to Tokyo on board an early morning flight of Japan Airlines from the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1.

“The Japanese nationals were part of a syndicate arrested by the bureau’s Fugitive Search Unit in November last year for their involvement in a telecom-

munications fraud scandal that headlined in Japanese news,” Morente said.

According to Morente, the schedule for the implementation of the deportation of the other suspects detained at the BI Detention Center in Camp Bagong Diwa, Taguig have yet to be finalized.

The intercepted workers were all victims of a syndicate that hire Filipino workers wanting to work abroad but most of them become victims of abuses from their employers because of lack of proper working visas.

Those intercepted revealed that they came from different parts of the country, and were recruited by agencies that some met through Facebook.

Morente said that the workers were trying to use Malaysia as a jump-off point to other Middle Eastern countries, where they received job offers to work in the service industry.

“These illegal syndicates are seemingly attempting to look for other exit points to be able to evade strict immigration inspection,” said Morente.

DENR’s Cimatu wants to see more public-private tie-ups ENVIRONMENT Secretary Roy Cimatu wants to see more public-private partnerships in environmental initiatives.

He called on more private companies to join the government in its environmental initiatives, following the recent launch of the P1-billion Tullahan-Tinajeros dredging project.

The project involving the 5.25-km portion of the Tullahan-Tinajeros River system from Malabon City’s Barangay Catmon to Navotas City’s Barangay Bagumbayan South is a joint undertaking by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp.

The DENR chief described the dredging project as a “perfect example of collaboration between the government and private sector.”

“This is a partnership forged in trust, joined by a vision, and

driven by passion,” he said.

“More than the fact that we cannot do it alone, this commitment of [SMC] to help us in this enormous task magnifies the importance of shared responsibility. As we are all part of the problem, one way or another, we can all be part of the solution,” he added.

He said he is hoping that the partnership would inspire other private firms to include in their corporate social responsibility the cleanup of waterways.

He said he could not thank SMC enough for adopting the Tullahan River which cleanup is critical to the rehabilitation of Manila Bay. To clean up the Tullahan River, the government would have “an easier task of cleaning Manila Bay,” he said.

“Also by doing so, we will help prevent flooding. That is hitting three birds with one stone,” he added. Rio N. Araja

MAIP program admits 56,624 in Calabarzon

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

WATER CHECK. La Mesa dam workers conduct a routine check of water intake as well as the water elevation height, with summer only weeks away. Manny Palmero

German firm Dermalog provides LTO with Digital Governance Solution THE Land Transportation Office now has a centralized system of managing all the data in its information base after German technology company Dermalog installed and fired up its Digital Governance Solution.

The digital governance system allows LTO to digitize and centralize all information it acquires,and services it delivers, into one structure that can be controlled and monitored at ist headquarters in Metro Manila, an official statement said Wednesday.

The launching last week of the pilot project was witnessed by LTO director Asst. Secretary Edgar Galvante himself.

The new system integrates all LTO services in a single database that includes

A TRANSPORTATION official on Wednesday was clueless over Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte’s concerns on last-minute revisions made by concessionaire San Miguel Corp. in its 2008 original proposal in the construction of Metro Rail Transit-7.

This was revealed Wednesday during the hearing conducted by the House committee on transportation on the Quezon City government’s suspension of MRT 7 construction, among other matters.

At the same time, Undersecretary Timothy John Batan also acknowledged the “redesign” of the MRT 7’s Station 2 located in the Quezon City Memorial Circle which is a heritage.

“We have to balance everything, but rest assured we will not allow any fare hike or an increase in government amortization [as soon as the project is finished],” Undersecretary Timothy John Batan told legislators.

Belmonte has ordered a temporary cease and desist order of the aboveground construction of the MRT-7 Quezon Memorial Circle station pending talks with developper SMC, contractor EEI and the DOTr after environmentalists and historians pointed out that the station was encroaching on the park’s integrity.

The QMC is the city’s most famous landmark and a heritage site.

Also, Belmonte pressed for a review of the project where she discovered that it has greatly exceeded the agreed area for construction.

Based on the project’s permit and clearance, the contractor indicated 4,997 square meters as its floor area. However, the proposed floor area is more than five times the approved figure.

Batan said Belmonte’s concerns were “legitimate” like issues of structural integrity and the like.

During the congressional hearing presided by its chair, Samar Rep. Edgar Mary Sarmiento, Batan explained to the transportation committee of the said that investors like SMC look forward to return of investments from fares, government amortization and “commercial properties like kiosks.”

For his part Sarmiento, a civil engineer, advised the DOTr official to be guided by the practice of other countries where “parks are preserved.”

“You cannot change the structure at the middle of the ballgame. It should fall under international standards,” said Sarmiento.

Batan cited the need to make adjustments in the concession agreement that was perfected in 2008 particularly on the issue on passenger capacity.

all relevant data of Philippine citizens who have acquired a drivers license.

The information on the system includes the drivers license (of course), automobiles registered to the said individual, penalties and payments for offenses committed like speeding or any kind of moving violations.

The new system allows LTO employees to process customer requests faster as they obtain all information at a glance with a few simple clicks, saving time and cost for the LTO. “The new system is one of the key steps on our way to becoming a frontline government agency showcasing fast and efficient public service for a progressive land transport sector,” said

Galvante at the ceremony last Monday.

Included in the service is a userfriendly web-based interface that allows a citizen/client to acces his/her records and see if he/she has any outstanding obligations related to his or her account like an expired driver’s license, expired car registration, violation tickets, payment receipts and more.

The solution also provides a reminder system that prods the client to renew an about to expire license or car registration or to pay an overdue violent penalty. It also allows the client to begin the processing of his/her renewals and payments within the system to expedite their activity at the LTO office.

Future online payment solutions are

in the process of being integrated into the web-based user program to allow a client to pay for his/her dues or penalties using GCash, debit or credit cards.

To implement LTO’s extensive modernization, DERMALOG has also built a complete state ofthe art data center in Metro Manila. DERMALOG had already provided a system for issuing biometric drivers’ licenses to the Land Transportation Office in 2017.

With a total 32 security features and additional biometric features, it is the most secure document in the Philippines.

Up to 20,000 licenses are issued

by LTO per day so that about 14 million citizens already hold a biometric driver’s license.

A TOTAL 56,624 patients had been admitted to the Medical Assistance for Indigents Program of the Department of Health in CALABARZON (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) from January to December of 2019.

There are 51,516 regular patients granted and 5,108 Dengvaxia patients provided with medical assistance with a total of P144,942,786.05 and P7,773,819.04, respectively.

Regional Director Eduardo Janairo said the beneficiaries of MAIP will now have more options where to get medical treatment as more private hospitals in the region are now committed to provide medical treatment to indigent patients through the medical assistance program.

“Medical assistance is not only the giving of money or financial assistance to the needy. What is important here is taking care of them from hospitalization until they can be treated and can return to their houses,” said Janairo.

Janairo further said this was not only for the poor. He said government employees can also be assisted and those facing crisis and needing financial help for their medication.

The regional office continues to monitor students who received the Dengvaxia vaccine and provide medical assistance to those needing medical treatment.

Janairo disclosed that Dengvaxia vaccinees will continue to be observed and assessed for two more years to be able to know the adverse reactions as a result of the vaccination done in 2016.

Sports Nadal starts bid to reclaim no. 1 spot ACAPULCO—Rafael Nadal marked his return to action with a straight-sets victory over Pablo Andujar on Tuesday as he launched his bid to reclaim the world number one ranking at the Mexico Open in Acapulco.

The 33-year-old Spaniard, playing for the first time since his quarter-final exit to Dominic Thiem at the Australian Open last month, claimed a 6-3, 6-2 victory over compatriot Andujar in 1hr 30min.

“The most important thing when you have not competed for a while is to win, I needed a match like today to get in rhythm and gain some confidence,” Nadal said after the victory.

Nadal suffered an early stumble, with Andujar grabbing a break of serve in the opening game as the 19time Grand Slam winner took time to find his rhythm.

However, Nadal broke back quickly and then opened up a 5-2 lead. Andujar saved three set points to hold serve but Nadal easily held to take the first set.

Andujar never looked like finding a way back into the match in the second set as a dominant Nadal broke in the first game and kept up the momentum, to close out the win emphatically.

The top-seeded Nadal admitted afterwards he was still adjusting to the heat and humidity of conditions in Acapulco.

“It was an awkward first round game,” Nadal said. “I had not competed for a while and the temperature change is drastic enough... but I am happy with the victory.”

Nadal faces Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanovic in Wednesday’s second round. Kecmanovic defeated Australia’s Alex de Minaur in Monday’s opening round.

Nadal could regain his world number one ranking this week with a victory in Acapulco if rival Novak Djokovic fails to reach the semi-finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

The Spanish star ceded the global top spot to Djokovic after the Australian Open, where the Serb won a record eighth title. AFP

Saudi Arabia to host world’s richest horse race RIYADH—Saudi Arabia this week hosts the world’s richest horse race, with $20 million in cash prizes on offer in the latest international sports extravaganza designed to boost its battered global image.

The ultra-conservative kingdom has in recent years invested heavily in sporting events, in a soft power push designed to project a more moderate image and jettison a reputation for rights abuses and the export of hardline ideology.

The Saudi Cup, expected to attract about 10,000 spectators, takes place at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack on Feb. 29 with the main race run over 1,800m on a dirt track with a maximum field of 14.

The winner will walk away with $10 million, second place with $3.5 million and even the 10th place finisher will go away with something.

The Saudi Cup includes another seven races on dirt and turf with prizes worth $9.2 million up for grabs.

“We are taking the first steps on a journey to bring the domestic racing product on a par with our international counterparts,” said Tom Ryan, director of strategy and international racing at the Jockey Club of Saudi Arabia.

The event will “increase the sport’s following inside Saudi Arabia, as well as opening up the industry to international horses and connections to make our mark on global racing,” he said.

Saudi journalist Mugbel al-Zabni, who writes for Arriyadiyah sports daily, said the event plays to Saudi culture, in a kingdom where the horse is considered a symbol of its heritage.

Glitzy rivals The Saudi Cup is set to take place in between its two predecessors as the world’s richest race—the Pegasus World Cup in the United States and the Dubai World Cup which are scheduled one month either side.

The Pegasus World Cup was the richest in the world in 2018 worth $16 million surpassing the $12 million Dubai World Cup, but it was only worth $9 million this year. AFP

A7

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Navy in dominant 1-2-3 Ronda finish

By Peter Atencio

L

UCENA—This time around, teamwork prevailed and worked wonders for Philippine Navy-Standard Insurance.

Ronald Lomotos redeemed himself as he led the Navymen to a 1-2-3 finish in a long and tough Stage 4 challenge.

He benefitted from a cooperative effort by the Navymen when they reached the steep 2.7-kilometer Tatlong Eme route in Atimonan, Quezon to claim his best finish in three years yesterday in the 205.5-kilometer fourth day of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas 10th Anniversary race.

The 25-year-old Lomotos arrived at the rolling terrain of the Maharlika Highway finish line together with teammates Junrey Navarra and El Joshua Carino, submitting similar times of four hours, 56 minutes and 28 minutes.

It was a day of success for the Navymen after teammate Jan Paul Morales took the sprint stage and Carino settled for the King of the Mountain plum to go with stage team honors, which they got after another day of continuous skirmishes with team 7Eleven-Cliqq-Air21 riders Because of this, the Navymen vaulted to the overall team classification lead.

“Pambawi ko ito. Down na kasi ang pangalan ko,” said Lomotos, who erased memories of a bad outing in Stage 8

back in 2018 when he was disqualified for drafting.

Navymen Ronald Oranza and George Oconer kept themselves busy in an 18man second group, and were behind by one minute and three seconds when they reached the finish line.

The race was a chase along a combination of flat and mountainous terrain from Daet, Camarines Norte, to Lucena, Quezon.

The riders stayed far behind until the last 26 kilometers and stuck with a five-man lead group, which included 7Eleven riders James Mendoza and Nichol Pareja, and Nueva Ecija’s Arjay Peralta.

Showing formidable form on mountainous terrain, the Navymen slowly kept their distance from Mendoza, Pareja and Tugawin as they pushed towards

the summit of the 235-meter Eme route.

With 19.6 kilometers left, the Navymen took control of the race as they headed downhill, with Carino, Navarra and Lomotos taking the KOM honors with a 1-2-3 finish.

“Ito na ang pagkakaton kong makabawi. Sabi ko sa mga kasama ko na nating bitawan ito. Baka wala nang iba pang pagkakataon sa susunod,” added Lomotos, who started joining back in 2014.

Morales, along with Oranza, held Peralta in check in the sprint stage at the 111.8-km mark.

Overall, Philippine Army’s Mark Bordeos still kept the red jersey of individual leadership after staying with the main peloton for the fourth day.

He now has a six-second lead over Oconer, who vaulted to second, from fourth spot.

Warriors’ Curry poised to return on March 1

Red Jersey holder Mark Bordeos (5th from left) of Bicycology Shop-Army is shown with fellow jersey leaders Danny Carino of Go-4Gold (MVP Yellow Jersey), El Joshua Carino of Navy (Versa Jersey) and John Paul Morales of Navy (CCN Jersey) during the awarding ceremony after Stage 4 of the LBC Ronda Pilipinas.

LeBron outguns Zion in Lakers’ victory LOS ANGELES—LeBron James outgunned Zion Williamson as the Los Angeles Lakers returned to action just 24 hours after the searing emotion of Kobe Bryant’s memorial service.

James, who earlier Tuesday said he was “emotionally a wreck” following Bryant’s death last month in a helicopter crash, scored a seasonhigh 40 points in a 118-109 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at the Staples Center.

On Monday, the venue had hosted a star-studded memorial to Bryant as the Lakers and Los Angeles bade a wrenching farewell to one of the city’s most beloved sporting figures.

However, James and the Lakers swiftly got back into the winning groove on Tuesday in a free-flowing contest against a Pelicans side led by number-one draft pick Williamson.

The hulking 19-year-old New Orleans star once again served notice of his talents with a 29-point display as the Pelicans pushed the Lakers all the way.

James admitted afterwards he had been impressed by Williamson’s performance after a Lakers win which extended their lead at the top of the Western Conference.

“Every game is going to be an opportunity for him to get better and a learning experience for him,” James said of Williamson.

LeBron James (left) of the Los Angeles Lakers and Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans look on during the game at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. AFP

“But the kid is special man. They got a good one in him,” added James, who also had eight rebounds, six assists and seven turnovers in his 34 minutes on court.

Anthony Davis added 21 points for the Lakers with Danny Green (17 points) and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (15) also reaching double figures.

Former Lakers power forward Brandon Ingram led the Pelicans scoring with 34 points.

The Denver Nuggets are five games behind the Lakers in second place in the Western standings after cruising past the Detroit Pistons 115-98 on Tuesday.

50th win for Bucks Elsewhere, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 19 points as the Milwaukee Bucks bagged their 50th win of the season with a 108-97 defeat of the Toronto Raptors.

In a potential preview of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bucks laid down a marker with a dominant second-half display to claim victory at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena.

Victory was sweet for the Bucks, who lost to the Raptors in last season’s Eastern Conference finals at the same venue despite being the top seeds heading into the playoffs. AFP

SAN FRANCISCO—Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is being lined up to return from injury in this weekend’s game against the Washington Wizards, head coach Steve Kerr confirmed Tuesday.

Speaking ahead of the Warriors’ clash with the Sacramento Kings, Kerr said Curry was targeting Sunday’s game with the Wizards as a possible return date.

Curry has not played since fracturing his hand in the Warriors’ fourth game of the season against Phoenix on October 30.

The Warriors, who also had to grapple with the departure of Kevin Durant last season and long-term injury to Klay Thompson, are currently languishing at the foot of the Western Conference with a 12-45 record.

Kerr however handed the Warriors a rare piece of good news on Tuesday after confirming a report that Curry was set to return on Sunday.

“That is the hope,” Kerr said.

“We’re going to re-evaluate on Saturday. He won’t come back before (March 1) but I know he’s had that date in his mind,” Kerr added.

“He’ll continue to work this week and we’ll make that determination on Saturday whether he’ll play on Sunday.”

Kerr said Curry’s rehabilitation had been mostly restricted to conditioning and shooting drills. The team planned to put Curry through his paces in more practice games this week.

“He looks good,” Kerr said. “He’s only had one scrimmage game because that’s the only practice that we had that enabled that.

“He’s been working with the team but most of that is drill work. But he’s been doing his post-practice workouts for several weeks and really working hard on his shooting and conditioning.

“He’s doing everything he possibly can to prepare for his return. But ultimately it’s not the same as being out there and getting knocked around a little bit.

“In the next couple of days we’ll try and simulate some action as best we can.”

Curry’s return to fitness is also good news for the United States Olympic basketball team, with the Golden State ace determined to make the team for this summer’s games in Tokyo. AFP

Davao de Oro seeks PSC’s help DAVAO CITY - Host province Davao de Oro yesterday sought the help of Philippine Sports Commission Chairman William I. Ramirez to improve its overall ranking in the coming Davao Region Athletic Association Meet 2020, which was reset to April 1 to 7 in the Municipality of Montevista.

Davao de Oro provincial sports coordinator Miles Atugan, accompanied by sports coordinators of different towns and municipalities of the province, told Ramirez that Gov. Jayvee Tyron Uy wants PSC’s help to train coaches and athletes and improve DAVRAA’s Meet ranking of ninth in the 2019 regional meet.

Ramirez, who took note of the sports that Davao de Oro wanted to focus on for the DAVRAA Meet, told Catugan to prioritize medal-rich sports instead of the popular ball games.

The PSC chief committed to send coaches and trainers in basketball, volleyball, football, boxing, swimming, athletics, table tennis, archery, taekwondo, and arnis, among others for a coaches’ education and sports clinics for the DAVRAA-bound Davao de Oro athletes in March.

Ramirez also underscored to the sports coordinators the importance of leadership in training athletes.

“For you to succeed in sports, leadership is important to succeed in sports. If there is no leadership, nothing will prosper.

Coach leadership, discipline and character are vital in producing competitive and champion athletes,” Ramirez said.

He also challenged Davao de Oro to improve its DAVRAA ranking to number five, adding, “I hope you will become number five.”

PSC Chairman William I. Ramirez (center) listens to the request of Davao de Oro provincial sports coordinator Miles Atugan to help the provincial delegation’s training preparation for the coming DAVRAA Meet 2020 during a meeting at the PSC Mindanao Office in Davao City.

Mayor Emi...

ries, your trials, your perseverance, and your triumph,” she said.

The SEA Games medallists From A8 said they are willing to provide Mayor Emi then encouraged the inspirational and motivational talks athletes to give inspirational and mo- to Pasay students, when invited by the Pasay City Government thru tivational talks to Pasay students.

“They would love to hear your sto- Mayor Emi.

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor sports@manilastandard.net sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

A8

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Canlubang, Luisita tied for PAL Srs Interclub lead BACOLOD CITY—Defending champion Luisita and rival Canlubang were tied for the lead after the first round of the 34th Philippine Airlines Seniors Interclub golf team championships Wednesday.

Both teams struggled on the putting surface with nobody breaking the 50-point barrier at the Negros Occidental Golf and Country Club (NOGCC) course.

Eddie Bagtas led Luisita with 48 points, his round marred by four closing bogeys, including a botched tap-in in the final hole.

“I lost my temper,” conceded Bagtas who was backed by Jingy Tuason’s 46 and Demetrio Saclot’s 45.

An even-par card is worth 54 points under the Molave scoring system.

Luisita captain Jeric Hechanova was relieved of the outcome despite a bad day on the greens.

Canlubang had a chance to seize the lead in the final foursome, but Tommy Manotoc three-putted the ninth, their final hole to settle for 46 points.

“It was a bad putt,” rued Manotoc who rallied coming home after making the turn at 7-over par.

Abe Avena led Canlubang with 48 points while Damasus Wong added 45.

Not scoring for their respective teams were Zaldy Villa of Canlubang with 44 and Chino Raymundo of Luisita with 38.

NOGCC was four shots behind the co-leaders while Cebu Country Club, the other team in the championship division, wound up with 125 points.

Scoring for Negros were Edwin Ordonez (49), Francis Gaston (43) and Chito Garcia (43).

Del Monte Golf Club loomed as a potential challenger after posting 134 points in the Founders division.

Ramon Velez shot the day’s best round—51 points, but failed to get solid support from his teammates—Erning Apas (44) and Romeo Bautista (39).

Del Monte opened a four-point lead over Eagle Ridge with the Orchard taking third spot with 124.

In other divisions, Club Filipino de Cebu paced Aviator with 118, Van City led Sportswriters with 120 while Lumbia was on top with 94 in the Friendship class.

Hosted by Philippine Airlines, the international event has as platinum sponsors: Asian Air Safari, Vanguard Radio Network, Fox Networks Group, Radio Mindanao Network Inc., Asian Journal Publications Philippines Inc., Auto Nation Group, Inc. (Mercedes Benz), and SMDC. Major sponsors include The Boeing Company, University of Mindanao Broadcasting Network, Avolon Aerospace Singapore Pte Ltd, Manila Broadcasting Company, Primax Broadcasting, Rolls-Royce Singapore Pte Ltd, CIGNAL TV Inc., Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. (Resorts World), and Airbus.

Other supporters are Uniglobe Travelware Co., Inc. (The Travel Club), Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. (Manila Standard), Officine Corporation, GE Aviation, SEDA Hotels, BDO Unibank, Smart Communications, Inc., People Asia Magazine, A+E Networks Asia (History), Allianz PNB Life, Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Tanduay Brands, Rockwell Land Corporation, Petron Corporation, Splash Corporation, AB Heineken Philippines Inc., and Asia Brewery Inc.—Summit.

Eddie Bagtas (left) led Luisita with 48 points, while Tommy Manotoc (right) spearheaded Canlubang with 46.

Tokyo Olympics is on, for now T

OKYO—The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are going ahead, organizers said Wednesday, even as the government called for major events in coming weeks to be postponed, cancelled or scaled back over the new coronavirus.

The fate of the Summer Games has been in the spotlight as the outbreak of COVID-19 forces the cancellation and delays in Japan of everything from football matches to the rituals that mark the opening of the March sumo tournament.

But organizers have been at pains to insist that Olympics and Paralympics scheduled for the summer are not in danger of being scrapped.

“We have not thought about it. We have not heard about it. We have made inquiries, and we were told there is no such plan,” Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told reporters.

“Our basic thinking is to conduct the Olympics and Paralympics as planned.

That’s our assumption.”

Muto said organizers would consider how to respond to the call from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday for

organizers of major events in the next two weeks to cancel, postpone or downsize the gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“We will make decisions by reviewing events individually,” he said.

But he said the torch relay scheduled to begin March 26 in Fukushima and travel across the country would not be cancelled, though he acknowledged adjustments might be necessary.

“We are absolutely not considering canceling it. But we will think about how we can hold it in ways that won’t lead to the spread of the virus, including reducing its scale,” he added.

Muto also hit back at coverage of comments by Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee, who told the Associated Press that a decision on the Games

would have to be made in the next two to three months.

“When we consulted with IOC... we were told it was not IOC’s thinking.”

Earlier, Olympic Minister Seiko Hashimoto also told parliament that the Games were still on track.

“At the IOC review meeting in Tokyo the other day which committee chair John Coates participated, the coronavirus was of course on the agenda,” she told opposition lawmakers.

“At that time, we received a high rating on our preparation for the Tokyo Games, and the IOC offered to continue its support.”

“It is important to prepare considering the worst-case scenario,” she added.

But Hashimoto said her focus now was “simply to end the (virus crisis) at the earliest time possible, to hold the Tokyo Games with a sense of safety, and to get approval from the IOC.” The Olympics are scheduled to open on July 24, with the Paralympics beginning from August 25. AFP

Mayor Emi honors SEAG medalists from Pasay

Pasay City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano

PASAY City Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano on Monday thanked Pasay athletes who brought glory and honor to the city during the 30th Southeast Asian Games last year.

“You made us proud,” the first lady Mayor of Pasay City told Jedah–Mae Soriano, Joshua Gleen Bullo, John John Bobier, Whok Dimapilis, Colleen Jem Ferrer and Jeanalane Lopez.

Soriano was the gold medalist in arnis, Dimapilis claimed the title in sailing, Bobier clinched a sepak takraw gold, Lopez bagged a bronze in judo, Bullo nailed a sepak takraw bronze, while Ferrer settled for the silver in sailing.

“You are the new breed of Pasayenos,” Mayor Emi said as she handed out cash incentives to the athletes. “We thank you for putting Pasay in the map of world sports.”

The athletes, in turn, expressed their gratitude to Mayor Emi and the City Government for the cash incentives.

“Para sa akin, napakahalagang bagay ‘yung binigay na cash incentive. Sa tagal ko naglalaro sa ibang bansa at palagi nakakakuha nang medal sa laban, ngayon lang ako nabigyan nang cash incentive nang Pasay. Kaya nu’ng nalaman ko na bibigyan kami na cash incentive ni Mayor Emi, tuwang tuwa ako lalo na ngayon na ikakasal ako. Malaking bagay ito pang dagdag gastos sa kasal ko po,” Bobier said.

For his part, Dimapilis thanked Mayor Emi for recognizing their achievements in the recent international sports event.

“Nagpapasalamat po ako ng marami, unang una kay Mayor Emi sa pagbibigay niya ng pansin sa aming mga medalists ng SEA Games na taga Pasay at sa PIO (Public Information Office) team na nag asikaso samin simula nu’ng Day 1 hanggang sa araw na maibigay na ‘yung cash incentives. Thank you Mayor Emi and PIO team,” Dimapilis said.

Like Bobier, Dimapilis said, he plans to use the cash incentives given

by Pasay City Government for his coming wedding.

Turn to A7

PH’s 3x3 team deep in training for qualifier THE official 4 - M a n Lineup of the Philippines to the 2020 3x3 Olympic Qualifying To u r n a m e n t in Bengaluru, India on March 18 to 22, composed Jaymar Perez of Joshua Munzon, Alvin Pasaol, Moala Tautuaa and Jaymar Perez are deep in training.

Blending well together is expected from top two 3x3 ranked players Munzon and Pasaol with SEAG 3x3 gold medalists Tautuaa and Perez.

The SBP Selection Committee, chaired by SBP Executive Director Sonny Barrios with members SBP Coaches Academy Head Jong Uichico, Coaches Pat Aquino, Eric Altamirano and Ronald Magsanoc, who will be the Team Delegation Head in India, oversees the overall preparation of the team for the upcoming OQT. Serbian trainors, Stefan Stojajic and Darko Krsman who are 3x3 specialists, supervise the day-to-day practice and training of the team and other pool players.

Tautuaa expressed eagerness to learn from Trainor Stojajic.

Perez, coming early morning from GILAS game vs Indonesia in Jakarta on February 24th, gamely attended the 3 p.m. practice of the 3x3 OQT team.

Four Serbian 3x3 players play against and practice with the team to simulate the games specifically of the opposing teams in its group, Slovenia, France , Qatar and Dominican Republic in Pool C. The top two teams will advance to the Quarterfinals playoff round.

SBP officials and Selection Committee members attend the team’s practices to show active support and give personal encouragement to the 3x3 OQT pool of players in the country’s bid to play in the coming Tokyo Olympiad.

Tiger to follow winning blueprint in Masters’ repeat bid WASHINGTON—Tiger Woods said Tuesday he will follow the same preparation blueprint that led to an iconic Masters triumph as he prepares to defend his title in April at Augusta National.

Woods returned from spinal fusion surgery to win his first major title since 2008 at last year’s Masters, capturing his fifth green jacket and 15th career major title.

“To be the current Masters champion, it’s crazy that somehow it all came together for one magical week,” Woods said in a teleconference.

“So many little things had to come together and they did. Last year was just an amazing week.”

The 44-year-old American superstar, who has matched Sam Snead’s all-time PGA Tour record of 82 titles, will return to Magnolia Lane

in less than six weeks with eyes on a repeat bid.

“The plan is to prepare the same way. It worked last year,” Woods said. “I’ve got a blueprint of what I need to do. Hopefully I can have the same feelings.”

Oddsmakers have made top-ranked Rory McIlroy, lacking only a green jacket to complete a career Grand Slam, an early Masters favorite at 15-2 with Woods second at 10-1 and Spain’s world number two Jon Rahm at 11-1.

Woods, who has carefully managed his schedule to avoid overtaxing his back after multiple surgeries, has played at Torrey Pines and Riviera in 2020 after serving as player-captain in a US victory in Australia at last year’s Presidents Cup.

Woods is expected to play at Bay Hill and the Players Championship as the tour makes a Florida swing before the WGC Match Play in Texas, which comes two weeks before the Masters.

“Once we get to Florida it feels like the Masters is right around the corner, but I have been focused on this since Australia,” Woods said.

“My prep has been like it usually is. I have been fortunate to have done this five times...

I’ve had everything peak for one week. It’s hard to do.”

Last year Woods skipped playing a practice round two days before the start after rain slowed the course, saving his strength for the event. AFP

A plaque commemorating a shot by Tiger Woods is displayed on the ninth hole during the second round of the World Golf Championships Mexico Championship at Club de Golf Chapultepec. AFP

IN BRIEF

Bangsamoro names 6 to fiscal policy body

THE Bangsamoro government appointed six of its key executive and legislative officials as members of a fiscal policy body tasked to address imbalances and fluctuations in the financial needs and revenueraising capacity of the autonomous region.

The Department of Finance said in a statement Wednesday the Intergovernmental Fiscal Policy Board would have members from the national government led by Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III. The IFPB is co-chaired by Dominguez and BARMM Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim.

A report to Dominguez said the BARMM had also named to the IFPB Minister Abu Amri Taddik, Minister Naguib Sinari, Deputy Speaker Hatamil Hassan, Mohajirin Ali and Said Salendab.

For the national government, the other IFPB members are Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez and Secretary Ernesto Pernia of the National Economic and Development Authority.

Finance Undersecretary Bayani Agabin, who heads the legal group, said the first organizational meeting of the IFPB was scheduled in the third week of March.

Julito G. Rada

Business

Robust tax collections to help fight vs poverty

THE sustained robust tax collections and vigorous implementation of administrative reforms by the Bureau of Internal Revenue will help the government achieve its goal of eradicating extreme poverty within one generation, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

Dominguez said during the kick-off ceremonies of the bureau’s National Tax Campaign at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City that President Rodrigo Duterte’s 2016 campaign promise of effecting real change had become doable.

The BIR, which breached the P2-trillion mark in tax collections last year, has been helping raise enough revenues for the government to spend big on infrastructure and social services.

The BIR raised P2.18 trillion in revenues in 2019, 11.3-percent higher than the 2018 figure and resulted in the Philippines raising its tax effort to 15.1 percent of gross domestic product, its best rate in 22 years.

Dominguez expressed confidence the BIR’s performance this year would continue to improve. Julito G. Rada

Grab asks LTFRB to fill 65,000 slots as app loses 1,000 drivers a month GRAB Philippines on Wednesday asked the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory to maximize the 65,000 transportation network vehicle service slots following the sharp decline in the number of active drivers.

“Our main goal of urging the LTFRB to maximize the current supply cap is for us to be able to service the ride-hailing passengers more effectively, and to hopefully avoid the December 2019 situation from happening again, where commuters are unable to get a car for hours or worse left stranded during the holidays,” Grab Philippines country head Brian Cu said.

Cu said the additional supply would replace the thousands of drivers who churned out and service the estimated 5.2 million ride-hailing passenger bookings forecasted to happen starting March 2020.

Cu said his request to maximize the current supply cap aimed to proactively address a looming commuter pain point similar to that experienced in December 2019 when there were around three million booking requests served by a scarce supply of 35,000 TNVS drivers.

He said this led to many commuters waiting for hours to be allocated a ride, or worse left stranded during the holidays.

Cu said without the additional supply, passenger allocation was expected to drop significantly throughout the rest of 2020.

“We’re seeing an increase in demand already bit by bit on a weekly basis, so again if the active daily supply doesn’t go up, by March and April that 70 percent [passenger] allocation will come back down to 60 percent,” Cu said.

Darwin G. Amojelar

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

B1

PRICE MONITORING. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (second from left), Agriculture Secretary William Dar (third from left) and Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año (fourth from left) conduct a joint price monitoring at Mega Q Mart to enforce the suggested retail prices of 10 agriculture products for all Metro Manila markets. Aside from the retail price, the three agencies are now looking into enforcing a suggested wholesale price to monitor the traders.

Virus delays development of Meralco’s solar projects

Microsoft, Temenos tie up with UnionBank

UNION Bank of the Philippines, the eighth-largest lender in the country in terms of assets, has teamed up with Microsoft and Swiss software company Temenos to bring Filipino banking to the cloud platform Azure and expand opportunities for financial inclusion and innovation in the Philippines.

The bank said in a statement Wednesday UnionBank’s fintech arm, UBX, under the tripartite agreement now has the capability to enable rural banks, micro-finance entities and cooperatives in the Philippines with technology to power their financial operations quickly.

Over the recent years, the adoption of technology in the financial services industry has grown exponentially, with recent strides on various innovations such as blockchain, virtual currency, instant payments and robotic process automation.

In the Philippines, digital banking has also seen rapid growth, raising financial literacy among Filipinos. People who used to have no access to financial services can now enjoy a myriad of options through various customer-centric platforms, allowing them to bank at their convenience.

Julito G. Rada

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

By Alena Mae S. Flores

MPIC shifts investments to ‘less risky’ businesses I

By Jenniffer B. Austria

NFRASTRUCTURE conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said it will divert its investments to less risky businesses such as warehousing, real estate and tourism amid the heightened regulatory risks involving government contracts.

Metro Pacific made the statement as its core businesses, which include water and tollways, are facing heightened regulatory risks because of tariff issues.

Water unit Maynilad Water Services Inc. earlier waived its P3.4-billion compensation claim with the government.

President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the review of water contracts because of al-

leged onerous provisions.

“As a practical matter, Maynilad is currently unable to pay dividends, thereby forcing MPIC to recast its investment program in light of lower inbound cash flow, higher regulatory risk and the resulting and self-evident lack of investor enthusiasm for this asset class,” Metro Pacific president and chief executive Jose Ma. Lim said.

“Ironically, even though there is huge demand for the services we provide, our discretionary investment spending beyond committed infrastructure projects will divert to less risky businesses like warehousing, real estate and tourism,” Lim said.

Metro Pacific approved a P5-billion share buyback program to be implemented for a period of three months in a bid to enhance and improve shareholder value. From a 52-week high of P5.28, the share price of Metro Pacific tumbled to P2.97 on Wednesday.

Lim said the sharp decline in the company’s share price showed that “in-

vestors now attach sharply higher risk premiums for government adherence to contract.”

Metro Pacific’s net income jumped 69 percent in 2019 to P23.85 billion from P14.13 billion in 2018, boosted by onetime gains as the group consolidated its investments in hospitals.

Core net income rose 4 percent to P15.6 billion from P15.1 billion, as the 7-percent increase in operating income was tempered by higher interest costs.

Power accounted for P11.6 billion or 55 percent of net operating income while toll roads contributed P5.2 billion or 25 percent.

The group’s water business contributed P3.6 billion or 17 percent while hospitals provided P867 million. The rail, logistics and other businesses combined for a net loss of P352 million.

“Our 7-percent growth in contribution from operations reflects a decade and more of sustained capital investment to enable meaningful volume increases in all our major businesses,” Lim said.

Coronavirus-19 outbreak affects DITO tower rollout in PH

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE outbreak of novel coronavirus disease 2019 in Hubei, China affected the rollout of cellular towers in the Philippines by third major player DITO Telecommunity Corp., top executives said Wednesday.

“Hubei Province of China was the one mainly affected, and that is one of the manufacturing hubs of China. The impact on our rollout involved steel or tower components and fiber cable,” DITO chief technology officer Rodolfo Santiago said.

Hubei, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, was under government lockdown to prevent the virus from spreading to other areas.

“But our vendors are confident since they have manufacturing plants in other countries, They would request their

subsidiaries doing the rollout in other countries to prioritize the supply in the Philippines,” he said.

“We are sourcing from other countries. Our vendors Huawei, ZTE and Nokia. … they have projects in other parts of the world that may not require a commitment such as ours. So in those countries, they could afford the cost of delay because there would be no penalty in their implementation,” said Santiago.

Information and Communications Technology Secretary Gregorio Honasan II, however, warned that DITO could lose its certificate of public convenience and necessityand radio frequencies if the company failed to meet its commitment.

The agency is set to audit DITO in July to check if it met its commitment to roll out 1,600 cell sites covering

37 percent of the population with 27 megabits per second speed. DITO had 600 cell sites nationwide as of February this year.

DITO chief administrative officer Adel Tamayo said the company would comply with the target. “We will find ways to mitigate all the effects of the situation so that our rollout will not be delayed. We are going to stick to our timeline.”

“Our position is very strong. Unless we exhaust all the possible alternatives, that’s the only time we would even consider citing a force majeure situation,” Tamayo said.

“Under Philippine law, a force majeure or something like coronavirus can be considered a force majeure. We can use that as legal basis. Let’s say if we have a delay, we can ask for a grace period. That’s the legal side,” Tamano said.

MGEN Renewable Energy Inc., the renewable energy subsidiary of Meralco PowerGen Corp., said Wednesday its solar power projects are facing delays because of the impact of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 on solar panel production in China.

Meralco PowerGen president Rogelio Singson said while the company was committed to developing utility scale renewable energy projects, it was affected by delays in the delivery of solar panels from China.

“We are committed to an energy transition, which means that we will try to do more renewables in the coming months, and we are still committed to our target of 1,000 megawatts of renewables. Unfortunately, two of our projects that are supposed to be commissioned this year, solar projects totaling about 135 MW, encountered some delays because of the PV panels that are coming from China have not been shipped out,” Singson said.

China is one of the world’s biggest suppliers of solar panels. The COVID-2019 outbreak in China forced most omanufacturing firms to suspend operations to help contain the virus.

“One project in Tarlac, about close to 30 percent has been delivered. Unfortunately, we were hoping that this would be commissioned in the middle of this year. We think there may be a push-back because of the nondelivery of panels,” Singson said.

He said another solar project in Bulacan also encountered difficulties because of the problems with the contractor and suppliers from China.

“Every time there is a new engineer that comes around, we have to quarantine them for 14 days. Aside from engineers, we also have PV panels coming from China,” Singson said.

MGreen took a 40-percent stake in PowerSource First Bulacan Solar Inc. which is developing a 50- MW solar project in San Miguel, Bulacan.

Singson said he was hopeful that the Chinese factories would be able to start production soon.

“Hopefully this is resolved sooner so that the factories where these panels are going to come from in China will start moving panels from the plant to the ship to ports in Manila. As far as we’re concerned, we’re still hopeful we can hit 1,000 to 1,200 MW of renewables, and these will include wind projects,” he said.

Singson said the company also

BSP amends banks’ capital requirements

By Julito G. Rada

MCDONALD’S EXPANSION. Quick service restaurant giant McDonald’s Philippines, majority owned and led by chairman and founder Dr. George Yang, sustains its double digit growth through the continued expansion and innovations enhancing the customer experience, while also strengthening its commitment in making a positive difference in society through employment opportunities, and continuing support for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. McDonald’s allocated more than P3 billion in capital expenditure in 2019 and opened 58 new stores across the country to end the year with 669 stores nationwide.

THE Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, said Wednesday it approved the enhanced capital adequacy standards for standalone thrift, rural and cooperative banks to promote the safety and soundness of the domestic banking system.

“The Monetary Board approved the amendments to the Risk-Based Capital Adequacy Framework for stand-alone thrift banks, rural banks and cooperative banks to further enhance the quality of capital of covered banks,” the board said in a statement.

“This reinforces the importance of maintaining sufficient level of common equity which could absorb losses on an ongoing basis,” it said.

The enhanced capital standards provide minimum capital ratios of 6 percent common equity tier 1 ratio and 7.5

percent tier 1 ratio. This is in addition to the existing minimum capital adequacy ratio of 10 percent.

Tier 1 capital is largely comprised of CET1 capital elements such as common shares, additional paid- in capital, retained earnings and undivided profits.

The remaining component, additional tier 1 capital is mostly made up of eligible perpetual capital instruments.

“Since the composition of qualifying capital of covered banks under the current framework are already in the form of common equity, no significant change is expected resulting from the new capital categories,” it said.

Meanwhile, the 2.5 percent capital conservation buffer requirement was also introduced in the revised framework. The CCB is in the form of CET1 capital and is computed in excess of the 6 percent CET1 ratio (e.g., 10 percent CET1 ratio, 4 percent CCB).

B2

Business

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market plunges to 15-month low T HE stock market plummeted Wednesday along with the rest of Asia, with the coronavirus spreading rapidly around the world and health chiefs warning that governments were not prepared for the outbreak.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index sank 277.60 points, or 3.9 percent, to a 15-month low of 6,909.84 on a value turnover of P10.06 billion. The index has lost 905.42 points, or 11.6 percent, since the start of the year.

Losers overwhelmed gainers, 184 to 27, with 30 issues unchanged.

International Container Terminal services Inc., the biggest port operator, slumped 11.3 percent to P102, while

Aboitiz Power Corp. of the Aboitiz Group tumbled 8.2 percent to P29.10.

Major property developer Ayala Land Inc. fell 6.6 percent to P38.65, while JG Summit Holdings Inc. of the Gokongwei Group shed 6.1 percent to P69.

The rest of Asian markets sank. The heavy selling, after a day of relative calm caused by bargain-buying, followed another rout on Wall Street where all three main indexes lost around three percent after officials said COVID-19 would likely take hold in the United States.

With cases being reported in new countries—and lockdowns in nations including Austria, Italy and Spain— traders are growing increasingly fearful about the impact on the global economy.

The death toll is now at more than 2,700 while those infected are approaching 80,000, although new cases in China, the epicenter, are falling.

At the World Health Organization

headquarters in Geneva, Bruce Aylward, who headed an international expert mission to China, hailed the drastic quarantine and containment measures taken by the country.

But he told reporters that other nations were “simply not ready” for reining in the outbreak, adding: “You have to be ready to manage this at a larger scale... and it has to be done fast.”

The WHO said countries must “prepare for a potential pandemic”—a term used to describe an epidemic that spreads throughout the world.

Tokyo and Shanghai each ended down 0.8 percent, having shed more than three percent Tuesday, while Hong Kong lost 0.8 percent in the afternoon.

Sydney, Seoul, Singapore, Wellington and Jakarta were all down more than one percent. Taipei and Bangkok were also well down.

“It’s the concern of the unknown,” David Kudla, at Mainstay Capital Man-

agement LLC, told Bloomberg TV. “The question is, is the selling getting a bit overdone or is it a more appropriate response to how far coronavirus has spread, and that eventual impact to the economy.”

With panicking investors rushing into safe havens, the yield on 30-year US Treasury bills are sitting at record lows, while the Japanese yen climbed and the dollar advanced against high-yielding currencies.

However, the dollar was being kept in check by speculation the Federal Reserve could cut interest rates to support markets, though for now officials are saying the US economy remains in rude health.

Oil prices edged up after three days of steep losses that have wiped about seven percent off both main contracts, although observers warn the virus’s spread to the giant US economy could deal it further pain. With AFP

Manila Standard BuSineSS daily StockS review wedneSday, FeBruary 26, 2020

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

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ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO UNIBANK CHINABANK EAST WEST BANK FILIPINO FUND MANULIFE MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK VANTAGE

50 81.5 142.9 25 11.2 6.5 810 0.4 59 0.73 12.04 31.15 175 51.35 20.2 160.6 1,795 57.9 1.17

50 81.65 142.9 25 11.2 6.5 810 0.4 59.2 0.73 12.04 31.15 175 53.4 20.2 160.6 1,795 57.9 1.2

50 80 136.3 24.75 10.96 6 760 0.37 57.2 0.7 12.02 28.9 172.7 51.2 19.5 153 1,795 57.5 1.15

FINANCIALS 50 11,940 81 4,129,320 137 6,600,630 24.75 312,200 11.1 364,200 6 28,600 760 190 0.39 2,530,000 59.1 4,376,380 0.73 390,000 12.02 20,800 30 277,900 172.7 150 51.2 18,790 19.6 25,300 156 532,660 1,795 10 57.6 7,120 1.19 325,000

597,000 332,472,655.50 910,684,280 7,740,775 4,016,950 185,600 153,130 985,500 257,077,654.50 281,750 250,316 8,273,055 26,164 963,295 502,922 82,918,107 17,950 409,481 374,760

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

30.6 2.09 7.68 0.64 1.2 2.85 0.223 88.25 1.38 14.86 227.8 7.49 16.4 30.05 60 62.05 2.06 4.79 8.19 11.72 8.3 7.64 3.1 19.62 63.05 1.73 35.5 1.55 13.2 4.9 1.23 180 3.2 6.52 11.98 9.64 14.3 261 0.155 4.71 1.77 3.4 3.46 9.7 11.2 28.3 4.8 5 1.6 1.51 1.05 9 72.5 9.26 0.9 146.5 2.52 1.11 0.92

30.6 2.12 7.68 0.65 1.2 2.85 0.223 88.25 1.39 14.86 227.8 7.49 16.4 30.05 60 62.05 2.06 4.79 8.35 11.72 8.5 7.72 3.57 19.62 63.05 1.74 35.5 1.56 13.2 4.9 1.23 181.3 3.26 6.52 12.06 9.64 14.3 265.8 0.155 4.71 1.82 3.49 3.46 9.7 11.2 28.4 4.8 5 1.65 1.51 1.06 9 73.4 9.26 0.9 146.5 2.52 1.13 0.93

28.15 2 6.9 0.6 1.2 2.66 0.214 88.2 1.35 14.5 227.8 6.01 16 28.9 60 62 2.01 4.79 7.41 11.12 8 7.63 2.76 18.24 62.6 1.57 32 1.32 12 4 1.11 170.2 3.2 6.52 11.3 9 13.58 255.2 0.155 4.65 1.77 3.4 3.36 9 10.28 27.3 4.8 5 1.55 1.51 1 8.74 69.15 8.51 0.83 139.1 2.52 1.09 0.89

INDUSTRIAL 29.1 3,452,000 2.09 7,072,000 7.25 2,642,000 0.63 2,007,000 1.2 29,000 2.78 2,386,000 0.216 990,000 88.2 450 1.38 8,455,000 14.76 267,600 227.8 20 6.71 1,546,400 16 4,100 28.9 300 60 450 62 700 2.05 169,000 4.79 4,000 7.41 3,263,700 11.14 225,600 8.2 638,800 7.65 1,723,300 3.36 16,385,000 18.5 1,925,800 62.6 62,840 1.71 35,033,000 33.5 227,300 1.36 3,196,000 13 473,700 4.56 4,450,000 1.18 110,000 175.1 2,328,310 3.24 12,000 6.52 4,600 11.98 4,841,300 9.05 248,900 14 1,302,100 257 599,710 0.155 500,000 4.65 9,200 1.79 450,000 3.48 35,000 3.36 924,000 9.4 66,800 10.86 342,300 27.3 237,400 4.8 2,000 5 100 1.62 1,018,000 1.51 2,000 1.05 1,437,000 8.74 102,700 73 266,780 9 647,100 0.84 851,000 140.5 2,551,960 2.52 1,000 1.12 4,535,000 0.93 1,214,000

102,569,885 14,606,880 18,697,767 1,251,390 34,800 6,598,200 213,890 39,697.50 11,524,570 3,946,640 4,556 10,497,331 66,800 8,790 27,000 43,410 342,980 19,160 25,899,631 2,605,868 5,232,945 13,184,071 54,279,810 36,365,500 3,944,938 58,669,820 7,418,990 4,499,800 6,109,400 20,227,890 124,720 406,968,820 38,810 29,992 57,344,410 2,320,653 18,093,836 155,070,206 77,500 43,025 807,330 119,610 3,140,680 607,340 3,715,048 6,540,720 9,600 500 1,624,910 3,020 1,459,830 907,275 19,191,169 5,830,007 712,360 358,879,740 2,520 5,043,960 1,103,150

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

0.75 49 10.02 0.67 6.1 10.28 0.89 0.95 712 2.35 6.13 5.29 11.62 0.226 720 72.9 6.2 5.51 0.49 3.9 9 0.54 2.98 4.22 1.1 131.9 1,000 0.77 1.1 170 164 0.228 0.177

0.76 49.15 10.1 0.69 6.36 10.28 0.9 0.95 712 2.35 6.33 5.29 12.48 0.236 724 72.9 6.52 5.51 0.49 4 9 0.59 3.04 4.22 1.1 131.9 1,000 0.79 1.11 180 169.9 0.23 0.178

0.72 45.4 9.9 0.66 6.1 9.89 0.88 0.95 679 2.16 6.13 5.15 11.62 0.226 715 68.9 6.01 5.51 0.485 3.81 8.62 0.54 2.87 4 1.05 120 978 0.76 1 157.5 164 0.228 0.17

HOLDING FIRMS 0.76 17,265,000 45.4 2,141,000 10.02 23,326,600 0.66 105,000 6.1 68,300 9.95 4,500 0.89 481,000 0.95 1,000 690 453,090 2.19 3,482,000 6.3 2,840,700 5.21 12,397,900 12.48 5,700 0.236 500,000 720 261,010 69 4,045,890 6.01 209,200 5.51 112,400 0.485 20,000 3.99 188,000 8.7 3,393,000 0.59 853,000 2.97 45,281,000 4.22 57,000 1.07 45,000 130 305,780 985 719,395 0.79 174,000 1.11 991,000 157.5 490 164.8 1,750 0.23 830,000 0.178 2,790,000

12,790,380 99,374,450 233,853,245 69,880 416,708 44,865 425,980 950 312,847,395 7,678,520 17,806,638 64,510,030 68,556 114,700 187,518,285 281,555,580.50 1,360,539 619,324 9,750 728,820 29,445,815 461,690 134,531,790 233,160 48,610 39,101,028 707,861,300 133,030 1,081,150 81,215 295,849 190,700 480,320

-332,090 -68,811,470 24,771,870 409,310 -114,473,775 438,000 1,524,551 -40,076,350 25,039,585 -166,220,282.50 -171,400 -10,430,186 -162,000 -72,767,670 3,150 -11,984,537 -362,754,115 -15,400 -744,500 31,340 49,840 -30,740

14.64 0.55 8.77 1.6 0.75 38.15 1.48 4.41 6.1 0.48 0.7 0.8 0.17 0.34 8.7 16.02 0.375 1.25 0.99 3.41 0.192 0.44 0.95 0.29

PROPERTY 14.68 1,332,200 0.58 917,000 8.77 100 1.67 51,000 0.76 988,000 38.65 34,613,600 1.5 1,132,000 4.44 677,000 6.4 110,700 0.485 7,392,000 0.77 2,000 0.8 81,000 0.171 2,080,000 0.34 1,870,000 9 2,319,300 17 890,800 0.375 10,000 1.28 17,609,000 0.99 1,350,000 3.45 40,409,000 0.192 7,770,000 0.44 1,200,000 0.98 1,083,000 0.29 750,000

19,586,512 538,890 877 81,670 750,690 1,358,977,525 1,694,360 3,003,880 728,389 3,598,880 1,470 64,800 354,400 640,100 20,408,295 14,738,966 3,750 22,576,770 1,344,590 141,251,760 1,516,010 542,500 1,052,720 221,700

-1,014,388 -385,062,490 4,440 -44,820 -157,715 58,400 0 193,240 -14,553,230 -59,927,610 -64,680 -

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

14.64 0.6 8.77 1.6 0.78 40 1.5 4.5 6.48 0.49 0.7 0.8 0.175 0.35 8.8 17 0.375 1.32 1.02 3.6 0.197 0.45 1.03 0.305

14.72 0.6 8.77 1.67 0.78 40.1 1.51 4.5 6.6 0.495 0.77 0.8 0.175 0.35 9 17 0.375 1.32 1.03 3.6 0.2 0.455 1.03 0.305

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

NAME

500,000 -86,566,598 -370,988,967 -804,395 -252,090 -7,600 -60,107,880.50 10,950 -368,215 -23,564 -31,623,604 25,300.00 -79,191,635 123,370.00 217,152 -1,252,960 445,090 1,326,034 -76,150 -5,608,978 -432,956 -86,624 4,758,920 -13,860 -16,359,302 -1,839,958 3,489,190 5,375,100 187,730 -1,050,028 421,220 -145,531,743 -9,750 6,520.00 12,491,988 -145,495 -13,703,268 -89,082,674 0 -21,480 -33,340 -9,400 -155,206 -3,674,800 64,800 50,600 -153,860 -6,337,837 2,810,216 -147,538,777 -46,500

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND VISTAMALLS

2.04 24.95 1.95 3.03 39.6 2.4 1.58 6.9 5.03

2.06 24.95 1.95 3.11 39.6 2.4 1.65 6.9 5.05

2.02 23 1.9 3 38.15 2.38 1.5 6.66 5

2.06 23.65 1.9 3.11 39.3 2.4 1.61 6.73 5.05

1,247,000 2,379,600 277,000 48,000 22,000,600 215,000 5,105,000 2,760,200 55,200

2,537,320 56,197,010 528,840 144,610 859,562,565 514,900 7,984,140 18,581,520 277,428

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

8 21.95 1.44 10.3 0.385 0.047 17.5 2.7 8.75 0.044 76.2 3.98 3.81 7.58 900 1,864 5.4 417 1.07 113.4 8 5.41 0.102 1.54 12.14 1.91 0.87 9.51 0.455 1.72 1.55 1.52 2.08 1.95 7.3 4.02 140 2.79 1,009 0.54 0.3 37.55 71.1 2 0.56 0.234 0.54 18.5

8 23.75 1.44 10.3 0.39 0.047 17.5 2.74 8.75 0.044 76.95 3.98 4.09 7.58 900 1,914 5.4 417 1.08 113.4 8.5 5.41 0.102 1.72 12.14 1.92 0.91 9.58 0.455 1.72 1.55 1.52 2.08 2.04 7.3 4.02 141 2.79 1,010 0.55 0.305 38 71.1 2 0.56 0.234 0.55 18.54

7.4 21.2 1.34 9.85 0.375 0.047 17.5 2.64 8 0.042 74 3.6 3.8 6.5 890 1,809 5.3 406 1 94.85 7.53 5.41 0.097 1.51 12.14 1.88 0.85 9.21 0.4 1.61 1.38 1.27 1.95 1.84 6.95 4.02 140 2.46 990 0.51 0.28 35 70.15 1.83 0.55 0.21 0.53 18.1

SERVICES 7.46 23 1.34 10 0.39 0.047 17.5 2.7 8.69 0.042 76.8 3.9 4.09 7.25 890 1,826 5.32 413 1.07 102 8.5 5.41 0.097 1.7 12.14 1.89 0.9 9.45 0.435 1.65 1.47 1.36 2 2.04 6.95 4.02 140 2.58 1,002 0.53 0.29 38 70.55 2 0.56 0.231 0.54 18.5

42,300 3,167,000 63,000 1,756,200 1,340,000 1,000,000 48,000 433,000 2,127,000 17,000,000 114,770 781,000 384,000 30,100 650 116,015 1,368,600 640 1,765,000 2,775,290 30,100 100 240,000 225,393,000 400 358,000 152,000 2,632,000 2,360,000 1,302,000 3,461,000 73,000 5,927,000 571,000 24,500 2,000 1,250 2,761,000 270,070 24,087,000 7,980,000 499,700 206,000 2,028,000 4,773,000 2,920,000 1,718,000 3,513,300

320,777 72,076,475 87,620 17,557,317 508,350 47,000 840,000 1,150,610 17,932,440 723,800 8,685,203.50 2,902,690 1,564,170 207,205 578,600 215,037,215 7,308,604 265,042 1,803,610 291,753,826.50 231,450 541 23,450 381,418,690 4,856 678,420 129,940 24,906,917 1,005,050 2,144,940 4,985,210 103,250 11,817,140 1,061,890 170,950 8,040 175,030 7,147,640 270,372,682.50 12,666,150 2,296,450 18,586,360 14,498,279 3,922,370 2,667,330 670,210 925,890 64,335,610

-11,385,911 813,750 -1,258,572 -71,400 1,388,349.50 11,100 -2,865,245 8,312 -163,041,713.50 -709,680 66,340 7,208,906 -790,490 71,510 -928,510 31,425 110,580 -3,200 -101,590,100 149,580 -21,000 -3,968,975.00 -450,463 510,910 -1,999,700 -957,034.00

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

0.0013 6.72 1.07 2.4 11.48 1.12 2.93 0.265 6.57 1.23 0.198 0.096 0.094 0.71 2.47 1.01 0.61 0.0096 0.01 0.011 3.04 7.24 19.4 0.0048

0.0013 7 1.1 2.4 11.48 1.12 2.93 0.27 6.57 1.23 0.202 0.098 0.096 0.71 2.47 1.01 0.65 0.0096 0.01 0.011 3.05 7.24 19.42 0.0048

0.0013 6.3 1.02 2.18 10.94 1.12 2.78 0.265 6.57 1.13 0.198 0.091 0.09 0.65 2.28 0.98 0.61 0.0096 0.01 0.01 2.95 6.75 19 0.0048

MINING & OIL 0.0013 466,000,000 6.45 194,000 1.04 4,155,000 2.19 109,000 11.3 4,500 1.12 1,000 2.82 3,421,000 0.27 310,000 6.57 700 1.17 2,122,000 0.202 140,000 0.095 5,480,000 0.096 220,000 0.69 156,000 2.45 3,366,000 1 12,000 0.65 31,000 0.0096 1,000,000 0.01 68,600,000 0.011 19,500,000 3.05 299,000 6.87 435,300 19.28 1,253,500 0.0048 2,000,000

605,800 1,284,887 4,358,640 239,530 49,738 1,120 9,735,380 82,200 4,599 2,484,990 27,760 517,660 19,900 103,710 8,027,770 11,810 18,950 9,600 686,000 205,500 895,820 2,987,782 24,122,184 9,600

13,000 -73,767 5,200 -17,440 1,566,720 -69,670 -146,080 -1,010 -10,000 9,000 143,900 -10,227,636.00 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B1 AC PREF B2R ALCO PREF B CPG PREF A DD PREF FGEN PREF G GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF B HOUSE PREF A MWIDE PREF PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B PNX PREF 4 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

17 502 502 100.4 101.1 101 108.2 502 5.15 990 99.85 100.5 100.1 105 1,050 77.6 76.5 76 76

17.84 502 503 100.4 101.1 101 108.2 502 5.15 990 99.85 100.5 100.1 105 1,050 77.6 77 76.3 76

16.88 501 502 100.1 101.1 101 108.2 502 5.1 990 99 100 100.1 105 1,031 77.5 76.5 76 76

PREFERRED 17.62 608,800 501 270 503 1,460 100.1 2,000 101.1 1,300 101 34,960 108.2 100 502 1,450 5.11 1,344,900 990 50 99 18,440 100.1 25,510 100.1 2,500 105 70 1,050 7,045 77.6 4,320 77 126,530 76.05 30,630 76 29,400

10,572,006 135,520 733,330 200,408 131,430 3,530,960 10,820 727,900 6,886,632 49,500 1,834,880.50 2,551,260 250,250 7,350 7,368,400 335,107 9,728,872 2,336,436.50 2,234,400

733,330 -6,375,632 -4,818,495.00 -

LR WARRANT

1.02

1.08

1

WARRANTS 1.08 300,000

303,340

ITALPINAS KEPWEALTH XURPAS

2.9 9.1 0.78

2.9 9.1 0.78

2.76 8 0.75

2.85 8.22 0.76

FIRST METRO ETF

108.5

108.8

105

USD DMPL A1

10.26

10.26

10.26

MS Trading Summary

SHARES

FINANCIAL

20,173,474

INDUSTRIAL

124,974,153

HOLDING FIRMS

123,593,077

PROPERTY

170,795,923

SERVICES

330,916,192

MINING & OIL

578,949,635

GRAND TOTAL

1,352,643,474

SME

178,000 321,000 2,523,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 105.3 214,590 DDS 10.26

3,880

-27,538,165 -335,111,380 -120,000 -7,952,386 -

-

505,540 2,667,147 1,916,590

37,500

22,715,489

49,948

39,808.80

-

VALUE 1,649.56 (down) 44.19 1,639,502,192.38 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 8,416.22 (down) 389.36 1,607,398,662.118 HOLDING FIRMS 6,761.39 (down) 264.59 2,183,608,371.41 PROPERTY 3,696.81 (down) 154.08 1,370.28 (down) 55.47 3,025,267,285.945 SERVICES MINING & OIL 6,770.32 (down) 162.09 1,518,082,275.145 PSEI 6,909.84 (down) 277.60 56,497,441.69 All Shares Index 4,129.37 (down) 136.05 10,058,170,025.36 Gainers: 27; Losers: 184; Unchanged: 30; Total: 241

Wilcon Depot says 2019 net income up by 15.8% to P2.1b

By Jenniffer B. Austria WILCON Depot Inc., a leading home improvement and construction supply retailer, said net income rose 15.8 percent in 2019 to P2.12 billion from P1.83 billion a year ago on double-digit growth in sales.

Wilcon said Wednesday in a disclosure to the stock exchange net sales increased 16.3 percent to P24.47 billion on store expansion and a 5.2-percent same store sales growth.

Wilcon in 2019 added six new depots that increased the group’s store tally to 57.

“We are pleased with our full year 2019 results and it was another strong one for us with our net income growing 15.8% to ₱2.125 billion from 2018 post changes in accounting policies and standards,” said Wilcon president and chief executive Lorraine Belo-Cincochan.

“Coming off a high base, we had a respectable topline growth and the margin improvement we gained from our product mix strategy cushioned the spike in our operating expenses as we had planned,” she said.

Belo-Cincochan said Wilcon would spend P2.9 billion in 2020 to finance the opening of eight to nine new stores and the renovation of other outlets to sustain the company’s growth. Wilcon will have at least 65 stores by the end of this year.

The company seeks to maintain a mid-teen topline and net income growth in 2020 as well as a steady five- to sixpercent comparable sales growth.

Depots in 2019 comprised 95.9 percent of net sales totaling ₱23.469 billion generated from 50 branches. Depot sales rose 16.5 percent while same store sales climbed five percent.

Sales from the smaller format accounted for 2.7 percent, rising 6.2 percent with a same store sales growth of four percent.

Operating expenses in 2019, including re-classified rent expense to interest expense, rose 22.1 percent to P5.39 billion due to changes in accounting policies and standards, and expansionrelated expenses.

Globe Telecom ready to introduce 5G service in PH

By Darwin G. Amojelar GLOBE Telecom Inc. said it is ready to roll out mobile 5G service after a successful fist-ever international 5G video call in the country with the 5G mobile network of AIS Thailand.

The call, which lasted more than three minutes, was made recently after Globe received the technical call from AIS when the mobile operator tested its own 5G network in Bangkok on February 21.

Alan Garchitorena, Globe director for Technology Enablement & Services Planning, took the call from Hui Weng Cheong, president of AIS, as the Bangkok-based company ran its first 5G video call test.

The call went on without a glitch with zero lag and practically ushered in a new era of communication for both Globe and AIS. “It went very smoothly. Superb. My appreciation for the support from the Globe Team,” Hui said after the call was made.

AIS has just officially acquired its new 5G spectrum the same day it made the call to Globe. 5G is an extremely powerful technology and promises amazing new features.

Garchitorena said the video call solid proof of Globe’s readiness to roll out mobile 5G in the country.

“This technology will deliver a new era of digital use for AR, VR, Internet of Things (IoT), industrial applications and much more in the Philippines,” he added.

Globe tapped China’s smartphone giant Huawei to bring the first 5G ready device in the Philippines.

Globe in 2019 became the first mobile operator in Southeast Asia to commercially launch 5G for home.

The telecom company is now set to transform areas within major commercial business districts to 5G mobile capable sites within the year.

Globe committed to spend P63 billion in 2020, which includes a spillover of the spending commitments from 2019.

World

B3

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

HK to give big cash handouts to jump-start the economy

H

ONG KONG—Hong Kong's government on Wednesday said it will give a HK$10,000 ($1,280) handout to seven million permanent residents in a bid to jump-start a recession-hit economy now compounded by the coronavirus outbreak.

TIBETAN NEW YEAR. Exiled Tibetan performers sing and dance during celebrations marking the third day of the Lhosar Tibetan

New Year in Kathmandu at the Boudhanath Stupa area on February 26, 2020. Lhosar, the New Year of the Tibetans, falls in February or March and is marked with feasts, family gatherings and the exchanging of gifts. AFP

IN BRIEF S. Korea’s birth rate hits all-time low SEOUL―South Korea’s birth rate hit a new low Wednesday as authorities announced barely 300,000 babies were born last year in the nation of 51 million people.

The country has one of the world’s longest life expectancies and one of its lowest birthrates, a combination that presents a looming demographic disaster.

A total of 303,100 babies were born in 2019, Statistics Korea said, down 7.3 percent from the previous year.

The country’s fertility rate―the number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime―dropped to 0.92, the second consecutive year it was under one, and far below the 2.1 needed to keep a population stable.

South Korean women have increasingly rejected motherhood in the face of heavy childcare burdens and associated career setbacks in a country where a thick glass ceiling still endures, along with traditional social values.

The government has spent more than 180 trillion won ($148 billion) since 2006 to boost birth rates but the population is projected to fall to 39 million in 2067, when the median age will be 62. AFP

Clooney to fight for Rohingya COLOMBO—The luxury tourist destination of the Maldives has hired prominent human rights lawyer Amal Clooney to represent it at the UN’s highest court in seeking justice for Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingya Muslims.

The Maldivian government said Wednesday it will formally join the mainly Muslim African state of The Gambia in challenging Myanmar’s 2017 military crackdown that sent around 740,000 Rohingya fleeing into neighboring Bangladesh.

In a unanimous ruling last month, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Buddhist-majority Myanmar to implement emergency measures to prevent the genocide of Rohingya―pending a full case that could take years.

Clooney successfully represented former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed and secured a UN decision that his 2015 jailing for 13 years was illegal. AFP

Qatar eyes diplomatic win with US-Taliban agreement DOHA―Providing neutral space for talks on ending Afghanistan’s 18-year conflict has boosted Qatar’s international profile and helped it defy a painful embargo enforced by neighbors and former allies.

After quietly brokering dialogue between the warring sides in Afghanistan, Qatar is on the verge of reaping a major diplomatic dividend if a deal is signed in Doha this Saturday that would see the Pentagon withdraw thousands of troops.

The negotiations have created incongruous scenes of Taliban fightersturned-deal makers rubbing shoulders with guests in revealing outfits in the lobby of a luxury Doha hotel, to strains of pop classics played by the resident pianist.

And Qatar has undertaken the ambitious project during a period of major regional challenges.

Saudi Arabia, along with the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain cut ties with Doha in 2017, closing their airspace, borders and ports, and severing all trade.

Talks to resolve the wider rift have stalled, after a flurry of diplomacy late last year raised hopes of a breakthrough.

But if it all goes to plan, when the embargo hits the 1,000-day mark on Saturday, Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, will be riding high on the success of the mediation efforts, at a time when he is shoring up alliances and forging new ones.

Tiny Qatar, a peninsula nation protruding from the Arabian desert into the Gulf and better known for its gas riches and controversial 2022 World Cup bid victory, was a seemingly unlikely choice to host negotiations.

Located 1,800 kilometers from warravaged Afghanistan, Qatar nonetheless invited the Taliban to open a political office in Doha in 2013 with Washington’s blessing.

“If they didn’t have that access, no one would have taken them seriously,” Colin Clarke, an analyst at the Soufan Center, said of Doha’s decades-long engagement with the group, adding that the Qataris were seen as “trusted brokers by both sides.”

The deal, which Taliban and Afghan sources have said will be inked in Doha, is a historic accord slashing Washington’s military presence in Afghanistan in return for various security commitments from the Taliban. AFP

Financial Secretary Paul Chan unveiled the cash gift in an annual budget, committing a colossal HK$120 billion to help alleviate the worst economic downtown the international financial hub has faced in a decade.

Hong Kong boasts significant fiscal reserves of more than HK$1 trillion built up over the boom years, a stockpile that the government is now tapping into.

The cash handout alone will cost HK$71 billion but officials hope consumers will plow much of the money back into local businesses.

"Making good use of fiscal reserves to support enterprises and relieve people's hardship is certainly in line with our people's expectations," he said, adding the cash handout was for permanent residents aged 18 or above, including those residing overseas.

Chan said the stimulus and lower revenues would push government coffers into the red by a record HK$139.1 billion in the coming fiscal year, the first deficit in 15 years.

Hong Kong's economy is reeling from the US-China trade war, months of pro-democracy protests last year and now the coronavirus: a triple whammy Chan described as "exceptionally austere".

Other measures announced in the budget included profits and salary tax breaks as well as low interest loans for businesses struggling to pay staff wages.

The tourist, restaurant and retail sectors have been hit especially hard with bankruptcies soaring and traditionally low unemployment rising.

"Hong Kong's economy is facing

Court ruling in assisted suicide seen

Mahathir proposes unity government KUALA LUMPUR―Malaysia’s Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday proposed forming a unity government in his first public comments since his shock resignation as prime minister plunged the country into turmoil.

Political factions have been jockeying for position after a bloc of ruling coalition lawmakers and opposition parties attempted to form a new government and stop the rise of Mahathir’s designated successor Anwar Ibrahim.

There were also reports that lawmakers from the collapsed “Pact of Hope” coalition, which stormed to a shock victory in 2018, had unexpectedly thrown their support behind Anwar to become leader.

“Party politics must be put aside for now,” said Mahathir, who quit Monday after the failed bid to form a new government, in a televised address to the nation.

“If allowed, I will try to form an inclusive government, not siding with any political parties.”

Mahathir, at 94 the world’s oldest leader, said he resigned because he was not ready to work with the United Malays National Organisation, the party of disgraced ex-prime minister Najib Razak.

Najib is now standing trial accused of plundering billions of dollars from state fund 1MDB. AFP

enormous challenges this year," Chan said, predicting a range of 0.5 percent growth to a 1.5 percent contraction this year.

The recession is a major headache for the city's unelected pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam who currently boasts record low approval ratings after facing down huge democracy protests.

The massive rallies and regular clashes with police that became a weekly fixture last year were dying down before the outbreak began. But the virus has comprehensively ended mass gatherings.

Yet public anger still simmers in a city where neither its leadership nor Beijing have addressed the issues fueling years of rising resentment.

In Wednesday's budget, the police received a 25 percent bump to HK$25.8 billion.

Neighboring Macau often announces universal cash handouts to residents in its annual budget, while Hong Kong has historically been more reticent. The last one for all residents was in 2011, three years after the global crash sparked the city's last recession.

Last week Hong Kong's government announced a HK$30 billion relief fund for those hit hardest by the virus outbreak, including cash handouts for businesses like restaurants and travel companies.

The last time Hong Kong ran a deficit was between 2001 and 2004. Chan said the reserves should see the city through the current crisis "In the medium term, the economic outlook of Hong Kong remains positive," he said. AFP

DESERTED. In this picture taken on February 25, 2020, people wearing protective facemasks, as a preventative measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus, walk through a deserted shopping mall in Beijing. The novel coronavirus has spread to more than 25 countries since it emerged in December and is causing mounting alarm due to new outbreaks in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. AFP

Curfew call in New Delhi after 20 die in sectarian clashes NEW DELHI―Riot police patrolled the streets of India’s capital on Wednesday and the city’s leader called for a curfew following battles between Hindus and Muslims that claimed at least 20 lives.

The two days of unrest―which has seen clashes between mobs armed with swords and guns―is the worst sectarian violence seen in Delhi in decades.

The clashes come amid worsening religious tensions following a citizenship law that critics say is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist agenda.

Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, called Wednesday for the army to be deployed and for a curfew to be imposed over flash point northeastern districts.

“Police, despite all its efforts, [are] unable to control situation and instill confidence,” Kejriwal tweeted on Wednesday morning.

“Army [should] be called in and curfew imposed.”

The clashes began on Monday between people supporting and opposing the citizenship law, then descended into pitched battles between the mobs.

Twenty people died and nearly 200 others were wounded in the first two days of violence, the director of the hospital where people were taken, told AFP on Wednesday.

Sixty people had suffered gunshot wounds, according to the director, Sunil Kumar.

The area is home to mostly poorer economic migrants living in many shanty neighborhoods, and some fled on Wednesday ahead of more expected clashes.

“People are killing [each other]. Bullets are being fired here,” a tailor in the Jaffrabad area told AFP, adding that he was returning home to his village in northern Uttar Pradesh state.

“There is no work... It is better to leave than to stick around here. Why would we want to die here?”

On Wednesday morning AFP saw people cleaning out the blackened and trashed interior of a mosque in the Ashok Nagar area burned out during the violence. AFP

FRANKFURT―Germany’s highest court will on Wednesday decide whether a 2015 law banning professional assisted suicide goes too far, with critics saying it robs terminally ill patients of the right to determine their own death.

The judges’ verdict will be closely watched in a fast-aging country where the Catholic Church still exerts strong influence, but polls show growing public support for physician-assisted suicide.

It is also a particularly sensitive subject in Germany as the Nazis used what they euphemistically called “euthanasia” to exterminate around 200,000 disabled people.

In its current form, the so-called Paragraph 217 law penalizes anyone offering assisted suicide as a commercial service, whether they accept payment or not.

But a 2017 court ruling in Leipzig found that in extreme cases, the authorities could not refuse life-ending medication, creating confusion among physicians.

Six plaintiffs, made up of terminally ill patients, doctors and assisted suicide associations, asked the Federal Constitutional Court last year to overturn Paragraph 217.

“The right to live does not constitute an obligation to live,” plaintiff Wolfgang Putz told judges during one of the hearings at the Karlsruhe-based court.

Presiding judge Andreas Vosskuhle indicated last year that Paragraph 217 would likely be amended.

At the heart of the debate is the plaintiffs’ argument that Germany’s Basic Law constitution guarantees personal freedom and dignity, which they believe includes the right to a self-determined death. AFP

LGUs

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

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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

NIA asks NV farmers to sync crop irrigation

FIRST HARVEST. A farmer shows off the edamame (young soybeans) harvested for the first time in the Philippines from a 20-hectare farm in Barangay Talipapa, Cabanatuan, Nueva Ecija. Later, Agriculture Secretary William Dar (inset, second from left, with hat) joins former Candava Mayor Gerry Pelayo, his son Raphael Pelayo, and young farmers Elaine Timbol and Jeff Fernandez to celebrate the crop bound for export to Japan. Edamame is ready for harvest after just 62 days.

By Brenda Jocson BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya— The National Irrigation Administration is asking local farmers to delay farming by about two months and adjust their croppping calendars to start on May 1, owing to ongoing repairs and rehabilitation of local irrigation systems worth P50 million.

Engineer Leonardo B. Villegas, division manager of the NIA-Nueva Vizcaya Irrigation Management Office, asked for the full cooperation of Vizcayano farmers, who usually begin their dry crop planting season this month.

“We sadly inform our rice farmers in the province to please coperate with the adjustment of the cropping calendar to give way to the completion of our much-needed repairs and rehabilitation of line canals, wherein we are doing the concreting in the canal floorings, structuring and putting up of steel gates on line canals and concreting of canal linings,” he told the Standard.

Villegas’ office operates two systems, the Colocol National Irrigation System and the Nueva Vizcaya Bagabag Irrigation System, which waters up to 9,000 hectares of farmland. Both pumps source their irrigation water from the Magat River.

Farmers from the towns of Solano, Bayombong, and Villaverde get water from the Colocol System, while the Nueva Vizcaya Bagabag System only serves farmers from Bagabag.

Miner FCF reports dev’t projects for ‘19

QC hikes city workers’ wages

By Rio N. Araja

Q

UEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte has signed a memorandum increasing the monthly salary of city hall’s contractual and job-order employees to a “livable” rate of at least P13,000 by March.

The city government has allocated P201 million for the implementation of the wage increase.

“It is our responsibility, especially us in the government to adhere to the law and give our employees dignified and equitable working conditions. All workers must have the capability to buy their basic needs,” Belmonte said.

She said 4,359 contractual personnel and job order employees under the city’s executive department “will be remunerated at least P13,000 per month.”

The legal minimum pay is prescribed by the Department of Labor and Employment.

According to Belmonte, the decision was reached after reviewing the city hall’s roster of human resources, and discovering that some employees are getting as low as P8,000 despite working for 40 hours or more a week, particularly community health workers.

She lamented that some vacant positions in health centers do not get filled because of low wage rates.

The circular aims to uplift the quality

of living among its citizens, including the city employees, and to promote professionalism.

Under Memorandum Circular No. 4 of 2020, non-plantilla contractual and job order personnel who are classified as administrative. clerical, and non-technical employees and who work up to 40 hours a week will get P13,000 per month.

Professional-technical employees, such as nurses, medical technologists, veterinarians, computer programmers and accountants, shall receive P20,000 per month, while the professional-highly technical personnel, such as lawyers and doctors, will be paid P35,000 per month.

“We will offer competitive rates that are at par with the private sector to encourage more applicants who possess remarkable qualities and who will be valuable assets to our city,” the city mayor said.

By Ben Moses Ebreo QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya—Officials of FCF Minerals Corp. said they were able to carry out close to 100 percent of their development assistance for their host and neighboring communities last year.

Ian Moller, FCF Minerals General Manager for Sustainability, said they were able to achieve 96.12 percent of their completed physical accomplishment in terms of their Development of Host and Neighboring Communities.

They also recorded 74.19 percent of their financial accomplishment last year, he added.

“These were known based on the updates on our program implementation as of the fourth quarter of last year which covers our January to December 2019 accomplishments,” Moller said.

He said their accomplishments focused on the implementation of their 2018 and 2019 Annual Social Development and Management Program facilitated by their Community Relations Office to their 20 host and adjacent neighboring communities of Quezon town.

Moller added that the implementation of their development projects was done in partnership with the host communities.

“Focal persons were also tapped based on the recommendation of the local government unit to facilitate the requirements for every project and the release of its funding allocation,” he added.

GROUNDBREAKING.

Mayor Jaime Fresnedi (second from right) leads the groundbreaking ceremony of Colegio de Muntinlupa’s Building 2 together with school president Dr. Teresita Fortuna on Wednesday. The six-storey building amounting to P88.9 million shall house a work station and a laboratory, and additional classrooms.

CDM is the first LGU-funded college in the city located at Posadas Avenue, Sucat and is envisioned to be the premier local institution for engineering in the country. CDM offers degrees in BS Civil Engineering, BS Computer Engineering, BS Electrical Engineering, BS Electronics Engineering, and BS Mechanical Engineering.

MEMO FOR 4PS. Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III, Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista, and Starboard Manpower Services

Inc. chief executive officer Manuel Gorobat (seated from left) sign a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday that aims to train and educate beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps in seafaring by providing scholarship, training, and development and community service. Norman Cruz

Huawei eyeing ICT Academy in Bataan State U

By Butch Gunio BALANGA CITY—Tech giant Huawei wants to set up an Information and Communications Technology Academy at the Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU) here.

BPSU Vice President for Research,

Extension, and Training Dr. Hermogenes Paguia said two officials of the ICT company recently visited them and discussed the establishment of the Academy.

Huawei Channel Service Manager for Enterprise Marketing & Service Department Lim Seow Boon intro-

duced the concept of the academy to the BPSU deans, adding it provides students with hands-on training in the latest technology, Paguia said.

He said Boon explained Huawei teams up with universities to bridge the talent gap and close the distance between ICT theories and application.

Corteva, DA start EduFarm in Nueva Ecija CORTEVA Agriscience and the Department of Agriculture have inaugurated the first of 80 Rice and Corn Educational Farms (EduFarms) to be established since signing a memorandum of understanding in October 2019.

The EduFarms are designed to help farmers increase productivity and profitability, ultimately contributing to food security in the Philippines.

Farmers in the country face many challenges, from labor shortages to new diseases and pests, urbanization of agricultural land, climate change and natural disasters. These factors cause billions of pesos of losses to agriculture and directly impact the cost and security of food supply to consumers.

As a result, it is important for farmers to adopt better agricultural practices.

“Our company is dedicated to enriching the lives of those who produce and those who consume,” said Arun Mittal, Country Lead at Corteva Agriscience.

“Through the EduFarm project we are sharing our knowledge of agricultural best practices and products in order to raise crop productivity and improve farmer income,” he added.

For example, by planting highyielding hybrid rice varieties and applying the corresponding crop protection treatments, Mittal said farmers can lower costs, spend less time laboring in the field and improve productivity.

“The EduFarms will build capacity in various areas to fulfill our shared goal with the government—food security and self-sufficiency,” he said.

The inauguration of the Nueva Ecija Rice EduFarm in Barangay Homestead, Talavera was officiated by Agriculture Secretary Dr. William Dar. It was attended by over 200 guests including farmers and members of the local government, representatives of the Department of Agriculture, and other invited stakeholders.

Angeles gets new school building ANGELES CITY—A newly constructed four-story school building worth P41.4 million was turned over to school authorities of Northville 15 Integrated School in barangay Cucut here on Monday.

Pampanga 1st District Rep. Carmelo “Jon” Lazatin II turned over the building to Northville School Principal Ariel Perez, witnessed by School Division Superintendent Ma. Irelyn Tamayo of Angeles City and village leader Joey June Ferraris.

Lazatin said the school building, composed of 20 classrooms, will be used by junior high school students and for other school activities.

The construction is in line with the policy of the lawmaker and his broth-

er, Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr., which aims to improve the quality of education of the students to cope up with the challenges of the 21st century.

“The school building is only the beginning of the infrastructure projects lined up in the city in preparation for the manpower need of the rapid development of Clark (Freeport Zone),” Rep. Lazatin said.

“These projects aim to foresee and foretell the future so that we will not be caught unprepared,” he added.

The mayor and solon are sons of former congressman Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin. Also in attendance during the ceremony was Vice Mayor Vicky Vega-Cabigting. Romeo Dizon

Life

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

HOUSEHOLD

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

C1

Would you like a book with your fries?

By Steph Llarena

T

HIS is a question we’ve never thought would be asked while ordering at a fast food restaurant, until Feb. 21.

In a bid to strengthen children’s literacy as well as foster family bonding, McDonald’s now offers a book option for every Happy Meal purchase, as part of the Happy Meal Readers program—also launched globally.

Last year, McDonald’s New Zealand offered a book option for every Happy Meal, replacing toys with six specially created Roald Dahl books with illustrations, stickers, and fun activities.

Here in the Philippines, customers, beginning Feb. 21, may opt to take home the Treetop Twins Wilderness Adventures written by worldrenowned author Cressida Cowell.

“McDonald’s Happy Meal Readers’ book option is a great take-home treat—a perfect surprise for kids to cap off the night with a family bedtime storytelling session,” said Margot Torres, managing director of McDonald’s Philippines.

Torres added, “The Happy Meal Readers program is part of McDonald’s commitment to bring-

Treetop Twins Wilderness Adventures

by Cressida Cowell

THE FAMILY THAT READS TOGETHER, STAYS TOGETHER. Ryan and Judy Ann Santos-Agoncillo, together with their daughter Luna, enjoin parents to read with their kids to foster family bonding and encourage the habit.

Fast food chain McDonald’s Philippines now offers the option to choose between a book or a toy with every order of Happy Meal.

ing to life feel-good family moments, by encouraging book reading as both fun and educational family activity.”

The McDonald’s Happy Meal Readers book options will be available year-round; the fast food giant is set to release 12 hard bound books this year.

Children can look forward to an exciting wilderness adventures with the Treetop Twins, a book series written exclusively for McDonald’s by Cowell, author and illustrator of the much-loved series How to Train Your Dragon, whose books have captured the imagination of children all over the world.

Each book tells of the adventures of the Treetop Twins and their parents as they travel in their time machine to meet fascinating creatures, including endangered and extinct animals from the past, such as polar bears, quaggas, pink dolphins, and woolly mammoths.

The series is full of adventures, amazing creatures, and fun facts that kids and their parents would discover together.

Celebrity couple Ryan and Judy Ann SantosAgoncillo, together with their daughter Luna, encourage families to read more books with the help of McDonald’s Happy Meal program.

“We are excited to join McDonald’s through the Happy Meal Readers program—a project that’s focused on encouraging close family bonding through reading and storytelling. This is something that we do as a family, and we’re happy to share this experience with more Filipino families,” shared Ryan and Judy Ann. Aside from embarking on an adventure together, parents and kids can share the love of reading with other children in need. For every Happy Meal purchase, McDonald’s Philippines donates a portion to the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Philippines, Inc. (RMHC)—whose flagship programs support the needs for shelter, education, and happiness of Filipino children—as well as its Ronald Read to Learn program.

Currently, the Ronald McDonald Read to Learn program has reached over 12 million students, trained over 28 thousand educators, and distributed more than 367 thousand books.

Through RMHC, the fast food chain aims to contribute to the vision of improving the literacy skills of Filipino learners early on. With the Happy Meal Readers’ book option, the brand is thrilled to be able to create more opportunities for children to discover love for reading.

Small toys, big smiles WHEN Taal Volcano erupted recently, families in the towns of Lemery, Cuenca, Agoncillo, and Talisay in Batangas were displaced and forced to forego many aspects in their daily lives; for the young evacuees, playing with toys was not prioritized.

Hoping to uplift the kids’ spirit, employee volunteers from The SM Store visited evacuation centers at the Canosa Academy and Rafael Lojo Memorial School in Lipa City to distribute thousands of toys donated by shoppers during the recently concluded Share the Magic of Giving, Donate a Toy campaign.

Employee volunteers also had the chance to interact with the kids and somehow lift their spirits. “‘Yung mga toys kasi ang goal is makapagpasaya at magbigay ngiti sa mga bata, so through this sharing of toys sana kahit sa paraang ito ay nabigyan natin ng ngiti at naibsan yung takot na nararamdaman ng mga bata dito sa evacuation centers (These toys were meant to bring smile and happiness to the kids. We hope that through sharing these with the children in evacuation centers, we could make them smile and ease their fear),” said Marichelle Junio, customer service su-

pervisor at The SM Store Lipa and one of the employee volunteers.

As the volunteers hoped, the kids were all smiles and their eyes glowed with so much excitement upon receiving their new toys that included plush toys, toy cars, educational board games, Play Doh clays, and more.

Four-year-old Rafa Santos immediately sat down the floor, opened his new toy car and played with his little brother.

“Ngayon ko lang siya nakitang nabuhayan ulit (This is the first time since the eruption that I’ve seen him this happy),” said Elsa Santos, mother of Rafa who suffered from asthma due to the ashfall.

According to the elder Santos, the frequent earthquakes and ashfall have triggered her son’s asthma and fever which urged her to immediately vacate their house in Cuenca, Batangas with only a bag of clothes on hand.

Meanwhile, Barangay Halang Lipa City captain Fernando Rocafort expressed gratitude for the toys and how these made the kids happy.

“Nagpapasalamat ako sa SM department store dahil kitang kita ko kung paano nawala yung tension ng mga bata; naging masaya sila dahil sa mga

SM Elevator Girl Cheridel helps kids pick their new toys.

Turn to C2

Children in the evacuation centers at Canosa Academy and Rafael Lojo Memorial School in Lipa City receive toys from The SM Store Lipa counter manager Sheryl Tahud and HR assistant Alison Villapando

These boys are excited to open and play with their new toys.

A little boy spends some quiet time playing with his new toy cars.

Life

C2

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

Upscale community launches new marker

Architect’s perspective of the community’s west parc lawn and entryway.

A new marker welcomes residents and visitors to the upscale community Brentville International in Biñan, Laguna.

A

S PART of the redevelopment of upscale Brentville International Community, a revamped entryway is ready to welcome residents and visitors.

A project by Prestige by Filinvest, Brentville’s new marker, the first of many improvements, aims to enhance the neighborhood feel, elevating its status to become a more vibrant community in Biñan, Laguna.

The key upgrade also offers a pro-

gression of experiences, from the treelined entryway where pedestrians can immediately feel a sense of home and community pride, to the retail development with walkable areas and vast open spaces where people can congregate with their neighbors, follow through

with their fitness routines, or simply enjoy nature.

Notably, the redevelopment capitalized on its green landscaping—designed by award-winning consultant AECOM—not only to provide a pleasant walking experience but also to adhere to Filinvest’s commitment to its residents to provide a high quality of life.

According to the developer, to enhance Brentville as a self-contained

suburban community, it is masterplanned in a way that all of life’s necessities are within reach.

The 54-hectare community is home to Brent International School and is within convenient distance from lifestyle malls, universities, hospitals, and other medical establishments.

Brentville boasts easy access to major highways and thoroughfares. Strategically located right after Mamplasan exit, it allows residents to enjoy life away

from highly congested urban areas while remaining accessible to Metro Manila’s central business districts.

It is a 10-minute drive from Filinvest City, and a 20-minute drive from Makati City via Skyway and South Luzon Expressway. It is also easily accessible to the Cavite-Laguna Express Way, which just opened its first phase, connecting Mamplasan, Biñan, Laguna to the Santa RosaTagaytay Interchange.

Work-life balance in Santa Rosa LinkedIn Learning data show a spike in searches for ‘remote working’ content.

Coronavirus drives interest in telecommuting

Zadia’s clubhouse features generous green spaces.

ENVISIONED to be a premier urban center, where residents experience suburban living while enjoying the benefits of a vibrant economy, the city of Santa Rosa in Laguna has become one of the hottest residential destinations in the country.

Aside from the tranquil lifestyle, more people are said to be moving to Santa Rosa because of the career opportunities in the area. Laguna accommodates a wide gamut of industries, and Greenfield City has been one of the developments at the forefront of creating sustainable hubs where industries and locators thrive.

The “city within a park” is home to landmark business, commercial, and industrial centers namely the Sta. Rosa Business Park and Greenfield Auto Park.

The Sta. Rosa Business Park caters to commercial and institutional establishments such as offices, hospitals, schools, and a hotel.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Economic Zone Authority-accredited Greenfield Auto Park houses locators from the automotive, telecommunications, industrial, information technology, and other industries.

Some of the Auto Park’s noteworthy locators include Mitsubishi Motors Philippines, Automotive Interiors Corp., Visteon Philippines Inc., Agrispecialist Inc., Cleanpak Inc., Silgan White Cap South East Asia Inc., and Emperador Distillers, to name a few.

“Lucrative jobs and competitive sal-

Inside one of the midrise property’s studio unit.

ary offers are no longer limited to inner Metro Manila. Opportunities have streamed down outside the metropolis and to its adjacent provinces, providing alternative options for those who live or are considering moving to the South,” shares Greenfield Development Corporation executive vice president and general manager Duane A.X. Santos.

Job openings in these industrial parks range from entry level staff positions to managerial functions in multinational or foreign companies and Filipinoowned businesses.

Greenfield said one of the advantages of working and living in the south is the opportunity to enjoy work-life balance—where one can pursue a reward-

ing career while having enough time to engage in social pursuits, personal hobbies, or family bonding.

One of the developer’s projects inside the “city” is Zadia, a midrise residential community that devotes 84 percent of its space to nature.

“Lush gardens, tree-lined roads, parks and open spaces will be the identifying character of this development, driven by its promise of providing daily ‘greenspiration’ to residents,” GDC said in a statement.

It has an array of amenities that encourage wellness and relaxation such as a swimming pool, an indoor basketball court, outdoor basketball and tennis courts, a grand clubhouse, and other facilities and common areas.

relieving the tension and bringing happiness to the children with the help of From C1 the toys they received),” said Rocafort.

Share the Magic of Giving, Donate a nakita at nakuha nilang mga laruan (I Toy campaign under SM Share Moveam thankful to SM department store for ment is one of the ways that the leading

department store reaches out to communities in times of need.

Other toy donations collected from nearby The SM Store branches were also distributed to the children affected

by Taal Volcano eruption.

Small toys...

TELECOMMUTING or remote work- tive, while employers and team managing is currently a hot topic of discus- ers are searching for tips on how to efsion on public forums and social media fectively manage a remote workforce. amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Trending search terms on LinkedIn A deep dive into business and Learning related to remote working, employment-oriented social media such as “Communicating in virtual LinkedIn’s data shows a sharp spike in meetings” and “Managing remote searches for “remote working” content teams” reiterate the same story. on its LinkedIn Learning platform. As “Remote working, or work flexibiliof Feb. 17, number of searches related ty, used to be a distinctive perk. Today, to this topic has increased 2.6 times it is increasingly an expectation in a since March 2008. multigenerational workforce. As more LinkedIn said employees across employees search for flexible work enAsia, from Japan to Singapore, are vironments and more employers try to working from home amid the COV- win the war for talent by offering what ID-19 crisis, thereby driving this trend. entices employees, this particular topic As companies start to encourage is one that we think will only grow in work-from-home arrangements, both popularity.” employees and employers are adjustLinkedIn Learning’s courses such ing to this relatively novel concept as “Working remotely” and “Leading and searching for expert advice to enat a distance” sure progainare also gain ductive intering inter remote est among work ing members. hours. followThe follow “W hile ing courses orga n i z ateach skills tions prisuch as oritize the setting up health and ofhome of safety of virfices, vir their emcoltual col ployees and laboration, encourage virtuand virtu more people leaderal leader to work from Challenges ship to help regarding remote working compel l e a r n e r s home, there are intrinsic employees and employers to look for expert advice to ace remote ensure productivity. work. challenges to be addressed for To make remote working remote to be implemented at a larger scale. So- working work, especially amid the cial media has been bearing witness to threat of contracting a disease, Linkeda surge of posts, articles, and challenges In emphasized that it has to be a colsharing tips and tricks to ace working lective effort. While team members act from home,” said LinkedIn. on time management and productivity According to the social networking tips, team leaders have to understand platform, employees are searching for how to manage virtual teams and entips that will enable them to be produc- sure that team members are engaged.

Entertainment

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

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SNAPSHOT

‘Undine’ cast hit the red carpet at Berlinale GERMAN screen star Maryam Zaree, director Christian Petzold, actors Paula Beer, Franz Rogowski, and Anne Ratte-Polle attend the premiere of Undine screened in competition at the 70th Berlinale film festival in Berlin, Germany.

The German drama directed by Petzold (2nd from left) was selected to compete for the Golden Bear in the main competition section.

In the story, Undine, played by Beer (3rd from left) works as a historian lecturing on Berlin›s urban development. But when the man she loves leaves her, the ancient myth catches up with her. Undine has to kill the man who betrays her and return to the water. AFP

*****

Dancing for a cause

Quest for international crowns THE reigning queens of Mrs. Philippines International 2019 could not wait to represent the country in their respective international pageants in 2020. But true to their advocacies and platforms of helping and giving back to the communities, the ladies had organized a relief operation and distribution for the victims of the Taal eruption held at the San Roque Elementary School, in Sto. Tomas, Batangas led by Mrs. Philippines International 2019 Mary Grace Avanzado and Ms. Philippines International 2019 Athens Lucena.

Mrs. Elite Mrs. Philippines International 2019 Michelle Vitug Encarnacion also launched her project ‘Lapis at Papel’ with the Tanagan Elementary School Albay, the first beneficiary, where all school children were given school supplies. Encarnacio also donated a television set to the Caguiba National High School in Camalig, Albay.

Mrs. Philippines National Universe 2019 Marie Abigael Bayuga is also starting on her advocacy on how she can help bring awareness to educate everybody about the reality of Depression and Youth pregnancy, two of the most serious problems in the country.

Avanzado and Lucena are set to compete in Mrs. International 2020 and Ms. International 2020, respectively, both to be held in Singapore in November.

Mrs. Philippines Tourism & Culture Universe Rizzalie Joy Ebreo will vie at Mrs. Heritage 2020 in Nepal on April 11 to 20, while Mrs. Philippines Ambassador Melanie Trani will compete in Queen of the World 2020 in Myanmar on April 2 to 6.

Mrs. Philippines International Continental 2019 Lubesly Tellidua will be sent at Mrs. Continental 2020 in India in August, while Mrs. Philippines National Universe Marie Abigael Bayuga will fly to Thailand in September for Mrs. National Universe 2020.

Mrs. Philippines Planet Cherryl Dacua will compete at Mrs. Planet 2020 in Bulgaria; Riza Dormiendo at Mrs. Face of Beauty International in New Zealand; and Mrs. Elite Philippines International Michelle Encarnacion in Elite Mrs. International 2020 in Singapore in November.

Mrs. Philippines International is a presentation of Star Shining Productions headed by Maan Aris Cueto and Aris Concepcion.

Queen of Hearts titlists do a ‘Tala’ dance cover.

T

HE MMG Queen of Hearts Foundation, Inc. staged a benefit Valentine’s Day celebration dubbed King & Queen of Hearts Dance for a Cause held at Hilton Hotel Ballroom 2 Resorts World Manila on Feb. 14.

Mitzie Go Gil, CEO and president of MMG Queen of Hearts Foundation Inc., led the reigning Queen of Hearts titlists and eleven candidates of King & Queen of Hearts 2020 in the fundraising event intended for the evacuees of the Taal volcano eruption.

Noble Queen of the Universe 2019 Patricia Javier, Mrs. Worldwide 2019 2nd r unner-up Llena Tan-Arcenas, Mrs. Asia Pacif-

ic Philippines- Intercontinental 2019 Glynes Olbes, Mrs. Asia Pacif ic Philippines All Nation 2019 Princess Limpayen SibugLas, Mrs. Asia Pacif ic Philippines Tourism 2019 Marjorie Orito, and Mrs. Philippines Asia Pacif ic Cosmopolitan 2019 Mary Chris Camacho graced the Valentine event. Javier was later voted Star of the Night.

The Valentine benefit show also saw the crowning of Rosenda Casaje as Mrs. Philippines Global Universe 2020. Casaje, a Nursing graduate at La Consolacion University and CEO/founder of Gorgeous Glow Philippines, from Malolos, Bulacan, earned the right to represent the country at Mrs. Global Universe 2020 pageant to be held in Singapore on March 16..

The Valentine celebration also served for the introduction of the first batch of candidates for Mrs. Asia Pacific Philippines 2020. The Queen of Hearts Foundation, Inc.-sponsored event aimed to follow up on their relief goods distribution activity conducted in January for the victims of the eruption temporarily staying at the Alfonso Central School in Cavite City.

Reigning Queens of Mrs. Philippines International

Very Wang...

From C4 During the pilot episode, Descendants of the Sun trended nationwide and worldwide on Twitter where users were tweeting their kilig-filled sentiments.

Meanwhile, on YouTube, Lemuel Rico commended the series’ production. “Grabe ‘yung production! ‘Yung cinematography, ‘yung color grading, ‘yung scoring, lahat superb!,” he said.

Menlove Marvin JUNE last year I wrote about bossa nova singer Marvin Velasquez who’s making waves in London and has been in England four times in the last three years, doing shows and getting awards. At that time he was in that country visiting sites that were part of the Beatles’ lore when he found himself along a long, but not winding, road in South Liverpool called Menlove Avenue.

He was purposely in the area to see the iconic attraction Strawberry Field which inspired John Lennon to write that groundbreaking Beatles track.

But a Menlove signpost caught his attention and he told England-based Pinoy songwriter and friend Rusty Mallillin about it. It became a new composition which he recorded. Thus, Menlove Avenue is now a title of an OPM song scheduled to be released in digital stores by next month.

“Naattract ako sa simpleng karatula and it felt like it was trying to get my attention because everyone is focused on seeing the place that became ‘Strawberry Fields Forever,’” he shared.

The song, according to this Nueva Ecija native, carries the key lines “Menlove Avenue/ Always reminds me of you/ How I love to be in Menlove Avenue.”

The avenue, which passes the Woolton Village where Lennon first met Paul McCartney, is famous for being the site of the slain Beatle’s home from age five to 22. The exact address is 251 Menlove Avenue, fondly called Mendips, which had

Singer...

From C4 Golden Memories Asia has helped Reymond to capture the Indonesian market. According to the singer, the moment it was announced that he was going to be a participant, he already started getting support from the Indonesians even if he hasn’t t arrived there yet.

His stay in Indonesia was short but definitely sweet as he was able to create memories and experience career milestones. He is going back there next month for another meet-and-greet event set for March 28.

Reymond is bent on furthering his singing career both locally and internationally. Just now been Grade II-listed and preserved by the National Trust. One Beatles song, “I’ll Get You,” was apparently written in the said house.

Marvin, who was just in London last December, stressed, “Iba pakiramdam ko sa lugar na iyon. I felt attached to it.”

A posthumous Lennon album was called Menlove Ave. when it was released in 1986 under his widow Yoko Ono’s supervision.

Though based in Manila, Marvin has already established quite a following in the Filipino community in London. He has also performed in other foreign stops like Singapore and Hong Kong.

Asked what attracted him to bossa nova,

he noted, “It’s very classy and relaxing, best soothing to someone having coffee in a cozy lounge.”

A previous release called “Tabing Dagat” sonically captures that description, carried through by his distinctively deep, assuringly round vocal.

“I want to be an ice breaker,” he added, implying that he’d rather sing to the calls of his heart rather than force himself to go with current trends to be easily in.

He had that pointed out when he went against the Strawberry Field traffic flow and instead smelled roses in the quietly scenic Menlove Avenue. He must have sung, “Let me take you down/Cause I’m going to”... Menlove Avenue.

ABS-CBN...

From C4

Philippines’ dynamic young population as it makes its mark in a robust global economy.

In its almost 24 years of existence, it has produced a stellar roster of journalists both on-cam and off-cam, some of which are now leading the other local news channels in the Philippines. It has also ventured into organizing onground experiences such as the ANCx events and ANC Leadership Series to

After Capt. Lucas (Dingdong) lied about his real occupation, Dr. Maxine (Jennylyn) ended their relationship. To her surprise, both of them were deployed to Urdan for a medical mission. Now that they are forced to work together, can they set aside their feelings for each other or will they reconcile and grow closer to one another?

Follow their epic love story in Descendants of the Sun (The Philippine Adaptation), weeknights, after Anak ni Waray vs Anak ni Biday on GMA Telebabad. recently, Reymond signed up with Warner Music Philippines for the distribution of his latest single, “Paglimot” his own original composition. He also recorded a Bahasa adaptation of the song entitled “Lupakan.”

Both Paglimot and Lupakan will be released worldwide in March. The song is a follow-up to the upbeat song “Road Trip,” which he released in November 2019. Road Trip is available on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Deezer.

With numerous awards, albums, and local and international gigs under his belt, it’s no surprise Reymond is cooking up something new again for his audience. Reymond keeps his collaboration dreams alive. He wishes to work with Regine Velasquez, Gary Valenciano, Anne Curtis, Vice Ganda, or Gloc-9.

build a community of business leaders and innovators, and to help raise the level of discourse in matters of business and politics in the country.

The global names the ANC has brought to the Philippines include Virgin Group founder and philanthropist Richard Branson, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Mandalay Entertainment chairman and CEO and Golden State Warriors coowner Peter Guber, Shark Tank judge and venture capitalist Kevin O’ Leary, and world-renowned lifestyle expert and entrepreneur Martha Stewart.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2020

Singer Reymond Sajor signs up with Warner after Indonesian talent search stint Singer and songwriter Reymond Sajor

“REWARDING!” That’s how singer-songwriter Reymond Sajor captured in one word his whole experience in Indonesia’s Golden Memories Asia. The singer-songwriter and theater actor, who first gained popularity as a Philippine Idol grand finalist in 2006, finished off as the Top 6 finalist in the talent search held in Jakarta, Indonesia from September to October last year.

“Golden Memories Asia is a talent search in Indonesia and it’s their first time to invite people from different countries to participate. They already had two seasons in the past, but were only participated in by Indonesian residents,” Reymond shared.

Influenced by OPM icons Gary Valenciano, Martin Nievera, Ariel Rivera, and Ogie Alcasid growing up, Reymond made a mark as a balladeer. Performing songs from the pop music genre, he was recently a part of the award-winning pop vocal group 5thGen with other members Marielle Mamaclay, Lady Onnagan, and RJ Buena.

Asked about how his Philippine Idol stint has helped him in his singing career, Reymond said, “From that experience, I learned to be positive all the time, forget the past so that new and great things will come to you. I also learned that it’s good to lift everything up to God but not to ever forget to do your part, too. You have to do your best

all the time and value all the people who are supporting you.”

When it comes to support, there is so much love for our singer-songwriter.

His fanbase has definitely extended overseas. In fact, Reymond already had two meet-and-greet gatherings with his Indonesian fans.

“I had meet-and-greet events with my supporters there. They’re really sweet and once they like you, they will be loyal to you. Both gatherings went very well and I really had a great time with all of them. The experience was both overwhelming and touching. They wanted me to stay and have a career there,” he said.

Continued on C3

EXTRA INTERNATIONAL

‘Sonic’ outpaces rivals at the tills PARAMOUNT’S adventure comedy Sonic the Hedgehog clung to a narrow lead in the North American box office this weekend, taking in an estimated $26.3 million, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations reported Sunday.

Sonic, starring Jim Carrey as the villainous Dr. Robotnik, recounts the adventures of a turbocharged blue hedgehog with supersonic speed.

Films based on video games rarely excel at the box office, but this one set a record for the genre with its $58 million opening last weekend.

20th Century›s new adventure film The Call of the Wild, starring Harrison Ford, placed second, taking in $24.8 million for the Friday-to-Sunday period. The story of a man and a surprisingly realistic, computer-generated sled dog is

loosely based on the 1903 Jack London classic, set in the wilds of Alaska and Canada’s Klondike region.

In third place, down one spot from last week, was Warner Bros. superhero film Birds of Prey, at $7 million. Margot Robbie stars as former Joker girlfriend Harley Quinn.

Fourth spot went to new supernatural horror film Brahms: The Boy II, from STX Entertainment, at $5.9 million. Katie Holmes stars in the frightfest -- a sequel to 2016’s The Boy -- about a porcelain doll with an innocent face but sinister powers.

And in fifth was Sony›s action comedy Bad Boys for Life, with Will Smith and Martin Lawrence as wise-cracking Miami narcotics detectives. It took in $5.8 million, pushing its global total so far to $391 million. AFP

Viva Films introduces the sexiest love triangle this summer with Lovi Poe, Marco Gumabao, and Tony Labrusca.

F

‘Sonic the Hedgehog’ star Jim Carey

ABS-CBN News Channel begins global march ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel embarks on a new goal of becoming a Filipino global brand.

After establishing itself as the gold standard and primary source of news and analysis for the country’s business and political leaders, ANC now aims to be the information portal of anything and everything about the Philippines for non-Filipinos living abroad.

The nation’s pioneering 24/7 English news channel announced its bid to conquer audiences in the Asia Pacific, Middle East, North America, Latin America, and Europe through the launch of a new station ID featuring its topnotch news anchors led by Philippine broadcasting icon Tina Monzon-Palma from Asia’s longest-running newscast The World Tonight.

Together with Monzon-Palma are multi-awarded broadcast journalists and seasoned news anchors Karen Davila, Tony Velasquez, David Celdran, Christian Esguerra, Ron

Cruz, Karmina Constantino, and one of the most decorated news presenters and financial journalists in the entire continent, Cathy Yang.

Yang recently won Best News Anchor/Presenter for her work in Market Edge at the Asian TV Awards and Asian Creative Academy Awards.

She also won three Asian TV Awards trophies before during her stint in another regional news network.

ANC chief operating officer Nadia Trinidad, a veteran journalist and former ABS-CBN News North America bureau chief, said the decision to reach out to a global audience has long been a plan of ANC, where she also served as news production head for six years.

Founded in 1996, ANC continues to strengthen its existing content, producing new shows about the country›s emerging market, vibrant tourism, disruptions, and innovations that chronicle the journey of

Broadcast journalists and ANC headliners Cathy Yang, Tina Monson-Palma, Christian Esguerra, and Karen Davila.

Continued on C3

ILM director Joel Lamangan was firm when he said that Lovi Poe, Marco Gumabao, and Tony Labrusca need not try hard to be sexy as they already are.

“Sometimes it’s hard to do a sexy movie when the stars are not naturally sexy. But with the cast of this film, it’s so natural. They are oozing with sexiness without even trying. And it wasn’t hard for us to showcase that in the film,” the seasoned director told members of the entertainment press during an event held over the weekend.

“The movie is sexy in itself, the characters do everything that normal couples, who are in a romantic relationship, do in real life,” Lamangan added.

Viva Films introduces Lovi, Marco, and Tony in a love triangle story written

by Ricky Lee, and directed Lamangan.

Inspired by the song performed by The Juans, Hindi Tayo Pwede is billed as a summer romantic drama. It tells the story of Gabby (Lovi) or Gab for short, who finds love in a man who is also named Gabby (Tony) and shares a long and deep friendship with Dennis (Marco).

The sexiest love triangle Gab and Gabby are looking forward to spending their lives together, but a car accident took Gabby’s life before their wedding day. Dennis keeps Gab company in her time of grief and finally confesses his true feelings for her. Gab can’t help but become intimate with him.

But Gabby is still very much present in Gab’s life. She still sees him, talks to him, even makes love with him. If she opens her heart to Dennis, she might lose Gabby forever. Is she ready to let go?

Will she ever allow herself to move on?

With three Best Actress awards and three Best Supporting Actress awards under her belt and the exclusive title of “Kapuso Primera Aktresa”, Lovi Poe is out to touch hearts with her performance in this romantic drama. This is her second time to be under the direction of Joel Lamangan. Her first being The Bride and the Lover back in 2013.

Poe has done passionate love scenes in

the past, just like in The Annulment, but her chemistry with Tony Labrusca and Marco Gumabao is something to watch out for. These two gentlemen are considered two of the hottest heartthrobs of today’s generation. Labrusca was sensational in Glorious and Gumabao was intense in Just a Stranger.

From the trailer of Hindi Tayo Pwede, it looks like these three dedicated actors didn’t hold back in doing steamy scenes to show the love and the longing of the characters they play. It also looks like their love triangle is getting the attention it deserves. In less than 24 hours of its release, the trailer already garnered 1.6 million views across all social media platforms. Comments from netizens show that there is excitement for this movie that is full of love yet full of heartache.

Hindi Tayo Pwede opens in cinemas nationwide on March 4.

*****

Netizens rave about local adaptation of ‘Descendants of the Sun’ ON FEB. 10, GMA Network’s local adaptation of the global phenomenon, Descendants of the Sun (DOTS), premiered and has since been setting social media abuzz with swooning comments of its production, cinematography, and prime stars.

On Facebook, Canadian user Chen Chen commented that the series was worth the wait, “I love it! Good job on the casting and the Philippine adaptation itself was worth the wait. Watching from Canada!”

Donah Bascar likewise praised the on-screen chemistry of its lead stars Dingdong Dantes as Captain Lucas Manalo and Jennylyn Mercado as Dr. Maxine dela Cruz.

Continued on C3

Dingdong Dantes and Jennylyn Mercado in a scene from the local adaptation of ‘Descendants of the Sun.’