Manila Standard - 2020 October 8 - Thursday

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‘House session break not illegal’

EMPTY FOR A MONTH.

The Session Hall of the House of Representatives lies empty on Wednesday after congressmen suspended their session on Tuesday, about nine days ahead of schedule, amid the leadership battle between Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco. The session will resume on November 16.

Palace tags it Cayetano’s ‘astute move’

By Vito Barcelo, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

M

ALACAÑANG on Wednesday said House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano’s move to suspend the session is not illegal, describing it as an “astute political move” to avoid infighting over the speakership that can take place on Oct. 14.

“There was a plenary vote that they will go on break already. That means no one can question... the speakership on Oct. 14. The earliest that they can do that is in November,” Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque told CNN. Roque, a former member of Congress, said this was not the first time that such Next page VOL. XXXIV • NO. 216 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Velasco, allies set rump meeting Oct.14 to force Speaker handover

By Maricel V. Cruz

SPEAKER-IN-WAITING and Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco will assume his post on Oct. 14 as his allies are set to hold a rump session of the House of Representatives on that

Public warned vs. increasing online attacks

By Rey E. Requejo and Julito Rada THE Department of Justice-Office of Cybercrime on Wednesday warned the public against online attacks perpetrated through email, text or phone calls.

This prompted the office to issue an advisory due to increasing reports from the public involving “phishing” electronic mails, “vishing” or voice phone/ calls, and “smishing” or SMS/text attack in relation to online banking.

“The objective thereof is to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details and usernames and passwords,” the advisory states.

Meanwhile, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas has warned the public on Wednesday to beware of online sellers advertising “brilliant” uncirculated

day.

Under a term-sharing agreement in July 2019, Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano would hold the speakership for the first 15 months of the 18th Congress while Velasco would take the remaining 21 months.

While Cayetano has maneuvered to stop the deal from going through this month, Velasco’s allies said they were confident they had enough votes to elect the Marinduque lawmaker as speaker on Oct. 14, despite the House decision to suspend sessions until Nov. 16.

But Cayetano allies, Deputy Speakers Luis Raymund Villafuerte and Neptali Gozales II of Mandaluyong, and Public Accounts committee chairman Rep. Michael Defensor said the holding of session on Oct. 14 is far-fetched and Next page

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM OCTOBER 7)

329,637 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

2,825 49,989

CIRCLE MAKEOVER. The newly

rehabilitated Anda Circle gleams with new lights and paint as it is officially opened to the public by the city government of Manila on Wednesday.

The monument was erected to honor Spanish official Simon de Anda y Salazar, who organized a resistance against the British occupation in 1762, and later served as the 41st governor general in the Philippines from 1770 to 1776. Danny Pata via GMA News

NEW

ACTIVE

5,925

60

273,723

437

DEATHS

RECOVERIES

NEW

NEW

WHO hopeful vaccine out by end of the year THE head of the World Health Organization remains hopeful that a vaccine to protect the public against the highly-infectious coronavirus may be ready before the end of 2020.

“There is hope that by the end of this year, we may have a vaccine. There is hope,” Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in final remarks to the WHO’s Executive Board on Tuesday (Wednesday in Manila).

Ready, however, does not necessarily

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LGUs urged to ban noisy activities during classes

LEGAL TENDER. The Bangko Sentral clarified that it has not issued ‘brilliant uncirculated’ 20-Piso coins (pictured).

Gov’t scraps electronic fare card fees, charges

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Wednesday issued an order removing the charges and fees on automated fare collection system (AFCS) cards for public utility vehicles.

“Now and therefore, for and in consideration of the foregoing, and to alleviate the burden of the riding public, this board directs all public utility vehicle operators and/or automatic fare collection system to remove any charges of fees imposed for the purchase/use Next page

THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Wednesday urged local governments to enforce ordinances banning videoke singing and noisy activities that may distract students from their online classes.

The Philippine National Police, an attached agency of the DILG, earlier said it would coordinate with local governments to regulate drinking and videoke sessions in public places.

“As disciplined and responsible parents and citizens, let’s help our students have quiet and peaceful surroundings so they can study well inside their home,” Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said in a statement.

Classes in public schools across the country opened last Monday through distance learning due to the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Año also urged local officials to ban illegal gambling activities

and drinking sessions, and to prohibit students from visiting internet cafes to avoid disturbance from users playing noisy computer games.

Año told vehicle owners to avoid unnecessary blowing of their car horns during school hours.

“Security, safety, and other measures that the PNP used to implement for the schools should be expanded to include Next page

STILL ADJUSTING.

Families continue to adjust to the blended learning program of the new school year on Wednesday. In General Santos City (left photo), Ruby Ann R. Carisma and her husband Kenneth – both teachers – ask their three children and a nephew to form a line for a proper Flag Ceremony played through their television inside their home. At Barangay Langkaan in Dasmarinas, Cavite, a young boy protects his sister from the rain as she uses a laptop outside their house to get a better internet signal and continue her online classes. DepEd Facebook and JR Josue

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Anti-vaxxer mis-info goes viral

By Jake Soriano, AFP

O

NLINE misinformation is leaching out from cheap mobile phones and free Facebook plans used by millions in the Philippines, convincing many to reject vaccinations for polio and other deadly diseases.

Childhood immunization rates have plummeted in the country -- from 87 percent in 2014 to 68 percent -- resulting in a measles epidemic and the reemergence of polio last year.

A highly politicized campaign that led to the withdrawal of dengue vaccine Dengvaxia in 2017 is widely seen as one of the main drivers of the fall.

But health experts also point to an explosion of vaccination-related misinformation that has undermined confidence in all types of immunizations.

In the northern city of Tarlac, government nurse Reeza Patriarca watched

with horror the impacts of Facebook posts that falsely claimed five people had died after receiving an unspecified vaccination.

The posts, which have been shared thousands of times, went online in August, weeks after the relaunch of a World Health Organization-backed polio immunization drive.

The Tarlac government and national health department issued statements saying no one had died, but Patriarca said the misinformation proved stronger than the truth for many parents.

“It spread like crazy. In the second

Velasco,...

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said it would be an illegal session.

“The session was adjourned. How they will do that, the plenary is closed,” Gonzales said.

They also said there was nothing irregular about the suspension of session last Tuesday. “The rules governing the virtual session was not designed against the Velasco group. It was designed to make Congress ready to do the legislative task [despite] the health quarantine protocols,” said Gonzales.

Villafuerte said there is “no pressing need” to call for a session during the break as the House has already approved the 2021 general appropriations bill on second reading on Tuesday.

Villafuerte said they would have 30 days during the break to work on the budget and get it ready for approval on third reading on Nov. 16.

Party-list Rep. Sharon Garin of AAMBIS-OWA, a Velasco ally, said Tuesday’s suspension moved many lawmakers to support their cause to uphold the term-sharing agreement, saying many of them reacted negatively to the maneuver.

Party-list Rep. Lito Atienza of Buhay said that the majority can call for a session if it wants to.

“If the majority decides to hold a session on the 14th, with or without Cayetano, we can do that. And I’m going to participate if anybody calls that session... if Velasco calls for a session on Oct. 14,” he said.

“I know there is a growing number of congressmen who are already agitated with all of these things happening. They are embarrassed and now support the term-sharing agreement, and Cayetano knows that,” he added.

Valenzuela City Rep. Eric Martinez, who also lost his chairmanship post on Tuesday, said a “great majority” of House members are unhappy with how Cayetano and his allies conducted the budget deliberations resulting in its abrupt passage. He also pointed out the irregular manner in which the budget was approved without completing deliberations for all government agencies.

“It was irregular to pass the budget without it being heard completely.

Even the speaker stated in his speech that we cannot pass the budget as proposed. However, because of the latter’s unilateral actions and with the help of his close allies, the other members of Congress have been robbed of the chance to scrutinize the proposed national budget,” party-list Rep. Eric Pineda said.

Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa denounced Cayetano’s “autocratic style of management” when he and his handful of allies unilaterally terminated the budget deliberations, approved the spending plan on second reading despite pending issues, and suspended

an incident took place in Congress.

“So, for what it’s worth, I think you need to have the experience of Speaker Alan Cayetano because he has dealt with the same rules, not only for three terms as congressman, this is already his fourth term as congressman, but also as a two-termer senator,” he added.

Roque also said Wednesday the Palace does not expect the suspension of session at the House of Representatives to delay the passage of the P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021.

The House suspended its session until Nov. 16 after approving the general appropriations bill on second reading Tuesday.

House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez on Wednesday assured President Rodrigo Duterte that the House will continue to insulate the passage of the national budget for 2021 from the speakership squabble.

Romualdez, chairman of the House committee on rules, said the passage on the national budget was part of the commitment of the House leadership to strengthen the Duterte administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Roque also told CNN he does not see any delay since the budget bill was passed on second reading, and the third and final reading is largely ceremonial.

He also said lawmakers could no longer make any amendments when a proposed law is approved on second reading.

“On third and final reading, you can no longer move for amendments. That’s already the final version of the House bill. It’s either you vote for or against the measure and now we’re expecting of course that as soon as it is printed and brought to the floor for the third reading, that all the administration parties, all those supporters of the Presi-

Gov’t...

From A1 of their cards on top of the fare load,” the LTFRB said in its Memorandum Circular No. 2020-057.

“Failure of the concerned operator and/or provider to comply with this issuance shall cause for the immediate suspension of the automatic fare collection system, aside from the penalties to be imposed pursuant to existing issuances of this board against the operators concerned,” the circular added.

The circular will take effect on October 9 this year.

President Duterte earlier directed to give out AFCS cards for free, although the fare load should still be paid by commuters.

The Department of Transportation earlier suspended the mandatory use of

WHO...

From A1 mean the vaccine will be available immediately in the Philippines. The country’s regulatory agency sees that the vaccine may be ready only by April 2021 — if everything goes as planned.

Food and Drug Administration Director General Eric Domingo has said that this timeline is the “best case scenario” if clinical trials, including the WHO Solidarity Trial, will be completed in the shortest time possible.

Domingo added that this is only possible if the manufacturers pass all the requirements and submit proper documents to Philippine agencies.

For Secretary Fortunato dela Peña of the Department of Science and Technology, the “very early forecast” is the second quarter of 2021.

Dr. Socorro Escalante, COVID-19 incident manager of the WHO Western Pacific region, mentioned the same timeline as the DOST Chief, but said Beep cards at the EDSA Busway after the AF Payments Inc., refused to make the cards free.

AF Payments instead offered 125,000 beep cards for free to ease the burden of commuters and proposed a QR Code system for EDSA Busway.

“We note the offer of Beep to provide 125,000 cards. But that is different from the actual call which is for beep to waive their card fee (P80) and other charges such as reloading fee, convenience fee, among others. We will discuss their offer in due time, but to date, the no beep card no ride policy is still suspended in the EDSA Busway. A dual payment system will still be honored,” DOTr Spokesperson Goddess Hope Libiran said.

Libiran added that the government is opening its doors to other AFCS providers who can provide a better solution.

scientists around the world have raced to develop an effective inoculation.

The number of followers of antivaccine groups and pages on Facebook in the Philippines has risen by 190,000 to around 500,000, according to social media monitoring platform CrowdTangle’s latest data.

The pages have attracted eight million interactions -- reactions, comments and shares -- since the pandemic began.

April Villa, a 40-year-old mother of two from the northern province of Laguna, is part of the anti-vaxxer movement.

Villa follows the Facebook group “NO TO VACCINE - PHILIPPINES”, which was created in July and has more than 2,000 members.

‘Toxic to humans’ She said she joined the group to acInterest in online anti-vaccine con- cess “information which our education tent has surged during the pandemic as system could never teach”. week, more and more people were refusing,” said Patriarca, 27, whose health unit was administering the vaccine across nine neighborhoods.

“Some believed the (government) explanation, others didn’t. We couldn’t force them.”

The false report in Tarlac even deterred people from getting free flu jabs in the nearby city of San Jose del Monte.

Health worker Rosanna Robianes said elderly people who would normally queue at her centre for their shot did not show up.

“They said it’s because of Facebook, that there’s a report that people who had been vaccinated in Tarlac had died,” she said.

dent will cast a yes vote,” Roque added.

The House on Tuesday suspended the session after approving the proposed 2021 national budget on second reading.

The session suspension comes a week before Cayetano was expected to turn over the speakership to Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco on Oct. 14 under a term-sharing agreement brokered

by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Under the deal, Cayetano would serve as House Speaker in the first 15 months of the 18th Congress while Velasco would succeed to serve for the remaining 21 months. Toward the end of his term, however, Cayetano seems reluctant to honor the “gentleman’s agreement.”

Roque said the President was not inclined to meet with Cayetano and Velasco again, and urged the two not to hold the 2021 budget hostage to their speakership row.

Roque added that there is typically a time lag between the passage of a bill on second reading and its approval on third because the bill still needs to be printed.

According to Roque, there is a “time lag” between the passage of a budget on second and third reading because the bill would still have to be printed.

“It is always the case that there is a time lag between the approval on second reading of the budget and the third reading because you’re talking about three volumes of very large books [that need] to be printed by the House,” he said.

Roque also said that since the House has already deliberated on the budget, the Senate can act on it as well. There is no requirement that the Senate must wait for the approval on third and final reading, he added.

But Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the House seems to have disregarded President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to prioritize the budget since suspending its session would not allow the budget to reach the Senate before it

goes on break on Oct. 16.

Roque reminded Duterte’s allies— Cayetano and Velasco—to ensure the timely passage of the budget.

“The message of the President to both Speaker Cayetano and Lord Allan Velasco is do what you may have to do but the budget cannot be delayed. We cannot have a re-enacted budget,” he said.

In 2019, Duterte brokered a term-sharing agreement in which Cayetano would serve as the speaker until October 2020 while Velasco would take over and assume the rest of the term until 2022.

Cayetano’s move to force the early suspension of the session and the approval on second reading of the proposed budget preempted any attempt to snatch away the leadership from him at least until mid-November.

Roque said the President will not meddle in the speakership row, but he did meet with Cayetano and Velasco on Sept. 29 to thresh out disagreements over the term-sharing agreement, which the current speaker now seems reluctant to uphold.

Cayetano said Wednesday the House would pass the budget on third and final reading when it resumes session on Nov. 16.

At the same time, Cayetano urged Velasco to join discussions on the budget.

“Congressman Velasco, you are free to campaign, you are free to defame, you are free to be absent, you are free to be present.

Once you have the numbers, don’t worry, I will step aside. But saying you have the numbers and having the numbers are two different things,” Cayetano said.

The House was expected to approve the budget on final reading on Oct. 9, or a week earlier than its self-imposed deadline of Oct. 14.

“What will happen is that we will be working. We will not be taking a break, and on Nov. 16, we will be voting on third reading,” Cayetano said on Facebook Live.

sus on Tuesday called for solidarity and political commitment by all leaders to ensure equal distribution of vaccines Funds set aside for 20m when they become available.

Nine experimental vaccines are in the poorest Malacañang said Wednesday it has pipeline of the WHO’s COVAX global set aside funds to buy a vaccine against vaccine facility that aims to distribute 2 COVID-19 for the 20 million poor- billion doses by the end of 2021. est Filipinos if it becomes ready by yearend, as the World Health OrganizaPH ready for vaccine trials tion hopes.

The Department of Health (DOH) “We have set aside the budget for on Wednesday assured the public the COVID-19 vaccine. We know the country can immediately start COVmechanism,” Presidential Spokesman ID-19 vaccine clinical trials as soon as Harry Roque told government-run PTV. the WHO initiates the so-called Soli“We will buy 2 dosages each for our darity Trial.

20 million poorest compatriots. The “We are finalizing our preparatory poor will come first,” he added. activities already. So that when WHO The Philippine International Trading signals that we start we are already Corp will buy the vaccine, which will ready for these trials,” Health Underbe financed by the LandBank and the secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said Development Bank of the Philippines, during a virtual briefing.

Roque said.

She said the study proponent from the The government has allotted an initial University of the Philippines’ Philipbudget of P2.4 billion for COVID-19 vac- pine General Hospital already submitcines, the Department of Health said earlier. ted a clinical trial protocol, which has WHO Director-General Ghebreye- already been approved. Willie Casas

the COVID-19 vaccine could come in as late as the end of 2021.

Public...

From A1 20-piso coins for sale.

In a statement to reporters, the BSP clarified that it “has not issued brilliant uncirculated 20-Piso coins.”

The 20-piso New Generation Currency circulation coins were released to the public beginning December 2019.

As of end-August 2020, 2.09 million pieces of 20-piso NGC coins amounting to P41.85 million are in circulation.

“These 20-piso NGC coins are legal tender and may be used as payment for goods and services at face value,” BSP said.

Also, as Filipinos shift to online transactions on a massive scale due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Makati City Rep. Luis Campos Jr. on Wednesday sought a bigger war chest to build up the government’s defenses against what

he called “a looming tsunami of heightened cybercriminal activity.”

“The P167-million cyber-heist on stateowned United Coconut Planters Bank may well be just the tip of the iceberg of financial crimes via computer hacking that we might see as government, corporations and individuals embrace digital transformation,” Campos warned.

The San Antonio, Texas-based business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan had indicated that the Philippines could be incurring up to $3.5 billion (P168 billion) in economic losses every year as a result of cybersecurity threats, he said.

The DOJ-OOC stressed that phishing, vishing and smishing are forms of cybercrimes in which the perpetrator posing as a legitimate institution such as a bank, online payment site, or an online commerce site, devises a message through electronic mail, phone call or text messages respectively.

DOH refutes COA claim on expired items

By Willie Casas THE Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday denied it has around P2.2 billion worth of expired drugs and medicines, and medical and dental supplies, as pointed out by the Commission on Audit (COA).

In a statement, the DOH said the story has been taken out of context and circulated in news articles over the past two days.

The DOH emphasized that the CY 2019 COA-Consolidated Annual Audit Report (CAAR) “on which these articles were based, was for CY 2019, which means this only covers the period of January to December 2019,” The current status of the DOH Central Office figures is now different, specifically with regards to 2019 COA-CAAR. On expired commodities, the COA report provides that the DOH central office has P166,320 worth of expired commodities. “These pertain to 840 dental kits remaining from 63,250 procured of which 62,410 (98.67%) have already been distributed,” it said.

“Only the fluoride toothpaste which is just one component of the dental kits are with expiry dates.

Other components of the remaining 840 kits, specifically kiddie toothbrushes, and germicidal soap per kit are usable and were distributed and utilized,” DOH said.

On overstocked/ slow moving/idle commodities, the COA report provides them as amounting to P 1.1 billion.

But as of September 2020, P815 million was already distributed between January to August 2020, DOH said.

“There is still ongoing distribution for the remaining balance of P322 million whose expiry dates range from CY 2021 to CY 2023,” it said.

LGUs...

From A1 the entire barangay as part of the expanded learning space amid the continued threat of COVID-19,” he added.

Meanwhile, a congressional leader on Wednesday urged the Department of Education (DepEd) to continue working with stakeholders to resolve gaps in blended learning as teachers and students adapt to the “new normal” in education.

Assistant Majority Leader and Quezon City Rep. Alfred Vargas said school year 2020-2021 is off to a good start as DepEd managed to resolve most of the concerns raised by students, parents, and teachers ahead of the October 5 opening of classes.

“I laud DepEd for taking advantage of the six-week period from the time opening of classes was moved from August 24 to improve preparations for the rollout of blended learning. While glitches marred the first day of classes in some areas, Secretary Briones is correct: Education should continue despite the pandemic,” said Vargas, member of the House committee on youth and sports development.

Briones declared the opening of classes a “victory” because it showed that the COVID-19 crisis should not get in the way of education.

Also, the United States government through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), donated 150 laptop computers, printers, projectors, and 80 sets of learning materials to DepEd as part of its ongoing commitment to support the Philippine government’s basic education learning continuity plan amid the coronavirus pandemic. Rey E. Requejo and Maricel V. Cruz Once such sensitive information is obtained from the victim, the perpetrator will access the victim’s account to perform illegal transactions, it added.

According to the DOJ-OOC, the increase in online attacks corresponded with the increase in Internet usage as people stay at home due to the restrictions imposed by the authorities to curb the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

The release of the 20-piso coin last year made it the highest denomination in the NGC coin series. BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno earlier said the coin was more cost-efficient to produce as it would have a longer circulation life of 10 to 15 years compared to the banknote’s three to six months.

The carelessness of Filipinos in handling their money, sometimes, prompted the BSP to produce the 20-piso coins, he said.

Diokno said the production cost per piece of the 20-piso coin is P10, higher compared to the P2 per 20-piso banknote.

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

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BI: Travel still not SC sets community service rules as penalty for minor offenses allowed for most people, tourists THE Bureau of Immigration reminded the public on Wednesday that the travel restrictions set following the COVID-19 pandemic are still in place.

In a statement, Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said foreign tourists were still not allowed in the country.

The reminder comes following the petition of the #Loveisnottourism movement, which made waves in social media. Said movement has petitioned that foreign fiancés of Filipinos be allowed to enter the country.

However, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Wednesday the country was not yet ready to open to foreigners, as it is a step-by-step process and the Inter Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases continued to iron out some issues and set up protocols before this could be allowed.

“We acknowledge the petition of the #Loveisnottourism movement, and we understand how difficult it must be to be separated from your loved one. But this is a temporary measure. We trust the wisdom of the IATF, and we are ready to implement immediately, should there be any changes in travel restrictions,” Morente said. Vito Barcelo

COURTS can impose next month community service as a penalty for those convicted of minor offenses.

This came after the Supreme Court approved on Tuesday the guidelines governing the imposition of community service as a penalty, which promotes restorative justice and jail decongestion.

The guidelines, which was promulgated by the SC En Banc on October 6,

takes effect on November 2, 2020 after the required publication.

The high court adopted the guidelines after Congress passed Republic Act No. 13362 or the Community Service Act, which was signed into law by President Duterte on August 8, 2019. The law authorizes the court, in its discretion, to require community service in lieu of imprisonment for minor offenses.

The guidelines states that all judges concerned, after promulgation of judgment or order where the imposable penalty for the crime or offense is arresto menor or arresto mayor, shall be duty-bound to inform the accused in open court that he or she has an option to, among others, apply that the penalty be served by rendering community service in the place where the crime was committed.

Prosecutors to prioritize drug cases

By Rey E. Requejo

J

USTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday said he will issue a memorandum ordering all prosecutors investigating drug-related cases to prioritize resolving them for the confiscated drugs that could be destroyed within the period prescribed by law.

Ex-reporter seeks NBI, CIDG help A FORMER journalist, who is now the general manager of a construction firm, has filed complaints with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) against four of her former employees for death threats she has allegedly been receiving from them.

Virginia Rodriguez, a former reporter for the Manila Bulletin, complained against Christine Adaniel Escalante Reuyan, Mark Eudell Guerrero, Jose Gayoba alias “Madam Lola,” and Myla Gumban.

Rodriguez said she fired Reuyan, her company’s erstwhile sales agent, and the three others from her company for allegedly committing corruption.

Apart from filing complaints before the NBI and CIDG, Rodriguez is also set to file a lawsuit in a court in Las Piñas City against the suspects.

According to Joel Diokno, Rodriguez’s lawyer, they will file cases of grave threats, slander, and cyber libel against the suspects.

Reuyan, Guerrero, Gayoba and Gumban could not be contacted for comment as of presstime. The Standard tried to reach out to Reuyan via Facebook but received no reply as of Wednesday night.

It also required the judge to explain to the accused that the same will be barred to apply for community service or probation should he or she choose to appeal the conviction.

Application for community service must be filed within the period to perfect an appeal and that the said application shall be resolved within five days from filing the application. Rey E. Requejo

TOO MUCH GREEN. Metropolitan Manila Development Authority personnel use a backhoe to remove water hyacinths—which have prevented the Pasig River Ferry from traveling—from a portion of the Pasig River near the MMDA Napindan Flood Station in West Rembo, Makati City on Wednesday. Norman Cruz

Taguig accident prompts distracted driving reminder

By Joel E. Zurbano THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority on Wednesday reminded motorists that they can be penalized and be fined several times within the day if they are caught using cellular phones or any mobile devices while driving.

The MMDA came up with the reminder a day after a road accident involving several cars and motorcycles happened in Taguig City where one person was killed and 16 others were seriously injured.

Taguig City Police Station chief Col. Celso Rodriguez said the accident was the

result of the carelessness of 30-year old Conrad Frank Toledo, a company driver, who was looking at his cellphone while driving and did not notice that he already hit other vehicles.

The incident happened in front of the Department of Science And Technology (DOST) office in Barangay Upper Bicutan around 9:50 a.m, involving 14 vehicles, including five cars, one bicycle, and eight motorcycles.

Most of the victims were rushed to the Taguig-Pateros Hospital due to head and body injuries.

The Taguig City government con-

demned the incident, assures the safety of motorists, and vows to pursue cases against negligent and irresponsible drivers.

Mayor Lino Edgardo Cayetano said suspect Toledo is now in police custody while charges of reckless Imprudence resulting in multiple physical injuries with multiple damage to property and homicide are being readied against him.

“Taguig government will continue to take action against irresponsible and negligent individuals, while protecting lawabiding citizens who represent what it is to be a Taguigeño,” said Cayetano.

Guevarra stressed that the Department of Justice will issue a memorandum circular to the concerned prosecutors mandating them to give “top priority” to drug cases, file charges in court as soon as possible, and to move for a court order for the inspection and destruction of the contraband as required by Republic Act No. 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. The DOJ chief made the statement after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the destruction of all confiscated shabu within a week.

“I want all the shabu, residual or otherwise, however minimal, destroyed, all of it, by next week. One week. Do it one week. Destroy and get specimens. Tutal, pag mag-ocular inspection, may prosecutor ‘yan,” Duterte said on Monday.

The Philippine National Police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency already vowed to comply with the President’s directive.

According to Guevarra, the President’s directive should be taken in the context of Section 21 (4) of RA No. 9165, which requires the trial courts to conduct an ocular inspection of the illegal confiscated drugs, precursors, paraphernalia, and others within 72 hours from the filing of charges.

Under the law, the drugs, save for a representative sample to be used as evidence, must be destroyed within 24 hours after the inspection.

“Thus, law enforcement agents must file the criminal complaints immediately so that the destruction of the seized drugs could proceed as early as possible,” the Justice Secretary stressed.

Palace mum on ABS-CBN’s comeback

NEW LAKAS MEMBER. Lakas-CMD Party President and House Majority Leader Martin Romualdez (third from left) administers the party oath to its new member, Quezon City 2nd District Councilor and former congressman Winnie Castelo (second from right), at the Executive Lounge of the House of Representatives. Witnessing them are Lakas-CMD VP for Luzon and Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo (right), Rep. Xavier Jesus Romualdo (left) and Lakas-CMD Assistant Secretary General and Zamboanga Sibugay Rep. Wilter “Sharky” Palma (2nd left). Ver Noveno

MALACAÑANG has no reaction to the return of some ABS-CBN shows to freeto-air television after sealing a deal with the television network of Jesus Is Lord Church founder and Deputy Speaker Eddie Villanueva.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque described ABS-CBN as a “content provider”, adding that it is a distinct line of business that does not require a franchise to operate.

“We have no reaction to it because they’re a content provider,” Roque said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source.

However, he said that it is Villanueva’s TV network that would be subject to franchise regulation.

“For all intended purposes, it is Zoe that will be subject to regulation because Zoe is the franchise holder,” Roque said.

ABS-CBN will be airing select shows and movies starting October 10 on the newly rebranded “A2Z”, previously known as Zoe TV Channel 11 or Zoe TV.

The deal between the Kapamilya network and Zoe Broadcasting Network, Inc. will allow Filipinos to watch their favorite programs that became inaccessible on TV after ABS-CBN’s franchise was denied in Congress.

“So I guess the fans of Probinsyano and the other soap operas can look forward to them on Zoe TV,” he said.

Asked if ABS-CBN’s comeback to free TV was mentioned when Villanueva led a pray-over for President Rodrigo Duterte last week, Roque said he had no personal knowledge.

“I wouldn’t know. I was also not at the meeting. I get my orders on what to say from the President himself, which spares me from having to go to all the meetings. Otherwise, I won’t have a life,” he said.

ABS-CBN ceased its broadcast operations on May 5, a day after the expiration of the network’s legislative franchise, following the National Telecommunications Commission’s cease and desist order.

Party-list, admin allies blast removals from House posts THE members of the majority allied with President Rodrigo Duterte should not be removed from their leadership posts in the House as they are committed to supporting the administration’s legislative agenda.

This was stressed by 1-PACMAN Partylist Rep. Enrico Pineda, who on Wednesday asked: “Why have our colleagues been relieved of their posts for expressing support for the President’s choice for Speaker, Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco?”

Pineda was referring to 1-PACMAN Representative Michael Romero, AAMBIS-OWA Partylist Rep. Sharon Garin, Valenzuela 2nd District Rep. Eric Martinez, and Quezon 4th District Rep. Angelina Tan, who were replaced as House Deputy Speaker, head of the House Committee on Economic Affairs, head of the House Committee on Youth and Sports

Development, and head of the House Committee on Health, respectively.

The administration lawmaker, who also heads the House Committee on Labor, said Romero and the other three representatives “should not be punished for being loyal to the President, or for making it known that they respect the President and trust his judgment.”

According to Pineda, “these are members who have consistently supported the legislative agenda and the vision of the Duterte Administration.

“If, for some reason, they break ranks from the Majority and attack the President or his policies, then by all means they should be sanctioned. But they have not; they have stood by the administration, supported its agenda, and repeatedly proven their loyalty.”

Pineda said Cayetano was sabotaging

the supermajority that had been held together by its support for the President and his decisions––including the term-sharing agreement brokered by the President at the beginning of the 18th Congress.

“Is this the Speaker’s way of saying that it is his way or the highway? Is Speaker Cayetano now demanding that we choose between him and the President?”

Pineda said the President had repeatedly expressed support for Velasco, meeting with the Marinduque solon again on Monday night to convey his desire for Velasco to take over as Speaker in accordance with the term-sharing agreement between him and Cayetano.

At that meeting, the President told Velasco, “It is your right time now.”

“I have already spoken. You have to insist on your right based on the termsharing agreement,” Duterte added.

IMPROVISED RAIN GEAR. Bicycle riders use a transparent trash bag as a protection from the rain on Wednesday while other riders wear raincoats on their way to work along Elliptical Road in Quezon City. Riding bicycle and motorcycle have become an alternative mode of transport amid the COVID-19 health crisis. PNA

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020 lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

UN murals new city attraction CAUAYAN City, Isabela—Seventeen murals of the United Nations, showing the sustainable development goals, are now added attraction in the sports complex in this city between the Sierra Madre and the Caraballo mountains.

Mayor Bernardo Faustino Dy said “It’s the first of its kind, a Sustainable Development Goals inspired Sports Complex across the country.”

Athletes and sports enthusiasts will be excited to see new facilities slowly shaping up in the locality.

With features at par with high class standards, they are expected to boost sports not only in the city but in the entire country as well, Dy said.

The colorful, life-sized murals highlighted each of the UN’s sustainable development goals: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health & well-Being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water & Sanitation, Affordable & Clean Energy, Decent Work & Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure, Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities & Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and Partnership for the Goals. Jessica Bacud

LGUs LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Iloilo RTC grants MORE petition P

ANAY Electric Co. could lose the rest of its properties to rival MORE Electric and Power Corp. after the Iloilo Regional Trial Court Branch 24 granted the latter’s petition in the ongoing expropriation case over power distribution assets in Iloilo City.

Calabarzon opens APU in Batangas

By Willie Casas IN TIME for the celebration of the National Mental Health Week, the Department of Health (DOH) –Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) on Wednesday inaugurated the Acute Psychiatric Unit (APU) inside the Batangas Medical Center.

Regional Director Eduardo Janairo said the tasks of acute psychiatric inpatient care were to keep patients safe, assess and evaluate their problems, treat their mental illness, meet their basic care needs and provide physical healthcare within days.

“Most persons with mental disorders don’t seek medical help…we must be able to recognize these signs before it (sic) comes full blown,” he said.

“Mental health must begin in childhood. They must grow up with the feeling of safety and security and protected from any harm,” he added.

Among the five most common mental disorders that can be treated in the APU are schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depressive disorder, and other psychotic disorders.

IN BRIEF 700 Balanga folks in backyard farming BALANGA CITY, Bataan—The vision of the leadership tandem of Balanga City Mayor Francis Garcia and Vice Mayor Vianca Venzon-Gozon promoting community vegetation has so far attracted 700 local folks to delve into backyard farming.

“These new city farmers plant vegetables in their backyard or vacant lot,” said the City Agriculture Office.

“Planting vegetable can be a source of income, or means to protect the environment, to some just a way of exercising, and to others, just to spend time,” the àgriculture office also said in a statement The city government launched a program feting community farmers dubbed “Farmer of the Week”.

The city’s top two leaders want to recognize the contribution of local farmers to community development and inspire local residents to go into farming. Butch Gunio

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor

COLORFUL COLISEUM. The colorful, life-sized murals at the Cauayan City Sports Complex highlight each of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals: No Poverty, Zero Hunger, Good Health and Well-Being, Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Affordable and Clean Energy, Decent Work and Economic Growth, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, Reduced Inequalities, Sustainable Cities and Communities, Responsible Consumption and Production, Climate Action, Life Below Water, Life on Land, Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, and Partnership for the Goals.

CAVITEX concessionaire donates 37 laptops CAVITEX—Cavitex Infrastructure Corporation (CIC), the concessionaire of the Manila-Cavite Expressway (CAVITEX), has donated 37 laptop computers to the Parañaque City College (PCC).

The laptops were received by the City Hall of Parañaque and were ready for use

by PCC students and faculty when at the start of the academic year 2020-2021 on Monday.

All classes will be held online.

“We are truly grateful to CIC for these laptops. The use of portable electronic gadgets is highly practical in this time of

pandemic, as our professors and students adapt to the new normal,” said Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

Last year, CIC donated 35 laptops to PCC as part of the company’s pledge to extend all viable forms of assistance to its partner local governments.

“We are very happy to be able to support Parañaque City College and the City of Parañaque. With the transition from classroom-based learning to online classes, we hope our humble donation will help ease the burden being carried by the City Hall of Paranaque, particu-

De Leon, CL police chief, assumes post CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga—Brig.

Gen. Valeriano De Leon formally assumed the post of regional director of the Police Regional Office 3 Wednesday, vice Police Brig. Gen. Rhodel Sermonia during simple rites at the regional headquarters here.

De Leon, a member of the Philippine National Police Academy class 89, is not a stranger in region 3 as he was formerly the chief of the Bulacan Provincial field Unit of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group stationed in Malolos City.

PNP Chief Director General Camilo Cascolan presided over the relinquishment ceremonies shortly after a brief outreach activity in San Simon, Pampanga where he led other police officers in distributing food items under the “Rektang Bayanihan” project of outgoing

PRO3 director.

Cascolan said “Rektang Bayanihan” project is a continuing effort of the PNP to help those under privilege and less fortunate whose livelihood have been extremely affected by the coronavirus pandemic with the support of local government units and private sponsors.

The PNP Chief directed the new PRO3 police chief to intensify campaign against illegal drugs, insurgency and terrorism. “Do what is proper and continue the good programs of your predecessor.”

De Leon, former deputy director of Directorate for Human Resource Doctrine Division at the PNP National Headquarters, vowed to continue the best practices of his predecessor specially in the anti-criminality efforts and campaign against illegal drugs. Jess Malabanan

larly when it comes to its academe,” said CIC Assistant Vice President for Communication and Stakeholder Management Arlette Capistrano.

Aside from the CAVITEX, CIC holds the concession rights for the CAVITEX C5 Link.

CIC is a subsidiary of the Metro Pacific Tollways Group that also operates the Cavite-Laguna Expressway (CALAX), the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX), the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) and the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX). Roy Tomandao

In a 22-page decision issued on Sept 24, 2020, RTC Judge Nestle Go granted MORE Power’s motion to include the so-called Category C assets in the writ of possession (WOP) earlier issued by RTC Judge Emerald Requina-Contreras in February 2020.

The WOP was an offshoot of the expropriation case that MORE Power filed against PECO on March 11, 2019, almost a month after the former secured its congressional franchise to distribute power in Iloilo City via Republic Act 11212.

Judge Contreras’ WOP divided the PECO properties into three categories: • Category A includes all properties that PECO did not contest as “distribution assets” • Category B includes the properties the court initially found as part of the “distribution assets” listed under the “distribution plant” in the Energy Regulatory Commission record and may be necessary for the operation of MORE Power • Category C lists the properties excluded in the coverage of the writ.

The WOP covers the properties under categories A and B, which include the La Paz, City Proper, Jaro, Molo, and Mandurriao substations; and the Meter Lab, Power Plant Building, and Switchboard House located in General Luna Street.

The Category C assets include: • PECO’s business building office, elevator and parking lot on General Luna Street, City Proper; • a 769-square meter lot at General Hughes, City Proper; • a 2,401-square meter lot used as pole stockyard at Diversion Road, San Rafael, Mandurriao;

ZERO-INTEREST LOAN.

Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi explains how the city’s micro-financing program works as he turns over P1.3 million zero-interest loan assistance to Tulong Negosyo Batch 117 representatives, dubbed as “Muntipreneurs,” on Tuesday to help them recover from the economic disruption brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Seventy micro-entrepreneurs got loans ranging from P2,000 up to P150,000, depending on the business capital ceiling and payment record of beneficiaries.

Hot meals for 10k children ON SATURDAY, Gawad Kalinga will hold a simultaneous nationwide feeding program aimed at serving hot meals to 10,000 hungry children.

Gawad Kalinga launched Kusina ng Kalinga (KnK) in 2014 as a strategic response to the problem of hunger and malnutrition among Filipino children.

With the COVID-19 pandemic, KnK said in a statement it reinvented its operations by going to where the kids are and started establishing kitchens in the communities that provide at least one nutritious meal a day for kids aged 1 – 12 years old for at least 120 days.

“From July to date, we have reached 6,000 kids in 96 communities through 20 community kitchens and food hubs,” Gawad Kalinga said in its statement.

The most recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) report said that self-rated hunger had reached an all-time high of 30.7 percent which roughly translated to 45 million Filipinos experiencing involuntary hunger—14 million of whom of are children.

To raise awareness and generate broader engagement, Gawad Kalinga said it was organizing 10.10.10 -- a nationwide simultaneous feeding of 10,000 kids on October 10 where almost 500 communities and barangays would feed the hungry children in their localities through their bayanihan efforts.

Illegal gambling ops in MM south?

SEIZED GUNS. Philippine National Police Chief Director General Camilo Pancratius

Cascolan (upper right) and San Simon, Pampanga Mayor Jun Punzalan join an outreach activity and turnover of command at Camp Olivas, headquarters of Police Regional Office 3, in Pampanga on Wednesday. Cascolan presided over the turnover between Police BGen. Rhodel Sermonia and Police BGen Valeriano De Leon, as Sermonia present to media assorted firearms seized in separate operations (second. Jess Malabanan

ILLEGAL gambling is continuing in the southern part of Metro Manila amidst the massive crackdown spearheaded by the police forces as part of their anticriminality campaign.

Southern Police District Director Brig. Gen Emmanuel Peralta will be put to test after sources told the Standard a certain Jun Laurel was openly using his alleged ‘relationship’ to a high ranking police official for the illegal gambling operations in the entire southern part of Metro Manila.

Information circulated in the area by Laurel exposed that Peralta could not do anything against their expanded operations because he was under the ‘protection’ of Maverick, an alleged anti-gambling unit of the PNP. According to sources, Laurel is now expanding their operations to as far as Bicol region under the ‘blessing’ of an unidentified high ranking PNP official.

Last month, the PNP - National Capital Region Police Office ordered an intensified police operations in the southern part of Metro after reports of illegal gam- SPD Director Brig. Gen bling operations continued to surface in the area.

Emmanuel Peralta

Opinion Coco levy bill now

The Nobel Peace Prize: WHO, Greta or press watchdogs?

THE World Health Organization is the bookies’ favorite to win the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, though experts say Greta Thunberg or press freedom groups are also strong contenders.

The peace prize—the highlight of the Nobel season and the only one of the six Nobels awarded in Oslo—always sparks wild guessing games, rendered especially tricky by the fact that the list of nominees is kept secret for at least 50 years.

Only their number is known: this year there are 318 nominees, including 211 individuals and 107 organisations, according to the Nobel Institute.

That leaves much to the imagination of experts.

“In the absence of a very clear front-runner... I think that we could and should see a prize to either an umbrella organisation for journalists or individual journalists working in the field,” suggested Henrik Urdal, the director of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo.

“During conflicts, it’s extremely important that journalists contribute to provide information about what’s happening, both in order to hold the conflict parties accountable for their actions as well as providing information to the outside world that allows governments an opportunity to assess the situation and possible measures,” he explained.

Both Reporters Without Borders, known by its French acronym RSF, and the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists have been mentioned as possibilities.

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is also a name on experts’ lips, either alone or with other activists.

She was favourite to win the prize last year, when it went to Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for helping to end a 20-year postwar stalemate with Eritrea.

Nobel historian Asle Sveen said that while RSF was his first choice, Greta, as she is simply known, was “a possible candidate, absolutely”.

Greta would be the second-youngest laureate in the Nobel Prizes’ almost 120-year history, after the Pakistani advocate for girls’ education Malala Yousafzai.

“Even if you have this pandemic right now, climate change is in the long term much more serious,” Sveen noted.

No Nobel for Trump Meanwhile, the new coronavirus pandemic has pushed the World Health Organisation (WHO) to the top of online betting sites, just ahead of Greta.

That would be a way for the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee to honour the UN agency’s multilateral approach to the virus.

But the WHO has also been sharply criticised for its slow response, while Donald Trump has accused it of yielding to Chinese influence.

It’s also not known whether the WHO was nominated in time. The new coronavirus was defined as a pandemic on March 11—while the deadline for peace prize nominations was January 31, and Nobel committee members can only add their own suggestions at their first meeting of the year in February.

Other names making the rounds in Oslo include German non-governmental organisation Transparency International, the World Food Programme (WFP), the UN and its secretary general Antonio Guterres, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Afghan politician and women’s rights activist Fawzia Koofi.

Those eligible to nominate candidates for the prize are also allowed to disclose their choice.

As a result, those believed to be on the list include the people of Hong Kong, NATO, indigenous Brazilian leader and environmentalist Raoni Metuktire, the whistleblower trio of Julian Assange, Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning, as well as Greece’s ex-prime minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev.

Whoever wins, Covid-19 will impact the prize this year.

Depending on the corona restrictions

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

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EDITORIAL

coconut farmers are in dire need of assistance to recover from their losses due to the months-long dormancy and difficulty in getting products through the market. Thankfully, domestic copra farmgate and millgate prices have increased from last year, but there reEARLY this week, we welcomed the mains a lot to achieve. good news that the coco levy trust For one, we have entered the rainy fund bill has hurdled the third and season which means there are once final reading in the Senate with its again risks of damages from strong unanimous approval. Recall that the typhoons and biological pests. Seccoco levy trust fund bill was initial- ond, there is still the need to develop ly vetoed by the President during more resilient and high-value crops the 17th Congress. This new version for our farmers. Research must be hopes to address the reservations ac- furthered and financed in order to companying the produce innovapreviously filed tions that will help bill. While there is coconut farming be progress in the Senmore sustainable Let us help our ate, we are still held and profitable. coconut farmers up in Congress as Among the sustain their the House version high-value prodof the bill remains ucts, virgin coconut livelihood. at the Committee oil is being studied level. and used as a potenThe legislative tial supplemental journey of the coco levy bill can be treatment for COVID-19. Coconut likened to the long history of the trees are also used to manufacture coco levy funds. Several bills have ethyl alcohol that is much needed tobeen filed through the years. Last day to prevent COVID-19 transmisCongress, I joined my colleagues in sion. The benefits of the coconut are Congress in filing this bill. It finally immeasurable, but the support we are saw light when the two Houses of giving to the industry would not be Congress passed the bill. Unfortu- commensurate if we prolong the journately, it was vetoed by the President. ney of this bill.

We did not stop there. Under former Hence, I call on Congress to imPresident and then-Speaker Gloria mediately act on the coco levy bill.

Macapagal-Arroyo we re-filed an We are in a pandemic where we must amended version to respond to the support those in need as much as we veto, approved it, and transmitted it can. Let us help our coconut farmers to the Senate. However, Congress ad- to sustain their livelihood by finally journed before it was passed. allowing the utilization of the coconut I want to reiterate the significance levy trust fund to their benefit. In this of this coco levy trust fund. As I have regard, not only do we facilitate the said many times before, the coconut timely return of the fruits of their laindustry needs our support. Now, in bor, but also provide and address their the face of COVID-19 pandemic, our immediate needs in this crisis.

By Pierre-Henry Deshayes

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Lessons to be learned

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to more than 210,000 deaths and counting, most of them unnecessary. The current occupant of the White House says he’s done a terrific job on COVID-19 and that millions more would have died had he not done what he did. The

HEN the malignancy is finally driven from the White House and the next administration struggles to scrub away the stain of four years of misrule, we will be able to take a few moments to consider what we have all learned from one of the most despicable administrations to take power in the United States.

These are not lessons exclusive to Americans— they are applicable to all people who live in a nominal democracy.

Let’s encourage rational thought in our politics and value education over charisma evidence says otherwise. With only 4 percent of the world’s population, the United States accounts for 20 percent of its COVID-19 deaths. India, which has four times the population of the United States, has fewer than half of its COVID-19 fatalities. Clearly, the current US administration has not done a “terrific” job; it has done a horrendous one.

Just as important a lesson is that there are consequences to not voting. One of the reasons that a racist demagogue is in the White House is that more than 4 million voters

Perhaps the most important lesson is that there are serious consequences to voting. The leaders we choose during elections will absolutely have a life-and-death impact on our lives. In the United States, an overly political response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led

for his opponent grew complacent and did not make their voices heard on Election Day. Again, we see the dire consequences of that inaction.

Another lesson is that checks and balances are critical. On the chance that we elect an anti-democratic leader into office, the other institutions of government must be strong enough to oppose any dictatorial tendencies. In the United States, a rubber-stamp Senate became the enabler for the corrupt occupant of the White House. We need to do all we can to make sure checks and balances remain strong.

Finally, we need to encourage rational thought in our politics and value education over charisma.

The rabid supporters of the current occupant of the White House demonstrate a lack of knowledge and a disdain for science that is simply breathtaking, representing the worst possible nexus of ignorance and arrogance. They recall the mobs during China’s Cultural Revolution, and the disdain for education of the bloody Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. We must never fall into that trap.

Timing is everything IT WAS a shock to read in the papers that the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency intends to bring back the controversial and now infamous OPLAN Tokhang launched by now Senator Bato de la Rosa who was then the Philippine National Police Chief.

The announcement came about a week after the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Batchelet, the former President of Chile, issued a strongly worded statement regarding Human Rights abuses in the country related to our anti-drug campaign. It followed an earlier planned resolution by the European Union parliament to remove the duty-free entry of selected Philippine goods that constitute a good chunk of our exports to the European Union, also because of human rights abuses.

What was going on in the mind of PDEA Director General Wilkins Villanueva that he found it necessary to announce the plan at the time that he did? Was it perhaps a dare to the UN and EU for both to go right ahead with what they want to do, like the way Secretary Harry Roque initially reacted to the EU announcement? Perhaps, Villanueva believes that it is during times of criticisms that one should show their loyalty to the President’s signature program.

I have seen this kind of thing before not only in previous administrations but especially during the martial law period. There are certainly some similarities with what happened in the government bureaucracy in previous administrations and what is happening now. There are public officials who are more driven in their pursuit of ambition than others. These are the people who are more willing to go the extra mile than simply being good and loyal civil public servants.

For those going the extra mile how-

in place at the time, it will be awarded on December 10 either in-person at a scaled-back ceremony in Oslo, or remotely in an online ceremony.

While Trump has been nominated by two Scandinavian MPs, it is not known whether he is a candidate this year.

Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno

Anita F. Grefal

Baldwin R. Felipe

Edgar M. Valmorida

ever, even if they get the pie that they are aspiring for, there will be costs to be paid in the long run.

For instance, when martial law finally ended, there were those in government who were never employed again and hounded because of their past deeds. They also could not get a visa to travel overseas to immigrate or visit family members. With the country in the midst of a serious diplomatic engagement, perhaps, DG Villanueva should have just kept his mouth shut so as not to aggravate the situation.

Sometimes, prudence is the better part of valor.

Even President Duterte, who we know has always been combative, found it necessary to tone down his virtual speech in his first address to the United Nations General Assembly. He was praised for this. Sometimes, prudence is the better part of valor.

I cannot guess the motivation of DG Villanueva, but issuing that statement caused more harm than good. I also do not know whether he realizes the seriousness of the current diplomatic problem that the country is in due to the number of Filipinos killed because of the controversial anti-drug war.

Whether we like it or not, the anti-drug campaign has harmed the international reputation of the country.

Trump seems to revel in the idea of being a Nobel laureate, given the number of tweets he has written about the possibility.

But experts don’t think that will happen.

“Trump is more likely to get the No-

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

There is no denying the evil that illegal drugs do to the country. It corrupts public officials and destroys families.

But success cannot only be measured by the number of people killed but a combination of many factors like the elimination of supply, education and rehabilitation. Good Police intelligence is also essential.

Sometimes, senior officials must have the capability to discern when and when not to do or say things. That is one mark of a good leader, subordinate and a team player. In a way, DG Villanueva is different from his predecessor who was more circumspect, careful and guarded in issuing public statements. Villanueva appear to be more aggressive and perhaps more align to the kind of language favored by the President.

The President has still less than two years to go before he relinquishes his position but I suspect that his anti-drug campaign will continue with undiminished intensity. I hope our law enforcement agencies, together with PDEA, will wage a campaign in a manner that will generate praises rather than condemnation. Right now, what the country needs are more friends on our side not enemies. We have to be smart enough to figure out who our real friends and who our real enemies are. We must beware of Greeks bearing gifts. They might not be our friends at all.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought havoc to our lives. Our economy is in the worst recession in more than two decades and we are not sure how long it will take for our country to recover notwithstanding the assurances of our political leaders.

It is therefore not wise to antagonize countries that can help us in our hour of need. What is being asked, after all, is for us to simply follow enforcement practices that conform more to internationally accepted police practices.

bel prize in literature for his tweets than to get the Nobel Peace Prize,” said Urdal.

“And that’s not because he is Donald Trump, that’s because he hasn’t done anything that is deserving of the prize.”

AFP

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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World

THURSday, OCTOBER 8, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Bangladesh sends troops to quell unrest at Rohingya refugee camp Bangladesh has sent more troops into the world’s largest refugee camp, police said Wednesday, after days of fighting between rival Rohingya drug gangs left seven people dead.

Two armed gangs of refugees from Myanmar are waging a deadly turf war in the sprawling camp, home to almost a million people, over control of the lucrative cross-border methamphetamine trade.

The seven killed in the past six days include one woman, an official said.

Several others have reportedly been injured.

“We found four bodies at the Lambasia refugee camp on Tuesday night.

Three of them were shot dead and another had stab marks,” Rafiqul Islam, deputy police chief of Cox’s Bazar district, told AFP. He said hundreds of military and armed police have been deployed since fighting began on October 2, with numbers scaled up after Tuesday’s clashes.

“The situation is now calm,” he added.

The camps have for over three years served as a home for nearly one million Muslim Rohingya fleeing a military crackdown in Myanmar.

That crackdown—which the United Nations has said could constitute genocide—followed attacks on Myanmar security posts by the militant Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army.

Rohingya leaders said ARSA was now involved in a turf war with the Munna Gang, named after a top drug smuggler based in Kutupalong camp.

His elder brother and three members of his family were reportedly killed in the clashes.

“ARSA has claimed responsibility for the killing of four people, who are relatives of a Rohingya gang leader,” said one activist, who added he was relocating his family to another section because of the fighting. AFP

Half of Karabakh’s population displaced

H

alf of the population of the breakaway NagornoKarabakh region have been displaced since fierce fighting erupted more than a week ago between Armenian separatists and Azerbaijan, rebel officials said Wednesday.

Baku and Yerevan have for decades been locked in a simmering conflict over the ethnically Armenian region of Azerbaijan, which

broke away from Baku in a 1990s war that claimed the lives of some 30,000 people.

Both sides have defied calls for a ceasefire and accused the other of starting the new clashes that began on September 27 and have seen the heaviest fighting since a 1994 ceasefire.

“According to our preliminary estimates, some 50 percent of Karabakh’s population and 90 percent of women and children—or some 70,000-75,000 people—have been displaced,” Karabakh rights ombudsman Artak Beglaryan told AFP. Beglaryan said residents displaced

by the fighting have sought refuge elsewhere in the disputed province or have fled to safety in Armenia and other locations.

Intermittent shelling by Azerbaijan’s forces has turned Karabakh’s main city Stepanakert into a ghost town dotted with unexploded munitions and shell craters.

Azerbaijan has accused Armenian forces of shelling civilian targets in urban areas, including in the country’s second-largest city of Ganja, home to more than 330,000 people.

The number of Azerbaijan residents displaced by the fighting has

A crater caused by a shell explosion is pictured in the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region’s main city of Stepanakert on October 6, 2020, during the ongoing fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed region. AFP

Cambodian PM says naval base not exclusive to China China would not have exclusive access to a Cambodian naval base, Prime Minister Hun Sen said Wednesday, despite Beijing chipping in for upgrades after a US-funded facility was razed at the site last month.

The Ream base is strategically located in the Gulf of Thailand, providing ready access to the fiercely contested South China Sea—a key global shipping route.

Beijing claims the majority of the resource-rich sea—vying with six other countries.

“Other countries can also ask for per-

yet to be determined, a foreign ministry spokesperson told AFP. Nearly 290 people have been confirmed killed since the clashes erupted, including more than 47 civilians.

There are fears the fighting could expand into an all-out, multi-front war drawing in regional powers Turkey and Russia.

Armenia and Karabakh have declared martial law and military mobilization, while Azerbaijan imposed military rule and a curfew in large cities.

Talks to resolve the conflict have largely stalled since a 1994 ceasefire agreement. AFP

mission to dock ships, re-fuel or hold (joint) exercises with Cambodia,” Hun Sen said in a speech at the opening ceremony of a Chinese-owned theme park near the capital Phnom Penh.

Satellite images released by a Washington-based think tank last week showed a US-funded tactical naval headquarters on Cambodia’s southern coast had been demolished.

An American embassy spokesman told AFP Wednesday that the US was “disappointed” by the move, adding the base had been a sign of US-Cambodia

relations and was only seven years old.

“We have concerns that razing the facility may be tied to plans for hosting People’s Republic of China military assets and personnel at Ream Naval Base.”

Such a military presence “would negatively impact the US-Cambodia bilateral relationship and be disruptive and destabilizing to the Indo-Pacific region,” the spokesman warned.

The Wall Street Journal last year reported on a secret draft deal allowing China to dock warships at the Ream base.

The Cambodian government in June denied this and maintained its foreign policy was independent.

Cambodia said the facility was simply being relocated about 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Ream as it had outgrown the former site.

Hun Sen has repeatedly insisted Cambodia’s constitution forbids any foreign military base within its borders.

In recent years, he has tilted away from the US after Washington’s criticism of alleged abuses by his government. AFP

Hurricane ‘Delta’ roars towards Mexico’s Carribean coast Hurricane Delta churned towards Mexico’s Caribbean coast on Wednesday as thousands of tourists hunkered down in emergency shelters in a string of major beach resorts.

The hurricane weakened to Category 3 as it approached the Yucatan Peninsula, but still threatened to bring strong winds and a “lifethreatening” storm surge, the US National Hurricane Center said.

On Tuesday Delta had intensified to an “extremely dangerous” Category 4 storm, according to the Miami-based center.

The hurricane was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 miles (195 kilometers) per hour early Wednesday, according to the Miami-based NHC. It was located about 80 miles southeast of the holiday island of Cozumel, just off the Yucatan Peninsula.

Mexico’s Riviera Maya coast is home to major tourist resort towns including Cancun, although the number of visitors has plummeted because of the coronavirus pandemic.

By nightfall, Cancun’s streets were mostly empty, with shops closed and windows covered by wooden sheets or crossed with adhesive tape to try to prevent them from shattering, according to AFP reporters.

“Although we’ve been living in Cancun for five years, it’s our first hurricane, and the truth is that we’re very nervous,” said Ana GabriManila ela Gaeta.

AFP Standard TODAY

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC

Notice is hereby given that John Adams is no longer Director of TEEKAY SHIPPING PHILIPPINES, INC. The new Director of the Corporation is William Hung effective 28 March 2019.

TEEKAY SHIPPING PHILIPPINES, INC. In compliance with POEA Requirement POEA-029-SB-042605-R (MS-OCT. 8, 2020)

In Brief

Pence, Harris start own debate for the 1st time Salt Lake City, United States—For once in their rollercoaster US presidential election, principals Donald Trump and Joe Biden yield the spotlight Wednesday to Vice President Mike Pence and the Democrat seeking his job, Kamala Harris, as they debate for the first time.

With Trump infected with the coronavirus that has already killed more than 210,000 Americans, the Pence-Harris showdown has taken on an unusually pressing quality, given that the White House deputy is just a heartbeat away from the presidency.

The duel in Salt Lake City occurs as the nation lurches from one crisis to another.

Not only has the president tested positive; coronavirus has spread through his inner circle, infecting dozens of top advisors, administration staff, senior military officials and Republican lawmakers.

Racial and political tensions are simmering, prompting Biden to issue a clarion call for national unity Tuesday and warn that “the forces of darkness” and division are “pulling us apart.”

Trump killed the Covid stimulus negotiations on the same day, assuring no new relief will reach millions of suffering families and countless struggling businesses until after the November 3 election. AFP

NZ firefighters on track to stopping forest fire

Firefighters in New Zealand battling a blaze that razed much of a small alpine village said they were making “good progress” Wednesday as high winds finally eased.

The wildfire erupted in a mountain forest on the South Island in the early hours of Sunday morning and swept Members of the Mexican Army prepare to move towards the municipalities of Valladolid and Tizimin, in Merida, Yucatan state, in preparation for the arrival of Hurrican Delta on October 6, 2020. Hurricane through the popular tourist spot of Delta intensified into a Category 3 storm on Tuesday and is set to slam into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula Lake Ohau, forcing residents to flee early on Wednesday, the US National Hurricane Center said. for their lives.

Officials said it was miraculous no one was hurt in the fire, which has CYAN MAGENTA BLACK now burnedYELLOW out 55 square kilometres (21 square miles) and destroyed at least 50 homes.

Thousands of people gathered outside a Hundreds of police were also deployed at the Fire and Emergency New Zealand courthouse in Athens on Wednesday calling courthouse, a few kilometers from the historic said firefighters were moving through for tough sentences against the leaders of the centre of the capital. the rugged terrain dousing hotspots neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn as the court preAfter hearings over the last five years, the Athand maintaining a perimeter around pared to hand down its verdicts. ens court will determine whether Golden Dawn the blaze.

Anti-fascist activists shouted slogans calling is a criminal organization that carried out violent “Conditions have been better for for the defendants to be jailed as they waited attacks on opponents on the orders of founder crews today allowing for good progfor the climax of one of the most important tri- Nikos Michaloliakos and his inner circle. ress,” it said. als in the country’s modern political history.

The prosecutions were sparked by the late“There are around 50 personnel, The crowd started gathering two hours be- night murder of a 34-year-old anti-fascist rapincluding 17 crews and fire observers, fore the verdicts are due to be handed down per called Pavlos Fyssas, who was chased down on the ground, as well as diggers and from 0800 GMT, in response a call from the by a mob of Golden Dawn thugs and stabbed to a bulldozer.” AFP anti-fascist movement, trade unions and parties death in front of a cafe in the western Athens AFP on the left. suburb of Keratsini in September 2013. AFP

Greek court to indict neo-Nazi party leaders

CYAN CYAN MAGENTA MAGENTAYELLOW YELLOW BLACK BLACK Manila Manila Manila

Business

Manila Standard Standard TODAY TODAY

TODAY

Decreased energy demand benefits Filipino consumers The COVID-19 pandemic has slowed down demand for petroleum and other energy products as global economic activities virtually grounded to a halt. The low demand naturally depressed oil and gas prices and electricity rates, with energy consumers heaving a sigh of relief amid these trying times.

Here in the Philippines, the weak demand for petroleum products in the aftermath of severe travel restrictions from March to April has led to the forced shutdown of at least 10 percent of the country’s 9,400 gasoline stations. Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi has noted that gasoline retailers, in areas where few people travel because of the enhanced community quarantine restrictions, decided to shutter their operations.

Gas retailers are not alone in their dilemma. Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. in August announced it was permanently shutting down its refinery operations in Tabangao, Batangas due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have the technical capability and financial flexibility to manage and adapt to disruptive conditions. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global, regional and local economies, and the oil supply-demand imbalance in the region, it is no longer economically viable for us to run the refinery,” says Pilipinas Shell president and chief executive officer Cesar Romero.

Low oil prices in the international market are forcing global giants like ExxonMobil to reduce 1,600 jobs in Europe, or more than 11 percent of its workforce in the continent, following the coronavirus downturn. Its market competitors, Anglo-Dutch group Royal Dutch Shell and BP, are making similar moves.

Shell is slashing 9,000 jobs, or more than 10 percent of its workforce, by 2022 to reduce costs, while BP is cutting 15 percent of staff equivalent to 10,000 jobs.

Depressed oil prices provide relief to consumers worldwide. But they are also a reflection of a weak global economy where the increasing number of jobless persons is worrisome to policymakers.

Many consumers for the moment are benefiting from the market forces in play. Electricity rates in the Philippines, for one, are going down due to the combination of competitive power supply sources and low demand.

Manila Electric Co., the country’s biggest retailer, reduced its rates to consumers for the fifth straight month in September after generation charges successively fell. The rate for a typical household, thus, decreased by P0.0623 per kWh in September to P8.4288 per kilowatt from P8.4911 per kWh in August, equivalent to a reduction of around P12 in the monthly bill of residential customers consuming 200 kWh. The rate in September is the lowest in three years, or since September 2017.

Meralco is charging lower rates after declaring force majeure in some of its power supply agreements with generators. The generation charge decreased P0.0381 per kWh to P4.0860 per kWh in September, the sixth straight month it dropped.

The force majeure provision in the supply contracts applies when power demand in Meralco’s service area is reduced, specifically because of community quarantine rules that restricted economic activities and lowered electricity consumption.

Meralco is invoking the force majeure provision in some of its power supply agreements due to an extraordinary event beyond its control, in this case the pandemic, that prevented it from selling electricity at a desired volume under the contract.

Meralco’s September force majeure claim amounted to about P463 million, or equivalent to customer savings of P0.1710 per kWh in the generation charge.

Without the claims, the generation charge and the total rate would have increased

by P0.13 and P0.14, respectively. Meralco’s force majeure claims in the past six months led to savings of around P2.4 billion.

The rates of Meralco under the helm of president and chief executive officer Rey Espinosa have sunk to their lowest levels in three years. The competitive supply agreements forged by Espinosa have largely contributed to lower Meralco rates.

Meralco’s rates will still remain competitive once the economic situation normalizes and when more businesses reopen. The competitive selection process governing power contracts and introduced by the Department of Energy some four years ago will assure fair electricity rates.

B3

THURSday, OCTOBER 8, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stock market declines; ABS-CBN tops gainers PSEi October 7, 2020

TOP GAINERS

T

he stock market declined Wednesday for the third straight day, after Donald Trump called off talks on a much-needed stimulus before urging lawmakers to agree on handouts for struggling Americans and help for small businesses.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 42.76 points, or 0.7 percent, to 5,867.88 on a value turnover of P7.1 billion. Gainers, however, beat losers, 101 to 92, with 48 issues unchanged.

DITO CME Holdings Corp. of businessman Dennis Uy, the third major telecommunications firm, dropped 15.3 percent to P5.77, while Now Corp. of the Velarde family, the fourth major telecom company, sank 15.1 percent to P4.23.

ABS-CBN Corp. of the Lopez Group, however, surged 50 percent to P13.50, while parent Lopez Holdings Corp. advanced 20.8 percent to P3.02.

The rest of Asian markets fluctuated Wednesday.

The US president halted discussions just as lawmakers appeared to be making progress after months of haggling, sparking a sell-off on Wall Street which had been rallying on hopes for a breakthrough to help the beleaguered economy.

Asian markets fell immediately after opening, but many recovered and were mixed in later trade.

Hong Kong and Seoul each rose 0.9 percent, while Sydney put on more than one percent thanks to a huge tax-cutting budget by the Australian government late Tuesday.

There were also gains in Mumbai, Singapore, Taipei and Wellington, but Tokyo and Jakarta were in the red.

Just hours earlier, Federal Reserve boss Jerome Powell had warned that failure to reach an agreement would cause “unnecessary hardship” for Americans, while analysts said it would have a major impact on the crucial consumer sector that is the major driver of growth.

The president accused Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi of negotiating in bad faith and said he had asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to instead focus on confirming his appointed judge to an opening on the Supreme Court.

“Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19,” he tweeted, citing an incorrect figure for the Democrats’ latest proposal.

“We made a very generous offer of $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting their request, and looking to the future of our Country.”

He added that after the election, which he said he would win, “we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business.”

Emily Weis, a strategist at State Street Corp., told Bloomberg TV: “The market rally thus far had really been driven by this unprecedented stimulus from both central banks and governments globally and a large part of that was from Manila the US.” Manila REPUBLIC Standard REPUBLICOF OFTHE THEPHILIPPINES PHILIPPINES Standard The timeCOURT OF TAX APPEALS TODAY COURT OF TAX APPEALS TODAY QUEZON QUEZONCITY CITY line on more American EN ENBANC BANCRESOLUTION RESOLUTIONNO. NO.99- -2020 2020 Daraga-Legazpi Daraga-LegazpiDiversion DiversionRoad, Road,Bogtong, Bogtong,Legazpi LegazpiCity City fiscal stimuContact ContactNo. No.09753729932 09753729932 WHEREAS, on October 15, 2019, the Supreme Court En Banc, approved the WHEREAS, on October 15, 2019, the Supreme Court En Banc, approved the www.acemclegazpi.net www.acemclegazpi.net lus took “has 2019 2019Proposed ProposedAmendments Amendmentstotothe the1997 1997Rules RulesofofCivil CivilProcedure Procedurewhich which tookeffect effect E-mail: rayenano@yahoo.com or extrastory2000@gmail.com on May 1, 2020. on May 1, 2020. now been NOTICE NOTICEOF OFANNUAL ANNUALSTOCKHOLDERS’ STOCKHOLDERS’MEETING MEETING furWHEREAS, Section 3, Rule 1 of the Revised Rules of the Court of WHEREAS, Section 3, Rule 1 of the Revised Rules of the Courtpushed ofTax TaxAppeals Appeals DEAR STOCKHOLDERS: DEAR STOCKHOLDERS: (RRCTA), (RRCTA),provides: provides: ther back.”

Please Pleasebe beinformed informedthat thatthe theAnnual AnnualStockholders’ Stockholders’Meeting MeetingofofAllied AlliedCare Care AFP "RULE "RULEI I

TOP LOSERS

MOST ACTIVE

11

Trump calls off talks on stimulus plan WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump on Tuesday called off talks on a new stimulus plan to boost the Covid-ravaged US economy until after the election, sending Wall Street plunging and upending recent progress made in the long-delayed negotiations.

The afternoon tweet undid optimism that had developed in recent days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin resumed talks on a follow-up measure to the $2.2-trillion CARES Act passed to blunt the coronavirus downturn.

But Trump struck a more conciliatory tone that night, tweeting he would immediately sign a Congressional bill guaranteeing a second round of $1,200 stimulus checks and $135 billion for small businesses—two elements that were already included in the negotiations.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell had hours before repeated his call for additional spending to help the world’s top economy weather a downturn that has left tens of millions unemployed and caused a historic contraction in the second quarter.

But Trump accused the Democratic House leader of negotiating in bad faith, and said he had asked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to instead focus on confirming his appointed judge to an opening on the Supreme Court.

“Nancy Pelosi is asking for $2.4 Trillion Dollars to bailout poorly run, high crime, Democrat States, money that is in no way related to COVID-19,” Trump tweeted, citing an incorrect figure for the Democrats’ latest proposal.

“We made a very generous offer of $1.6 Trillion Dollars and, as usual, she is not negotiating in good faith. I am rejecting their request, and looking to the future of our Country.”

He added that after the election, which he said he would win, “we will pass a major Stimulus Bill that focuses on hardworking Americans and Small Business.”

The president’s tweet sucked the enthusiasm from Wall Street traders who had been hoping for another injection of congressional cash, sending the Dow and S&P 500 tumbling more than one percent each.

Trump’s rival for the White House Joe Biden said the president had “turned his back on every single worker whose job hasn’t come back yet.... He turned his back on families struggling to pay rent, put food on their table, and take care of their kids.”

The president said he told McConnell to focus the Republicancontrolled chamber on confirming Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court seat vacated last month by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which would give conservatives a solid six-to-three majority.Earlier in the day, Powell told an economics conference the US recovery from Covid-19 would be “stronger and faster” with more government aid to protect against the possibility of accelerating job losses.

“Too little support would lead to a weak recovery, creating unnecessary hardship for households and businesses,” Powell said.

“Even if policy actions ultimately prove to be greater than needed, they will not go to waste.”

The CARES Act passed as the pandemic struck in March included extra $600 weekly payments to the unemployed as well as a program of loans and grants for small businesses.

However, both expired around the end of July and despite weeks of talks, Pelosi, Mnuchin and other top officials remained far apart on how much more to spend in another bill. AFP

TITLE TITLEAND ANDCONSTRUCTION CONSTRUCTION

Experts Experts(ACE) (ACE)Medical MedicalCenterCenter-Legazpi, Legazpi,Inc. Inc.(“ACE-LEGAZPI”) (“ACE-LEGAZPI”)will willbe be held heldon onOctober October20, 20,2020 2020(Tuesday) (Tuesday)atat8:00 8:00o’clock o’clockininthe themorning, morning,via via Zoom ZoomWebinar, Webinar,ininlight lightofofthe theCOVID COVIDpandemic. pandemic.

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PRIME MEDIA HOLDINGS, WHEREAS, Associate Justices Erlinda Uy, PRIME MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC. WHEREAS,Honorable Honorable Associate Justices ErlindaP.P.INC. Uy,Ma. Ma.Belen BelenM. M.RingpisRingpisLiban Libanand andMaria MariaRowena RowenaModesto ModestoSan SanPedro, Pedro,after afterconducting conductingaastudy, study,proposed proposedthat that the amendatory provisions of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules ofof thefollowing following amendatory provisions of the 2019 Amendments to the 1997 Rules NOTICE OF STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING NOTICE OFANNUAL ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING Civil CivilProcedure Procedurebe beadopted adoptedininthe theCourt CourtofofTax TaxAppeals, Appeals,viz.: viz.: To All To(i) AllStockholders: Stockholders: Section (i) Section2,2,Rule Rule6;6;

(ii) Sections (ii) Sections3,3,44and and5,5,Rule Rule7;7; (iii) Section 12, 8;that (iii) Section 12,Rule Rulethat 8; the Please be advised Please be advised the annual annual meeting meeting ofof stockholders stockholders ofof (iv) Rule (iv) MEDIA Rule10; 10; PRIME HOLDINGS, INC. (the “Corporation”) will PRIME MEDIA HOLDINGS, INC. (the “Corporation”) will be be held held (v) Section 11, Rule 11; (v) Section 11, Rule 11; virtually 30 October virtually on 3013; October2020 2020(Friday) (Friday)atat2:00 2:00p.m. p.m.Due DuetotoCovid-19, Covid-19, (vi) Rule (vi) on Rule 13; there no physical (vii) Rule 15; there willbe be no physicalvenue venuefor forthe themeeting. meeting.The Themeeting meetingwill willbe be (vii)will Rule 15; (viii) Rule 18; held virtually via remote (viii) Rule 18; held virtually via remotecommunication communicationatat(https://agm.conveneagm. (https://agm.conveneagm. (ix) Section 6, Rule 21; (ix) Section 6, Rulethe 21; Chairman org/primemedia), with org/primemedia), with the Chairman ofof the the meeting meeting presiding presiding from from (x) Rule (x) City.

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2.WHEREAS, Notice and ofof Quorum 2. Proof Proofof of Notice andCertification Certification Quorum WHEREAS, after due ininaddition after duedeliberation, deliberation, additionto tothe theforegoing, foregoing,the theCourt CourtEn EnBanc Banc 3. of of Stockholders’ Meeting 3. Approval Approval ofMinutes Minutes ofPrevious Previous Stockholders’ Meeting also totoadopt following provisions ofofthe Amendments alsoagreed agreed adoptthe the followingamendatory amendatory provisions the2019 2019 Amendmentstoto the ofofCivil Procedure ininthe Tax 4.4. Rules Approval ofof the Report and Audited the1997 1997 Rules Civil Procedure theCourt Courtofof TaxAppeals, Appeals, viz.: Approval the Management Management Report andviz.: Audited Financial Financial

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Management Management 6. ofofDirectors NOW THEREFORE, the 6. Election Election Directors NOW THEREFORE, theCourt CourtEn EnBanc BancRESOLVES, RESOLVES,as asititisishereby herebyRESOLVED, RESOLVED, to: to: 7.7. Appointment Appointmentofofthe theIndependent IndependentExternal ExternalAuditor Auditor 8.8. Other OtherMatters Matters (i)(i)APPROVE the APPROVE theaforesaid aforesaidproposal proposalofofHonorable HonorableAssociate AssociateJustices JusticesErlinda ErlindaP.P. 9.9.Belen Adjournment Adjournment Uy, M. Uy,Ma. Ma. Belen M.Ringpis-Liban Ringpis-Libanand andMaria MariaRowena RowenaModesto ModestoSan SanPedro; Pedro; (i) 5.(i) 5. (ii) (ii)

For purposes ofof the meeting, stockholders of record ofof (ii) ADOPT the amendatory provisions ofofthe Amendments to For purposes the meeting, stockholders of record as as (ii) ADOPT thefollowing following amendatory provisions the2019 2019 Amendments tothe the 1997 Rules all filed May 2020; totoall 1997 RulesofofCivil Civil Procedure allcivil civilcases cases filedafter after May1,and 1,and 2020; and all September 09, 2020 toto receive notice totoand vote at September 09, Procedure 2020 are aretotoentitled entitled receive notice vote at pending civil proceedings filed 1,1,2020, totothe that ininthe pending civilmeeting. proceedings filedprior priortotoMay May 2020,except except theextent extent that the the said Stockholders intending to participate by remote the said meeting.

Stockholders intending to participate by remote opinion of the Court, their application would not be feasible or would work injustice, in opinion of the Court,should their application would not be feasible or would work injustice, in communication pre-register atSection (https://agm.conveneagm.org/ communication should pre-register (https://agm.conveneagm.org/ which event procedure shall 2,2,Rule which eventthe theformer former procedure shallapply: apply:at Section Rule6;6;Sections Sections3,3,4,4,55and and on before 20, 2020).

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Pursuant Pursuant toto SEC’s SEC’s Notice Notice dated dated April April 20, 20, 2020, 2020, aa copy copy ofof the the Notice Noticeofofthe themeeting, meeting,Definitive DefinitiveInformation InformationStatement, Statement,minutes minutesofofthe the previous previousmeeting meetingofofthe thestockholders, stockholders,and andother otherdocuments documentsrelated relatedtoto the through the ROMAN G. themeeting meetingmay maybe beaccessed accessed through theCompany’s Company’swebsite websitewww. www.

ROMAN G.DEL DELROSARIO ROSARIO PresidingJustice Justice primemediaholdingsinc.com. primemediaholdingsinc.com.Presiding For Forany anyquestion questionabout aboutthe theconduct conductofofthe thevirtual virtualmeeting, meeting,you youmay may refer the Asked Questions website refer toto the Frequently Frequently AskedJR. Questions inin the the Company’s Company’s website JUANITO C. ERLINDA UY JUANITO C.CASTAÑEDA, CASTAÑEDA, JR. ERLINDAP.P. UY Associate Associate www.primemediaholdingsinc.com ororemail AssociateJustice Justice AssociateJustice Justice www.primemediaholdingsinc.com emailmdc.prim@gmail.com. mdc.prim@gmail.com.

Makati MakatiCity, City,88October October2020.

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MA. MA.BELEN BELENM. M.RINGPIS-LIBAN RINGPIS-LIBAN Associate AssociateJustice Justice

CATHERINE CATHERINET.T.MANAHAN MANAHAN Associate AssociateJustice Justice

MAILA MAILAG. G.DE DECASTRO CASTRO

Corporate CorporateSecretary Secretary JEAN JEANMARIE MARIEA. A.BACORRO-VILLENA BACORRO-VILLENA Associate AssociateJustice Justice

** All All proxies proxies which which have have been been previously previously submitted submitted shall shall remain remain valid validunless unlessrevoked. revoked.

MARIA MARIAROWENA ROWENAMODESTO-SAN MODESTO-SANPEDRO PEDRO 1 1

A.M. A.M.No. No.19-10-20-SC. 19-10-20-SC.

Associate AssociateJustice Justice

(MS-OCT. 7,& 2020) (MS-OCT. 8& 9, (MS-OCT. 7, 2020) (MS-OCT. 8 9, 2020)

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The The link link will will provide provide you you the the process process for for the the registration. registration. You You will will receive receiveaaconfirmation confirmationemail emailonce onceyou youhave havesuccessfully successfullyregistered registeredinin the theplatform, platform,including includingthe thedetails detailsand andprocedures proceduresininthe theconduct conductofofthe the meeting. meeting.Voting Votingwill willbe bedone donevia viathe theonline onlinetool toolwhich whichyou youcan canaccess access once onceyou youhave havelogged loggedinintotothe theWebinar; Webinar;voting votingininthe theelection electionofofdirectors directors may mayalso alsobe bedone doneininabsentia absentiathrough throughthe theabove abovelink. link.

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The TheAgenda: Agenda: I.I. II.II. III. III. IV. IV. V.V.

Call CalltotoOrder Order Invocation Invocation Determination DeterminationofofQuorum Quorum Welcome WelcomeMessage Messagefrom fromthe theChairman Chairmanofofthe theBoard Board Reading Reading and and Approval Approval ofof the the Minutes Minutes ofof the the Y2019 Y2019 Annual Annual Stockholders’ Stockholders’Meeting Meeting VI. VI. Audited AuditedFinancial FinancialReport Report2019 2019 VII. VII. President’s President’sReport Report VIII. VIII. Ratification Ratificationofofthe theActs Actsand andProceedings Proceedingsofofthe theBoard BoardofofDirectors, Directors, Officers, Officers,and andManagement Managementofofthe theCorporation Corporation IX. IX. Amendments Amendmentsofofthe theBy-Laws By-Laws 1.1.Section Section6,6,Article ArticleIIIIofofthe theby-laws by-laws(Tele/Video (Tele/VideoConference) Conference) 2.2.Section Section6,6,Article ArticleIIIIII(Tele/Video (Tele/VideoConference) Conference) 3.3.Section Section7,7,Article ArticleIIII(Manner (Mannerofofvoting votingand andSubmission SubmissionofofProxies) Proxies) 4.4.Section Section8,8,Article ArticleIIII(Closing (ClosingofofTransfer TransferofofBooks BooksororFixing Fixingofof Record RecordDate) Date) X. X. Election Electionofofthe theBoard BoardofofDirectors Directors2020-2021 2020-2021 XI. XI. Appointment AppointmentofofExternal ExternalAuditor Auditorfor forthe theyear year2020 2020 XII. XII. Other OtherMatters Matters XIII. XIII. Adjournment Adjournment Only Onlystockholders stockholdersofofrecord recordatatthe theclose closeofofbusiness businesson onSeptember September30, 30, 2020, 2020,Wednesday, Wednesday,shall shallbe beentitled entitledtotonotice noticeofofand andtotovote voteatatthe themeeting. meeting.

IfIfyou youcannot cannotpersonally personallyattend attendthe themeeting, meeting,you youmay mayopt opttotosend sendyour your proxy proxytotoattend attendininyour yourbehalf. behalf.Kindly Kindlysubmit submityour yourduly dulyexecuted executedproxy proxy form form with with the the undersigned, undersigned, via via email, email, atat info@acemclegazpi.net info@acemclegazpi.net not not later laterthan than5:00 5:00p.m. p.m.on onOctober October19, 19,2020, 2020,but butpreferably, preferably,on onOctober October18, 18, 2020, 2020,totoenable enableyour yourproxy proxytotoregister registerininthe theZoom ZoomWebinar.

Webinar.Attached Attached isisaasample sampleproxy proxyform formfor foryour yourreference. reference.[NOTE: [NOTE:Management Managementisisnot not soliciting solicitingproxies.] proxies.]

The The Information Information Statement Statement and and Management Management Report Report and and SEC SEC Form Form 17-A 17-Aare areavailable availableatatthe theCorporation’s Corporation’swebsite websiteatatwww.acemclegazpi.net www.acemclegazpi.net You Youmay maycontact contactthe theundersigned undersignedvia viaemail emailinfo@acemclegazpi.net info@acemclegazpi.netororatat mobile mobilenumber: number:09753729932 09753729932ififyou youhave haveinquiries/concerns inquiries/concernsregarding regarding the themeeting. meeting.

Very Verytruly trulyyours, yours, RICO RICOD. D.MADLANGBAYAN MADLANGBAYAN Corporate CorporateSecretary Secretary (OCT. 7& 8,8, 2020) (OCT. 7& 2020)

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

B4

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

Business

Trade row with Brazil threatens PH food security

Wednesday, October 7, 2020 -42.76 PTS.

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES

5,867.88

1,808,701,897

TOTAL TRADES

127,698 7,114,037,387.06 101

DECLINES

92

UNCHANGED

48

Foreign E xchange R ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.3770

Japan

Yen

0.009468

0.4580

UK

Pound

1.288000

62.3096

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129034

6.2423

Switzerland

Franc

1.089206

52.6925

Canada

Dollar

0.751315

36.3464

Singapore

Dollar

0.733837

35.5008

Australia

Dollar

0.710100

34.3525

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652168

128.3039

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266610

12.8978

Brunei

Dollar

0.731154

35.3710

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000068

0.0033

Thailand

Baht

0.032072

1.5515

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.1717

Euro

Euro

1.173400

56.7656

Korea

Won

0.000859

0.0416

China

Yuan

0.146737

7.0987

India

Rupee

0.013618

0.6588

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.240906

11.6543

New Zealand

Dollar

0.658400

31.8514

Taiwan

Dollar

0.034711

1.6792 Source: BSP

By Othel V. Campos MEAT processors asked the government to avoid trade dispute with countries that provide raw materials for the food industry.

The Philippine Association of Meat Processors Inc. said the Philippines imports most of the raw materials needed to produce affordable canned meat products which provided a lifeline to the population at the height of the community quarantine amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“About 90 percent to 95 percent of raw materials of meat processing industry are imported. Not because we want to, but because we have to,” PAMPI said in a statement.

The association said the Philippines imports more than 800,000 metric tons of meat every year, of which 50 to 60 percent is used by meat processors to produce canned meat products, hotdogs and frozen meat items.

“The meat processing industry will continue to grow and support its commitment to supply the food needs of the country. Working with stakeholders and government regulators, we shall resolve and mitigate difficult issues together,” PAMPI said.

The group cited the trade dispute between the Philippines and Brazil in September that has threatened the supply of raw materials for the local meat processing industry.

The Department of Agriculture imposed a ban on chicken meats coming from Brazil, citing health and phytosanitary issue as reasons.

Brazil, through a joint statement from its Ministry of External Relations Affairs and Ministry of Agriculture on Sept. 5, 2020, warned the Philippines that the DA action was against the tenets of the World Trade Organization policy.

PSE INDEX CLOSING

IN BRIEF

Chelsea sells some assets, cuts capex RECKITT BENCKISER PLEDGE. Reckitt Benckiser Philippines pledges support to the Philippine government in its battle against the coronavirus pandemic, with a donation of a PCR testing machine and Lysol products to the Perpetual Help Succor Cebu Hospital, a COVID-19 designated facility in Cebu City. The support is in line with the government’s Trace, Test and Treat program in collaboration with the private sector. Attending the turnover ceremony are (from left) RB president and general manager Aleli Arcilla, Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases deputy chief implementor Secretary Vince Dizon and Kabisig ng Lahi president Vicky Wieneke.

Finance bares plan to sell state-owned mining assets

By Julito G. Rada

T

HE Department of Finance said Wednesday it plans to revive the mining industry by privatizing the mining assets held by the government.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said during the 46th Philippine Business Conference held online that reviving the mining industry would raise more export and tax revenues.

“Just a few days ago, we had a complete review of the mining assets held by the government through the Privatization Management Office. And I have asked them to really push the revival,

ANDREW TAN’S AWARD. For the

contribution and support of his group of companies in the country’s ongoing fight against COVID-19 and his steadfast leadership in helping shape the country’s economy through his businesses, Alliance Global Group Inc. chairman Dr. Andrew Tan receives this year’s ICCP Global Excellence Corporate Award from the International Chamber of CommercePhilippines.

the privatization of Nonoc Mines, of Basay Mines and all the other mines that are held by the government,” Dominguez said.

PMO is an agency under the DOF tasked to oversee the government’s privatization program.

Dominguez responded to the question on how the government could raise additional tax revenues, especially as tax receipts from Philippine offshore gaming operators were declining because a number of the Pogo firms started leaving the country.

“Definitely, we are pushing for the revival of the mining industry. As I keep on mentioning, the mining industry provides jobs in areas where there are no other alternative jobs,” he said.

Dominguez said the DOF was working closely with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Mines

and Geosciences Bureau on the issue.

Nonoc Mining and Industrial Corp. owns a nickel mine in Surigao City. San Miguel Corp. in 2012 proposed to reopen the Nonoc nickel mine.

Basay Mining Corp. owns a copper mine site partly owned by the government in Basay, Negros Oriental that ceased operations in 1984.

The DENR announced in July 2020 its intention to reopen some of the closed mining sites to help the government raise revenues amid the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Dominguez said he wanted private banks to participate in extending assistance to the airline industry, which is one of the sectors badly hit by the pandemic.

He said while the government was prepared to participate in the assistance to the industry, private banks should do their share.

Phillip Morris offers smoke-free options Organized annually by the InPHILIP Morris International ternet & Mobile Marketing said it is committed to giving Association of the Philippines, the estimated 16 million Filipino this year’s Digicon OMNI is adult smokers who would oththemed “Navigating the Posterwise continue to smoke better Digital Age”. smoke-free product alternatives.

It is combustion or the burn“We are encouraged by the ing of tobacco that generates global success of IQOS, which harmful chemicals in cigarettes, today is available in 57 countries. according to Gorkun. “The realIn just five years, there are now ity is that the moment we light 15 million IQOS users globally, anything on fire, we open up a with 72 percent converting fully chemical factory. This applies to to IQOS. And we’re excited by the tobacco in a cigarette. The the fact that our research tells fuel in a car. Or the wood in a us 59 percent of Filipino smokers are open to trying smoke- PMFTC Inc. president Denis Gorkun stove. And this is why there is a movement across sectors to refree alternatives as long as they duce and eliminate combustion are commercially available and subject to certain product safety standards,” said or burning.”

PMI is leading a transformation in the tobacco Denis Gorkun, president of PMFTC Inc., the Philindustry to create a smoke-free future and someippine affiliate of PMI. Gorkun spoke on “A Pivot To The Future” day replace cigarettes with smoke-free products on day 1 of the 2020 DigiCon OMNI, which to benefit adults who would otherwise continue to is being held virtually from Oct. 5 to 9, 2020. smoke.

CHELSEA Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp., the shipping and logistics arm of businessman Dennis Uy, said Wednesday it deferred most of its capital expenditures and sold some assets to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the overall business.

Chelsea Logistics president and chief executive Chryss Alfonsus Damuy said during the annual stockholders’ meeting the group also implemented work rationalization program as part of a strategy to adapt to the challenges.

The company availed of the extension period for loan payments provided under Bayanihan Acts 1 and 2 to ease its cash flow. Damuy said with measures to stem the losses and improve financial health, the company was expected to recover from the impact of the coronavirus by the middle of 2021.

“We are in the best position to bounce back faster once economy improves and businesses will be operating on the new normal,” Damuy said. Jenniffer B. Austria

ABS-CBN-Zoe TV deal to increase ad spending THE return of ABS-CBN Corp.’s shows through a block time agreement with Zoe Broadcasting Network Inc. will boost advertising spending and television viewing levels in the country, Kantar Media Philippines said Wednesday.

Jay Bautista, managing director of Kantar in the Philippines, said the TV landscape, “will be back to a battle program content among the networks” with the return of ABS-CBN Channel 2 to free TV. “[There will be] more choices for TV viewers,” he said.

Zoe Broadcasting announced its rebranding to A2Z Channel 11 after it signed a block time agreement with ABS-CBN to carry some Kapamilya shows.

“Potentially we will see improving TV viewing levels which declined when ABSCBN was shut down in May and when TV Plus and Sky Direct were shut down in late June,” Bautista said. “The entry of A2Z will also help improve advertising investments which have declined and shifted to other platforms over the last few months.”

The stock of ABS-CBN surged 50 percent to P13.50 on Wednesday. Darwin G. Amojelar

FGEN taps foreign firm on LNG project FGEN LNG Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Gen Corp., said Wednesday it selected the local unit of New Zealand infrastructure company McConnell Dowell as the preferred contractor for the engineering, procurement and construction of its interim offshore liquefied natural gas terminal in Batangas City.

First Gen said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the construction phase of the IOT Project could begin in the fourth quarter or once FGEN LNG’s preparations were complete, including the design and implementation of enhanced work and safety protocols and procedures.

The IOT Project will allow FGEN LNG to accelerate its ability to introduce LNG to the Philippines as early as the third quarter of 2022, to serve the natural gas requirements of existing and future gas-fired power plants of third parties and FGEN LNG affiliates.

“This was a difficult decision that has been reached after the completion of an extensive tendering process, but we are delighted to announce that we have selected McConnell Dowell as the preferred tenderer for the First Gen’s IOT Project,” said Jonathan Russell, executive vice president and chief commercial officer of First Gen. Alena Mae S. Flores

Sports

Training continues for Magno

By Peter Atencio FOR now, training at home in her hometown of Janiuay, Iloilo will have to do for Tokyo Olympicsbound Irish Magno.

The 28-year-old Magno said this as she awaits word when she can go back to Manila to resume regular training.

“Tuluy-tuloy pa naman ang training ko. Sana payagan na akong makabalik sa Manila,” said Magno in live webcast on Facebook.

Magno was able to return to Iloilo last Aug. 3, after coming down from Baguio City, with a 13-member national squad from the national training camp.

Since then, Magno has been undergoing supervised, online workouts with the coaches of the Alliance of Boxing Association of the Philippines.

Last March, Magno became the fourth Filipino qualifier to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

She was no longer in contention after her fight in the Round of 16 in the women’s flyweight box-off in the 2020 Asia/Oceania boxing qualifying tournament in Amman, Jordan. But she still turned back Tajikistan’s Sumaiya Qosimova via unanimous decision, 4-1, in the the box-offs.

The win made her the fourth Filipino headed to the Tokyo Olympics after pole vaulter EJ Obiena, gymnast Carlos Yulo and boxer Eumir Marcial.

Last July, Magno was part of a 13-member national boxing squad that returned to Manila and stayed at the Philsports Complex as they waited for their flights home.

It took her three weeks to go home and was left alone at the athletes’ quarters, after the rest of the national team left, and the Philsports Complex soon became a quarantine facility for COVID-19 patients.

“Buti na lang at tinulungan nila ako makauwi. Napakalungkot na kasi doon. Nag-iisa na lang kasi ako,” added Magno.

Irish Magno

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

C1

Anthony Davis of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots the dagger three during the game against the Miami Heat during Game Four of the NBA Finals. AFP

Phisgoc received P1.4b, not P6b for SEA Games P

1.481 BILLION and not P6 billion.

This was the clarification made by the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee on Wednesday regarding the funding it received for the Games the country hosted last year.

“We clarify that out of the total P6 billion Philippine government budget for the 30th SEA Games under GAA2019, the Philippine Sports Commission has only provided the amount of P1.481B as financial support to the Organizing Committee,” Phisgoc President and COO Ramon Suzara said in a letter sent to POC Secretary General Atty. Edwin Gastanes.

“The PSC has only completed remitting this amount to Phisgoc on September 4, 2020, from which we settled the lawful and valid obligations incurred for the hosting of the 30th SEA Games covered by said financial support,” Suzara said.

“The remaining P4.52B GAA2019 budget for the 30th SEA Games was remitted to the DBM [Department of Budget Management] Procurement Service, and a certain amount also to the POC, or used directly by PSC for the equipment and

services used for the 30th SEA Games.”

Suzara made the clarification for the Phisgoc after POC board member Jesus Clint Aranas and athletics chief Dr. Philip Ella Juico told media about their intention to file charges against certain POC officials, including president Rep. Abraham Tolentino, for the organizing committee’s “failure to provide a financial statement on the SEA Games expenses.”

The Philippines hosted the SEA Games for the fourth time—after 1981, 1991 and 2005—last November 30 to December 11, 2019, in four major venues—Clark, Subic, Metro Manila and Southern Luzon.

“Since October 1, we read about the request of Messrs. Juico and Aranas in the news quoting both of them without even waiting for the POC leadership to officially act on their motion,” Suzara said.

“Please tell them that we would appreciate receiving POC’s letter first, rather than

hearing about their stunt in the media intended to undermine Phisgoc.”

Suzara furthered: “Kindly remind them that the POC and PSC are integral parts of Phisgoc, and their actions unnecessarily cast aspersions on the integrity of all these institutions.”

The Phisgoc president said Juico and Aranas’s statements are “premature and appear to have been done in bad faith being immediately publicized in media to the prejudice of the Organizing Committee.”

Aranas, along with weightlifting president Monico Puentevella, slammed Tolentino, the Phisgoc and certain members of the POC executive board in a video-linked news conference last Saturday after the archery president announced his ticket for the POC’s November 27 elections.

Aranas is the sole challenger to Tolentino’s presidency.

“At any rate, rest assured that Phisgoc has already substantially liquidated said financial support received from PSC. To date, we are nearing completion of our submitted liquidation reports to PSC covering said financial support received by the Organizing Committee,” Suzara said.

Spoelstra: Heat ready to respond ORLANDO—Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra backed his team to bounce back after the Los Angeles Lakers closed in on another NBA championship on Tuesday.

After a 102-96 defeat in game four left them 3-1 down in the series, the Heat need a miracle if they are to prevent the Lakers from winning a record-equalling 17th title.

Only once before in NBA Finals history has a team overturned a 3-1 deficit, when a LeBron James-inspired Cleveland Cavaliers stunned the Golden State Warriors in 2016.

But Spoelstra struck a defiant stance after Tuesday’s defeat in Orlando which left Miami’s championship aspirations hanging by the slenderest of threads.

“Our guys love competition and love the challenge,” Spoelstra said.

“We are here for a purpose. We never expected this to be easy. We’ll just rest and recover tomorrow.

“I think everybody could probably use that a little bit. Recalibrate, get back to work on Thursday. I know our group’s going to be ready.

“We’ll respond, that’s academic at this point. We’ll just rest up tomorrow and get back to work and get ready for the next one.”

Spoelstra said Tuesday’s defeat in a physical

encounter dominated by defense, had been a “throwback” game.

“There were some moments of truth and it came down to making plays,” Spoelstra said. “We made a lot more plays at the end of last game, they made their plays tonight.”

Heat star Jimmy Butler meanwhile said Miami would not dwell on Tuesday’s loss.

“I just think we’re so comfortable with who we are and how we play that that’s what we’re going to go out there and do,” Butler said.

“Our confidence ain’t going nowhere, it’s going to stay high, I’m going to make sure that it stays high, because it’s going to have to be at an all-time high to get this next win.”

Butler said Miami would need to reduce their error count to have any chance of resurrecting their title challenge.

“We know we got to be better. We know that we can be better, as I’ve been saying this entire time,” Butler said.

“We showed glimpses of it and then we made some crucial mistakes whether it be on the defensive end or the offensive end and beat ourselves in the end.

“They’re a really, really, really good team, we got to play damn near perfect to beat them. We didn’t do that Head coach Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat talks with the media after Game Four of the NBA Finals. AFP tonight.” AFP

LeBron savors winning time after LA victory ORLANDO (AFP) -- The Los Angeles Lakers maintained their remarkable fourth quarter winning streak as they secured the game four victory over Miami on Tuesday that left them on the brink of a 17th NBA crown.

The Lakers took a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series after holding off a physical Miami side in a hard-fought contest to close out a 10296 win in Orlando.

The result extended the Lakers’ record of remaining unbeaten this season whenever they have led going into the fourth quarter. The team is 56-0 when taking a lead into the fourth.

“I think the fourth quarter, obviously it’s winning time,” Lakers star LeBron James said afterwards.

“You’ve got 12 minutes to buckle down defensively with the lead, kind of hold that lead, and then you have to execute offensively.

“That’s the mindset for us. We’ve got 12 minutes. If we have the lead, it’s our job to outscore the opponent or to hold them to (as many) points as us, which is the same exact thing, because if we win the quarter, we win the game. That’s kind of been our mindset all year long.”

James, who will win a fourth championship ring if the Lakers win one of the remaining three games in the series, is already looking forward to game five.

“I get so excited—like right now, I’m excited about our meeting tomorrow watching film and breaking that down and seeing things that we can do better,” James told reporters.

“Seeing things that we did do well.

Thinking about the adjustments that they possibly or will do ... that’s the best part about it. It’s a chess match.”

While James led the scoring for the Lakers, the team’s win came off of a Herculean defensive effort from Anthony Davis, who shut down Miami danger man Jimmy Butler.

“Jimmy is so great, it’s hard to even slow him down but AD did a great job,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

“It starts there but you have to credit our guys’ competitive spirit. They were flying around and just competing at an extremely high level that end of the floor.”

Vogel said he had not needed to motivate Davis after a disappointing outing in Sunday’s game three defeat.

“You don’t have to say anything to Anthony Davis,” Vogel said.

“He wants this more than anything.

Obviously he’s a great player capable of imposing his will on the game on both ends of the floor.”

Team Lakay stars talk McLaren-Toivonen clash WHEN fifth-ranked Filipino-Australian flyweight Reece “Lightning” McLaren and Aleksi “The Giant” Toivonen clash at ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES this Friday, October 9, in Singapore, two Team Lakay stars will watch closely.

Former ONE Flyweight World Champion Geje “Gravity” Eustaquio and his teammate, Lito “Thunder Kid” Adiwang, will both keep a close eye on the match.

Eustaquio’s interested because he’s in the same division, and like McLaren and Toivonen, his goal is to make it to the top of the heap.

When asked about the upcoming battle, “Gravity” expects 29-year-old McLaren to come

in a little more comfortable against Toivonen, who will be competing for just the second time in ONE Championship.

“I think McLaren is more experienced when it comes to this competition, but it’s still MMA so we can’t really predict it,” Eustaquio said.

The key for Toivonen, according to Eustaquio, will be for the Finn to force a striking exchange since “Gravity” believes that McLaren is the better grappler.

“If Aleksi can keep the fight standing up and maintain his distance from McLaren, he will win this. If not, then Reece will probably take the fight to the ground and win via submission,” Eustaquio added.

Adiwang, the fifth-ranked strawweight, has kept an eye on the flyweight division as well since jumping onto the main roster last year.

For the 27-year-old, whoever strikes first, whether on the feet or the ground, will have the advantage.

“I can’t wait to watch this fight. Both fighters are good on the ground, so whoever has the better striking will win the fight,” Adiwang said.

“Maybe one can also get an early submission when they are both not sweaty and slippery yet.”

But at the end of the day, Adiwang believes McLaren’s experience will give him the advan-

tage on Friday night.

“I’ll have to give the edge to McLaren in this bout,” Adiwang said. “I’m giving it to him due to his experience. I see him controlling the fight and winning via unanimous decision.”

Catch ONE: REIGN OF DYNASTIES this Friday, October 9. Watch the show on One Sports, One Sports+, or the ONE Super App at 8:30 p.m.

Philippine Standard Time (PHT).

Download the ONE Super App | ONE Championship - The Home Of Martial Arts Watch all ONE Championship events live and free on the ONE Super App. Also, TV5 will air the event on a next-day delay at 11 p.m. PHT on Saturday, October 10.

C2

Sports

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

De los Santos not alone in karate quest

Enjoy exclusive, easy access to NBA TV PH via Smart Signature IS LEBRON James games away from what critics call his last chance to a championship ring?

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By Peter Atencio

Sofia Kenin of the US returns the ball to France’s Fiona Ferro during their women’s singles fourth round tennis match on Day 9 of The Roland Garros 2020 French Open tennis tournament in Paris. AFP

Kenin, Kvitova only seeds left at unpredictable Open P ARIS—Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin is well positioned for a run at a second Grand Slam title this year as the highest seed left in the tournament going into Wednesday’s quarter-final with fellow American Danielle Collins.

However, the feisty Collins cannot be discounted in an unpredictable women’s tournament where two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova takes on first-time Slam quarter-finalist Laura Siegemund.

Sofia Kenin (USA x4) v Danielle Collins (USA) Head-to-head: Collins leads 1-0 Kenin has developed a knack of working her way out of trouble in Paris, twice recovering from a set down en route to the last eight.

In her last 16 win over Fiona Ferro she overcame a first-set blip and partisan crowd, displaying a steely resilience while raising her game to another level.

The 21-year-old says she needs “step up” again having reached the quarterfinals of a major for just the second time.

Collins, 26, is a late bloomer after taking the taking the college route in the US, twice capturing the national singles title while at Virgina.

She is another battle-hardened character, notably rallying from a double break down in the final set to knock out 2016 champion Garbine Muguruza in the third round.

The 57th-ranked Collins beat Kenin in straight sets in Adelaine earlier this year and is aiming to match her run to the 2019 Australian Open semi-finals.

“I know that it’s going to be another battle and another fun match,” said Collins.

Kvitova has yet to drop a set on her return the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time since 2012, when she lost in the last four to eventual champion Ma-

ria Sharapova.

The Czech admitted to feeling emotional while closing out victory over Zhang Shuai in the last 16, as memories of her comeback from a 2016 knife attack came flooding back.

Kvitova suffered severe injuries to her left hand as she fought off an intruder at her home, but was back on Court Philippe Chatrier just six months later to resume her career.

While Kvitova has won most of her 27 titles on hard courts, three of her past five triumphs have come on clay including the most recent at Stuttgart last year.

She dropped just two games against Siegemund when the pair met in the first round of the 2015 US Open.

Siegemund, 32, won last month’s US Open women’s doubles titles alongside Vera Zvonareva and is belatedly trying to establish herself in singles.

“It was one big goal for me to make it in singles into the second week of a Slam. That’s where I see myself. That’s where I want to be,” she said. AFP

Department of Education gets jump ropes from MILO, PJRA AS CLASSES for online learning begins, leading beverage brand MILO Philippines, and partner sports organization Philippine Jump Rope Association, announced that it will turn over 600 jump ropes to the Department of Education.

The pilot run of the initiative is in line with MILO and PJRA’s commitment to support the national agency’s blended learning program for the new academic year.

In a ceremonial turnover that was livestreamed on the DepEd Facebook page, MILO Sports Manager Lester P. Castillo and PJRA President Noel Agra handed out the first 200 jump ropes to Mandaluyong Elementary School, represented by DepEd Undersecretary Tonisito Umali and MES Principal Elvie Canilao.

The turnover of the equipment is an expansion of MILO’s online sports pro-

THE BOTTOM LINE LITO CINCO AFTER the Los Angeles Lakers took a 2 -0 lead over Miami Heat in the ongoing NBA Finals and with Heat starters Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic not suiting up for Game 3, I was ready to say Miami’s bubble was about to burst.

But the Heat, even without the two stars, shocked everyone by riding on Jimmy Butler’s all-around, game-long brilliance, scoring 40 points for a surprisingly easy victory. Unfortunately for me, I did not put a bet on that game.

However, for Game 4, I had a feeling, LeBron James and company would again come back and come back they did against a fighting Heat squad, making it now 3-1 and just needing one more win to wrap up the series.

gram, the MILO Home Court campaign that aims to empower parents to continue their kids’ champion journeys at home.

The tripartite partnership between MILO, PJRA and DepEd adds another dimension to MILO Home Court’s thrust by providing Physical Education teachers with instructional knowledge on the fundamentals of jump rope—it being a viable and accessible sport for kids to get active even while indoors.

“MILO believes that active children are better learners. We recognize that health and fitness contribute to a child’s academic performance. This partnership with DepEd and the PJRA will equip our teachers with the tools and materials to help the nation’s youth espouse an active and healthy lifestyle,” said MILO’s Lester P. Castilo. “Through our established linkages with sports experts, MILO will lend

Shown here are (from left) Philippine Jump Rope Association representatives Atty.

Al Agra, President Noel Agra, Department of Education Undersecretary Tonisito Umali, PJRA Vice President Isaiah Jeremiah Delarmente, and MILO Sports Manager Lester P. Castillo.

its instructional materials developed in The first batch of jump ropes will be tandem with the PJRA so that kids can received by the Grade Six students of engage in sports and discover their love MES. PJRA will provide PE faculty for jump rope.” members the foundational training for

THIS time around, world no. 2-ranked James de los Santos won’t be alone in his quest for greatness in international online kata competitions.

Three members of another dojo have joined De los Santos in his search for a gold medal in the first leg of the Okinawa E-Tournament Series #1.

De los Santos, who is with the International Shotokan Karate Federation dojo, once again made it to the finals of the individual male seniors’ category after hurdling Slovenian Nejc Sternisa, 25.8-24.72, in the semifinals.

And so did two of the three female aspirants from the Maharlika Karatedo Kai of the Philippines International in Fatima A-Isha Lim Hamsain and Julie Marcos.

Last week, Hamsain reached the semifinals of the under-16 category of the women’s kata in the Shureido World League.

The other day, Hamsain, who signed up in a lower age group, barged into the under-15 finals in her next attempt to claim a podium finish with De los Santos.

She had a 23.62-point tally against German Julie Stevens, who graded 23.4 points in her semifinals’ video entry.

This put Hamsain in the championship round against Norwegian Marion Wester.

On the other hand, Marcos is in competition with Ida Olafsen of Norway but their results are not yet available.

“The three girls are from MKKPI, the club that’s been really supporting me,” said De los Santos of the three, which included Karen Colonia in the 16-under categories.

Colonia earned a quarterfinal slot after beating German Christina Dannenberg, 22.8-22.7, but then took a 22.32-22.54 setback at the hands of Aurora Salani of Italy.

Last week, De los Santos bagged his 12th straight gold medal.

The Cebu City-based De los Santos was impressive with the slow and then explosive ippon-nukite (one finger strike) in the opening sequence to outscore Sternisa of Slovenia, 25.2-23.7, in the individual male seniors’ finals of the second Venice Cup 2020 e-kata online tournament.

With world no. 1 Eduard Garcia still ahead with 8575 points, De los Santos moved closer with 8110 at no.

2 spot. teaching jump rope to students. Lessons on the sport will be integrated to the Music, Arts, Physical Education and Health curriculum.

“The Department of Education welcomes the support of MILO and PJRA in empowering our teachers and students with the resources that will augment our blended learning program,” said DepEd Undersecretary Tonisito Umali. “It is important that we optimize the expertise of our partners to be able to enrich our students’ learning experience, especially now that we have opened our academic year.”

Video lessons and exercises from MILO and PJRA will be available on the DepEd Learning COMMONS, the online module repository for students and teachers, as well as on the MILO YouTube channel, along with other instructional videos from the MILO Sports Clinics Online. The pilot run of the initiative is slated to run from October to December, including a mini virtual interschool competition among the three schools who will be receiving the first batch of jump ropes.

In the succeeding months, the program is geared for a bigger roll out to reach more children nationwide.

From one basketball bubble to another Now I can say without a doubt whatsoever that the Lakers will beat the Heat, either in Game 5 or Game 6. And when that happens, LeBron will again come closer to his dream of being acknowledged as the Greatest Of All Time, an honor that basketball fans all over the world have already given to Michael Jordan. But then that debate will call for another separate piece by itself.

The NBA bubble, too, will be gone and right on its heels, another basketball bubble begins, this time right here in our shores as the PBA opens its own, following the NBA model, but of course subject to the league’s own financial limitations and capabilities.

I remember that prior to the start of the 2020 PBA, the league admitted its concerns regarding the dwindling gate attendance receipts, though it said advertising revenues still showed an increase and that its online marketing shows so much potential.

Then, the pandemic struck and definite-

ly, it had a major impact on the financial situation of the league, something the PBA brass hopes to recover from.

Truth is, I sent a message to PBA commissioner Willie Marcial to ask him what would be his biggest concerns about this conference. But for whatever reason, maybe the number I used was wrong, I did not get a reply, so I will come up with my own opinion on the matter.

For one, there will still be no gate attendance receipts as the games at Angeles University start this Sunday, with a double header between TNT and Alaska, followed

by Ginebra going up against NLEX. All succeeding games will be closed to the public.

This leaves the telecast of the games and whatever online advertising revenues the PBA will realize as revenue sources.

I read, too, that in the NBA, the online viewership of the championship series fell short of the league’s expectations. Maybe,

if it was Boston-Los Angeles in the finals, fan interest will be much higher because of the traditional rivalry between these two iconic NBA teams.

The health of all the participating players, officials, referees, media and other support personnel will always be a concern and I hope no Donald Trump-like incident happens that some in the PBA bubble test positive. I do not think mental health though will be a problem among the players.

The level of play by the teams, particularly at the start, may raise some eyebrows, but then considering the long layoff by all the players from regular team practices and scrimmages due to the lockdown, I can only expect that quality of play will not be at a high level at the start, but should pick up as games are played daily.

How the PBA fans will respond to the league’s bubble reopening, particularly on social media, will only be known as the

games progress.

I believe San Miguel Beer with its intact lineup remains the top contender, with sister team Ginebra San Miguel, up there with them in the seedings.

Outside of these two, the other teams will be generally competitive among themselves, except maybe for a couple of teams like Alaska for one as it is still rebuilding.

There will be missing players, too, like Greg Slaughter, who opted out of Ginebra; TNT’s Kelly Williams, who suddenly retired; Larry Fonacier and Cyrus Baguio; and even a head coach in Louie Alas of Phoenix, who had a falling out with management and some rookies, too. I hope, too, that a reformed Calvin Abueva finally gets permission to see action.

I do wish the PBA the best upon its return to the hardcourt. After all, basketball remains the number one sport in the country.

Entertainment

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

What ABS-CBN shows will air on A2Z channel 11?

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The Beatles, here depicted by illustrator Rockefeller Losorata, is the featured subject of the author’s third e-book to be published by e-Publish Book Hub.

Beatles fan e-book VERY WANG NICKIE WANG

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WITTER world and its denizens definitely have an interesting way of interpreting the significance of number 11 in ABS-CBN’s partnership with ZOE Broadcasting Network, Inc.

Clockwise: ‘Ang Sa Iyo ay Akin’, ’Walang Hanggang Paalam,' and ‘FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano' are among the Kapamilya series that will air on A2Z channel 11.

Network Inc., which was founded by Bro. Eddie Villanueva, has made public the rebranding of Zoe Channel 11 as “A2Z.” “Starting this October, A2Z will be the On Tuesday, both ABS-CBN and Zoe TV released an official statement on their home of the newest TV experience for new ventures. The first announced its Filipinos as it offers relevant, informative, block time agreement with the Zoe TV and entertaining content geared towards while the latter unveiled its new logo and spiritual strengthening,” the statement sent the reason behind this significant change. to Manila Standard Entertainment said.

Netizens were quick to comment that the partnership was to honor the 11 representatives who backed the media giant's application for a fresh broadcast franchise, while others said it’s ABSCBN’s way to celebrate It’s Showtime’s, one of its banner programs, 11th year on air. Some people commented that it’s for the 11 thousand employees who got affected by the network shutdown. And more interpretations go from A to Z. In a statement sent by ABS-CBN to the media on Tuesday, the network said that with its new ally, they are committed to work together to provide entertainment, public service programs, and educational content to the public.

Zoe Broadcasting Network Inc. announces “ABS-CBN produces content for the rebranding of Zoe Channel 11 as “A2Z.” various companies, platforms, and It was noted that the rebranded VHF audiences here and abroad,” the statement channel will serve viewers with “uplifting started.

“Starting Saturday (Oct. 10), some and inspiring shows of life, love and hope, entertainment shows and movies of educational programs, local and foreign ABS-CBN will be seen on the newly movies, some of the best-loved ABS-CBN rebranded A2Z channel 11 through an shows through a blocktime arrangement, agreement between ABS-CBN and Zoe and programs from licensors like Broadcasting Network Inc.,” the message Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN Asia), Knowledge Channel and others. continued.

The statement ended indicating that Some of the programs on Zoe’s Light TV A2Z channel 11 will be seen on analog TV 33 will also air on A2Z.” Sherwin N. Tugna, chairman and in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Meanwhile, Zoe Broadcasting President of Zoe Broadcasting Network,

Inc., said A2Z’s line-up of programs were assembled with the goal of fulfilling the spiritual, information, and entertainment needs of Filipinos during this pandemic and beyond.

“Zoe Channel 11 TV gets a new name, a new look, and a new journey serving God and the Filipino people. We strive to provide Filipinos with the best type of programming and bring glory to the Lord above,” he said.

With ABS-CBN and Zoe TV’s partnership, viewers will be able to enjoy ABS-CBN’s teleseryes, movies, and live entertainment shows on the newly rebranded A2Z channel 11 on analog broadcast this week.

It’s Showtime will air live on Saturday (Oct. 10) and ASAP Natin ‘To on Sunday (Oct. 11) to bring musical performances and fun games to viewers.

A2Z channel 11 will also have a marathon telecast of series FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano, Ang Sa Iyo ay Akin, and Walang Hanggang Paalam this weekend before the regular primetime run of their fresh episodes on weeknights starting Monday (Oct. 12).

In the coming weeks, A2Z channel 11 will also air public service programs Paano Kita Mapapasalamatan and Iba ‘Yan. Also in the pipeline are Magandang Buhay, mystery game show I Can See Your Voice, and the longest-running drama anthology MMK. ABS-CBN shows continue to be seen on cable and satellite TV via Kapamilya Channel, online via iWant TFC and Kapamilya Online Live on YouTube and Facebook, and globally through our cable TV and satellite partners.

PISTA NG PELIKULANG PILIPINO

offers premium films, classics, Oscars submissions, and more THE Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) Oscars Entries, Tributes, Romance, Youth and Family, Genre, will showcase over 100 films in the 4th Pista ng Pelikulang Bahaghari, PPP Retro, Documentary, and From the Regions, Pilipino (PPP) which will have its first online edition this year along with Sine Kabataan and CineMarya. from Oct. 31 to Nov. 15 at the agency’s new online channel.

PPP4 offers several festival subscription options such as the The PPP4 is an FDCP-led omnibus Full Run Pass (P599) that grants a 16project featuring titles from local film day access to the Premium Selection festivals like the Cinemalaya Philippine films and events, free content, free Independent Film Festival, QCinema panel sessions/workshops, calendar, International Film Festival, Cinema and trailers. The Half Run Pass (P299) One Originals Film Festival, Sinag provides access to the short films Maynila Film Festival, CineFilipino library and full-length scheduled Film Festival, ToFarm Film Festival, screenings for eight consecutive days and Metro Manila Film Festival as well while the Day Pass (P99) gives access as from various producers and regional to the short films library and full-length film festivals, a PPP Retrospective, the scheduled screenings for one day.

Lab portion of the Sine Kabataan Short The Early Bird Rate for the Full Film Competition, and the CineMarya Run Pass, priced at P450, is available Women’s Film Festival. until Oct. 15. There is also a Free Pass “This year’s PPP is a solidarity that provides access to the calendar event that aims to encourage support and free content. Beginning October for Philippine Cinema in light of the 16, senior citizens and persons with devastating effects of the COVID-19 disabilities (PWDs) can avail of a 20 pandemic. It aims to propagate the love percent discount while students will for Filipino films among audiences and get to enjoy a 30 percent discount. help sustain the country’s film industry The FDCP announced that that is gravely affected by the COVID-19 additional titles in the PPP4 lineup will crisis. The FDCP is glad to announce that be revealed in the coming days. Watch all proceeds will be given to producers out for updates on more film titles and involved in the festival through revenue other events lined up in the first online sharing,” said FDCP Chairperson and The 4th edition of the annual Pista ng edition of the PPP. CEO Liza Diño.

For updates and more information, Pelikulang Pilipino reveals a lineup of premium PPP4 features the following titles and classic films to be exhibited during visit FDCPchannel.ph and facebook. sections: Premium, Classics, PH the digital edition of the festival. com/FDCPPPP.

TOMORROW would have been the 80th birthday of John Lennon. Fans around the world feel poignant about it partly because his Beatlemate Ringo Starr celebrated the same milestone last July alive and drumkicking. The band leader was only able to live half of four scores.

I read an article that posed for tributepaying fans the question Lennon himself famously sang in the opening of “Happy Xmas (War Is Over):” And what have you done?

Early this year, I actually wrote an e-book homage to The Beatles, titled The Beatles’ Timeless Legacy. Its sub-title wishes to explain its position by saying it is a “Tribute to the Greatest Band from the 60s to the New Normal and Beyond.”

My book is set to be published come December, or barring any miscalculation, on the very day Lennon was assassinated 40 years ago.

The pandemic cause-lockdown somehow gave me time and focus to encapsulate my own fascination for the band and its legacy, as 2020 marked the 50th anniversary of their final album release Let It Be. Its tracks mostly recorded in January 1969, the Phil Spector-mixed album officially came out in May the following year, though the group only did one recording session the whole of 1970, minus Lennon at that.

The e-book is basically an avid fan’s work, as I felt I owe the band some fulllength writing to show the depth of my immersion on the gems they created

and the lives they led especially during their heydays.

The first chapter YUGEL chronicles their “days LOSORATA in the life” as I sorted out 50 significant days in their saga. Based on my assessment, as a music journalist and musician myself, I ranked the 13 albums they released, from “Please Please Me” to “Let It Be.” I also included my list of worth-citing underrated Beatles songs and asked some certified Filipino fans and celebrities their one Beatles song choice.

I don’t ever wish to write a book about the fiasco that marred their visit to the Philippines in 1966. Most Filipinos had nothing to do with that sorry incident.

In fact, a total of 80,000 thousand fans, a record for a single-day Beatles crowd turnout, watched the group play that July before the infamous scene at the Manila International Airport. With the exception of some barong-wearing thugs and a presidential child who reportedly preferred The Rolling Stones, we Filipinos are legitimate Beatles fans.

I wrote in my description of Lennon that he was a “frontman who charmed fans and critics with his outspokenness and devilmay-care attitude.” And that “without his rebellious behavior, The Beatles would have lacked the biting persona necessary for the band to be taken as cool by both teenagers and radicals.”

I grew up influenced by The Beatles in many ways and I currently play bass in a band named The Pub Forties. The Fab Four will always be in my life.

GMA Kapuso Foundation project uplifts school children’s spirit

GMAKF Unang Hakbang sa Kinabukasan 2020 in Lanao del Sur.

GMA Kapuso Foundation (GMAKF) pushes ahead with its project “Unang Hakbang sa Kinabukasan” to provide school supplies as well as anti-COVID kits for needy students from public elementary schools in time for the opening of classes this October.

Through the help of multi-sector partners, GMAKF aims to help 80,000 incoming kinder and grade 1 pupils from the top 25 poorest provinces across the country, as well as areas badly affected by COVID-19. The Foundation distributed school bags which include complete school supplies along with two washable face masks, two bars of soap, and two bottles of alcohol.

The program is a pillar project under GMAKF’S Education program. The antiCOVID kits distribution is an add-on, part

SNAPSHOT AMERICAN actor Tom Cruise and British actress Hayley Atwell are pictured during the filming of Mission Impossible: Lybra in Rome. The upcoming American action spy film is written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, and starring Cruise, who reprises his role as Ethan Hunt. It is the seventh installment of the Mission Impossible film series and the third film in the series to be directed by McQuarrie, following Rogue Nation and Fallout. AFP

of the ongoing “Operation Bayanihan: Labanan Natin ang COVID-19” of GMAKF. GMAKF, with broadcast journalist Mel Tiangco as founder and ambassador, has so far completed distributions in Quezon, Masbate, Camarines Sur, Albay, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Cagayan Valley, Isabela, Zamboanga del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Agusan del Sur, and Cebu.

Slated next for GMAKF distributions are Tarlac, La Union, Benguet, Nueva Vizcaya, Davao Occidental, Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur, North Cotobato, Eastern Samar, Samar, and Leyte.

To donate to GMA Kapuso Foundation’s projects, visit www. gmanetwork.com/kapusofoundation/ donate.

Mission in Rome

Life

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

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HOUSEHOLD

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2020

By Steph Llarena

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F THEY could, furparents would bring their loyal companions anywhere. Luckily, more establishments now allow guests to bring their pets— provided they are taken care of—as they shop or dine or just walk around.

These three malls go beyond letting pets into their spaces: cats and dogs are given a space to be themselves, paw-rents can get what they need for the furry members of their family, and the bond shared between humans and animals is highlighted and celebrated.

Drive-thru pet blessing

In celebration of World Animal Day on October 4, Eastwood Mall—the “first and true pet-friendliest mall in the Philippines,” as recognized by the Philippine Animal Welfare Society in 2004—held a special kind of pet blessing.

The event, which started in 2005, is celebrated every 10th month of the year in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals.

This year’s pet blessing was conducted via drive-thru to ensure pets and their furparents maintain physical distancing.

“We may not be able to celebrate it the way we used to, but we still have lots of reasons to be grateful for the moments we get to spend with our loyal friends,” said Tefel Pesigan-Valentino, vice president of marketing at Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.

The interactive activities and fun games, which are part of the annual event, was held online, during which pet owners were invited to dress up their lovely pals with futuristic costumes of their choice using recycled materials.

Megaworld Lifestyle Malls pioneered the concept of a truly pet-friendly destination in the Philippines by creating petfriendly facilities and areas across its establishments, including creative signage and public service announcements promoting responsible pet ownership.

FURRY PRIDE. Cats and dogs are given a space to be themselves in pet-friendly establishments in Metro Manila that offer pet essentials, provide facilities, and celebrate the bond shared between humans and animals. (Right) A dog patiently waits for its turn at Eastwood Mall’s drive-thru pet blessing.

For our furry family members

Walk, a Pause Table, a Wall Jump, and an Adjustable Dog Hurdle.

It aims to provide a designated venue for dog exercises and monitored socialization.

It also has basic amenities for dogs and their owners, including a water fountain, waste bins, and benches. SM Aura Premier is set to hold pet markets and workshops at the Paw Park.

Park use is free, guests only need to register online. Pet owners are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the dog park’s etiquette and safety rules which are posted for reference right at the Paw Park entrance, on SM Aura Premier’s website, and attached with the digital Paw Park Pass.

The leash-cutting ceremony that marked the opening of the facility was led by SM’s president for engineering designs Chico Sy, SM Supermalls president Steven Tan, and San Miguel Animal Health Care’s Raquel Nones.

Seen enjoying the park with their adorable fur babies were Tim Yap and partner Javi Martinez with their Pomeranians Teacup, Babushka, Gigi, and Panda; Century Tuna Superbods 2018 winner Angel Jones with babies Koda, Rocky, and Nala; and fashion designer Francis Libiran with his Chihuahua Toby who won the best dressed award during the launch.

Likewise joining in the fun were football player Chris Greatwich and family with their cool dog Marley; model and actor Fabio Ide and Ellen Fjord with their poodle Simba; songwriter and corporate host Marky Stroem and Kyla Rivera with their furball Kinjo; and Nadhir Khaomi with Chihuahua Paloma.

Furry-friendly shops

Swift and Ecko (inset) try the obstacle course at the newly opened Paw Park, a dog park at SM Aura in Bonifacio Global City.

Fur-parents at the World Animal Day event last year at Ayala Malls.

Bow & Wow is an all-natural pet store for dogs and cats.

has recently opened an outdoor pet obstacle Built in compliance with Philippine Ca- an Adjustable Tire Jump, a Tube TunPaw Park opens Here’s something for hoo-moms and course, the first in Bonifacio Global City, at nine Club standards, Paw Park features 11 nel, an Agility See Saw, Weave Poles, an agility obstacles: a Double Hoop Jump, A-Frame, a Dog Walk Ramp, an Agility paw-pas with active dogs: SM Aura Premier the SkyPark on fifth level of the mall.

Covering everything from clinics to spas, Ayala Malls continues to work towards further solidifying itself as a petfriendly business. The chain of malls was recently given the 2020 Stevie Award for World Animal Day: From Pet Friendly to Animal Welfare Advocate in recognition of its concern for animals.

Some of the establishments present at Ayala Malls include Bow & Wow, an allnatural pet store; Dogs in the City, a lifestyle destination that offers grooming, daycare, and boarding for pets; Pet Lovers Centre, a Singapore-based pet shop that sells high quality food and products; and Pet Zoofari, a pet store that boasts a zoo-safari concept.

Fur-parents who want to pamper their pets can head over to Furry Tails, which also sells cute costumes; Pooch Park Doggie Day Care, which provides pet boarding for days; and The Dog Spa Hotel, an expert pet grooming salon.

Several pet clinics are also housed in Ayala Malls. Animal House is equipped with in-house diagnostics, X-rays, and ultrasound machines; Doc Ferds Animal Wellness Center is a veterinary clinic that also offers pet boarding and pet-pharmacy; and Uptown Animal Center that provides healthcare services and products.

Baby bath safety tips by Iya Villania, Neri Miranda Spot clean as needed

It is important to keep baby’s skin folds clean and dry from saliva, dribbled milk, and the like to avoid skin irritation. Miranda recommends gently patting—not rubbing—their face and in between those cute, chubby rolls with a soft sheet of wipes when needed.

“I like how Babyflo Baby Wipes has just the right size and dampness to clean up my baby,” she says, adding, “I love that its cottony-soft sheets are hypoallergenic and dermatologically tested safe.”

Soap away germs

Iya Villania-Arellano highlights the importance of reading product label ingredients of baby cleansers. (Photo from @iyavillania / Instagram)

CELEBRITY “supermoms” Iya Villania-Arellano and Neri Naig-Miranda take advantage of the opportunity to give their children a bath. This part of the day offers them a chance to bond sans technology and other similar distractions.

Both moms agree the first few times giving baby a bath can be a slippery business. But with a little preparation and some parenting savvy, they say it can be a joyful and memorable experience.

Iya and Neri share their favorite bath tips and tricks to help moms (and dads, too) keep their children fresh, clean, and happy.

Product choice is critical

Both moms agree that choosing products specially formulated for babies should be top priority.

“Babies have more delicate skin than adults because their skin is still developing,” says Miranda.

Safety and hygiene are especially crucial today, and frequent washing with soap is recommended to keep any infection at bay. Mom of three Villania-Arellano suggests that moms should take the time to read product ingredient labels before buying, watching out for harsh cleansers that can irritate babies’ sensitive skin.

“Babyflo Soap-Free Bath is soap-free, fragrance-free, paraben-free and doesn’t clog pores. It’s safe enough for daily bath time,” she enthuses.

Apply a moisturizer

Directly after baby’s bath, use a “lockingin” method to trap moisture back into their damp skin. A gentle oil moisturizer is the perfect ally for babies’ skin as it functions like a shield to protect it from outside attacks.

Villania-Arellano likes gently rubbing Babyflo Baby Oil onto their skin.

Add a protective barrier

Chaffed skin often leads to diaper rash. Miranda applies BabyFlo Petroleum Jelly for a protective barrier. “When the skin is slightly chapped, it soothes the redness and restores softness.”

Neri Naig-Miranda believes choosing products specially formulated for babies should be top priority of parents.

(Photo from @mrsnerimiranda/ Instagram)