Manila Standard - 2020 September 24 - Thursday

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Duterte lauded for sea stand Allies, critics call it a victory for invoking PH arbitral award before UN

RAPT AUDIENCE. This United Nations handout photo shows President Rodrigo Duterte on large-screen monitors as he virtually addresses the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, on September 22, 2020, in New York. AFP

By Rey E. Requejo, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas

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RITICS and allies alike of President Rodrigo Duterte praised him Wednesday for invoking before the United Nations General Assembly a 2016 ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration that struck down China’s excessive claims in the South China Sea in favor of the Philippines.

Former Supreme Court Justice Antonio Carpio, former Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario, and Ambassador Lauro Baja, the country’s former permanent ambassador to the UN,

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM SEPTEMBER 23)

294,251 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

2,833 58,127 NEW

ACTIVE

5,091

44

231,373

765

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW

Curve not yet flattened even with good signs THE Philippines has yet to see a flattening of the COVID-19 pandemic curve with clustered cases still rising, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Wednesday, even as there are improvements in the country’s situation.

“Even with these indicators, we are seeing specific areas that have clustering, there’s an increase in cases.

So at this point, we cannot really say that there is flattening of the curve,” Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Next page

commended the President for departing from his usual policy of appeasing Beijing in speaking to the UN via a taped message for the first time.

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VOL. XXXIV • NO. 202 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Rody sues for universal access of COVID-19 vaccine Gov’t insists no need for foreign probe of EJKs

By Joyce Pangco Pañares

PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday called on the United Nations to ensure universal access to the COVID-19 vaccine, “as a matter of policy,” once it becomes commercially available.

Speaking for the first time before

the UN General Assembly through a taped message, Duterte said the vaccine should be made available to rich and poor nations alike.

“Ensuring universal access to anti COVID-19 technologies and products is pivotal in the global pandemic recovery…When the world finds that vac-

cine, access to it must not be denied nor withheld,” he said.

“It should be made available to all, rich and poor nations alike, as a matter of policy,” he added.

A recent Oxfam study has shown that rich nations representing just 13 percent Next page

Siblings charged for bribery scam

MALACAÑANG on Wednesday said they will not allow United Nations (UN) special rapporteurs to investigate deaths linked to the crackdown on illegal drugs, saying there’s nothing the world body can do about it.

“Under the UN system, the state’s consent is required and believe me ‘no, there’s no need to allow into the country so-called experts with very fixed biases against the Philippines already,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a television interview.

Roque said prohibiting the rapporteurs from conducting a probe is a sovereign prerogative recognized by the UN system, despite mounting concerns over supposed human rights violations under the Duterte administration.

“There’s nothing that the UN can do

By Rey E. Requejo and Macon Ramos-Araneta THE National Bureau of Investigation has filed graft and other charges against the head of the bureau’s Legal Assistance Section, lawyer Joshua Paul Capiral, and his brother for demanding Next page

DETAINED. Brothers Joshua Paul Capiral (left) and Christopher John Capiral are in handcuffs during inquest proceedings at the Department of Justice office in Manila on Wednesday. Norman Cruz

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Ex-speaker Alvarez goes for Cayetano, bats for scuttling term sharing

By Maricel V. Cruz A FORMER speaker who was deposed over his differences with President Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter on Tuesday said Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano should finish his full three-year term until 2022

despite a term-sharing agreement with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

“I do not agree with any term-sharing,” said Davao del Norte Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez, who was ousted in 2018. “This is not about the speakership, this is about the country. The issue is divisive.”

“In my opinion, Cayetano should just finish what he has started,” he added.

Alvarez also said a new speaker would find it hard to lead the House in the time remaining, since the filing of certificates of candidacy would be in 2021.

Deputy Speaker and Sagip party-list Rep.

Rodante Marcoleta also spoke out against honoring the term-sharing agreement.

“COVID-19 taught us that the ‘gentleman’s agreement’ is not the test of leadership in the House of Representatives,” Marcoleta said.

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Palace chides Facebook over account snafu

OPENING SOON.

The beaches of Boracay (left) and Burnham Park in Baguio will be open to tourists

by October 1, as well as Panglao Island in Bohol, Department of Tourism and local officials said Wednesday.

Boracay, Panglao Is., Baguio gear for tourism reopening next month TOP tourist destination Boracay will accept travelers from all over the Philippines beginning Oct. 1, the Department of Tourism said Wednesday.

All tourists would be required to pre-

By Willie Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta

sent a negative confirmatory test result for COVID-19 taken 48 to 72 hours before their trip, Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat said.

She said the airlines had been advised

to use the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport hybrid edition of Philippine Travel Exin Caticlan as the sole airport of entry change (PHITEX) 2020, organized by to Boracay. the Tourism Promotions Board.

Also poised to reopen is Panglao “Bohol stands proud to have been Island in Bohol, which is hosting the Next page

SOCIAL media giant Facebook should practice “prudence” following a disclosure it removed accounts linked to the military and police due to policy violations, Malacañang said Wednesday.

“We hope the social media giant would exercise prudence in all its actions to remove any doubt of bias given its power, influence and reach,” said a statement posted on the official page of the Office of the presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

The statement said any action by the social media platform was based on its “sound judgment and discretion.” The office was also one with Facebook “in advocating the truth and dismissing Next page

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

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Abolition of Ombudsman nixed

By Rio N. Araja and Rey E. Requejo

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ORMER Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales on Wednesday hit her successor Samuel Martires’ proposal to abolish the Office of the Ombudsman.

ing a government official to a lifestyle check could help determine if the person is engaged in any illegal activities and corruption.

“I fully understand where the Honorable Ombudsman is coming from. Indeed, a lifestyle check as a stand-alone measure will not conclusively indicate whether a person is engaged in some wrongdoing to enrich himself,” Guevarra said, in a text message.

“A lifestyle check has to be intertwined with a much deeper process of investigating specific acts of corruption or other crimes. It is meant to strengthen a finding of wrongdoing, as manifested in the lifestyle of the person concerned,” he added.

Martires, in a memorandum circular, earlier directed that access to SALNs be restricted only to official investiga-

tions, by a court order or upon authority from officials themselves.

He also suggested that the Office of the Ombudsman be abolished should witnesses decline to testify against public officials accused of involvement in corrupt practices.

During the Ombudsman’s 2021 budget hearing in Congress on Tuesday, Martires told the lawmakers that he had stopped lifestyle checks on government officials.

Guevarra said that regardless of whether they, as public officials, could be subjected to a lifestyle check, they should strive to live modest lives.

“Government officials and employees, no matter how well-to-do or wealthy they are, are encouraged to live and project a modest life as public servants,” he emphasized.

of the arbitral award,” he said.

Del Rosario said the President should solicit the support of more countries for the Philippines’ 2016 arbitral victory against China’s claims in the South China Sea. “The next step is for our President and his administration to put in reality the invocation of the arbitral award,” Del Rosario said in a statement.

“Our government should work earnestly to get the support of more countries so that the arbitral award will be raised more emphatically next year for the UN General Assembly 2021,” he added.

For the first since the Philippines won its case in the PCA, Duterte declared before the UN General Assembly that the award was “beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon.”

Duterte had earlier set aside the arbitration ruling in favor of friendly relations with Beijing, which has refused to recognize the PCA ruling.

Baja agreed with Del Rosario, saying Manila must follow-up with Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, meanwhile, commended the team who wrote the President’s speech.

“If there’s an Emmy for the UN General Assembly speeches, the one he delivered can win the prize for the best written,” said Recto in a separate statement.

“The team who put policies to prose should be congratulated. What they put together is the template for presidential addresses: cohesive, coherent, and straight to the point,” Recto added.

Recto said the President should speak

with the same degree of clarity when addressing the country, as Duterte has been putting out weekly televised public addresses during the pandemic.

“If he was able to convey his thoughts with clarity to the world, all the more he should do the same to his own people at this time when they need hope and direction,” Recto said.

Opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan expressed hope that the President’s strong pronouncement would be matched with strong actions, such as seeking support from the country’s ASEAN allies such as Indonesia and Vietnam, which have stood up to China and opposed its aggression in the disputed waters.

“We also hope he doesn’t change his mind and does a 180-degree turn moving forward,” he added.

Akbayan chair emeritus said Duterte’s invocation of the arbitral award was a victory for international law and Philippine sovereignty “against his own defeatist policy on China.”

“It is solid proof that the international community’s pressure for Mr. Duterte to submit to and recognize International law is working,” Rosales said.

“Yes, history was made, but not by Mr. Duterte, who should have done this a long time ago. History was made by the Filipino people, who, with the strong support of the international community, employed various political and diplomatic means to compel Mr. Duterte to do what is democratically appropriate,” she said.

General Assembly were a “desperate attempt” to evade accountability.

“Duterte was posturing in making desperate pleas before the international community that is growing increasingly critical of his human rights record and tyrannical rule,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said in a statement.

“Duterte’s lies are in full display before the international community, and now more than ever, the international community must assert that the UN Human Rights Council should exercise its mandate to conduct an independent and impartial investigation into the human rights situation in the Philippines,” she said.

“They have to act now to hold Duterte accountable for his lies and attacks on the people,” Palabay said.

The House leadership remains committed to passing the 2021 national budget, which will be a vital instrument in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and save lives and livelihoods.

He also reminded his colleagues that the 2021 budget should not be about how much each district will receive but how the amount will be used to respond to effects of COVID-19 and accelerate economic recovery.

Several congressmen on Wednesday threw their support behind Cayetano.

In a statement, Morales said: “To abolish the office will open floodgates to the commission of more corrupt activities. Allegedly, his policy is to dismiss complaints.”

She debunked Martires’ claim that a Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) cannot be used as evidence of graft and corruption against a public official.

A SALN is an important documentary evidence to establish corruption, she said.

“Testimonial evidence is not the only

evidence to build up a case. There is documentary, object, physical, circumstantial evidence. Subpoena duces tecum can be used to produce documents,” Morales said.

Morales and Martires are also both former Associate Justices of the Supreme Court.

While he agreed with Martires’s opinion that a lifestyle check would not be enough to substantiate the involvement of government officials in graft and corruption, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra stressed that subject-

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of the global population have already bought up more than half the stock of promised COVID-19 vaccines.

Oxfam said the five leading vaccine candidates in late-stage trials will be able to supply 5.9 billion doses, of which at least 51 percent have already been snapped up by wealthy nations, including the United States, Britain, the European Union, Australia, Hong Kong and Macau, Japan, Switzerland and Israel.

The World Health Organization earlier crafted a vaccine agreement where more than 150 countries have agreed to participate in its COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility or Covax.

Covax aims to develop and distribute $2 billion in doses of a vaccine by the end of next year. While 64 higherincome countries have already signed up, Russia, China and the United States have yet to join.

Duterte said for a country like Philippines, an acceptable COVID-19 solution would mean “putting all of the peoples of our united nations at the core of this response.”

“While each nation has its own strategy in fighting the pandemic, what the world needs are coordinated international plans and efforts to pursue a common purpose,” he said.

“COVID-19 knows no border. It knows no nationality. It knows no race. It knows no gender. It knows no age. It knows no creed.”

“The Philippines joins our partners in the ASEAN and the Non-Aligned Movement in raising our collective voice: the COVID-19 vaccine must be considered a global public good. Let us be clear on this,” Duterte added.

He also urged the UNGA to ensure that the WHO has enough resources and policy space to address the pandemic more quickly and more efficiently.

“We need a WHO that is quick to coordinate and quicker to respond.

The Philippines will do its part in the pooling of global resources. Our health workers are among the best,” Duterte said.

He said the Philippines honors all frontliners who have “selflessly answered the call to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Most Senators also praised the President’s speech on the UN’s 75th anniversary, as they hoped he would speak with the same clarity on issues to Filipinos.

“I personally commend the strong stand that President Rodrigo Duterte made before the UN General Assembly that the arbitral award in the South China Sea arbitration is ‘beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon’,” said Carpio, who has been in the forefront of the campaign to protect the country’s maritime sovereignty in the West Philippine Sea. Carpio also lauded the President for acknowledging the countries that have expressed their support for the Philippines’ legal victory over China.

Last week, France, Germany and the United Kingdom filed notes verbale before the UN expressing their rejection of China’s so-called nine-dash claim over the South China Sea. Carpio expressed hopes that Duterte would maintain this position for the rest of his term.

“I fervently hope that this is the policy that the Duterte administration will implement across all levels – in the protection of our exclusive economic zone in the West Philippines Sea, in the negotiations for the Code of Conduct, and in gathering the support of the international community for the enforcement

if we do not allow rapporteurs into our country,” he added.

Meanwhile, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said President Rodrigo Duterte, who spoke to the UN for the first time on Wednesday, is absolutely right on insisting on the legality of the AntiTerrorism Act, which various groups are also trying to overturn.

Sotto said the UN members “know we (Philippines) had the weakest law before.”

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, the law’s author principal sponsor in the Senate also said he couldn’t agree more with the President on the ATA.

“Stating his strong position on the issue before the community of nations, many of whom are leaders of countries that continue to grapple with the threats of terrorism, made it more significant,” he said.

Lacson echoed the President’s UN speech, saying terrorism is a threat that knows no timing nor borders “as shown in recent bombings in our own turf.”

“This led us to pass the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 that contains the needed legal backbone to let our security forces implement the law with efficacy and confidence, even proactively -- as well as the needed safeguards to curb potential abuse and violation of the 1987 Constitution,” he said.

But human rights group Karapatan said Duterte’s remarks before the UN

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gress, we needed everyone to rally behind the speaker in enacting the crucial pieces of legislation that will secure our survival as a people,” Marcoleta said.

Marcoleta credited Cayetano getting lawmakers to pass important legislation even in the middle of a pandemic.

Under the term-sharing deal, Cayetano would serve as speaker for the first 15 months while Velasco would serve for the remaining 21 months.

Meanwhile, Cayetano assured the public that the current “political noise”

brought on by some members of Congress against the leadership will not derail the passage of the 2021 national budget.

“Any talk about change in leadership will affect the budget deliberations. I don’t want politics to get mixed into the budget hearings,” he said.

Cayetano said there are some members of the House who want to distract the attention of lawmakers and disrupt the swift passage of the 2021 budget.

However, he said he expects the budget deliberations to run smoothly.

tem for the tourism bubble, Mayor Benjamin Magalong said he is looking at October 1 as a target date for the resumption of tourist activities in the Philippines’ summer capital, with local visitors from Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, and Pangasinan as their priority.

Dubbed the Baguio Visitor Information and Travel Assistance, or VIS.I.T.A., the visitor management platform will be used to track the activities of visitors to protect the tourists and the communities.

In June, Boracay opened its doors to the residents of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Bacolod,

and Iloilo after it closed last March due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some 199 hotels and resorts on the island with a total of 4,416 rooms had been allowed to operate since June, Romulo-Puyat said.

Meanwhile, Yap said of Bohol and Panglao: “We are charting our course and trying our best to balance showcasing the beauty and the bounty of our waters and land as well as paying homage to our culture of faith, patriotism, and the creative arts alongside the need to ensure the safety of our visitors and our constituents.”

the “pastillas” scheme.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the arrests should serve as a lesson to other corrupt officials.

“The apprehension of a ranking ofmoney from Chinese nationals in exchange for facilitating their entry here to ficial of the NBI is a stern warning to work for the Philippine Offshore Gam- all that corrupt and other criminal activities will not be tolerated,” Guevarra ing Operations companies or POGOs. The illegal operation has been called said in a text message.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on Wednesday urged the NBI to file a disbarment case against Capiral.

“This is called ‘bantay-salakay.’ The one tasked to investigate corruption was the one involved in corruption. This is one of the reasons why Filipinos are losing faith in the ability of the government to fight corruption,” Drilon said.

That agreement, brokered by the President in 2019, did not predict the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is still ravaging the country to this day, Marcoleta added.

“Leadership is not about competing or ‘waiting our turn at the right time.’

The last six months dictated the most critical path of our national life. In Con-

Boracay,...

From A1 chosen to host PHITEX 2020,” Bohol Governor Arthur Yap said in his address at the PHITEX opening ceremony.

Baguio City, including the four provinces in Region 1 that are part of the “Ridge to Reef” travel corridor program, will also officially reopen their tourism destinations beginning October, officials said Tuesday.

In a press briefing following the launch of Baguio’s first online management sys-

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From A1 disinformation.”

Facebook on Wednesday removed pages, accounts and profiles from two networks due to coordinated inauthentic behavior. The players behind one of the networks, it said, had links to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police.

In a statement, the AFP said all its official accounts remained up and running, and that it was upholding the “truth” in its social media pages.

The PNP, meanwhile, said its official accounts complied with standards, but it disowned “unofficial” and unauthorized actions by its personnel.

Facebook said it also derailed a network of fake accounts out of China that had recently taken aim at the US presidential race.

The takedown came as part of the social network’s fight against “coordinat-

Trump skewers China, warns UN of new ‘Cold War’ UNITED NATIONS—US President Donald Trump cast blame on China over the coronavirus pandemic in an address on Tuesday before the United Nations, whose chief warned against a new “Cold War” between the two powers.

At a General Assembly held almost entirely virtually due to COVID-19, Trump delivered a speech in election campaign mode, while Chinese President Xi Jinping instead unveiled ambitious new targets to fight climate change.

As the US death toll from COVID-19 reached the grim milestone of 200,000, the highest in the world, Trump attacked Beijing and the United Nations for not stopping the disease and even used the loaded term “China virus.”

“We must hold accountable the nation which unleashed this plague onto the world -- China,” Trump said in a recorded address to the General Assembly, where each nation was represented by a single, masked delegate.

“The Chinese government and the World Health Organization – which is virtually controlled by China – falsely declared that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission,” Trump said, referring to initial statements by the UN health body after Beijing covered up early cases of the respiratory disease.

Trump has given notice that the United States is pulling out of the World Health Organization, to which it has been the largest contributor. AFP

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Vergeire said the Philippines is properly dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, citing improved critical care utilization rates, which includes bed occupancy in hospitals.

“If we try to look at these numbers, we can see it gradually slowing down, slowly decongesting the system and having more capacity to accommodate COVID-19 patients,” she said. Willie Casas

New cases fall below 3,000 for second day The Philippines logged 2,833 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases Wednesday, bringing the total to 294,591 infections since the pandemic started, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.

This was the second straight day that newly-confirmed cases were below 3,000. Tuesday’s tally was 1,635.

The DOH also reported 44 new fatalities, bringing the death toll from COVID-19 to 5,091.

On the other hand, 765 new recoveries were reported, bringing the number of patients who have recovered from the disease to 231,373.

That left 58,127 active cases 86.5 percent of which are mild, 9.2 percent of which are asymptomatic, 1.3 percent of which are severe, and 3 percent of which are critical. Willie Casas

Anti-lockdown doctors slammed

AN infectious disease expert on Wednesday warned against calls for the lifting of COVID-19 lockdowns nationwide saying this is “very dangerous.”

Last week, the Concerned Doctors and Citizens of the Philippines (CDCPH) launched the #FlattenTheFear campaign, which urges government to end lockdowns and promote intake of proper nutrition to boost one’s immune system. Willie Casas ed inauthentic behavior” and marked the first time Facebook had seen such a campaign based in China targeting US politics, according to head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher.

Facebook did not connect the campaign to the Chinese government, saying its investigation found links to individuals in the Fujian province of China.

In the takedown, Facebook removed 155 accounts, 11 Pages, nine Groups and six Instagram accounts for violating its policy against foreign interference in deceptive schemes.

The campaign out of China focused primarily on the Philippines and Southeast Asia more broadly, and just a bit on the US, according to Gleicher.

Posts particularly commented about naval activity in the South China Sea, including US Navy ships, Facebook said.

The account holders would have had to use techniques to circumvent China’s “Great Firewall,” which bans the US social network.

News ‘Few consumers offered ‘generics’

By Willie Casas ONLY two out of five consumers are offered generic medicines in drug stores, the Department of Health revealed on Wednesday.

“There is increasing market share of generic medicines. 83.33% of doctors comply with the Generics Law, but [there is] low rate of generics substitution (only two out of five are offered generic medicines in drug stores),” Dr. Irene Florentino-Fariñas, Policy, Program Development, and Research Unit Head of the DOH Pharmaceutical Division, said in commemoration of the Generics Month.

Fariñas said that such a situation could be possible due to doctors who only prescribe branded medicines available in the pharmacies which they also own and doctors who are under contract with certain pharmaceutical companies.

“Ito po iyong sa far-flung areas na iyong doctors, sila rin po ang may-ari ng pharmacies. Possible rin po na may doctors na contracted by several companies na iyong product nila ang dapat bilhin,” she said.

Fariñas said that such practice is illegal and those liable will face sanctions.

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Hontiveros slammed on PPE claim

By Maricel V. Cruz

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NAKALUSUGAN Rep. Mikee Romero on Wednesday turned the tables on Sen. Ana Theresia HontiverosBaraquel, saying that her accusations of “overpricing” against the Department of Budget and Management for the purchase of personal protective equipment are baseless and a mere “smokescreen” to hide overpricing during the previous administration.

Hontiveros-Baraquel made the accusation after the DBM issued a statement saying the Aquino administration purchased PPE sets in 2015 and 2016 at prices double the present market cost.

Records of the DBM Procurement Service made available by Budget Undersecretary Lloyd Christopher Lao, indicate that the government had awarded two supply contracts for eight-piece

PPEs at P3,500 per set on September 28, 2015 and another P3,864 per set on June 23, 2016.

Lao noted that the previous administration bought the expensive PPEs although there was no health emergency at the time at a price more than double than of the Duterte administration’s acquisition cost of P1,400 to 1,500 per set.

In a statement, Defensor said he suspects that Hontiveros-Baraquel’s’ motivation for “making baseless accusations” against DBM is not purely for altruistic reasons.

“I think the ‘Yellows’ (followers of former Presidents Cory and Benigno Simeon III) are trying to embarrass the Duterte

administration to keep the opposition’s own shortcomings in flagging anomalous transactions during the term of former President BS Aquino,” Defensor said.

Defensor said that during the Aquino administration, the Department of Health purchased PPEs from Rebmann, Inc. at a much higher price of P3,500 per set in September 2015. This was followed by another purchase in 2016 of the same 8-piece PPE set at a much higher price of P3,864 per set. These prices are higher by at least 97 percent and 118 percent, respectively, compared to the purchase price of similar PPE sets bought by DBM in the middle of a pandemic at an average price of P1,773.51 per set.

DOJ: Protect kids from online abuses

By Rey E. Requejo THE Department of Justice, through the Office of Cybercrime, has issued guidelines to protect children who uses videoconferencing services for their online classes from abuse and harmful contents.

DOJ-OOC Officer-In-Charge lawyer Charito Zamora said that they decided to issue the guidelines due to the “emerging security risks associated with the utilization of various videoconferencing services in the conduct of online classes in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Among these security risks are the loss of confidentiality, availability and integrity of computer data, as well as the exposure of children to abusive strangers and harmful online contents, Zamora said.

To prevent and protect children from these risks, the DOJ-OOC advised school administrators facilitating online classes not to share meeting room credentials, both the ID and the password to the public; and always set meeting configurations as follows: accept meeting participants’ request to join individually, provide a standard naming instruction for the participants, start meeting with participants’ video off, require a password from the participants, mute participants upon entry and disable desktops and screen share for participants who are not assigned in the virtual meeting room as hosts.

IN BRIEF PDEA, PCOO unite in fight vs illegal drugs THE Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Presidential Communications Operation Office, along with two media and events organizations, have partnered to bring the government’s antidrug campaign to a wider audience.

PDEA director general Wilkins Villanueva and lawyer Marvin Gatpayat, undersecretary for PCOO’s Administration and Legal Affairs; Katherine Chloe de Castro, general manager of the Philippine Television Network Inc., and director general Rizal Giovanni Aportadera Jr. of the Bureau of Broadcast Services- Philippine Broadcasting Service on Wednesday signed a memorandum of agreement wherein state-run television and DZRB (738 AM) Radyo Pilipinas under BBS-PBS shall serve as medium in bringing the public the government’s efforts, campaign, programs and activities in the fight against illegal drugs to be aired simulcast by Radyo Pilipinas and PTNI at 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Wednesdays.

Villanueva also tapped Renan Lopez, owner of Rev-Up Events Management and Advertising Services and Marketing director of Pinoy Xtreme Channel, to further boost PDEA’s anti-drug campaign. Rio N. Araja

‘Use SUF fees to fund infra projects for better internet’ A CONGRESSIONAL leader has asked the government to look into the possibility of tapping the multi-billion-peso spectrum user fees collections to fund infrastructure projects that will improve the country’s internet speed and connectivity.

SUFs are collected annually from mobile network operators in addition to all existing fees imposed by the National Telecommunications Commission. As of December 31, 2019, the SUF collections stood at almost P6 billion.

House Deputy Majority Leader and Party-list Rep. Bernadette Herrera of Bagong Henerasyon made the recommendation during the hearing of the House Committee on Appropriations on the proposed 2021 budget of the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

“Internet has become an essential commodity given the growing trend of working and studying from home, especially now that people are required to adhere to social distancing and health protocols to contain the spread of coronavirus,” Herrera said.

Maricel V. Cruz

LANTERNS FOR SALE. Christmas is around the corner as a number of lantern makers in Central Market Quezon Blvd Sta. Cruz, Manila start making colorful designs amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

2 hospitals which refused pregnant patient charged Manila Bay rehab

By Willie Casas THE National Bureau of Investigation has filed complaints against two hospitals and several staff who allegedly refused to attend to a woman who just gave birth due to lack of down payment.

A television report on Tuesday said that Catherine Bulatao, who gave birth last April, failed to receive treatment from Far Eastern University-Nicanor Reyes Medical Foundation in Quezon City and Grace General Hospital in Bulacan.

Bulatao was able to give birth at their

home in Caloocan but needed a medical procedure due to a complication.

The midwife who assisted in the delivery of the baby recommended that she should be brought to a hospital to remove the placenta from her uterus.

The victim’s husband, Christian Bulatao, said the FEU Hospital refused to admit her unless they pay the P30,000 downpayment.

When Catherine was rushed to Grace General Hospital, the medical staff allegedly said they did not have an obstetrician on duty at that time.

“Nakapag-file na po kami sa office of the city prosecutor against FEU Hospital at tsaka sa Bulacan against Grace General Hospital,” NBI-National Capital Region head agent Dante Pua said.

“Ang sabi ng Grace General Hospital, wala silang ob-gyne na naka-duty or nakastandby. Eh puwede naman po sila sanang tumawag at magpapunta ng ob-gyne nila dahil emergency case po ito eh dahil hindi natanggal ‘yong bahay anakan ni Catherine,” Pua added.

Christian welcomed the move of the NBI.

WHITE SAND. Sandbags were placed along the shores of Manila Bay where artificial ‘white sand’ were unloaded. ABS-CBN News Photo

volunteers praised

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Cynthia Villar on Monday said the growing number of volunteers and partner organizations who take part in the clean-up and mangrove planting activities should be credited for the strides made in the Manila Bay rehabilitation campaign.

Villar, chairperson of the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources, made the remark as the International Day of Coastal Cleanup was observed over the weekend.

“I’m happy because there are many volunteers and partners in our clean up and mangrove planting activities in Manila Bay. Many of them did not stop cleaning despite the pandemic,” Villar said.

Almost 12 years after the issuance of the Supreme Court mandamus compelling government agencies and local government units to clean up and rehabilitate Manila Bay, she admitted that “we still have a long way to go before we restore the bay to its pristine condition.”

Five years ago, Villar started a project in Baseco Compound. Together with the Department of Health, she initiated a project that will build toilet facilities for the residents and address the problem of open defecation in the area.

She also built livelihood projects such as mangrove planting, urban garden, recycling, and aquaculture. Baseco residents are now benefitting from these projects as a source of food or as a source of additional income.

‘Help farmers, stop rice importation’

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Imee Marcos on Wednesday warned that farm gate prices of rice may go down as she called on the government to rescue farmers from rice importation.

In a statement, Marcos called on the government to stop rice importation until after the peak of the wet season harvest in October so farmers can recover from farm gate prices being kept low by rice traders.

Marcos, who chairs the Senate committee on economic affairs, said that farm gate prices of palay may again plunge from the present 12 to 15 pesos per kilo to seven to eight pesos, as it did last year when rice imports caused an

oversupply and dragged down prices.

“Importation does not mean the end of all regulation,” Marcos said.

“Scheduling importation is one way of helping our local rice farmers while the rice tariffication law remains in place,” she said.

Marcos also urged the Bureau of Customs to “go a step further” after it exposed rice traders who misdeclared and undervalued their imports last year by more than P1 billion.

“Beyond collecting deficient payments on import duties and taxes, cancel the permits of this brazen cartel of importers and reshuffle or remove Customs officials who allowed this to happen,” Marcos said.

SWEEPERS. Employees of the Department of Public Services of City Hall in Manila, most of them street sweepers, take a nap after cleaning the areas assigned to them along C. M. Recto Ave. in Manila. Norman Cruz

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor

Parañaque resto bar closed down

By Joel E. Zurbano

BUMPER HARVEST. Each household in Brgy Olympia and the Sampalukan District in Makati City enjoy Wednesday a plentiful fill of fresh mackerel from the Local Government Unit through the supervision of Olympia Kagawad Rodrigo Binay. Diana Noche

‘White sand beach’ good—Moreno

By Willie Casas

M

ANILA Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso on Wednesday said the controversial artificial “white sand beach” in Manila Bay was expected to benefit hotels and boost the economy in the area.

Domagoso, during a press briefing, said Roxas Boulevard’s “Manila Bay Sands” -- a play on Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands -- is expected to drive tourists to the area.

Even before formally opening to the public, the beach had actually attracted droves of tourists over the weekend, howevet, at the expense of social distancing during a pandemic.

“All the hotels in Roxas Boulevard will benefit from this. So businesses will boom,” Domagoso said.

Domagoso cited the suggested design of the city government for the development of the Manila Bay area called “The Manila Sunrays.”

Domagoso said the design was an aspiration for the area to have some structures.

Domagoso noted that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), which heads the Manila Bay rehabilitation project, had prepared other plans to develop the area.

“In a good weather, someday, somehow, this will continue,” Domagoso added.

The DENR placed 500 tons of crushed dolomites to beautify and rehabilitate a small stretch of Manila Bay’s shoreline, as part of its Manila Bay rehabilitation program.

The Manila Bay rehabilitation received criticisms over the issues of the possible health hazards of crushed dolomites and the timing of the project amid the COVID-19 pandemic, among others.

The DENR has defended its decision to spruce up the area with dolomite sourced from Cebu.

Customs ruins smuggled items

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Bureau of Customs-Ninoy Aquino International Airport announced on Wednesday it had destroyed another shipments of medicines, expired food supplies and other smuggled items.

Customs NAIA district collector Carmelita Talusan said the medicines which were imported without necessary Food and Drug Administration registration and permits were disposed through condemnation in Trece Martires, Cavite.

Also included in the condemnation were One Time Password devices, SIM Cards, USB Flash Drives and Bank Cards commonly used in Money Laundering activities, cements, electrical items, bulbs and batteries without Bureau of Product Standards clearances; tobacco leaves and cigarettes imported without a clearance from the National Tobacco Administration.

For the past weeks, the Port of NAIA has continuously condemned valueless, prohibited, hazardous and unsafe goods having a total of 311.85 tons for the year 2020.

Talusan said the weekly condemnation activities was in compliance with the directives of Customs Commissioner Rey Leonard Guerrero to inspect all abandoned and overstaying cargoes and its immediate disposal.

Last week, the agency destroyed 21,000 kilos of smuggled vape products.

Those products are used for inhalation of vapor created by an electronic cigarette or other vaping devices.

DONATED AMBULANCE. Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin Jr. (2nd right) received on Monday the brand new ambulance donated by Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. Butch Gunio

Angeles City to be next Smart City

By Butch Gunio ANGELES CITY—Mayor Carmelo Lazatin, Jr. is pushing Angeles City to be the country’s next Smart City.

This was announced by IC Calaguas, the long-time political officer of the Lazatin family and now the chief adviser and tactician of the city mayor.

She explained the free internet for all Angeles residents would help facilitate government linkages throughout the city.

Transactions with the city government will be online, she added.

“In the last quarter this year, Mayor Lazatin will be ordering the deployment of payment kiosks in all barangays for business tax, real property tax and even for simple traffic violations. Kiosks will also be placed in convenient stores,” Calaguas said.

Lazatin earlier annouced that by October the city would be testing cashless payment in public markets and public transportation.

2.5k families to get titles

By Jess Malabanan

PORAC, Pampanga—After 26 long years of waiting, occupants of housing units in Porac Resettlement Center at Barangay Pio here were given new hope in their quest to get the Certificate of Land Title.

The National Housing Authority and the town’s local government unit have filed a petition at the Regional Trial Court seeking the release and surrender the duplicate land titles from its original owner.

NHA3 Regional Manager Roderick Ibanez said included in their petition was for the owner—Ciriaco Reyes—to surrender the land title of 50-hectare property which was developed into a resettlement community and donated to the government.

THE Paranaque City government on Wednesday shut down TAV Resto Bar in Barangay BF Homes for violating health and safety protocols.

Police, in coordination with the city´s Business Permit and Licensing Office, raided the establishment along Aguirre Avenue around 8 p.m. Tuesday and caught more than 15 individuals drinking liquor.

“Consumption of liquor and other alcoholic and intoxicating drinks outside of one’s residence is strictly not allowed in Paranaque during the general community quarantine,” said Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

The police operation followed a tip off from residents that the establishment violated several local ordinances and health protocols.

Olivarez reminded bar owners in the city there were two existing executive orders imposing the ban on serving liquor and other alcoholic and intoxicating beverages during the GCQ. While the ban on serving liquor and other alcoholic and intoxicating drinks is in force in the city, business establishments with valid liquor permit can sell but not serve the said drinks from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

BPLO chief lawyer Melanie Malaya said businesses found violating the policy would be sanctioned, which included immediate closure of the establishment.

Malaya has informed bar owners and related businesses in Paranaque that they are not allowed to operate under the current guidelines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and that the city government requires all business establishments to submit a notice of reopening to their office.

IN BRIEF Lumber given to NV DepEd BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—The Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Cagayan Valley recently donated lumber to the Department of Education(DepEd) for their school building projects.

DENR Regional Director Gwendolyn Bambalan said the 15,000 board feet of forest products were turned over by the FCF Minerals Corporation after these were affected by the development in the mining areas of Quezon and Kasibu towns.

The turn-over of the confiscated common hardwood lumber was made through the signing of the Deed of Donation between DENR Regional Executive Director Bambalan and Schools Division Superintendent Rachel Llana.

“Our common goal is the improvement of government service in this region. Other government agencies can also avail of the confiscated forest products provided they will submit request and indicate the purpose of which the forest products will be used. We just have to make sure that all requirements are in place before disposal,” Bambalan said. Ben Moses Ebreo

622-ha agri land donated to DAR THE Cagayan State University under he Commission on Higher Education has donated a 622-hectare agricultural land to the Department of Agrarian Reform for distribution to farmer-beneficiaries.

With CSU vice president Ranhilio Aquino and other DAR officials as witnesses, Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones signed the deed of transfer validated by both institutions of coverable government-owned lands.

“This signing of the deed of transfer signify (sic) the beginning of empowerment of our agrarian reform beneficiaries in this province. They would till the lands awarded to them without the fear of them getting ejected from these properties,” he said.

He vowed to provide the necessary support services to the recipients to make their lands productive, improve their economic lives and contribute in ensuring food security in the country. Rio N. Araja

SM helps Pulilan plant growers

PLANT SPECIES. SM Center Pulilan’s Home Gardening Corner, featuring almost 100 plant species and local handicraft plant accessories, introduces five of the promising plant growers in Bulacan—Verde Plants and Crafts of Pulilan, Agricoolturist of Malolos, Twisted Fern Garden & Landscaping from Guiguinto, Cacsuc Home and iPlant from Baliwag. Jun David

SM CENTER Pulilan recently expanded its advocacy in helping local growers and plant sellers by mounting its first green exhibit in Bulacan.

Dubbed as Home Gardening Corner, the exhibit put a spotlight on five of today’s promising plant growers in Bulacan—Verde Plants and Crafts of Pulilan, Agricoolturist of Malolos, Twisted Fern Garden & Landscaping from Guiguinto, CacSuc Home and iPlant from Baliwag.

Each plant grower has a distinctive style of showcasing their plants and crafts, in different forms and sizes; giving shoppers a unique experience to choose among a variety of plants

in one venue.

Almost 100 plant species are featured in the exhibit.

Some of the bestsellers are houseplants such as Peace Lily, Spider plant, Jade, Lucky Bamboo, Air plants, Snake plant and low maintenance greeneries like Sansevieria, Selloum, Bacularis, Money tree, Philodendron and Rubber tree.

Apart from a wide array of plants, the green exhibit also aims to promote local handcraft plant accessories made by Bulakenyo artisans.

Shoppers can find handcrafted pots and baskets meticulously made out of local materials.

Opinion China, listen up

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ruling by the PCA favoring the Philippines over China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea. “We welcome the increasing number of states that have come in support of the award and what it stands for--the triumph of reason over rashness, of law over disorder, of amity over ambition,” he said.

Speaking of the ruling of the UN Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in favor of the Philippines in 2016, the President reaffirmed the country’s commitment in the South China Sea in accordance with the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

“The [PCA] award is now part of international law, beyond compromise and beyond the reach of passing governments to dilute, diminish or abandon,” the President said in a recorded speech aired during the general debate of the 75th United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday, Manila time.

Duterte said the Philippines rejects any attempts to undermine the historic 2016 ruling and assured the world that the country would adhere to the UN Charter and the 1982 Manila Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes.

The President also thanked nations— notably France, Germany and the United Kingdom--that supported the 2016

“Its leaders say one thing and do another.”

In its landmark 2016 decision, the PCA said there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights over most of the South China Sea using its “ninedash line” claim. The ruling covered marine features in the West Philippine Sea, including the hotly contested Scarborough Shoal, as part of the Philippine territorial waters.

But the Chinese government has repeatedly refused to recognize the tribunal’s ruling and, over the four years during which the President has tried to foster better ties with Beijing, has continued to reclaim islands in the disputed areas for military and research purposes.

In the meantime, the President has been hard pressed on the benefits of his pivot to China.

Much of the promised Chinese in-

vestments—save for a bridge and an irrigation project—have not materialized, with projects being delayed or shelved.

Investments in the online gambling industry, meanwhile, have benefited only real estate companies as the demand for housing for thousands of guest workers from China has driven rents through the roof. The so-called Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations (POGOs), in fact, generate very little employment for locals, and have brought an influx of workers from China to cater to their Chinese clientele.

At the same time, China has behaved as if the South China Sea was its own private preserve, to the detriment of Filipino fishermen, who continue to be harassed by Chinese vessels.

In a separate speech during the 75th UN General Assembly, President Xi Jinping assured member states of China’s commitment to resolve disputes through dialogue and negotiation.

“We will never seek hegemony, expansion, or sphere of influence. We have no intention to fight either a Cold War or a hot war with any country,” said Xi. But as its leaders say one thing and do another in the South China Sea, that message of amity is growing old—and increasingly unconvincing.

China has made many commitments to the international community and this country about its adherence to UNCLOS. It is high time it honored them.

Mission accomplished FOR now, ABS-CBN as we know it is dead and buried, so to speak. The National Telecommunication Commission performed the last rites two weeks ago by taking back the frequencies assigned to the company. The way it was done was clinical, efficient and masterful.

Many are applauding the company’s demise. There are more however, who are beginning to miss the company.

This is perhaps because if we watch or listen to the remaining TV and radio stations, it seems that all of them are in a way singing the same tune.

As we all know, the troubles of ABSCBN started when the President verbally attacked it for not airing his campaign advertisements during the 2016 elections. He even advised ABS-CBN to better sell the company because it was doubtful whether it would be granted a franchise. Thus, the denial was not entirely unexpected, even as some continued to hope for a miracle.

Let us look at some of the issues raised. One is the citizenship of the company Chairman, Gabby Lopez. Legal luminaries -- including former Senator Juan Ponce Enrile who is no fan of the Lopezes – have said that the citizenship question is not a good enough reason to deny the application. Besides, if citizenship is so important, why are the members of the House not objecting to sending of foreign-born beauties to the Miss Universe pageant? Some of them have foreign passports. Is it perhaps because some House members are holding foreign or United States passports?

I wonder.

The other issue is about the so-called bias of ABS-CBN. On this point, the House may have inadvertently revealed its true intentions because this is simply another way of saying that the station is true-blue Yellow.

Still another issue is the accusation that Gabby Lopez is an oligarch. We know that the Lopez family is rich.

They belong to the old rich of Philippine society because of the vast tracts of land that they used to own. In the 1950s and 60s when sugar was king, there were a number of families who were indeed politically powerful. But

ABS-CBN has been dealt with clinically, efficiently and masterfully. not anymore. The Lopezes together with the other landed gentry can no longer be compared to our new business tycoons who are dollar multi-billionaires and who own multiple businesses.

They are not even listed in Forbes magazine list of billionaires.

The Lopez family, although still wealthy, does not satisfy all the elements to be considered an oligarch in the traditional sense. As to the perceived power of the family because of their ownership of a TV station, why should the government worry about this? After all, it also owns a TV station which is its propaganda arm and can counter anything thrown at it by other stations. Is it because Channel 4, the government station has very little cred-

ibility? Hardly anyone watches it.

If ABS-CBN has become too powerful for its own good, this is because people choose to watch it. Apparently, they like what they see and hear. If Channel 4 wants to rival ABS-CBN, it should try to improve its programming. A TV station cannot force people to watch it if they do not like to. There was also nothing that ABS-CBN was doing that other stations were not doing.

If we can all agree that our country is indeed a functioning democracy where there is a free market of ideas, then we can also agree that in a democracy, one cannot win them all. There will always be disagreements even in the media.

One media outlet may take one side and another take the opposite side. When this happens, it is the people who decide which station they want to watch.

It is fundamental for a democratic country to have a free press in every sense of the word. Without it, that country is not democratic. It is as simple as that. Over the last four years, the approval rating of President Duterte has been over 80 per cent – a feat unheard of anywhere in the world. With that kind of approval rating, he should be sleeping soundly, unmindful of some quarters that do not agree with his policies.

But his enablers are apparently not satisfied. They want more. This may, however, end up costing the country more harm. The country’s international reputation has already taken a hit on account of the issue of press freedom. If we add the anti-drug campaign into the mix, then the harm done increases. We live in a community of nations and we trade and constantly interact with them.

We cannot escape the scrutiny and sometimes criticism from other countries. It is simply the way things are in this world.

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They’re undermining the Code of Conduct

By Herman Tiu Laurel

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno

Anita F. Grefal

Baldwin R. Felipe

Edgar M. Valmorida

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

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A broken institution

EDITORIAL

FTER setting it aside for four years in the name of better ties with Beijing, President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday affirmed the Philippines’ legal victory over China before the United Nations General Assembly.

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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

THE best time to write about a recurrently contentious issue is when it is not in the newspaper headlines or the evening television newscasts.

It is then that one can discuss the issue dispassionately.

A good example of this approach to journalistic writing is the Bureau of Customs.

BOC, a member of the Department of Finance family, is generally thought to be one of the most corrupt agencies of the government of this country. Almost all of the major stories that come out of the BOC -- huge shipments of goods given a lower-duty tariff classification, 2,000 container vans vanishing without a trace, P6.4 billion worth of methamphetamine (shabu) smuggled in magnetic lifts and other no less sensational acts of fiscal depravity—generate negative passion of such Customs intensity that rational overhaul. discussion of needed corrective action is rendered impossible.

As it stands today, BOC is a rotten institution. Anyone who thinks that the saying “No news is good news” applies to today’s BOC is dreaming. Even as this is being written, goods are being smuggled into and out of this country or are being misclassified or are being spirited out—often, as in the case of the 2,000 container vans, without a trace—under the noses of notso-watchful security guards and the electronic gaze of the closed circuit television cameras.

This is the way of life at BOC. So-called reformist commissioners of Customs—during the present administration these have mostly been retired military officers—have come and gone but the rottenness has continued at the main Customs house in Manila’s South Harbor and in provincial Customs houses.

There seems to be no end to the mischief and misconduct at the BOC. Given the total value of Philippine import trade at this point in the country’s economic development, BOC should have been generating far more revenue than it has; corruption undoubtedly has been accounting for the enormous difference. Little wonder that the BOC is now a distant third in the hierarchy of revenue generators, its erstwhile second place having been taken over by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.

BOC is a broken institution; there is no other way to put it. Systemic changes—not cosmetic changes like the installation of yet another retired military officer—are called for.

What should those systemic changes be?

One of the needed corrective measures is the timing of the inspection of goods destined for this country, The inspection can be done either prior to the shipment of the goods or upon arrival The second option clearly has not been working; the government has been at the mercy of BOC’s

cargo inspectors. The time has come to re-install the system whereby shipments to this country are inspected prior to ports of origin.

During the administration of President Corazon Aquino, DOF enjoyed the services of the noted Swiss survey company, Societe Generale de Surveillance, to do the pre-inspection job. SGS’ services don’t come cheap and the value of its work is not always quantifiable, but almost anything is bound to be better than the present situation where the government is completely at the mercy of crooked BOC cargo inspectors. Unless the present inspection system is changed, there is not much point in talking about an improved BOC performance.

Another corrective change that needs to be undertaken has to do with the relationship between the BOC and its mother department.

Compared to its supervision of the Bureau needs an of Internal Revenue, DOF’s supervision of BOC has tended to be lax and non-persistent.

To remedy this, one of the Secretary of Finance’s chief subordinates should be named the Undersecretary of Finance for Customs Matters. One assistant secretary should be similarly titled. The desired focus will then become manifest.

Still another needed change is the creating by the Secretary of Finance, preferably in his office, of a Special Committee on Customs and Valuation. The chairman of the committee­— ideally the Undersecretary for Customs Matters—should report regularly to the Secretary of Finance, re-flagging all questionable classifications and valuations. BOC’s examiners should no longer be allowed to make a mockery of the Revised Tariff and Customs Code.

A more rational way of selecting the Commissioner is the final change that needs to be undertaken in order to improve the operations and raise the revenue-generating capability of BOC. This, arguably, is the most important of the needed changes. The Commissioner sets the tone of BOC operations. The perception of the character and competence of the BOC’s chief executive goes a long way toward shaping the attitudes and judgments of the bureau’s rank and file. It is important, of course, that a Commissioner-designate possesses integrity, but integrity is not sufficient in this instance.

The Commissioner-designate should have ample knowledge of the mindset of the average Customs employee. A bureau insider with a good reputation or an experienced customs broker would be preferable over a retired military officer undergoing on-the-job training.

BOC needs inside-out repair. Unless and until such repair is carried out, BOC will remain the weak link—the weakest link, in fact—in the government’s revenue chain.

Power, water, telecommunications and national security ernment regarding the security risks of foreign involvement in our public utilities. National security is non-negotiable and has no tag price.

Until now, we are still threatened by the influence on and “control” of the Chinese, through its State Grid Corporation of China, of our national grid. On paper, it can be said that Filipinos are entirely in control, but we do AS WE adapt to the new normal, the need for not exactly know who holds significant power high-quality, reliable and stable telecommuni- in these institutions. This is dangerous given the end goal of a unified national power grid cations services is far greater than ever.

In response to this growing demand, new which was originally set for 2020.

What are the other important and critical intelecommunications companies are slowly making their way into the Philippine market. dustries in the country at risk? Aside from powRecently, the National Telecommunications er, we have telecommunications. As mentioned Commission issued a provisional authority to earlier, the linkage of the Chinese state-owned NOW Telecom as a budding fourth telco in China Telecom with DITO has produced doubts on the integrity the country. Weeks of the latter’s security ago, DITO Telecom Entering into announced that it enWe may be lagging policies. this agreement that altered into a Memobehind in terms of legedly allows non-Filrandum of Agreement ipinos entry to our with the Armed Forctechnology, but this military facilities is like es of the Philippines to does not mean we dancing with the devil. construct cell towers Given this, perhaps we inside military camps. should compromise can say that, now, they With this emphatic our sensitive and have power and telecall for better telecommunications. communications serstrategic services.

Another important vices, infrastructure public utility is water. is undeniably importJust last week, I talkant. Nevertheless, certain situations must be considered in putting up the necessary struc- ed about the advantages of pursuing a pubtures. Foremost is the threat to national securi- lic-private partnership in constructing new ty. DITO Telecom was quick to assure that the water facilities in areas surrounding the Kaconstruction of these towers within the mili- liwa and Kanan rivers, as opposed to having tary premises will not give rise to any security a China-funded project. With the setup being breach or issue. However, reports alleged that pushed by the MWSS, we cannot be sure that the signed MOA includes provisions allowing the welfare of our environment and our people non-Filipino individuals entry and access to will be protected.

The perils of foreign involvement are imthe military camps. Despite the known stringent protocols of the military and the stated measurable. While we are in dire need of purposes of such access, the risks posed by improvements in such public utilities, these do not have to come with such a hefty price. this agreement are real and substantial.

Given the developments in modern technol- While we may not see yet the repercussions ogy, we cannot be sure of what can and cannot of these agreements, safe to say, we cannot be done. It is difficult to hide anything, espe- simply trade off our national security. We may cially when access to a certain area is allowed. be lagging behind in terms of technology, but In my previous articles, I have repeatedly this does not mean we should compromise our reminded and called the attention of the gov- sensitive and strategic services.

Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Managing Editor Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Associate Editors Joyce Pangco Pañares News Editor

Adelle Chua Opinion Editor

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

World

FLOWER FLOOD. Children stand in a flooded flower market following heavy monsoon rains in Mumbai on September 23. AFP

US House votes to ban imports from Xinjiang WASHINGTON—The US House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to ban imports from China’s Xinjiang region, vowing to stop what lawmakers say is systematic forced labor by the Uighur community.

Despite opposition by US businesses, the act passed 406-3 in a sign of growing outrage over Xinjiang, where activists say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim Turkic-speaking people have been incarcerated in camps.

“Tragically, the products of the forced labor often end up here in American stores and homes,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said before the vote.

“We must send a clear message to Beijing: These abuses must end now.”

The Uighur Forced Labor Prevention Act still needs to be passed by the Senate, which may have limited time before November 3 elections.

The United States already bans products made through slavery but the act would put a blanket ban on products from Xinjiang, saying that forced labor is inextricably linked to the region’s economy. AFP

China eyes climate leadership NITED NATIONS—Chinese President Xi Jinping moved to seize the climate agenda from the US, vowing that the world’s largest polluter will go carbon neutral by 2060, a target hailed by environmental activists as a major stride forward.

U

The goals, which included a pledge to reach peak emissions in 2030, are the most concrete yet announced by China, which accounts for one quarter of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions blamed for fast-rising temperatures.

Speaking to the UN General Assembly,

Xi renewed his support for the Paris climate accord and called for a green focus as the world recovers from the Covid-19 crisis.

Under President Donald Trump the United States—the world’s second largest polluter—has pulled out of the agree-

ment, blaming China for the stalled momentum on tackling global emissions.

But in his speech, Xi set China out as a climate leader, saying the Paris accord “outlines the minimum steps to be taken to protect the Earth, our shared homeland, and all countries must take decisive steps to honor this agreement.”

“We aim to have C02 emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060,” he said in a virtual address.

Xi urged all nations to “seize the historic opportunities presented by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation.”

MAKING A POINT. Malaysian

opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim points during a press conference at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on September 23. AFP

IN BRIEF India building collapse death toll jumps to 35 MUMBAI—The death toll from an apartment block collapse in western India jumped to 35 Wednesday, officials said, as hopes of finding anyone else alive dimmed.

Emergency workers from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have so far pulled 20 survivors from the rubble of the three-storey building in Bhiwandi, near Mumbai.

An NDRF spokesman and local authorities told reporters that recovery teams, aided by sniffer dogs, retrieved 35 bodies buried under brick and concrete after the block came crashing down before dawn on Monday.

An official with Thane city authorities, which oversees Bhiwandi, said the dead included eight children.

The cause of the incident was not immediately clear, but building collapses are common during India’s June-September monsoon season, with old and rickety structures buckling under days of non-stop rain. AFP

Saudi to resume ‘umrah’ pilgrimage from Oct. 4 RIYADH—Saudi Arabia will gradually resume the year-round umrah pilgrimage for Muslims from October 4, the interior ministry said Tuesday, seven months after it was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The kingdom had suspended the umrah in March and later scaled back the annual hajj in a blow to millions of pilgrims around the world amid fears that the coronavirus could spread to Islam’s holiest sites.

In the first stage, “6,000 citizens and residents within the kingdom will be allowed to perform the umrah per day from October 4”, the ministry said in a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency.

Visitors from outside the kingdom will be permitted from November 1, when umrah’s capacity will be raised to 20,000 pilgrims per day, the ministry added.

The umrah, which refers to the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca that can be undertaken at any time of year, usually attracts millions of Muslims from across the globe each year. AFP

No-deal UK Brexit Anwar claims backing for new gov’t ‘costlier than virus’ LONDON—A “no-deal” Brexit could be three times more costly to Britain’s economy in the long term than the coronavirus outbreak, a new study published Tuesday warned.

The think-tank UK in a Changing Europe said the political and economic effects of the pandemic were likely to mitigate or hide that of failing to secure a trade agreement with the EU. But in the short term, the lack of a new formal trading relationship with Brussels would be bad news for economic recovery and larger than the health crisis in the long term.

The think-tank, which collaborated with the London School of Economics, said Brexit would hit growth in the coming years more than if the UK had opted to remain in the bloc.

“The claim that the economic impacts of Covid-19 dwarf those of Brexit is almost certainly correct in the short term,” its authors wrote.

“Not even the most pessimistic scenarios suggest that a no-deal Brexit would lead to a fall in output comparable to that seen in the second quarter of 2020.

“However—assuming a reasonably strong recovery, and that government policies succeed in avoiding persistent mass unemployment—in the long run, Brexit is likely to be more significant.

“Our modelling with LSE of the impact of a no-deal Brexit suggests that the total cost to the UK economy over the longer term will be two to three times as large as that implied by the Bank of England’s forecast for the impact of Covid-19.” AFP

KUALA LUMPUR—Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim said Wednesday he had the “strong” backing of lawmakers in parliament and was seeking an audience with the king to form a new government.

The Southeast Asian nation has been in turmoil since an alliance that swept to power in 2018, which was headed by Mahathir Mohamad and included Anwar, collapsed in February amid bitter infighting.

Muhyiddin Yassin became premier at the head of a coalition backed by a scandal-plagued party which had been ousted at the polls two years earlier, but he had only a wafer-thin majority in parliament.

Speaking at a press conference in

Kuala Lumpur, veteran politician Anwar -- who has long sought to become prime minister -- said he now had the backing of enough MPs to form the government and oust Muhyiddin.

“Conclusively we have a strong, formidable majority,” he said, but did not reveal the number of lawmakers backing him.

“The government under the leadership of Muhyiddin Yassin has fallen.”

A government must command the support of a majority of the 222 MPS in parliament.

The was no immediate reaction from Muhyiddin. He was due to give a televised address to the nation later Wednesday. AFP

PILE OF DRUGS. An Indonesian narcotics policeman makes cuts on packets on a pile

of confiscated marijuana to be set on fire during a drug burning ceremony at the regional police headquarters in Banda Aceh on September 23. Some 372.6 kilograms of marijuana, 80.2 kilograms of methamphetamines, and 27,400 Ecstacy pills that were previously seized by police were destroyed during the event. AFP

But China’s leader did not immediately put meat on the bones of his carbon-slashing commitment.

China currently has 135 gigawatts of coal-power capacity either permitted or under construction, according to Global Energy Monitor, a San Francisco-based environmental group.

That equates to about half the total coalpower capacity in the US. The European Union had been pushing China to be more ambitious by moving the peak emissions date to 2025, arguing that the five year gap is crucial as the planet falls behind in fighting climate change. AFP

Ginsburg repose at US high court WASHINGTON—Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whose death has opened a crucial Supreme Court seat that Republican President Donald Trump has promised to quickly and controversially fill against the wishes of Democrats, will lie in repose beginning Wednesday at the US high court.

Trump will announce his pick to replace Ginsburg Saturday, with Senate Republicans promising a swift vote on the nominee.

Democratic opponents, led by presidential candidate Joe Biden, however, are demanding that the process wait until after the November 3 election, when it will be known whether Trump is getting a second term.

Republicans are ignoring this, giving Trump, who has already replaced two other justices, a chance to tilt the nation’s highest court to the right for decades to come, whether he beats Biden or not.

Speaking Tuesday at a campaign rally in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, Trump said he would reveal his nominee at 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) on Saturday at the White House. AFP

EU seeks new pact on shared asylum BRUSSELS—Five years after Europe’s migrant crisis, Brussels will propose on Wednesday that member states share the responsibility for asylum seekers under a “compulsory solidarity mechanism”.

The New Pact on Migration and Asylum will be unveiled by European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson and Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas.

Johansson wants the 27 member states to commit to sharing the burden of handling asylum claims from migrants arriving on the bloc’s shores.

“It’s obvious to everybody that ad hoc solidarity or voluntary solidarity is not enough. That has been proven for many years now,” she said. “It has to be mandatory.”

The plan will make showing solidarity with all EU countries on the front lines—often Greece, Italy or Malta— compulsory when they are “under pressure” from arrivals.

It may mean aid will no longer be limited to EU countries to where asylum seekers are relocated, but will be directed to other nations to return refused asylum seekers back to their country of origin. AFP

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TODAY

Oil, gas giants not in sync with global climate goals—report PARIS, France—Oil and gas giants are far from aligning with the global climate change goals they purport to uphold, and only a government-managed decline of the sector can prevent climate catastrophe, according to an analysis released Wednesday.

“We have seen a wave of announcements from oil companies over the last nine months claiming to be part of the solution on climate, but none of their plans measure up to what is needed,” co-author Kelly Trout, a senior research analyst at Oil Change, told AFP. Oil majors have touted measures such as reducing the carbon intensity of their products, transitioning into renewable energy, storing “captured” CO2 underground, and offsetting emissions through reforestation.

The report stacked up the climate commitments of eight oil and gas companies against the Paris climate goal of curbing global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Under the 2015 treaty, nations are enjoined to cap the planet’s average rise in temperature at “well below” 2C, and 1.5C if feasible.

A subsequent report from the UN’s IPCC climate science panel showed 1.5C to be the safer limit by far, and laid out scenarios for achieving that goal by slashing or sequestering greenhouse gas emissions.

The IPCC has calculated that the additional release of more than 500 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere would push temperatures above the 1.5C threshold.

If global CO2 emissions continue at the recent level of about 40 billion tons a year, this “carbon budget” would be used up in less than a decade and a half.

BP, Chevron, Eni, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Repsol, Shell and Total, all based in Europe or the United States, have to varying degrees laid out strategies they say are compatible with the Paris targets.

Failing grades Using the 1.5C threshold as a benchmark, Trout and colleagues graded 10 components of each company’s climate plan along the spectrum of “fully aligned” to “grossly insufficient”.

Pledges to stop approving new extraction projects, for example, were judged “grossly inefficient” in all eight oil giants.

The same failing mark was given across the board for committing to a date to end oil and gas extraction; being “honest” about the high carbon content of gas; and—with the exception of BP—promising to stop exploration. AFP

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks flat; NOW, ICTSI decline S

TOCKS closed virtually flat again Wednesday as the market remained in consolidation mode in the absence of a catalyst that could nudge investors into buying.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index slipped 1.56 points, or 0.03 percent, to 5,892.72 on a value turnover of P4.4 billion. Gainers edged losers, 92 to 90, with 56 issues unchanged.

NOW Corp. of the Velarde family fell 5.5 percent to P3.10, while International Container Terminal Services Inc. of tycoon Enrique Razon Jr. dropped 2.7 per-

cent to P105.10.

MerryMart Consumer Corp., a supermarket chain owned by businessman Edgar Sia II, however, rose 4.7 percent to P3.14, while Jollibee Foods Corp., the biggest fast-food chain, climbed 4.2 percent to P138.10.

The rest of Asian investors, meanwhile, struggled to match their Wall Street counterparts Wednesday, with markets mixed as spiking infection rates, new containment measures and still no US stimulus fuel concerns about economic recovery.

Tokyo ended 0.1 percent down as investors returned from an extended weekend break, while Taipei, Singapore, Jakarta and Bangkok were also lower.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Wellington eked out gains, however, while Sydney

jumped more than two percent. Mumbai and Seoul were flat.

After a global rally since March’s nadir, gloom has descended on equities this month, with uncertainty leading into November’s presidential election and ongoing China-US tensions adding to the mix.

US stocks broke an extended run of losses Tuesday as traders went bargain hunting, while the technology sector was also boosted by the prospect of people being forced to stay at home again.

With a record of nearly two million new virus infections last week, leaders are fighting to prevent another explosion of cases that forced economically devastating national lockdowns around the world earlier in the year. With AFP

Irish pubs reopen after virus closure but Dublin stays dry

By Joe Stenson BRAY, Ireland―Irish pubs reopened after a six-month shutdown on Monday but many in the capital Dublin remained under heightened coronavirus restrictions because of a surge of infections.

In the Boomerang Bar in Bray, County Wicklow, south of Dublin, customers returned in droves by lunchtime to end a half-year dry spell.

“Some people have actually taken the day off work,” said Sandie Stanley, who owns and runs the pub with husband Derek.

“They’ve planned to be here to celebrate with us on our first day reopening, which is really, really lovely,” she told AFP. Inside, around 30 customers sipped pints at tables topped with bottles of hand sanitizer.

Staff served in face visors and blue polo shirts backed with the motto “phys-

ically distancing, socially connecting.”

Bray is an upmarket coastal commuter town on the County Dublin boundary and Stanley said eager Dubliners have been in contact, willing to commute for a round of drinks.

“We’re fully booked this evening,” she added.

Dry spell All of Ireland’s 7,000 pubs were shut by government order on March 16―the eve of the national St Patrick’s Day celebrations―as the country was locked down.

On June 29, those serving food were permitted to reopen but so-called “wet pubs” providing drinks only stayed shut.

Last week, the government confirmed that while all pubs nationwide were permitted to open on Monday, Dublin’s drinking-only establishments would remain shuttered.

On the streets of Dublin’s Temple Bar area―a popular haunt packed with pubs―crews found little evidence of

This picture taken on July 7, 2020 shows two miners panning for gold along a stream near Korowai, Papua province.

Illegal mining has soared across Indonesia’s restive Papua region in the midst of the global health crisis, despite hazards including the risk of arrest and health damage from toxic mercury used at many makeshift mining sites. AFP

Indonesians hunting for gold in desperate times TIMIKA, Indonesia—With the coronavirus devastating jobs across the country, desperate Indonesians are flocking to illegal gold mines as the soaring price of the precious metal overrides the risk to their lives and the environment.

Spooked by the economic destruction wrought by the pandemic, consumers and investors around the world have been snapping up gold, which is seen as a hedge against volatility, sending its price to a record above $2,000 an ounce last month.

The surge in demand has fueled a boom in mineral-rich Indonesia’s illegal mining industry, with workers ignoring the threat of arrest, mercury poisoning or being caught in the middle of gun battles.

Father-of-two Mustafa is among the hundreds who play a daily game of catand-mouse with authorities in the restive Papua region as they pan for nuggets in a river near US-based Freeport’s sprawling Grasberg site—one of the world’s biggest gold mines.

On a good day, Mustafa collects a gram of

TOP GAINERS

TOP LOSERS

Pedestrians walk past temporarily closed down pubs in Dublin on September 18, 2020, following reports that further lockdown restrictions could be imposed to help mitigate the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Ireland’s capital could face further restrictions this weekend after public health experts raised concerns when its 14-day incidence rate jumped to more than 100.AFP

By Helena Kobogau and Haeril Halim

PSEi September 23, 2020

gold by sifting through the mud with a fabric filter, which he can sell to a local trader for about 800,000 rupiah ($55)—no small sum in one of Indonesia’s poorest regions.

The miners here don’t use mercury, he said, but there are plenty of other dangers lurking in Indonesia’s rugged easternmost territory.

Fear of arrest is ever-present and so is being caught in the middle of deadly fights between security forces and independenceseeking rebels locked in a decades-old insurgency.

“There are more of us here now during the pandemic because the price of gold has jumped,” Mustafa told AFP in a telephone interview.

“We’re risking arrest by security forces, but we don’t have any option because we need money to support our families.”

The arduous job also carries the risk of catching the coronavirus or skin infections from wading through waters chock full of waste from the nearby mine.

“This is very dangerous for our health. Me and some of my friends have skin diseases,” Mustafa said. “But thank god, so far no one has got the virus.” AFP

weekend revelry to sanitize.

Some bars have been boarded up for months, their plyboard coverings now marked with graffiti.

Others bear social distancing signage, indicating they managed to open for business before the latest tightening of restrictions.

Dublin is facing tougher controls than the rest of Ireland because of an increase in new infections.

Prime minister Micheal Martin ordered Dubliners not to cross county lines, except for “work, education and other essential purposes.”

Indoor gatherings were also banned and household visits limited.

“Despite people’s best efforts over recent weeks, we are in a very dangerous place,” he said in a national televised address last week.

“There’s a very real threat that Dublin could return to the worst days of this crisis.” AFP

Republic of the Philippines Department of Transportation CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD IN RE: PETITION FOR ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY TO OPERATE DOMESTIC NON-SCHEDULED AIR TRANSPORTATION SERVICES COASTAL AIRWAYS INCORPORATED, Petitioner. x------------------------------------------------------------x

MOST ACTIVE

Kirschner Travel Manila, Inc. Unit B, Spanish Bay Tower, Bonifacio Ridge, 1st Avenue Bonifacio Global City, To all stockholders of Kirschner Travel Manila, Inc.:

CAB Case No. EP20-2729-HEDO92020-250-0

NOTICE OF HEARING Pursuant to the provisions of RA 776, as amended, Notice is hereby given that COASTAL AIRWAYS INCORPORATED has filed with the Civil Aeronautics Board a petition for issuance of Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to Operate Domestic Non-Scheduled Air Transportation Services. The above-entitled case is scheduled for hearing on September 30, 2020 at 2:30 PM at the CAB Conference Room, Old MIA Road, Pasay City before the undersigned, wherein the applicant shall present relevant evidence. Pre-marking and comparison of documents to be presented during the hearing shall be on September 23, 2020 at 2:00 PM, three(3) days thereafter, Applicant shall submit the marked documents together with the scanned copy to Hearing Examiners’ Division (HED) in accordance to CAB Resolution No. 6 (BM 01-0 1-27-2016) dated January 27,2016, otherwise known as Less Paper Transaction of CAB. The applicant is hereby required to have this Notice of Hearing published at least once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. The Notice of Hearing and the Application shall be served, by this Office, to all concerned parties/ airlines, either by facsimile or electronic mail, in compliance with CAB Board Resolution No. 97 (2003).

Parties opposing the said application shall file its manifestation not later than the pre-marking and comparison of documents, on September 23, 2020 and its written opposition on or before the date of hearing, furnishing a copy of the same to the applicant or appear at the hearing with such evidence as may be proper under the premises. Failure on the part of any interested party to file their opposition on time or appear at the hearing shall be construed as a waiver of their right to be heard and the Civil Aeronautics Board shall proceed to hear and decide the application on its merits.

Let a copy of the petition and this Notice be posted at the CAB Bulletin Board beginning today.

03 September 2020 Pasay City, Philippines

MARIA ELBEN SL. MORO Hearing Officer

(MS-SEPT. 10, 17 & 24, 2020)

Please take notice that a special meeting of the stockholders of Kirschner Travel Manila, Inc. (the "Corporation") will be held on 19 October 2020 at 11:00 am. The Meeting will be conducted at 4th Floor, Filipino Building 135 DeIa Rosa Street, Legaspi Village, Makati City 1229, Philippines.

The agenda of the meeting is to vote on the voluntary dissolution of the Corporation.

The stockholders of record as of 01 July 2020 shall be entitled to vote at the Meeting.

Done this 17th day of September 2020, in the City of Makati, Philippines.

By:

Reagan F. De Guzman Corporate Secretary (MS-SEPT. 24, 2020)

Republic of the Philippines Department of Transportation CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD IN RE: PETITION FOR ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY TO OPERATE INTERNATIONAL NON-SCHEDULED AIR TRANSPORTATION SERVICES COASTAL AIRWAYS INCORPORATED, Petitioner. x------------------------------------------------------------x

CAB Case No. EP20-2728-HEDO92020-249-0

NOTICE OF HEARING Pursuant to the provisions of RA776, as amended, Notice is hereby given that COASTAL AIRWAYS INCORPORATED has filed with the Civil Aeronautics Board a petition for issuance of Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (CPCN) to Operate International Non-Scheduled Air Transportation Services. The above-entitled case is scheduled for hearing on September 30, 2020 at 2:00 PM at the CAB Conference Room, Old MIA Road, Pasay City before the undersigned, wherein the applicant shall present relevant evidence. Pre-marking and comparison of documents to be presented during the hearing shall be on September 23, 2020 at 2:00 PM, three (3) days thereafter, Applicant shall submit the marked documents together with t he scanned copy to Hearing Examiners’ Division (HED) in accordance to CAB Resolution NO. 6 (BM 01-01-27-2016) dated January 27, 20 16, otherwise known as Less Paper Transaction of CAB. The applicant is hereby required to have this Notice of Hearing published at least once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation. The Notice of Hearing and the Application shall be served, by th is Office, to all concerned parties/airlines, either by facsimile or electronic mail, in compliance with CAB Boa rd Resolution No. 97 (2003).

Parties opposing the said applicat ion shall file its manifestation not later than the premarking and comparison of documents, on September 23, 2020 and its written opposition on or before the date of hearing, furnishing a copy of the same to the applicant or appear at the hearing with such evidence as may be proper under the premises. Failure on the part of any interested party to file their opposition on time or appear at the hearing shall be construed as a waiver of their right to be heard and the Civil Aeronautics Board shall proceed to hear and decide the application on its merits.

Let a copy of the petit ion and this Notice be posted at th e CAB Bulletin Board beginning today.

03 September 2020 Pasay City, Philippines (MS-SEPT. 10, 17 & 24, 2020)

MARIA ELBEN SL. MORO Hearing Officer

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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

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THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Business

PSE INDEX CLOSING

Wednesday, September 23, 2020 -1.56 PTS. 5,892.72

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

1,470,460,823 69,474 4,450,175,173.79 92 90 56

Foreign E xchange R ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.4490

Japan

Yen

0.009531

0.4618

UK

Pound

1.274400

61.7434

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129034

6.2516

Switzerland

Franc

1.087429

52.6848

Canada

Dollar

0.751767

36.4224

Singapore

Dollar

0.732708

35.4990

Australia

Dollar

0.716700

34.7234

Bahrain

Dinar

2.651957

128.4847

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266645

12.9187

Brunei

Dollar

0.730034

35.3694

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000068

0.0033

Thailand

Baht

0.031918

1.5464

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.1913

Euro

Euro

1.170800

56.7241

Korea

Won

0.000860

0.0417

China

Yuan

0.147453

7.1440

India

Rupee

0.013604

0.6591

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.242014

11.7253

New Zealand

Dollar

0.662700

32.1072

Taiwan

Dollar

0.034445

1.6688 Source: BSP

EU set to void trade privileges worth 2b euros

By Othel V. Campos THE Philippines stands to lose at least 2 billion euros worth of commodity exports to the European Union if the Philippine government fails to renegotiate the EU Generalized System of Preferences Plus amid issues on human rights and good governance.

The EU-GSP is a preferential and unilateral trade program that offers tariff-free entry to some 6,724 Philippine products to the EU in exchange for compliance with 27 international conventions.

Members of the Management Association of the Philippines warned the cancellation of EU-GSP would bring more harm to the economy.

“We fervently hope that the removal of the GSP preferences by the EU countries will not push through.

It will make our products less competitive and will seriously impact on several industries. It will increase the number of the unemployed among our countrymen at the time when they most need jobs,” MAP president Francis Lim said.

“Our economy will suffer more damage, especially given the contraction we are already experiencing with the pandemic,” he said.

The MAP said the government should not take the matter lightly for the sake of the Filipino people. “We hope it will be discussed and addressed by both parties in a mutually satisfactory manner,” it said.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said his department already communicated its response to the query of the EU on proposed legislation to reimpose death penalty and the lowering of the age for crime accountability from 15 years to 12 years.

“This is not the first time that this happened, so we are addressing this by giving them the right information and facts. And so far, we’ve been faring well. This is I think is the third or fourth time that the EU parliament has passed similar resolution.

We’re able to explain all issues that are raised every year. We are able to give our side, give them correct information and numbers,” Lopez said Wednesday.

WORLD BAMBOO DAY. Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez (second from right) and officials of the Philippine Bamboo Industry Council lead the celebration of World Bamboo Day with a planting activity at the House of Representatives to highlight the need to increase the supply of the plant to support the requirements of bamboo-based finished goods.

Shell mulls over sale of 45% stake in Malampaya project

By Alena Mae S. Flores

S

HELL Philippines Exploration B.V., the operator of Service Contract 38 off northwest Palawan, plans to divest its stake in the Malampaya natural gas project.

Spex, a member of the Shell Group, owns a 45-percent stake in the $4.5-billion Malampaya project, while Dennis Uy’s Udenna Corp. holds another 45 percent which it bought from Chevron Philippines LLC. State-owned PNOC Exploration Corp. has the remaining 10 percent.

“As part of an ongoing rationalization to simplify and increase the resilience of its business, Shell is exploring its options with a view to divest its interest in SC 38 [Malampaya],” Spex managing director and general manager Don Paulino said in a statement.

“Shell would ensure a smooth transition of the asset to a credible buyer who would be well-placed to optimize the value from Malampaya. The Philippines remains an important country for Shell after over a century of successful operations and Shell will continue to pursue opportunities where it can leverage its global

expertise in line with its strategy,” Paulino said.

It would be the second major divestment of the Shell Group in the Philippines. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., the country’s second largest oil company, earlier shut down its 110,000-barrel refinery in Batangas province and converted it into an import terminal.

Spex has been asking the government to extend the service contract of the Malampaya gas project, which is set to expire by 2024, to allow the consortium to look for more gas supply opportunities.

Gas from the Malampaya field is expected to start to be depleted by 2024 but Spex officials earlier said it could still produce until 2027 to 2030.

The $4.5-billion Malampaya-gas-to-power project is the second biggest source of electric power in the Luzon and supplies fuel to five power plants in Luzon with combined installed capacity of 3,200 megawatts, representing about 21 percent of the national demand for electricity.

Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, chairman of the Senate committee on energy, earlier expressed concern over the imminent depletion of natural gas from the Malampaya field.

“We’re racing against time. If we fail to act now, we could be experiencing anew a debilitating rotational brownout by 2024 once our power supply from the Malampaya gas field is depleted,” Gatchalian said in a statement earlier.

BSP widens distribution of trust funds

SEAOIL’S 500TH STATION. SEAOIL, an independent fuel company, opens its 500th station along Meralco Ave. in San Antonio, Pasig City. It also opened stations in Quezon City, Batangas, Mindoro, Pampanga, Cabanatuan, Abra, Compostela Valley, Iloilo, Aklan, Cotabato and Davao. SEAOIL chief executive Glenn Yu says the opening of the 500th station is part of the company’s goal to fuel a better future in communities and neighborhoods.

2,634 or 85% of economic zone companies resume operations ABOUT 2,634 companies or about 85 percent resumed operations in economic zones, according to the Philippine Economic Zone Authority.

PEZA director-general Charito Plaza the establishments had an active workforce of 1,181,115 million as of early September.

“Among the companies, 77 percent of the IT-BPO sector are now operating while in the manufacturing sector, 91 percent are already operational,” Plaza said.

The Mactan Export Processing Zone Chamber of Exporters and Manufacturers Inc. said companies and their supply chain partners made efforts to continue operations during the quarantine period despite incurring huge losses.

Plaza said PEZA’s ecozone locators were the ones helping to keep the econ-

omy afloat by ensuring their continuous operations and sustaining the creation of jobs, livelihood and other economic opportunities.

“Their operations helped to continuously earn export income for the country, which strengthened the value of the peso with the reduction of the domestic importation,” she said.

“In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is just as important to retain existing incentives, investments and jobs to create and attract new investments and jobs. Let us think globally while acting locally,” Plaza said.

PEZA reiterated its appeal to Congress for the retention and enhancement of the current fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.

“The disastrous effects of the pandemic to our economy supports the

position of PEZA all along for the continued grant of incentives under Republic Act No. 7916, or the Special Economic Zone Act, as amended and at the same time its further enhancement to make the country more competitive, to keep the existing investors and to attract more foreign investments,” said Plaza.

Plaza said the fiscal incentives of PEZA proved to be globally competitive, tested and tried to continually attract exporters and ecozone developers over the years. These incentives compensated for the high cost of doing business in the Philippines, she said.

“With the global pandemic, we need to do enhance our incentives to make it more attractive for getting investors who are moving out of other countries like China,” she said. Othel V. Campos

THE Monetary Board, the policymaking body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, expanded the distribution channels of trust corporations for unit investment trust funds to further develop the capital markets.

UITFs are ready-made investments that allow the pooling of funds from different investors with similar investment objectives. These funds are managed by professional managers and are invested in several financial instruments, such as money market securities, bonds and equities which offer higher return than traditional bank deposit products.

BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno said Wednesday the board approved the guidelines that allow trust corporations to distribute their UITFs through third parties, specifically individual and institutional agents.

Diokno said this was in support of the BSP’s advocacy to promote financial inclusion by broadening access points to innovative financial products and services.

“Through this policy, agents are expected to bring products closer to investors. At the same time, it is an opportunity for the industry to grow assets under management through partnerships with distributors,” he said.

“More products in the market will also bode well for capital market development,” Diokno said.

Trust corporations distribute UITFs through their main offices. The rules therefore provide other channels that may be used by trust corporations to offer their products.

Diokno said third-party providers should abide by stringent qualification standards to qualify as distributors.

Individual agents and employees of institutional agents are required to meet the qualifications for UITF marketing personnel in existing regulations while institutional agents should be reputable and duly licensed by appropriate regulatory agencies to distribute financial products. Julito G. Rada

Budget deficit reached P741b in eight months

By Julito G. Rada THE government incurred a budget deficit of P40.1 billion in August, wider than the P2.5-billion shortfall a year ago, as revenue collection fell by more than 13 percent amid the health crisis, the Bureau of the Treasury said Wednesday.

“The fiscal outturn resulted from the 13.05-percent year-over-year decrease in government receipts due to the continued impact of the pandemic outbreak with minimal growth in government expenditures for the period,” the Treasury said.

The figure brought the deficit in the first eight months to P740.7 billion, up 515 percent from the P120.4-billion shortfall in the same period last year.

Total revenues in August reached P243.2 billion, down by P36.5 billion from a year ago. Tax revenues made up for 96 percent or P233.1 billion of the total collections while the remaining 4 percent or P10.1 billion was raised through non-tax sources.

Eight-month collections reached P1.931 trillion, down by 7.67 percent or P160.4 billion from the same period last year.

The Bureau of Internal Revenue’s collections went down by 8.59 percent in August to P187.9 billion and by 10.26 percent in the eight-month period to P1.303 trillion.

“This already comprised 77 percent of the revised FY 2020 target of P1.685 trillion, but only 58 percent when compared to the original program. BIR needs a monthly average collection of P96 billion for the rest of the year to reach its revised full-year program,” the Treasury said.

The Bureau of Customs raised P44.4 billion in August, down by 17.19 percent from the previous year on lower import volumes caused by the pandemic. Cumulative revenues also dropped 15.55 percent or P64 billion to P347.3 billion and represented only 51 percent of the original program.

IN BRIEF

Bidding for Malaya power plant fails again STATE-RUN Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. declared a failure the third round of public auction for the 650-megawatt Malaya Thermal Power Plant and its underlying property in Pillilla, Rizal after none of the pre-qualified bidders submitted a bid.

“The PSALM board already rationalized and lowered the minimum bid price of Malaya in the hope that the bidders would be encouraged to submit their bids. It is regrettable that despite the reduced minimum price, still no bidder submitted a bid.” PSALM president and chief executive officer Irene Besido-Garcia said in a statement.

PSALM set the deadline for submission of bids at 12 noon Wednesday. The minimum bid price for the MTPP for THE third round of public bidding was placed at P2,188,400,000 which was substantially lower than the minimum bid price during the second round of public bidding on Nov. 22, 2019 at P4,481,796,017.

The two pre-qualified bidders were Panasia Energy Inc. and AC Energy Philippines Inc. which both failed to submit a final bid.

Alena Mae S. Flores

UK firm rates Smart, Globe as ‘rising stars’ A UK-BASED mobile analytics company recognized two leading mobile operators in the Philippines as global “rising stars” and the most improved carriers in terms of 4G availability and video experience.

Opensignal said in a report Smart Communications Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. reached the category of global rising stars for 4G availability and video experience by showing scores comfortably above the global average.

Global rising stars is a category that celebrates the recent achievements of 30 operators where users saw the greatest improvement in mobile network experience between the first half of 2019 and the first half of 2020.

It awards four critical measures of the mobile network experience--video experience, download speed experience, upload speed experience and 4G availability.

Smart is a global rising Star for 4G availability as the average proportion of time that users on its network spent connected to 4G rose by 17.9 percent, an absolute increase of 13 percentage points between first half of 2019 and first half of 2020. Darwin G. Amojelar

MerryMart, FoodPanda team up in ‘dark grocery’ MERRYMART Consumer Corp. teamed up with FoodPanda Philippines to operate and pioneer the “dark grocery” store concept in the country that will cater to online deliveries.

A dark supermarket refers to a retail outlet or distribution center that exclusively serves online shopping.

MerryMart said in a disclosure to the stock exchange wholly-owned unit MerryMart Grocery Centers Inc. signed an agreement with FoodPanda to start operating the first two dark grocery stores in Makati and Manila in October.

“This concept is a real game changer in the online grocery space. Imagine being able to buy exactly what you need, when you need it, and for it to arrive at your doorstep in a very short span of time. We are glad to join forces with the global delivery platform FoodPanda to power this ‘dark grocery’ store concept as they are the leaders in the online food delivery space,” said MerryMart chairman Edgar Sia II. Sia said the dark grocery stores would open in select hidden locations that are exclusively intended for online deliveries.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Sports

Murray stars as Nuggets punch Lakers back in Game 3 ORLANDO—Jamal Murray scored 28 points as the Denver Nuggets held off a ferocious late fightback from the Los Angeles Lakers to roar back into contention in the Western Conference finals series on Tuesday.

Murray nailed two crucial late threepointers in the closing minutes as Denver held on for a 114-106 victory in game three to reduce the Lakers’ lead to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

But the Nuggets—who looked in complete control for long periods of the contest—were given a mighty scare by the Lakers in a thrilling fourth-quarter battle.

The Lakers had trailed by 20 points with just over 10 minutes remaining but whittled away the Denver lead to just three points with 3min 53sec left on the clock in Orlando.

But just as it looked as if LeBron James and Anthony Davis were poised to complete a remarkable comeback, Murray regrouped to take the game away from the Lakers.

The 23-year-old Canadian’s threepointer from 26 feet gave Denver a seven-point advantage at 106-99 and he then provided the assist for Paul Millsap to make it 108-99.

With less than a minute on the clock, Murray struck the dagger blow with a 29-foot three-point jumpshot to make it 111-99 and effectively seal victory.

Denver coach Michael Malone said his team—who had suffered an agonising buzzer-beater defeat in game two on Sunday—were determined not to go 3-0 down in the series.

The Nuggets have already overturned 3-1 series deficits en route to the Western Conference finals.

‘Not ready to go’ “I had no doubt we were going to show up tonight,” Malone said.

“We have won six straight elimination games. Everybody always has us packing our bags and leaving, but we’re not ready to go. They’re a very resilient group and they have proved that time and time again.”

Asked about his late flourish, Murray said he had set out to lead by example.

“That’s my whole energy, my whole approach to the game, not getting down if I miss a couple of shots,” Murray said.

“I’m just trying to be aggressive... but the most important part is the energy I bring when I’m talking to my teammates, being a vocal leader, getting up and down and pushing everybody so they tend to follow. I just wanted to see them have a lot of fun today.”

The Lakers meanwhile were left reflecting on an uneven display which ultimately left James and Davis with too much to do.

James led the scoring with a triple

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Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Rajon Rondo of the Los Angeles Lakers steals the ball from Jamal Murray of the Denver Nuggets during Game Three of the Western Conference Finals of the NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena in Orlando, Florida. AFP

Transparency in POC tops Arenas’ agenda

By Peter Atencio

PORTS officials with a track record on good governance and transparency are joining archery chief Clint Aranas as he seeks the presidency of the Philippine Olympic Committee in the coming elections this November.

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POC chairman Steve Hontiveros of handball and Former Philippine Sports Commission chairman Philip Ella Juico of athletics will form part of his ticket when polls are held on Nov. 27.

The unblemished record of Hontiveros as a long time hand in the POC, and Juico’s good showing as head of the Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, has convinced Aranas to team up with the two.

Hontiveros will once again seek the post of chairman, while Juico will run for the position of first vice president.

“He (Hontiveros) has never been involved in any scandal. As for Popoy Juico, he had a good run as chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission, and as for his NSA (national sports associa-

tion) of athletics, they had the biggest haul in the Southeast Asian Games,” said Aranas, who heads World Archery Philippines.

So far, transparency in the governance of the POC will be among his agenda when he goes for the presidency.

Aranas does not have a candidate for second vice president. But he will support the bid of Ada Milby, who is the secretary general of the Philippine Rugby Football Union.

Milby, 37, is seeking the post as an independent.

“I like her because she is outspoken, she speaks her mind,” added Aranas.

Aranas said he has no choice but to go against the bid of Congressman Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, who will seek

a full four-year term as POC president during the polls.

“I have no choice, no other NSA leader wants to run against the incumbent,” said Aranas.

More members of Aranas’ ticket will be known in the coming days.

Tolentino, who is the president of the Integrated Cycling Federation, earlier revealed that Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Al Panlilio and Ormoc City mayor Richard Gomez are joining his ticket.

Panlilio, who is also the president of Smart Communications and chief revenue officer of PLDT, is seeking the post of first vice president. On the other hand, Gomez, who is the president of fencing and the modern pentathlon federation, will campaign to win the second vice president post.

Tolentino became the POC president following special elections in July last year.

At that time, Tolentino won over uico and took over the unfinished term of boxing head Ricky Vargas.

Zamboanga confident she’ll get to Angela Lee first CALL it bad timing or downright bad luck for Denice “The Menace” Zamboanga, but the 23-year-old Filipina is making due with the hand she was dealt.

Immediately after being named the number one contender to ONE Atomweight World Champion “Unstoppable” Angela Lee, the COVID-19 pandemic brought the entire world to a standstill, delaying her shot at a ONE World Title.

Zamboanga wants to keep active, however, and that’s exactly why she took on Watsapinya “Dream Girl” Kaewkhong at ONE: A NEW BREED in August, even if it meant risking her top contender spot.

“I know everything’s not yet normal and I know it will take a long time to face my idol, but if ONE championship gives us an opportunity again to stay active in fighting, I’m going to fight again,” Zamboanga told Michael Schiavello in an interview at ONEFC.com.

But the longer the travel restrictions last, the higher the chances of Zamboanga being cut in line.

That’s because some fans are salivating over a mixed martial arts fantasy matchup between Lee and former two-sport World Champion Stamp Fairtex.

It’s not like Stamp is undeserving. Like Zamboanga,

Denice Zamboanga

she hasn’t yet lost in mixed martial arts. The Filipina, however, isn’t losing sleep over it.

“I wasn’t upset. I know that Stamp and Angela are champions. I understand that a lot of people want to see Stamp and Angela. They’re both champions, they’re famous, and I have only fought twice,” Zamboanga said.

“But after competing in my last fight, maybe I have proven that I have what it takes as well.”

Speaking of fantasy matchups, a clash between Zamboanga and Stamp is also an intriguing clash given that the pair aren’t training at the same gym anymore.

But because of her friendship with Stamp, it’s a match that Zamboanga hopes to avoid, unless there’s no way around it. In that case, she’ll treat it as a purely professional endeavour.

“I love Stamp. We’re very close. We trained together before. It’s going to be hard for both of us to fight against each other. I don’t want to have some sort of rivalry between us and I really want to keep that friendship,” Zamboanga said.

“Maybe in the future, if we talk about business, but right now I am focused on my World Title shot.”

Catch ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES on 9 October for free by downloading the ONE Super App.

Blacklist order on Global FC may hamper PFL stint A BLACKLIST order on Global FC may prevent the club team from joining the Philippine Football League’s opening matches.

After receiving more than 15 complaints for alleged non-payment of salaries from the players and employees of Global FC last August, the Games and Amusements Board decided to hand down stiff sanctions on the team.

“Global Makati Football Club is hereby ordered blacklisted and barred from applying or renewing

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its license, transacting with GAB, or otherwise acting as a professional licensee of this board until further orders of the board upon the filing of the required answer under oath,” the GAB said in a written notice.

Players, led by Anton Del Rosario and Milan Nikoli, claimed they were not paid their salaries, adding that this has been going on since 2018.

The PFL has initially denied Global Makati its club license for

90 days, but GAB’s decision may prompt the league to come up with more sanctions.

Last August 4, GAB issued a show cause order by sending a motu proprio complaint against the management of the Global FC to the latter’s last known address in Makati.

The motu proprio complaint states that should the members of the management, such as owners, managers, and other team off icials, fail to act on the alleged violation, their licenses will be

revoked or suspended.

The GAB’s blacklist order came out following a lack of response from the management and owners of Global FC. “We are unhappy about what happened and we are acting on the complaint of the players, whose livelihood and careers have been affected. I hope this serves as a deterrent and lesson to others who may do the same,” said GAB chairman Abraham Mitra in a statement.

Peter Atencio

James de los Santos

De los Santos extends win streak to 11 DRAWING inspiration from two fellow karatekas who he helped take podium finishes, James de los Santos extended his winning streak to 11.

In sharing his techniques with younger practitioners, the 30-yearold De los Santos found the strength and energy to earn another gold medal in the Tokaido Maribor Open E-Tournament.

Because of his winning ways, De los Santos earned more points and moved closer at earning the top spot in the world rankings.

This time, De los Santos came away with a 5-0 blanking of Swiss rival Matias Domont in the finals of the individual male seniors category.

His techniques were again difficult, with the graceful movements of Unsu allowing De los Santos to blank his rival.

“I used Unsu for the finals once again. I kept repeating the kata until I was ready to have it recorded,” said De los Santos, who reached the finals following a 4-1 triumph over Angel Sanchez of Bolivia.

While recording his video performances, De los Santos had two students of the Maharlika Karatedo Kai of the Philippines International in mind, because he shared his experiences with them before they submitted their presentations.

Because of his tips, Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain prevailed over Latvia’s Varietjeva Jelizaveta, 4-1, for the gold in the final round of the the women’s under-15 tournament of the kata division in the same tournament.

On the other hand, Julie Anne Marcos settled for the bronze in her 22.27-22.9 loss to Pia Krauzer in the Austrian Junior Open online meet.

“Seeing them compete makes me even exert more effort in my performance. It’s always a great feeling to share your success with others,” said De los Santos.

With his 11th straight win, De los Santos now has 7105 points at second spot. He is now getting close to world no. 1 Eduardo Garcia, who has 8125 points.

Over the weekend, De los Santos bagged two more medals. He clinched his 10th following a close 24.8-24.5 triumph over Garcia in the finals of the the SportData eTournament World Series #4.

His ninth gold medal came when De los Santos got past Murillo Alves of Brazil, 24.6-23.6, in the Hatamoto Kai Mitad Del Mundo E-Tournament. Peter Atencio

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Sports

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

National Youth, Masters Chess set

Geisler: PTA’s accusations baseless

By Peter Atencio OLYMPIAN Donnie Geisler believes that the issues hurled against him by the Philippine Taekwondo Association are baseless.

Geisler said this after the PTA declared the Philippines’ two-time representative to the Olympics persona non grata.

“From the looks of it, these are all baseless and intended to create leverage against me,” said Geisler.

The PTA’s issues with Geisler started when he began organizing an online Zoom session with national athletes Samuel Morrison and Arven Alcantara without prior notice from the PTA. Later, Pauline Lopez and Jeordan Dominguez were asked to join the same online classes.

Before giving their nod, they asked Geisler to seek permission from the PTA. Geisler talked about his side on the PTA’s decision, which was posted last Monday on the association’s Facebook page.

Morrison and Alcantara were reprimanded

by PTA for their participation in the webinar, while Lopez was forbidden from participating in Geisler’s online activities.

On June 24, Geisler f iled a complaint against the PTA before the Philippine Competition Commission.

Later, on July 6, Geisler sued PTA secretary general Rocky Samson for libel and cyberlibel.

Cardboard figures of pictures of fans are seen on the stands before the start of the closed-door Copa Libertadores group phase football match between Ecuador’s Liga de Quito and Brazil’s Sao Paulo at the Rodrigo Paz Delgado stadium in Quit amid the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic. AFP

Sports events face 6 more months of empty stadiums L ONDON—Sports clubs and associations in England are bracing themselves for six more months without paying spectators after plans for a fans’ return in October were scrapped on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the House of Commons the government could not go ahead with the planned reopening of venues on a socially distanced basis from October 1 due to a sharp rise in coronavirus infections.

He suggested the measures would remain in place for “perhaps six months”, making it almost certain the sports sector will need some financial support from the government to prevent an unprecedented loss of professional and grassroots clubs from the landscape.

It is a devastating blow to sporting organisations, many of whom rely heavily on match-day revenue for survival, and there have already been calls from governing bodies for emergency funding.

Sports governing bodies held an emergency meeting with the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden to discuss the impact of the decision.

Professional sport, including the Premier League and Test cricket, has largely been played behind closed doors since it returned following the coronavirus shutdown earlier this year.

The English Football League has estimated its clubs will lose a collective £200 million ($255 million) without fans in stadiums for the whole of the 2020/21 season.

The Premier League warned of the “devastating impact” the continued absence of supporters was having on its clubs and communities.

“Last season, Premier League clubs suffered £700 million in losses and at present, our national game is losing more than £100 million per month,” it said in a statement.

“This is starting to have a devastating impact on clubs and their communities.”

Government aid The Rugby Football Union has called for government aid, estimating a loss of more than £100 million from a lack of crowds at

Twickenham for autumn internationals and Six Nations games alone.

“From the outset we have been clear that an autumn without crowds would leave us with little choice but to approach the government for financial help,” said chief executive Bill Sweeney.

“Unfortunately, we are now in that position. Without support we are in danger of clubs at the heart of communities across England, as well as players and volunteers, disappearing forever.”

The Jockey Club also called for direct government support, saying the lack of paying spectators threatened the survival of sports organisations and the livelihoods they supported.

English cricket recently revealed it had lost £100 million as a result of the pandemic and that could double with further disruption next year.

“The impact of having to stage cricket behind closed doors again next year would be severe,” said a statement from the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said the government would “work together” with sports representatives on limiting the damage caused by the virus. AFP

Dodgers win 8th straight NL West title LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Dodgers blasted aside the Oakland Athletics 7-2 to clinch an eighth consecutive National League West title on Tuesday.

The Dodgers, chasing a first World Series title since 1988, overpowered the Athletics with home runs from Max Muncy, Chris Taylor, A.J. Pollock and Corey Seager at an empty Dodger Stadium.

The result, combined with San Diego’s defeat to the Los Angeles Angels, ensured the Dodgers topped the NL West once again.

It also gives the Dodgers the number one seeding heading into the National League playoffs. The Los Angeles powerhouses are hoping to end a 32-year wait for a World Series crown after several recent near-misses.

The Dodgers lost in both the 2017 and 2018 World Series, and made an early exit in the playoffs last year to eventual winners the Washington Nationals.

Elsewhere Tuesday, the Atlanta Braves wrapped up a third straight National League

MIAMI Heat vs. the Denver Nuggets in the NBA finals.

Sorry, but this is not a prediction on my part at all, but is it possible? Yes, it is possible, just like it is possible for the sun not to rise tomorrow, or for the world to end tomorrow, too.

I have long been in the corporate management world and part of the job is to look at different situations and see potential problems, and thus the question if it’s possible always comes up.

My stock answer, of course is, it is

Murray...

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double comprised of 30 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists, with six turnovers. Davis had 27 points, with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (12) and Kyle Kuzma (11) the only other Lakers players to crack double figures.

Murray, who also had 12 assists, was backed with 26 points from Jerami Grant while Nikola Jokic weighed in with 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.

“You put yourself in an 18-point hole, it’s tough to climb out of that,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

“I thought Denver played with great energy throughout the game. We didn’t match it early, we matched it late.

They’re a great basketball team so credit it to them for the win. They played a really good basketball game. AFP

Manager Dave Roberts (30) and Mookie Betts (50) of the Los Angeles Dodgers sit in the center of a team picture, after a 7-2 win over the Oakland Athletics, to win the National League West Division at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.

AFP

East title with an 11-1 rout of the Marlins.

Marcell Ozuna hit two home runs in a onesided victory for the Braves, who saw pitcher Bryse Wilson toss five scoreless innings.

“This is different,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I’m proud of how they handled this whole situation over the past few months.

Everything about this year is different, but we’re the champs. It’s hard to do that once, let alone we’ve had three in a row here.”

In Cleveland, Jose Ramirez smashed a threerun homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to give the Indians a 5-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox and clinch a postseason berth.

The Chicago Cubs meanwhile secured their postseason ticket despite losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cubs advanced after Washington swept the Philadelphia Phillies in their double-header.

This year’s Major League Baseball season was reduced to 60 games following a delay to the start of the campaign caused by the coronavirus pandemic. AFP

Possible but not probable

THE BOTTOM LINE LITO CINCO

THE Endgame Sports Multi-Events, Inc. and National Chess Federation of the Philippines are teaming up in staging the 2020 National Youth Online Chess Championships and Masters Challenge set September 29 to October 10.

A guaranteed cash pot worth P77,000 will be up for grabs in the tournament divided into several agegroup categories—boys open and girls divisions for 7-Under, 9-under, 11-under, 13-under, 15-under and 17-under—plus the masters event for older players including titled ones.

“It is the goal of Endgame Sports to encourage the youth to keep on focusing their training and attain new heights,” said Endgame Sports founding president Cris Aspiras.

“Youth program is the main thrust of the National chess program, they have my support,” said NCFP president Cong. Butch Pichay.

For inquiries, interested parties may contact Michelle Yaon at 09668108378 or may log in at www.endgamesportsmgmt.com.

The tournament will start the qualifying tournaments in 7U, 9U and 11U at 9 a.m. on Sept. 29 followed by the 13U, 15U and 17U the next day and the Masters Challenge on Oct. 1.

The grand finals is set on Oct. 3-4 for 7U, 9U, 11U, Oct. 6-7 for 13U, 15U and 17U and Oct. 9-10 dor the masters using the time control of 15 minutes plus a five-second increment.

Registration is free to all seeing action in the 7U, 9U, 11U and 13U levels while those playing in the 15U, 17U and masters class must pay P100 to join with all required to have lichess, viber and Zoom accounts.

possible. But look more on the chances of it happening and answer the question, is it probable instead.

So back to my first line, is it probable that a Heat-Nugget finals will happen? Sorry, but my answer is no. It is possible but not probable, with Denver playing the Lakers in the Western Conference finals, while the Heat are leading the Celtics, 2-1.

I honestly believe that this championship matchup between the Heat and the Nuggets was not considered likely at all. But of course, do not tell this to Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray (okay, include Michael Porter Jr. and Jerami Grant), the top guns of Denver. After all, they came back twice from 1-3 def-

icits against the Jazz and the Clippers, to be where they are.

And just now that I finished this piece right after Game 3 between Los Angeles and Denver, Jokic and Murray showed that their team’s ability to come back is for real as they kept their composure when the Lakers came roaring back in the final quarter from a 20-point deficit to close in to within 3 points. And now the score is 2-1, still for the Lakers, but certainly not the 3-0 hole people were expecting to see Denver mired in after Game 3 .

By the way, I have more reason to be happy about the Denver victory as I won an online P500 bet with the Nug-

gets having a plus 6.5 advantage. Truth is, they did not need the plus.

Now, does this make a MiamiDenver finals more possible, but still not probable? For one, if I were to bet again in Game 4, I think my money will go the Lakers this time.

And when this series ends, my gut feel tells me it will be the Lakers advancing to the finals.

You noticed I said gut feel and not according to my unreliable crystal ball? It is because I have given up on that ball and threw it away already.

But if the Nuggets prove me wrong again, I will certainly be happy because I am not a Laker fan, but more of a Celtics’ follower. For the Game 4

between the Heat and the Celtics, even with the Heat still up, 2-1, after the Celtics took Game 3, in the online betting, the Nuggets still have a plus 3.5.

But I am putting my money, where my mouth is and bet on Boston.

I just believe that Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, and Jaylen Brown, now joined by Gordon Hayward, who contributed substantially in Game 3 after missing several games previously, is a better team than Jimmy Butler and his crew, more so that veteran Andre Iguodala is reportedly doubtful for Game 4.

And in the end, I see a LakersCeltics finals—a scenario that is more probable than possible for me.

Entertainment

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

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Contemporary dance performance highlights social media’s beauty standards

YUGEL LOSORATA

Bond of brothers Bradz, which just released a new song called ’LBM (Ligayang Bigay Mo)‘, will deliver its first virtual concert this Sunday at 7:00 in the evening.

T

HERE’S no denying the bond that ties the three musically gifted Naval brothers of Taytay, Rizal, namely, Sean, Chris, and JC. They agreed to collectively name themselves Bradz, a colloquial term for brothers, which only strengthened their sense of pride of having the same parents and growing up together.

Watching their live performances and hearing their songs should make you wonder why there’s such a thing as sibling rivalry when brothers can instead just play good unadulterated pop band music and not for a second display an effort to upstage the others. They play respective roles and know for sure the essence of the cliche that says “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”

“Different invites sprouted after they have performed on the iconic Wish Bus,” informs a press release provided by BMPI (Breakthrough and Milestones Productions International, Inc) which inked a management deal with the boys two years ago.

It was a performance referring to their Wishclusive take of their

original song “Pag-ibig.” The track is feel-good showcase of happy Tagalog pop carried by the basic mix of electric and bass guitars and drums, and delicately wrapped by their vocal harmonies. It’s no surprise they initially called themselves Voysing when they joined an acoustic band mall competition eight years ago.

The song’s chorus line simply goes, “Pag-ibig Ko Sayo/ Kailanma’y di magbabago.” Yet, when sung well together with a steady rhythm section, the message comes off in a more illuminating color combination. At first, one should be intrigued why they employed the classic Beatlesque “Love, love, love” hook on their song, yet the thrill and sincerity in their voices made it pass the security railing without a fuss.

The attention the song garnered prompted that famed ABS CBN’s Sunday night program Gandang Gabi Vice to use it as background music during its guesting of the famous Korean girl group Momoland. It ultimately resulted to the group performing a production number with known celebrities at the 1st Wish Music Awards held in 2015 at the Araneta Coliseum.

With momentum on their side, Bradz interpreted the likably tuneful “Tugtog” during the 2018 A Song of Praise Music Festival (ASOP) Grand Finals. The song composed

by John Paul Salazar was named Grand Champion and beat 11 other contenders. Both their interpretation and the composition, for all its strong recall, represented Bradz as an act fairly better than “Pag-ibig.”

It’s high time for BMPI to stage the troika’s maiden virtual concert this Sunday ( Sept. 27) at 7:00 p.m.. The digital show will feature performances from former Rivermaya lead vocalist Jason Fernandez, folk-pop singer-songwriter Eloisa Jayloni, rock band Itchyworms, and singersongwriter Barbie Almalbis-Honasan.

For e-tickets, contact the following mobile numbers, 09955000615/ 0995923629/ 09668102400 or email at events@bmpicorp.com.

ABS-CBN Films’ digital catalog hits 30 million views ABS-CBN Films continues to deliver entertainment that resonates with Filipinos featuring promising new talents, this time in the digital space to give its online audiences quality entertainment during the pandemic.

The movie production company known for blockbuster movies gave viewers a reason to stay glued online with its roster of offerings that include talk shows, a variety show, an innovative new visual podcast, and the most-watched digital series, which have garnered close to a combined total of 30 million views.

Now totaling 10.1 million views is the one-hour talk-variety-musical show I Feel U hosted by Toni Gonzaga. The show gave Filipino fans and their families here and abroad a chance to reconnect with its diverse and heartwarming show features that include reunions of famous TV show casts, mini-concerts, contests, and tributes to heroes in the pandemic.

Netizens won’t miss it as the show is live streamed every Sunday at 9:30 a.m. with a replay at 5:00 p.m.on the Facebook pages of Star Cinema, Black Sheep, TFC, ABS-CBN Entertainment, Star Music, One Music, Jeepney TV, MyChos, as well as the YouTube pages of Star Cinema and Jeepney TV. It is also available on the Star Cinema and oks.abs-cbn.com websites and the newly merged iWant TFC. On cable, viewers can catch it on Cinema One, Jeepney TV, and Myx while catch-up viewing is on the Kapamilya Online Live via the ABS-CBN Entertainment Facebook page.

After a successful first run that premiered in May, the show is now on its second season.

The pandemic did not stop ABS-CBN Films from discovering and introducing new artists. Via its new management team, Rise Artists Studio, the company produced a twin set of shows with sixteen young faces.

We Rise Together is a youth-oriented variety show that features the Rise Artists

nickie.standard@gmail.com

With 14 million views, ‘Hello, Stranger’ holds the distinction of being the most viewed local digital series.

Listen to Love’ is an innovative new kind of entertainment format. Its first book titled ‘Four Bad Boys and Me’ is hosted by Maymay Entrata.

Studio talents in lively chat sessions and games. It live streams every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 12:00 noon on Rise Artists Studio’s Facebook and YouTube accounts, oks.abs-cbn.com, iWant TFC, and Kumu and has replays on the same platforms in the evening.

Giving the show’s fans a chance to get closer to their Rise Artists Studio idols is Rise Here, Right Now, an Instagram live spinoff that is now on Kumu that comes on every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

ABS-CBN Films also gave Filipinos an innovative new kind of entertainment

format with the visual podcast series, Listen to Love. Its first book titled, Four Bad Boys and Me, is hosted by Maymay Entrata and features Kaori Oinuma, Rhys Miguel, Jeremiah Lisbo, Karina Bautista, Aljon Mendoza, with Chie Filomeno.

Listen to Love can be enjoyed in a variety of ways. To catch it, fans can go to the Facebook pages of Star Cinema, Black Sheep, Rise, MyChos, ABS-CBN Entertainment, Star Magic, Star Hunt, TFC, and Star Cinema’s YouTube channel.

The show is also on the music streaming app Spotify and podcast apps from Apple, Pocket Cast, Google, and Overcast as well as the Star Cinema and oks.abs-cbn.com websites, Jeepney TV, and iWant TFC. Launched only in late August, the visual podcast already has a combined total of 4.6 million views.

ABS-CBN Films also produced the phenomenal digital series Hello Stranger.

Belonging to the now popular boys love or BL genre, the digital series gave Filipinos a chance to fall in love with the pairing of a nerdy college student and a school jock, played JC Alcantara and Tony Labrusca, respectively.

The show recently ended but it can still be viewed on Black Sheep’s Facebook page and YouTube channel, on iWant TFC, and on cable via Cinema One. During the show’s entire run, it consistently became the number one trending Twitter topic in the Philippines.

It has also crossed borders and garnered a steady international following, trending worldwide including countries such as the United States, Puerto Rico, Belarus, and Thailand.

Hello, Stranger’s success prompted ABS-CBN to give fans a chance to interact with the series stars in a finale fan conference and advanced finale screening, attracting viewers from across the globe including Jakarta, Bangkok, Taipei, Doha, Paris, Chicago, London, Vancouver, San Diego, Dublin, Melbourne, Toronto, Seattle, Calgary, Riyadh, Kiel, Barcelona, Sharjah, Kuwait, Houston, Rio de Janeiro, Al Kobar, Bethlehem, and Copenhagen.

With close to 14 million views, it is now the most viewed digital series in the Philippines. Fans waiting to see the stars together again won’t have to wait long as the show will soon have a movie spin-off.

For updates on ABS-CBN Films’ offerings, subscribe to the YouTube channels and follow the Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages of Star Cinema, Black Sheep, Rise, Star Hunt, ABS-CBN Entertainment, and Star Magic.

WITNESS how social media and its depiction of today’s concept of beauty affects the mental health of youth in Ang Natutulog na si Byuti, a contemporary dance performance that brings light to self-acceptance and self-love.

A metaphorical retelling of the classic fairy tale Sleeping Beauty, Ang Natutulog na si Byuti narrates the story of 15-year-old Beauty, whose pursuit towards social media fame created a confident online persona that masks her burgeoning inferiority complex, anxiety and body image issues.

At a time wherein the opinion of social media influencers and followers shapes one’s perception of the self, this ‘Ang Natutulog na si Byuti’ is a metaphorical retelling of the classic fairy performance attempts to remind this tale ‘Sleeping Beauty.’ generation’s youth of important values that go beyond aesthetics.

Romancon Dance Company (SBRDC) The adaptation is directed by former of the De La Salle-College of Saint Ballet Philippines principal dancer Benilde.

Carissa Adea.

Ang Natutulog na si Byuti premieres Written by homegrown talents and online tomorrow (Sept. 25) at 6:00 p.m.. contemporary dancers Kayla Coseteng, The performance is free and open to the Michelle Miranda, and Princess public. Watch through the group’s official Balido, the show is performed by the Facebook account at https://www.facebook. internationally lauded Saint Benilde com/romancondanceco.benilde.

EXTRA INTERNATIONAL

‘Cuties’ is a film about an 11-year-old Senegalese immigrant in France who rebels against her conservative culture by hurling herself into certain extremities of the modern world.

Directors defend controversial Netflix film against Republican onslaught A GROUP of international filmmakers on Tuesday defended the director of Cuties against attacks by Republicans who have pulled the French film into the US election fray.

Statements by Republican lawmakers and an online campaign have tapped into concern over child sexual molestation, making the film political leverage in the battle to re-elect Republican President Donald Trump.

Filmmaker Maimouna Doucoure was the subject of "unfounded, caricatural and despicable attacks" in the US where Cuties is available on Netflix, the film directors said in a statement received by AFP. "This incredibly violent campaign, which has led to death threats against the director, is being carried out by some Republican senators and ultraconservative networks who use and manipulate this film for political purposes and as part of the US presidential campaign," the filmmakers said.

Signatories include Gremlins maker

DIGITAL MEDIA

Look who’s on Viber

Never miss out on the newest updates on your favorite Kapuso stars and interact with them in just a click of a button with the GMA Entertainment Viber Community.

Joe Dante, Tin Drum director Volker Schloendorff, Cristian Mungiu, who won the Cannes festival's top prize with 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, as well as Frenchman Bertrand Tavernier and Belgians Lucas Belvaux and Luc Dardenne.

"The controversy thus organized against this film has a name, which unfortunately punctuates the history of cinema: censorship!" they said.

The film, called Mignonnes in French, portrays a young, rebellious French Senegalese girl who joins a pre-teen hip-hop dance group that is pushed into performing suggestive dances.

The film earned director Doucoure an award at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

In Washington Post op-ed, Doucoure said her film was about the objectification of women and children, and the pressure pre-teen girls feel to be pretty and sexy.

She had hoped “to start a debate about the sexualization of children in society today,” she said. AFP

NEVER miss out on the newest updates on your favorite Kapuso stars and interact with them in just a click of a button with the GMA Entertainment Viber Community.

Highlighting the special bond that GMA fans and celebrities have created through similar interests and love for all things Kapuso, this Viber Community is another avenue where fans can get up to the minute showbiz news, trends, and behind-the-scenes stories about various GMA artists while gaining friends online.

At the same time, the Kapuso Viber Chat feature treats fans to chat with their favorite Kapuso artists.

Also making daily conversations even more fun and colorful is the Proud to be Kapuso Sticker Pack that includes various stickers that showcase witty catchphrases from artists and references from well-loved GMA shows. These exclusive Kapuso stickers will be downloadable soon.

Join the GMA Entertainment Viber Community now to catch up with your friends while being in the loop with the latest chika.

For more info, go to https://bit.ly/ GMAEntertainmentViber.

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

C4

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Fall in love, live in fall

Life HOUSEHOLD

CREATE YOUR AUTUMN DREAM.

The new collection of Crate and Barrel features sumptuous leather and sleek silhouettes that offer a variety of fall design ideas.

Rustic meets modern in Wells Leather Sofa from the Modern Prairie collection (left) while natural materials and chic design shine in Urban Retreat’s Fayette Bar Cabinet, Vernet Travertine End Table, and Diderot Chair.

By Steph Llarena

Y

UMMY pumpkin colors, sumptuous leather, plush sheepskin, and dark and earthy neutrals bring many fourseason-deprived Filipinos’ cozy autumn dreams to life.

Sculpt Chair

Andelyn Frosted Glass Hurricane Lamps

Highland Black Cabinet with sliding doors

Calder Cocktail Shaker

Olney Blue Beddings

DOMESTIC LIVING

Beko’s frontload washing machines boast features and functions that help rid clothes of dirt and allergens, while keeping them looking fresh after every wash.

Hand painted Stella Dinnerware

Home furniture and furnishings brand Crate and Barrel’s fall collection lets one create the ideal autumn in their home—not everything has to be amber and maroon, it appears.

The pieces are divided into four styles, namely Modern Prairie, Urban Retreat, New Deco, and Trove.

Modern Prairie is an update on the aesthetic of the Prairie School of Architects, a style marked by horizontal lines, open floor plans, and indigenous materials. Pieces under this style category are those that emphasize warm woods and natural materials that showcase exquisite quality and craft.

Soft textures, colored washed hues, sustainable materials, and welcoming silhouettes, meanwhile, are the star in Urban Retreat. Home furniture and furnishings that exude luxury for creating a blissful and relaxing space comprise this style category.

For the fall look that’s more glam than cozy, New Deco features statement pieces that are elegant and modern—think black and gold.

Fresh style meets timeless design.

Finally, Trove consists of pieces with energizing colors, striking silhouettes, and modern look that pay homage to Danish design. Spotlight is on the flexible, modular pieces that maximize style and function in small spaces.

To know if your desired pieces are available, contact Crate and Barrel SM Aura Premier at 0917-889-5667, SM Makati at 0917-5833573, or SM Megamall at 0917-870-4796.

Totem, Olcott, Olmstead, and Olympia vases

Artist’s rendering of the soon-to-open clubhouse exclusive to Prominence II residents.

A new home for expats, retirees A SUBURBAN community in Biñan, Laguna opens its doors to foreign nationals and retirees considering settling down in the Philippines.

Accredited by the Philippine Retirement Authority, Brentville International Community offers foreign nationals single-detached or singleattached house through the Condominium Certificate of Title (CCT) of Prominence II, a cluster in Brentville which offers a huge livable space.

Prominence II provides them with an active investment through purchase of single-detached homes, instead of making a Special Retiree’s Resident Visa (SRRV) deposit.

SRRV deposit for 50 years old and above is US$10,000 for those with pension and US$20,000 for those without pension, and US$50,000 for 35 to 49 years old. Required pension is US$800 for those who are single and US$1,000 for couples, while the value of the property should be at least US$50,000 when purchasing.

Prominence II offers a mix of Southern-Californian and Mediterranean-inspired townhouses and single-detached homes with expansive gardens and lawns. The “self-contained” community is located near educational institutions like Brent International School Manila and The Village Front that houses South Grocer shopping center.

To foster bonding and camaraderie among neighbors, as well as provide homeowners a space to stay healthy, Brentville announced a soon-to-be developed clubhouse,

featuring a swimming pool, pavilion area, and an open lawn with wide spaces, will be exclusive to dwellers of Prominence II. Developed with foreigners and balikbayans in mind, the suburb follows international standards for security and urban planning, providing wide roads, underground power and telecommunication infrastructure, water treatment facility, and wide landscaped common areas.

Strategically located right after Mamplasan exit, Brentville International Community is a 10-minute drive from Filinvest City, a 20-minute drive from Makati City via Skyway and South Luzon Expressway, and a 30-minute drive from Tagaytay City and the provinces of Laguna and Batangas via CALAX. Go to www.brentville.com or call 0917854-0121 for more information.

Brentville International Community is designed for foreign nationals and retirees considering settling down in Laguna.

Washers that clean and care ENSURING cleanliness, one that not only refers to what the eyes can see but also those disease-causing viruses and bacteria, has become more important now than ever.

European home appliances brand Beko therefore highlights the features and functions of its line of frontload washing machines that helps rid clothes of dirt and bacteria, while keeping them looking fresh after every wash.

Using AquaWave technology, the washing machines “massage” laundry items in a gentle wave-like manner through a set of paddles in the drum.

Beko says this feature ensures that the properties of antibacterial laundry detergents and other cleaning agents are

evenly absorbed by the fabric, while the washer saves energy.

One of the washers’ functions, the Anti-allergy program, meanwhile, washes clothes at high temperatures for longer and includes an additional rinse cycle to remove all bacteria and allergens like dust, pollen, and animal hair.

To aid busy folks in their laundry Beko washing machines promise ease of use. Simply put the pre-sorted clothes inside the drum, add detergent and softener, and push the “on” button. Once it’s on, spin-turn the dial clockwise to the preferred program—there are up to 16 washing programs to choose from, including Hygiene+, Anti-allergy, and Intensive—then press “start.”

The European brand’s washing machines aid busy folks in doing their laundry with easy to use washing programs.