Manila Standard - 2020 October 29 - Thursday

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‘Everyone to be investigated’ Palace says lawmakers included; DOJ findings on corruption out in 2 months

By Vito Barcelo HE government will file appropriate charges against all those involved in corruption whether they are lawmakers, government officials or private persons subject to the evidence gathered, Malacanang said.

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Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the task force to be created by President Rodrigo Duterte will investigate the entire government for corruption and will include lawmakers.

“The President has directed Justice

Secretary Menardo Guevarra through a memorandum order to investigate the entire government for alleged corruption.

The task force to be created will be effective... until June 30, 2022,” Roque said.

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VOL. XXXIV • NO. 237 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

NO TAKERS. Vendors mill around

their displayed flowers at the Dangwa Flower Market in Manila early Wednesday as fewer people bought flowers for their departed loved ones owing to the coronavirus pandemic. Wednesday was the last day for Filipinos to visit cemeteries ahead of a government ban for the All Saints Day or ‘Undas’ weekend to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Many tried at the last minute, but were held off by the authorities (inset photos). Norman Cruz and JR Josue

Senate to submit budget for Rody’s signing mid-Dec.

By Macon Ramos-Araneta

Ombudsman suspends 8 PhilHealth, 5 DOH execs over fund issues

By Rio N. Araja, Willie Casas and Macon Ramos-Araneta

OMBUDSMAN Samuel Martires ordered the suspension of eight Philippine Health Insurance Corp. executives and five Department of Health officials for various offenses.

Martires suspended PhilHealth Execu-

tive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Arnel de Jesus, PhilHealth COO for Fund Management Sector Renato Limsiaco, PhilHealth Senior Vice President Dr. Israel Paragas of Health Finance Policy Sector and five others for the alleged anomalous release of P2.7 billion worth of PhilHealth funds under the Internal Reimbursement Mechanism policy.

The suspension order came following the grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of service complaints filed by the National Bureau of Investigation in connection with the release of PhilHealth funds.

The Ombudsman also placed under a six-month suspension (without pay)

DOH Undersecretary Roger Tong-An, and Kenneth Ronquillo, Maylene Beltran, Laureano Cruz and Esperanza Carating for the delay in the release of benefits to health workers amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

They would also be investigated for their roles in the delayed procurement

SENATE President Vicente Sotto III said Wednesday that senators plan to submit the 2021 national budget to the President for signing by mid-December, two weeks before the current spending plan expires.

In an interview with ABS-CBN, Sotto said the Senate would begin plenary debates on Nov. 10, have it approved by Nov. 24 and have a bicameral conference committee report approved by Dec. 8.

He said this timetable could be met if there are no deadlocks between senators and members of the House in the bicameral conference.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said the Senate e would have enough time to scrutinize the 2021 spending plan and submit it to the President for signing before Christmas.

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COVID-19 PH

Or. Mindoro agri damage at P2b; declares crisis

AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM OCTOBER 9)

375,180 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

By Othel V. Campos and Willie Casas

2,053 38,955

TYPHOON “Quinta” has wrought extensive damage to crops, fisheries and agricultural infrastructure, with another strong storm, to be called “Rolly,” expected to hit the country’s landmass before the weekend, officials said Wednesday.

Oriental Mindoro Gov. Humerlito Dolor estimated that Quinta did P2 billion of agricultural damage in his province.

In an interview on ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo, Dolor said most of the damage was dne to high-value crops, while rice crops suffered less.

The province has since declared a state of calamity that would allow it to tap emergency funds to address Quinta’s damage.

Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture said Quinta dealt P705.87 million worth of damage to crops, fisheries and infrastructure.

In its latest update, the DA said some 33,545 metric tons of crops were lost to the typhoon, affecting 25,483 farmers and fishermen.

The typhoon also damaged about 19,971 hectares of agricultural areas in Ilocos region, CALABARZON, the Bicol region, Western Visayas and the Zamboanga Peninsula.

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NEW

ACTIVE

7,114

61

329,111

540

DEATHS

SEEING RED. Women’s rights advocates picket in front of Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City on Wednesday, calling against the red-tagging

RECOVERIES

NEW

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of activists and human rights defenders. Men supportive of their cause also joined them, many wearing red lipstick symbolic of their protest.

Lacson sets investigation of red-tagging of celebrities by military red-tagging incidents involving some military officials.

Officials of the Armed Forces of the SENATOR Panfilo Lacson, principal Philippines and members of the Gabriauthor of the Anti-Terrorism Act, has ela Women’s Party will be summoned filed a resolution to investigate alleged to the Senate to discuss the issue, Lac-

By Francisco Tuyay, Rio N. Araja and Willie Casas

son told reporters during a virtual press conference Wednesday.

“We want to pinpoint the root cause of red tagging, red baiting, etcetera,” Lacson, said Lacson, former chief of the Philippine National Police and the cur-

rent chair of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation.

Lt. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr. of the National Task Force to End Local Next page

PRC demands full pay in 3 days

By Willie Casas STATE insurer Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) should pay the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) the balance of its debt for COVID-19 testing within three days, the humanitarian organization’s chairman, Sen. Richard Gordon, demanded on Wednesday.

PhilHealth paid P500 million to the PRC on Tuesday evening, about half of its P1.1-billion bill.

The remaining P561 million amounts to 160,475 tests, Gordon said.

“The debt is due and demandable.

The agreement says upon demand by the Red Cross of payment, when we Next page

Red Cross to roll out lower-cost saliva virus test

By Willie Casas, Rio N. Araja and Julito G. Rada THE Philippine Red Cross will be rolling out the saliva test for COVID-19 detection in the country at a lower cost, its chairman Senator Richard Gordon has said.

“We submitted it about a month

LOCAL ROUNDUP and a half ago to the DOH (Department of Health). Now it’s in the hands of the Health Technology Assessment Council composed of doctors, medical doctors who already approve of it and

scientists,” Gordon said in a report on GMA News.

“But let me tell you, there must be a sense of urgency there. Imagine that is already being used in Japan and Singapore,” Gordon said Tuesday.

Gordon said a go-signal from the government experts was still being awaited.

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TATTOOS GONE. The Bureau of Corrections launched on Wednesday ‘Oplan Bura

Tatak’ in an effort to promote peace and order among the inmates by effacing their tattoo marks. BuCor Chief Director General Gerald Bantag said the objective of the event was to eliminate riots between members of the different gangs in the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).

DZRH via Twitter

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

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‘Severe’ sanctions set for envoy

By Rey E. Requejo

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HE Department of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday vowed to prosecute to the “fullest extent of the law” the Philippine ambassador to Brazil for the alleged maltreatment of a Filipino household helper to serve as an example that the DFA will not tolerate misbehavior among its people.

nos,” he added.

The maltreatment was first reported

by Brazilian news channel GloboNews on Sunday, which released CCTV videos showing Mauro berating and laying her hands on her helper multiple times, pulling her ear and slapping her, among others, inside the diplomatic residence in Brazil.

Mauro, the country’s envoy to Brazil since 2018, was immediately recalled after the report on the incident.

“The recall of Philippine Ambassador to Brazil March Mauro will enable the DFA to conduct an expedient and thorough investigation into the incidents of physical abuse perpetrated by her against her household staff as shown in the CCTV footage recently aired by a Brazilian news outfit,” the DFA chief said.

However, Locsin said that the DFA

will still get a mandate from the Office of the President before proceeding with its investigation.

“But first the DFA will get authority from the Office of the President to proceed as a young lawyer reminded us all or it will be an exercise in futility,” he said.

Section 51 of Republic Act No. 7157 or the Philippine Foreign Service Act of 1991 states that “the chiefs of mission who are commissioned by the President as ambassadors extraordinary and plenipotentiary shall not be investigated by the Board or separated from the Service unless there is an express written directive from the President.”

Locsin also said that he would hire the “best guy” to investigate the circumstances surrounding the maltreatment, saying that the person is “the very best in the business” to do the probe.

The DOJ chief said the task force should consider the magnitude of funds involved and its impact on the delivery of government services in choosing what cases to pursue.

“So we’re talking here about values, magnitude of the funds involved, possible impact on the delivery of government services, to be considered in choosing kung alin ang iimbestigahan ng task force,” he said.

He vowed to bring out results of the task force’s initial investigation in the next two months.

“We are hoping in the next couple of months we’ll be able to produce something as a sign that the task force is actually doing its job,” Guevarra said in an interview.

Guevarra said the DOJ-led Task Force has a twin goal: “One is to prosecute those whom we shall find, after due investigation, to have been involved in corrupt practices.”

“Our output is not just recommendatory. We shall file cases directly with the [Office of the] Ombudsman,” he said.

“Our other objective is preventive in nature; install anti-corruption mechanisms in government agencies, educate the citizenry on the evils of corruption, promote values of integrity and civic-mindedness and the like,” Guevarra added.

Guevarra, who has been tasked by the President to investigate anomalies and corruption in the entire government, said he has activated the “core group” of the inter-agency task force that previously investigated the widespread anomalies at the state-owned Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

Guevarra said he met on Tuesday with the DOJ’s senior officials, including National Prosecution Service head Prosecutor General Benedicto Malcontento and National Bureau of Investigation officerin-charge Director Eric Distor to discuss the organization of the task force.

In a statement, the DOJ chief said they discussed the methods of securing in-

formation regarding incidences of corruptions in government, and possible approaches for the conduct of the investigations, “taking into consideration the gravity of the allegations and its impact on the delivery of government services.”

“It was agreed during the said meeting that the core group constituted for the task force to investigate allegations of corruption in the Philhealth will be the same core group for thetask force to investigate allegations of corruption in the entire government,” the statement said.

Besides NPS and NBI, the core group, headed by the DOJ, is composed of Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC), Office of the Special Assistant to the President (OSAP), and the AntiMoney laundering Council (AMLC).

The DOJ said the task force will invite the Commission on Audit, the Civil Service Commission, and the Office of the Ombudsman to work together with the task force, with due consideration for their independence as constitutional bodies.

The reactivation of the inter-agency task force, which investigated widespread irregularities at the state-owned PhilHealth, was prompted by the new directive from the President to investigate corruption in the entire government.

In a memorandum, the President granted the DOJ the authority to decide which allegations of corruption to investigate.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Wednesday welcomed the investigation into corruption in all government agencies.

At a forum in Manila, Sotto said this was a welcome development, saying not only Congress but the entire government should be investigated.

Sotto also acknowledged that lawmakers are not immune to the country’s anti-graft laws, as Roque said.

Legislative immunity, he said, only applies to crimes where the penalty is six years or less.

Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon also agreed that no one is above the law. with enough time to go over the bill and sign it before the year ends.

“This shows that all the members of Congress are cognizant of the need to approve the budget on time, now more than ever because of the challenges our country is facing due to the pandemic.”

Senator Panfilo Lacson said regardless of the constitutional issues involving the House version of the 2021 budget bill, it is still good that the Senate has enough time to approve its own version, leaving room for the bicameral conference and submission to the President for approval, thus avoiding a re-enacted budget.

Gordon said Gierran had initially “promised” to pay the full bill after speaking with Executive Sec. Salvador Medialdea, COVID-19 testing czar Sec. Vince Dizon, and Sen. Christopher Go, but he later changed his statement.

“It’s hard to talk with them. If they are not serious we are deadly serious,” Gordon said.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the DFA will be firm in meting out the appropriate sanctions and administrative or criminal charges against Ambassador Marichu Mauro if the investigation would show that he should be held liable for maltreating her household helper.

“The DFA’s response on this matter will be severe to the fullest extent of the law especially when it involves a highranking DFA official setting an example to ensure that matters like these will

never be tolerated,” Locsin said, in his Twitter post.

Locsin added that the DFA would be firm in handing appropriate sanctions and charges against the ambassador “if the results of the agency’s investigation would “demand as such.”

“Under my leadership, the DFA will not tolerate in any way whatsoever actions by any of its ranking officers or staff that go against our primary mandate, which is the promotion and protection of the welfare of all overseas Filipi-

Ombudsman...

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‘Everyone...

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of personal protective equipment and other medical gear for the protection of health-care workers, lapses and irregularities that caused the death of several medical workers as well as the escalating number of deaths and infected medical frontliners, inaction in the release and processing of benefits and financial assistance of deceased and infected medical frontliners, and confusing and delayed reporting of COVID-19 related deaths and confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, DOH Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire confirmed the suspension of the five DOH officials during her regular press briefing.

“Yesterday we have received the decision coming from the Ombudsman.

Lungkot na lungkot kami na at this time of the pandemic nagkakaroon tayo ng ganitong sitwasyon (We are very sad that this happened during the pandemic),” she said.

“Pero bukas naman po ang ating kagawaran sa anumang imbestigasyon at kung ano man ang kailangan ay kami ay mag-a-abide (But the agency is open to any investigation, and whatever is needed, we will abide by it),” Vergeire said.

Vergeire, however, vowed that the DOH will not intervene in the investigation being conducted by the Ombudsman.

“Ito pong preventive suspension ay hindi po ibig sabihin ay pinapatawan na sila ng penalty. Parte po ito ng legal process para hindi magkaroon ng implewensiya ang nasasakadal (This preventive suspension does not mean they would already be penalized. This is part of the legal process so that there would be no influence),” Vergeire said.

Vergeire, however, vouched for the integrity of its five officials who were meted with six-month preventive suspension without pay over alleged negligence in releasing benefits of health care workers amid COVID-19 pandemic, but vowed to cooperate with the probe.

“We are supportive of our officials.

These five officials have been with us for decades, nagbigay ng sakripisyo, commitment. Integrity wise, mapagkakatiwalaan, kaya sana magkaroon na ng resolusyon ang kaso para makabalik na sila sa kanilang trabaho (These five officials have been with us for decades, gave their sacrifices, commitment. Integrity wise, they could be trusted, and we hope there would be a resolution soon so that they could return to their jobs).”

Roque said it was the mandate of the DOJ to “investigate everyone” and that the immunity granted to members of Congress does not cover crimes under the anti-graft laws, which carry heavy penalties, including life imprisonment.

“Under the directive, the DOJ shall have the authority to decide which allegations to investigate, taking into consideration the gravity thereof and the impact on the delivery of government services,” Roque said.

He also said the DOJ may create as many panels as it deems necessary and adequate, and may invite or direct other bodies and agencies of the government to assist or be part of such panel.

“The DOJ shall prosecute and file the appropriate charges against all those involved in the anomalies investigated whether against government or private persons as may be warranted by the evidence gathered subject to applicable laws and rules,” he said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Wednesday said the Department of Justice-led Task Force mandated to probe corruption in the entire government may initially give priority to investigation of widespread anomalies in five agencies.

Guevarra said DOJ team will give priority to investigatingcorruption in five agencies initially: the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Bureau of Customs, the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Land Registration Authority.

Guevarra, who has been given until the end of the President’s term in June 2022 to complete the probe, said an investigation has already started in some of these agencies, while some of them were already called out by President Rodrigo Duterte in his public address about corruption.

He added that he supported the initiative of the House of Representatives to increase the budget for the procurement for a COVID-19 vaccine from P2.5 billion to P8 billion.

Senator Christopher Go said he was looking forward to scrutinizing the national budget, particularly all healthrelated appropriations.

In the middle of a pandemic, he underscored the need for a sufficient and

appropriate budget that would help the government fight COVID-19.

The chairman of the Senate finance committee, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, said there would be enough time to go over the amendments made to the National Expenditure Program as they start drafting the committee report on the 2021 budget.

“We endeavor to come up with the committee report on or before Nov. 10 and start the plenary debates on the measure,” Angara said.

He said he was confident they would be able to pass the 2021 national budget in December and leave the President

PRC...

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“Yes, they should do that,” Gordon said, when asked if this meant PhilHealth should pay the remaining balance within three days,.

PRC temporarily stopped its PhilHealthfunded COVID-19 testing earlier October after the unpaid bill reached P930 million.

Operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport resumed Tuesday night.

The other PRC laboratories reopened on Wednesday.

Gordon was puzzled why PhilHealth chief Dante Gierran did not pay the whole amount.

“They are aware of the contract and he said he’s going to pay it. I don’t know why he did not pay the whole amount,” Gordon said, referring to Gierran.

submit the receipts and all the things that go with this such as the records, pictures and results, they should pay in three days,” Gordon said during an interview on ANC’s Headstart.

Or. Mindoro...

From A1 Affected commodities include rice, corn, high-value crops, fisheries, livestock, irrigation and agricultural facilities.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said damage to agriculture and infrastructure caused by Quinta has -so far -- amounted to P429.73 million.

The NDRRMC also confirmed that nine people were killed, while six others were injured and two other were missing in Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas.

A total of 93 road sections and 20 bridges in Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol,

Senate...

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Eastern Visayas, and CAR were affected by flooding, landslides, road slip, and soil erosion due to the typhoon.

In an update on Wednesday noon, NDRRMC executive director Ricardo Jalad said the typhoon’s damage to agriculture and infrastructure was placed at P401.73 million and P28 million, respectively in Ilocos Region, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, and Western Visayas.

This developed as the weather disturbance approaching the Philippine area of responsibility is forecast to strengthen into a tropical storm by Thursday, the state weather bureau said.

The tropical depression last estimated 1,960 kilometers east of Central Luzon is expected to enter PAR between Thursday morning and afternoon if it continues to move west northwest “slowly,” the weather bureau said.

Local...

From A1 More poor people and workers would be tested through this cheaper test which was estimated to cost P2,000 each, according to Gordon.

The price is P1,500 lower compared to the P3,500 swab test conducted by the humanitarian organization.

“They will no longer need the personal protective equipment, unless they go to the lab. They will just spit on the vial and they will give it to us already for testing,” he added.

The PRC will have to buy some equipment worth $15,000 for every laboratory that will process the saliva samples.

On Tuesday night, PhilHealth an-

Meralco rates going up amid demand, outages

By Alena Mae S. Flores, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Willie Casas POWER rates of Manila Electric Co. will likely go up this month amid increased demand, plant outages and the Malampaya gas supply restriction, a company executive said over the weekend.

“For October rates, there is pressure for generation costs to go up. Demand in September increased versus August. In fact, September 2020 peak demand was higher than September 2019’s,” Meralco head of utility economics Lawrence Fernandez said.

He said it was the first time that power demand increased on a year-on-year basis since the start of the pandemic.

“The higher demand was coupled with more generation plant outages and a Malampaya gas supply restriction,” Fernandez said.

The Meralco official said prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market, the country’s trading floor of electricity, reached P32 per kilowatt-hour on Sept, 5 and 7, while prices for the rest of September remained higher than in August.

The Independent Electricity Market Operator of the Philippines, the operator of WESM, earlier said average power rates were expected to rise as more power plants went on planned and unplanned outages in the first two weeks of September.

“There were multiple price spikes due to thin supply margin due to planned and forced outages of major plants and at the same time, demand has been going up, it reached 12,586 MW on Sept. 8, 2020, which is so far the highest since July 2020,” John Paul Grayda, IEMOP manager for trading operations department, said.

Lacson...

From A1 Communist Armed Conflict (NTFELCAC) earlier drew flak for threatening Miss Universe 2018 Catriona Gray, and Kapamilya actresses Liza Soberano and Angel Locsin over their supposed association with alleged front organizations of the communist movement after the three celebrities spoke supporting women’s rights.

But the three will not be invited to the Senate hearing, Lacson said.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año himself urged the military to back with evidence claims implicating individuals or groups involved in the communist insurgency.

Speaking on ANC’s Matters of Fact, Año, a former Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff, stressed that red-tagging anyone without evidence was unfair.

“I would suggest to military to back up their claims and I think they have evidences (sic) and they will come out in the open once there’s a proper forum,” he said.

“But of course, it’s not fair to just mention any name or an organization without any particular evidence.”

For Año, one of the best ways to solve communist insurgency, which he said is among President Rodrigo Duterte’s priorities until the end of his term in 2022, “is to go in court and file charges.”

Red-baiting, defined by the Supreme Court in 2011 as an act of labeling individuals or organizations as being left-leaning, subversives, communists or terrorists, did not start from government forces, he noted.

“It was actually Jose Maria Sison, the exiled founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, who first red-tagged these organizations in his speech in one international forum in 2003. He named these organizations including some party-list organizations,” said Año, who also served as Philippine Army Commanding General.

nounced that it already released P500 recovered patients bringing the total million as partial payment to the PRC to 329,111.

The DOH reported 61 new COVID-reand vowed to expedite the release of the lated deaths, bringing the death toll to 7,114. remaining balance.

COVID tally

The Philippines’ COVID-19 infections breached the 375,000-mark on Wednesday as the Department of Health recorded 2,053 additional cases.

Based on its latest bulletin, the DOH said the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country reached 375,180, of which, 38,955, or 10.4 percent, were active.

Of the newly-announced infections, 108 are from Caloocan City, 103 are from Quezon City, 97 are from Negros Occidental, 93 are from Benguet, and 85 are from Rizal.

The DOH reported 540 additional

Robredo negative

Vice President Leni Robredo and her entire staff have tested negative for COVID-19.

“All of the OVP staff who were exposed last week tested negative. Thank God. All the activities today and the succeeding days will proceed as scheduled,” Robredo’s Facebook post read.

“Thank you all for your prayers and well wishes. They are very much appreciated,” she said.

Last week, Robredo and her staff went through a self-quarantine after exposure to a COVID-19 patient on Oct. 22.

All of them took the swab test.

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Cashless toll deadline moved to December 1 M

OTORISTS have been given more time to have radiofrequency identification stickers installed in their vehicles after the Department of Transportation pushed the start of the mandatory cashless transaction in all toll expressways from Nov. 2 to Dec. 1.

“For now, they can still pay the toll using cash but after that, they will be asked to park on the side of the road and have an RFID installed on their vehicles,” Transport Assistant Secretary Goddes Hope Libiran said in a message on Wednesday.

The extension is to prevent the long queues being experienced at the toll roads “in the rush to get RFID stickers,” Toll Regulatory Board Executive Director Abraham Sales said in a media bulletin.

Sales, however, said the deadline would no longer be extended beyond Dec. 1.

“Secretary [Arthur] Tugade allowed the extension in order to give motorists, especially infrequent toll road users, more time to comply with the department order,” he said.

Motorists who enter toll expressways with no RFID by Dec. 1 and beyond “will be apprehended and issued a citation ticket,” the TRB said.

Transport Assistant Secretary Mark Steven Pastor have asked motorists to make use of the extended deadline and have the RFIDs installed in their vehicles as early as they can.

“Iwasan natin ‘yung kung kailan isang linggo na lang, saka tayo magmamadaling magpunta sa installation sites para magpakabit ng RFID. Now we are extending the deadline to give further consideration. Let us use the extension wisely,” Pastor said.

Earlier, the TRB said Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. and San Miguel Corp.-the two operators and maintenance providers of the country’s toll expressways—were equipped and ready to implement mandatory cashless transactions and had extended the installation of RFID stickers beyond Nov. 2.

The DOTr earlier issued Department Order 2020-012 directing the implementation of cashless toll collections at all expressways and major toll roads to ease the spread of the coronavirus disease. PNA

FACE TO FACE. Youth activists hold up protest placards and streamers during a demonstration rally in front of the Supreme Court along Padre Faura in Manila on Wednesday. The Youth Fight Back Alliance (YFBA) filed a petition for certiorari before the SC to question the constitutionality of Comelec’s proclamation of Duterte Youth party-list nominee Ducielle Cardema with a seat in the 18th Congress. Norman Cruz

With no buyers around, flowers at Dangwa wilt Rody son seeks

By Willie Casas THE sale of flowers to observe All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day has slowed in Dangwa, Manila, because of an oversupply, a report from ABS-CBN News said on Wednesday.

Last year, there were several buyers who had been buying the flowers from Dangwa days before the observance of the two annual holidays.

ABS-CBN News said the prices at Dangwa were as follows: Orchids, P600

per bundle of four dozen; Malaysian Mums, P100 per dozen, which was P150 to P180 before; Baby’s Breath, P200 per kilo; Anthurium (red), P350 per bundle of one dozen; and Anthurium (white) P250 per dozen.

To avoid wasting the flowers, sellers have dropped the prices of almost P100 per dozen or per bundle.

Even the floral arrangements that were formerly priced at P800 to P1,000 had dropped to about P600.

The sellers have also limited the

number of large ready-made floral arrangements since the smaller floral arrangements are easier to sell.

The smaller flower arrangements are priced at an average of P100 each.

The sellers have blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for the slow sales this year, saying buyers have not given priority to buying flowers.

But the sellers were hoping that buyers would be enticed to buy the flowers after bringing down their prices.

IN BRIEF Housing to run after real estate scammers HOUSING czar Eduardo del Rosario on Wednesday vowed to intensify the campaign against real estate scammers.

He said the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development was set to launch the campaign against illegal developers, fake brokers and salespeople.

During a recent management committee meeting, he ordered all regional offices to craft their own campaigns to go after real estate scammers, particularly unscrupulous developers, real-estate brokers and agents engaged in the illegal selling of real-estate properties.

He tasked the agency’s top officials in the Quezon City main office to strengthen their collaboration with other government agencies, such as the Justice and Interior departments and partner developers to boost their efforts.

“We need to put a stop to these illegal activities through pro-active efforts in collaboration with our stakeholders, including legitimate developers who are also falling victims to these scammers and other government agencies,” Del Rosario said. Rio N. Araja

JICA gives first phase of P50-b disaster loan THE Japanese Embassy in Manila on Wednesday announced the disbursement of 10 billion yen, or about P4.63 billion of Japan’s total 50-billion-yen post-disaster loan to the Philippines.

“JICA disbursed 10 billion out of the 50-billion Post-Disaster Standby Loan to the Philippines after its signing on Sept.

15,” Japanese Ambassador Koji Haneda said in a statement.

“This 1st-tranche release was triggered by the extension of the state of calamity, allowing the Philippines to draw budgetary support for its COVID-19 pandemic response.”

The PDSL phase 2 was signed on Sept.

15 as a quick-disbursing loan to ensure that contingency funds are available to the Philippines in times of natural disasters and public health crisis.

The first phase of the PDSL was provided immediately after the Typhoon “Yolanda” disaster in 2013.

JICA Chief Representative Azukizawa Eigo said JICA “stands by the Filipinos in this time of Bayanihan to address public health challenges.”

The Japanese Embassy is optimistic the assistance will help spur a faster Philippine recovery from the pandemic. PNA

ANTI-DRUG GEAR. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration, in collaboration with the US International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau (INL), has donated to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) several pieces of drug detection equipment, boosting the agency’s airport and investigation capabilities. At the turnover in Quezon City on Wednesday are (from left) PDEA Director III Randy Pedroso, PDEA Director General Wilkins M. Villanueva, USDEA Country Attache Christopher J. Adduci, and Brett Blackshaw, Political Counselor, US State Department. Manny Palmero

President asked to probe DBM A BUSINESSWOMAN has urged the Office of the President to look into the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), saying officers there have been accepting bribes in exchange for posting “defamatory” Notices to the Public on the department’s website.

In a five-page letter addressed to the President, Virginia Rodriguez, also a former journalist, said one particular notice was hurtful to her reputation as a general manager of a construction firm.

The notice posted on the department’s website warned the public that Rodriguez, along with Angelica Vega, Bernie Estillote, Pearlie Monsato and Zenan Malabanan, were misrepresenting themselves as DBM employees to facilitate the release of funds for local government units (LGUs).

However, Rodriguez told the President the notice was posted “without complaints or legal documents from concerned agencies and has no basis, thus considered defamatory and slanderous.”

“The Notice to the Public posted by the DBM on its website without evidence is a vivid image of corruption happening inside the department,” Rodriguez said in her complaint.

She appealed to the President to hear her side to clear her name.

The former sports writer also sought assistance from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after allegedly receiving death threats from her former employees.

funds to treat cancer patients

By Rio N. Araja PRESIDENTIAL son and Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte wants enough funds for cancer patients.

He says he has requested Speaker Lord Allan Velasco and ACT-CIS partylist Rep. Eric Yap, committee on appropriations chairman, to ensure that the National Integrated Cancer Center will get enough funds so it can provide cancer patients with proper assistance and save more lives.

Duterte was given the plum post of House committee on accounts chairman when Velasco became speaker.

“My Mom is a cancer survivor. Diagnosed in year 2016 and successfully recovered more a year after treatment and long-term survivorship transitions.

It is our duty to provide help to fellow citizens and give our best. Give them a second chance to live,” Duterte said.

“We need to prioritize the needs of our fellow countrymen, especially those who don’t have enough income or capabilities to survive their illnesses.”

“I myself have people close to me who either succumbed to cancer or survived cancer and it’s very devastating,” Yap said.

“The order from Speaker Velasco and Representative Duterte is very clear: As the committee on appropriations chair, I will see to it that sufficient funding will be included for NICCA during the bicameral conference of the 2021 budget.”

New study says PH voters prefer automated polls FILIPINO voters have expressed an increasing preference for the automated election system because of the credibility, transparency, accuracy and speed of releasing the results over the past four elections, according to two political scientists.

In an assessment of the “credibility” of the 2019 mid-term elections presented during the Stratbase ADR Institute virtual town hall discussion on “Democracy Goes On: Elections & Electoral Continuity PostCOVID-19”, Ador R. Torneo and Topin S.

Ruiz of the Department of Political Science at De La Salle University said their “study has determined that the 2019 mid-term election can be considered as credible and well-run based on several factors.”

The 2019 mid-term election was the fourth automated election held in the country since technology provider Smartmatic won the bidding held by the Comelec following the enactment of Republic Act 8436, or the Automated Election System Law in 2007. The Philippines became

the first country in Asia to hold a nationwide automated election in 2010.

“The automation of elections has improved the transparency of certain aspects of the electoral process. Having transparent elections means that the electorate has access to processes and information,” the authors of the study said.

The study notes that since the 2010 elections, the Comelec’s performance using the automated system has consistently improved.

Air travelers gain own tracing app

By Joel E. Zurbano THE government on Wednesday launched a mobile application designed to trace aviation and airport personnel and air travelers infected with the coronavirus disease.

Initially, the Traze App, a nationwide and unified QR Code-based application, will automate the contact tracing of people at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Clark International Airport, MactanCebu International Airport, and Davao International Airport and at the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines and Civil Aeronautics Board.

By November, the use of Traze App will be made mandatory for all passengers in all airports nationwide.

POLICE CADETS. Applicants who passed the Philippine National Police’s 2020 Attrition Recruitment Program for the National Capital Region Police Office line up to enter Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig on Wednesday for the start of their six-month training.

POND News Asia

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor

A4

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

254 QC gov’t workers regularized

By Rio N. Araja

Q

UEZON City Mayor Joy Belmonte has ordered the regularization of 254 city hall employees working on a contractual basis only for over 20 years.

These workers can now enjoy the regular employee benefits after hurdling the Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board (HRMPSB) hearing.

“The time has come for Quezon City to depoliticize appointments and promotions and adhere to meritocracy,” Belmonte said.

She made it clear that her administration abides by merit and fitness as determined by the selection board.

“We ought to give our deserving and hardworking city hall employees the security of tenure and all entitlements prescribed by the law. And we hope that this will motivate them to become more productive civil servants,” Belmonte said.

Board members include first- and second-level employee representatives, while Belmonte and Vice Mayor Gian Sotto are the appointing authority and the chairperson for the executive and legislative departments, respectively.

According to Ronald Tan, officer in charge of the Human Resource Management Department, among the recently regularized were Precy Linag, a Barangay Pasong Tamo teacher for 22 years, and 30 other city hall employees who were working as contractuals for nine years or longer, but with short-term renewable contracts that denied them the security and benefits of regularized employees.

“The delay in the regularization of some of our employees may be attributable to the fact that the previous administration conducted screening and regularization only at the end of their term,” he said.

Apart from the security of tenure, regularized government personnel can receive fringe benefits, a 13th month bonus, a performance-based bonus and allowances.

FIVE barangays in Paranaque City— Don Galo, La Huerta, San Dionisio, Vitalez and Sun Valley—are free of coronavirus disease, Mayor Edwin Olivarez said on Wednesday.

The city government also recorded only 51 active cases as of Tuesday.

Records from the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit (CESU) showed the city has a total of 6,648 cases, with recovered patients at 6,404 (96.3%) and fatalities at 168 (2.5%) since last March.

CESU chief Dr. Darius Sebastian said the number of active COVID-19 cases in the city declined continuously in just over a week.

Barangay Don Galo has recorded 207 recoveries out of its 210 confirmed cases with three deaths since March. But as of Tuesday, the village now has zero active cases, according to Sebastian.

He said 209 out 214 confirmed cases in Barangay La Huerta have recuperated from the virus with no more active cases. In Barangay San Dionisio, 564 people have recovered from its 582 confirmed cases, but recorded 18 deaths since March.

A total of 115 residents of Barangay Vitalez have recovered out of the 116 confirmed cases with one fatality since COVID-19 pandemic started eight months ago. The active cases of also declined to zero last Tuesday.

By Willie Casas

WORK FOR TRIKES. SM City East Ortigas and the Pasig City Local Government lead the launching of MyTODA APP on Tuesday at the mall’s Transport Terminal. MyTODA is a tricycle ride-hailing app that aims to aid displaced tricycle drivers in quarantine economy by means of connecting commuters to available trike drivers easily and to improve the lives if TODA drivers. Norman Cruz

PCAARRD to study banana bract mosaic disease

By Butch Gunio LOS BANOS, Laguna―A less-studied but major constraint on banana production, banana bract mosaic disease (BBrMD), will now be researched through a program funded by the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD).

The program, “Banana Bract Mosaic Disease in the Philippines: Geographic Distribution, Yield Loss Assessment, Vi-

rus Elimination, and Evaluation of Germplasm Collection,” will be implemented by experts and researchers from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB).

According to a report relayed to newsmen by Kristine Joy B. Panaligan of PCAARRD Media Services, experts said BBrMD is caused by banana bract mosaic virus (BBrMV) more common in Saba and Cardaba bananas but can also infect the Cavendish variety in the Philippines.

The disease causes mosaic patterns, discoloration, streaks on different parts

TYPHOON AID. Binan City Mayor Arman Dimaguila, Vice Mayor Gel Alonte, and Councilors Jedi Alatiit and Jay Souza distribute food aid in Brgy. Dela Paz and Malaban after the devastation of Typhoon Quinta in the city on Tuesday. Roy Tomandao

Pampanga gov lauds 2 honest guards CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Pampanga Governor Dennis “Delta” Pineda has praised two employees of the province who returned P200,000 in cash to the owner of the paper bag who left it at the comfort room of the provincial capitol building here Monday.

“Sa hirap ng buhay ngayon, pinatunyan ng dalawang kawani ng Kapitolyo ang kanilang pagiging mabuti at honest,” Pineda said in lauding Jason Jimenez, 43, and Kailo Enrile, both members of the Civil Security Unit (CSU) at the Capitol building.

Both men reported the paper bag with cash to the Office of the Governor.

By Joel E. Zurbano

DOH, LGUs push ‘SIA’ vaccinations

of banana plant – bract, pseudostem, and leaf. Severe infection may lead to failure of flowering and 40 to 70 percent yield reduction.

Despite its damaging impact to banana production, there is very limited information on the virus, its extent of infection in the country, and control.

Currently, no synthetic chemicals and proper management practices are in place to control the disease. There are also minimal BBrMV-free planting materials available to banana farmers, relayed Panaligan.

Adamson, Globe team up for learning management

By Jess Malabanan

5 Parañaque villages now COVID-free

TRANSITIONING to online learning is part of the new normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Educational institutions are now adopting new and alternative ways of continuing education through the use of learning management systems and the internet.

In line with this, Adamson University partnered with Globe for continuous access to applications vital for learning through Load Up DigiStudy.

The university secured Load Up DigiStudy 300, which gives students up to 20GB to open access to learning applications and platforms to assist them in remote learning for the upcoming academic year.

DigiStudy300 allows students to access any app that can help in their studies such as messaging and productivity apps while it doesn’t allow access to any entertainment and social media apps.

“Our partnership with Globe will enable our university’s flexible learning program. It will aid students in accessing the school’s learning management system known as the Adamson Digital University powered by Blackboard (BB) Learn Ultra,” said Pamela Mantuhac, Director for Institutional Development and External Affairs (IDEA) office at Adamson University.

Founded in 1932 by Greek chemist, Dr. George Lucas Adamson, the University was first known as the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry. It gained its university status in 1941, and in 1964, the Congregation of Mission took over its administration.

“Nangibabaw pa rin ang habilin sa atin ng mahal nating governor na pangalagaan ang gamit na makikita sa loob ng Kapitolyo. Ang pera madaling makita pero ang tiwala ng mga tao mahirap hanapin,” Jimenez, a casual employee of the capitol, told reporters.

Jimenez and Enrile, a job-order worker, were doing their rounds at the capitol building when they saw a white paper bag in one of the cubicles of the men’s CR situated at the ground floor past 11 a.m.

They turned over the bag to Office of the Governor, where the bills were counted. The bag contained P200,000 worth HONEST EMPLOYEE. Jason Jimenez (left) returns a paper bag containing of cash and receipts of the owner for his P200,000 in cash to its owner Reynaldo Carlos. Witnessing the turn-over is Provincial Administrator Attorney Charlie Chua. Pampanga PIO quarry business.

DESPITE the heavy rainfall brought about by Typhoon Quinta and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Health (DOH) and several local government units (LGUs), have commenced the Measles, Rubella and Oral Polio Vaccine Supplemental Immunization Activity (MR-OPV SIA) on Monday.

The LGUs are in the Cordillera, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, MIMAROPA and Bicol Regions in Luzon, while Measles Rubella (MR) SIA vaccination was done in the whole of Mindanao, DOH said in a statement.

Minimum public health standards and infection prevention and control measures were strictly observed in all vaccination posts to ensure safety and minimize transmission of COVID-19, the department added.

For Measles-Rubella (MR) immunization, the overall coverage is 5 percent or 231,996 infants and children, 0 to 59 months old, were vaccinated. For bivalent Oral Polio Vaccine (bOPV) immunization in Luzon Regions, the overall coverage is 2 percent or 35,927 infants and children, 0 to 59 months old, were vaccinated.

IN BRIEF P400k in shabu seized in Manila buy-busts TWO men were arrested after they were caught red-handed with more than P400,000 worth of shabu in separate antiillegal drugs operations conducted by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) and Manila Police District (MPD) in the city on Tuesday.

In the first incident, authorities arrested a Filipino-Chinese man during a buy-bust operation conducted by the PDEA at the Chinatown Gold Center on Ongpin Street in Sta. Cruz, Manila.

In front of the stalls selling jewelry, the suspect was caught carrying 50 grams of suspected shabu, worth an estimated P340,000.

In another operation, a person considered as a “high value individual” and the no. 9 drug suspect on the watchlist of the Abad Santos Police Station was arrested after a buy-bust in Brgy. 61 in Tondo.

The suspect yielded a number of small and medium sized sachets of shabu worth more than P81,000.

The suspects, who were not named in the police reports, have been jailed and now facing drug charges in Manila. Willie Casas

Angeles execs raise P34k for ‘Baby Angel’ ANGELES CITY—Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) Vice President for Operations IC Calaguas and Angeles City Executive Assistant IV Reina Manuel hosted a live online “selling for a cause” for the benefit of Baby Angel, accumulating more than P34,000 in sales.

Baby Angel is a four-year-old girl from Barangay Sapangbato here suffering from hydrocephalus.

“Hindi pa po namin siya na-meet personally. Pero gusto po namin siyang matulungan at ang kaniyang pamilya para sa ibang gastusin niya sa gamot o pagpapagamot,” Manuel said.

The sale for a cause ran for almost three hours in the Facebook pages Pepper’s Closet PH and Mahal na Reina flashing personal pre-loved and brand new items of Calaguas and Manuel such as clothes, shoes, and bags offered at affordable prices. Butch Gunio

Opinion The countryside is ready for government centers taking into consideration efficient land use, better infrastructure development, and environment-friendly utilization of resources.

The transfer of the national government centers will also benefit the countryside. This has been emphasized ONE thing COVID taught us is that numerous times. As the relocation enurban congestion is one reason for the tails movement of people, this causes rapid transmission of highly communi- a similar, domino effect to businesses, cable diseases. I have brought the issue investments, and development in genof decongesting Metro Manila during eral. This then becomes an occasion for my days as Minority Floor Leader. It is provinces to improve road networks unfortunate that we are seeing the ad- and transportation, expand trade linkages, establish economic centers, and verse effects of overpopulation now.

With the recent pronouncement of boost tourism.

The people, on the other hand, the President, there is no province or city in the country today that is un- will be able to build new and more der Enhanced or Modified Enhanced affordable homes with the lower marCommunity Quarantine. This is an im- ket value of lands in the provinces. provement. As the country completely This started when the Department of Transportatransitions to gention set camp in eral community Clark. Real esquarantine, we tate boomed in can expect the We need a Central Luzon. new normal to be national government While Clark is more stabilized identified as a and established. center with enough potential locaLooking back room to breathe and tion, this does to the months we not seem to be were on lockexpand. ideal since provdown, people inces north of were allowed to Manila were also go back to their deemed to be home provinces. While resettlement to the provinc- sinking since 2003, therefore prone to es was implausible for some during flooding.

We need a national government the pre-COVID period, people have been fairly adapting to this new set- center with enough room to breathe up. Many were fortunate to have found and expand. As I have said before, new employment opportunities in their the vast Pacific side offers a great hometown. Some set up their own busi- opportunity to establish new communesses, while others put up new homes nities. This move will spur real inclusive growth by allowing provinces in the provinces.

In effect, Metro Manila was some- to level with Metro cities in terms of how decongested with this move. How- economic and social development. ever, this only covered a very small New neighborhoods will bring in new percentage of the population. Since the schools, new hospitals, and new busistart of the general community quaran- ness districts. The countryside will tine in June, reports of traffic conges- light up at night as these areas are tion resumed. Apparently, we need a gradually developed. Provinces no more extensive and permanent solution longer have to stay in the dark.

I call on the national government to to permanently address the problem of heed this proposal. Let us exercise our an over populated Metro.

Let me reiterate my proposal to relo- political will to do this monumental cate the national government centers to change that has so much potential for the provinces, particularly in the Pacif- contributing to national development. ic side. Senators, some members of the While this will understandably take Executive, and even urban planning ex- a long time to complete, we will not perts have previously been open to the achieve anything if we do not start now. idea. The goal is to establish a new gov- With a strong political will and unreernment center that will be more sus- lenting concern for public welfare, we tainable, strategic, and efficient. This is will be able to actualize this ambitious a clean slate to build new communities, yet necessary endeavor.

Structural racism kills minorities—UK COVID report

By Jitendra Joshi ETHNIC minorities in Britain are paying with their lives after years of government neglect has left them uniquely vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic, according to research published Tuesday by a racial justice campaigner whose son was murdered in a hate crime.

Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) people are more likely to suffer from obesity, heart disease and diabetes.

But pre-existing conditions cannot explain entirely why they have suffered disproportionately during the pandemic, the six-month review by Doreen Lawrence said.

The report was commissioned by the main opposition Labour party, which redoubled its criticism of the Conservative government’s handling of the pandemic.

Britain has the highest death toll in Europe from COVID-19.

“Black, Asian and minority ethnic people have been overexposed, under-protected, stigmatized and overlooked during this pandemic—and this has been generations in the making,” Lawrence wrote, highlighting their often low-paid work and poor housing.

“The impact of COVID is not random, but foreseeable and inevitable —the consequence of decades of structural injustice, inequality and discrimination that blights our society.”

Lawrence has become a respected figure in campaigns for racial justice in the years since her 18-year-old son Stephen was stabbed to death by a gang of white youths in 1993.

She was made a baroness in the upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, in 2013.

Her report builds on research by government statisticians who found that white Britons are at lower risk of dying from COVID-19 than any other ethnic group, except for people of Chinese heritage.

Blaming minorities Black Britons are four times more likely to die than their white counterparts. If white people were dying at the same rate, Britain would have suffered more than 58,000 additional deaths from the disease, the report said.

The current official death toll stands at 45,365.

But citing researchers, the report said genetics alone could not explain why minority groups were so much more vulnerable.

“Instead, this inequality is likely to be driven by structural and institutional racism... and differential access to healthcare.”

The first 10 hospital doctors to die from the virus were all from BAME backgrounds.

Subsequent analysis showed that 68 percent of deaths among staff in the staterun National Health Service (NHS) were from ethnic minorities.

Citing one survey, the report said 70 percent of BAME medics in the NHS felt they had been pressured to care for a patient without adequate personal protective equipment, compared to 45 percent Educating of white respondents.

But BAME people referenced in the in a pandemic report also complained of unsympathetic

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THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

B1

EDITORIAL

T

An extra cross to bear

HERE’S been a lot of back-andforth over the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) decision to stop COVID-19 testing until the Philippine Health Insurance Corp.

(PhilHealth) pays almost P1 billion that it owes for tests already conducted.

loss of testing capacity.

We can understand the reluctance of the new PhilHealth chief, Dante Gierran, to disburse large amounts of cash after his predecessor and other top executives of the state insurer resigned under a cloud of scandal due to allegations of widespread corruption.

The new chief apparently had

The impact of the Philippine Red Cross’ decision to stop COVID-19 testing is not trivial.

The impact of that decision is not trivial. The Department of Health says the suspension of COVID-19 testing will hurt its ability to get an accurate measure of the spread of the coronavirus. This is hardly surprising, given that Red Cross laboratories account for 25 percent of the country’s capacity for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing for COVID-19.

The suspension of its COVID-19 testing for PhilHealth accounts led airport authorities to limit the number of inbound passengers on international flights allowed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport to 2,500 daily, down from 3,000, because of the

asked the agency’s lawyers and the Department of Justice to review the agreement between PRC and PhilHealth before making payment. From published reports so far, it seems PhilHealth lawyers found the deal to be irregular but the Department of Justice cleared the memorandum of agreement.

Regardless of these disagreements, several points are clear: First, there is no question that PhilHealth owes PRC some P930

million. Nobody, not even the government, disputes this.

Second, testing entails costs.

Like all other accredited laboratories, the PRC buys test kits from abroad, and it would be unreasonable to expect it to absorb these costs. Against this backdrop, the PRC’s suspension of testing can hardly be described—as some politicians would have it—as blackmail.

The legal issue must eventually be settled, of course, if the Department of Justice opinion is set aside. Still, this does not erase the government’s debt for goods and services already rendered. The failure to settle these arrears, not obstinacy on the part of PRC, is responsible for the disruption in COVID-19 testing—something we can ill afford at this crucial time.

Politicians who are muddying the issue should answer one basic question: Are there any testing facilities out there that can perform an RT-PCR test for COVID-19 for less than the P3,500 that the PRC charges PhilHealth? If the answer is no, silence may indeed be golden.

Fighting corruption

and end up being corrupt but filthy rich.

There are many however, who are made up of stronger stuff and go on to end their careers honorably.

When it comes to corruption, there are government agencies that are the usual suspects. The Immigration, Customs, Police, and the DPWH are the ones we often read about. Other agencies that are normally not in the ‘line of fire’ are however, not immune to corruption. A case in point is the Comelec, PhilHealth and now the Philippine Retirement Authority on account of the suspicious thousands of 35-year-old Chinese retirees.

Every agency has a different clientele. The police have, for instance gambling lords and drug lords. Immigration, on the other hand, targets illegal

aliens and the Customs, the smugglers.

The Comelec has those candidates who cannot accept defeat and are willing to do anything to reverse a proclamation.

Lastly, the DPWH has its contractors.

Let us take the case of the Bureau of Immigration. The allegation is that P40 billion was taken by immigration officials from Chinese nationals who want to enter the country visa-free. What makes this more than just another corruption case is its national security implications. Those involved are traitors and have committed treason for selling the country for 30 pieces of silver, so to speak.

Suspending them is too light and not enough. Such an act is so unforgivable that those responsible should be investigated vigorously, charged and then locked up forever if found guilty.

What these corrupt officials did was to reinforce what many Chinese nationals think of us Filipinos—that they can do anything in this country so long as they have the money to bribe government officials?

With the DPWH, it boils down to the percentage of the peso that is actually spent on a project. Some estimates put it at between 20 to 30 percent. The rest are apparently split among many layers in the chain of command. The drill is actually known to everyone in the agency, according to some reliable sources.

This is why it should be easy to identify and charge the corrupt officials involved if the DPWH really wants to.

In the end, the question that we all want answered is: Will we ever be able to stop corruption? The answer is unfortunately no. The best that we can aspire for is perhaps to be able to reduce the level of corruption to a degree that we will be perceived as a country that is on the level when transacting official government business.

racial inequality in Britain, following the publication in 1999 of a landmark study that exposed “institutional racism” in London’s police force over its botched investigation of the Stephen Lawrence murder.

But Doreen Lawrence said the pandemic underlined the need for action now.

“We need bold, joined-up policies and an approach that encompasses tackling ethnic disparities, from housing to employment and health,” she said.

Responding to the report, the government pointed to increased spending to help BAME communities cope with the pandemic and said a “range of factors” was responsible for higher rates of infection and death.

“For this reason we must be careful to identify the root causes of the disparities we’re seeing and not assume they are evidence of discrimination or unfair treatment in public services like the NHS,” a spokeswoman said. AFP

THE government fight against corruption is not going anywhere. Even President Duterte is so frustrated that he is beginning to think that his efforts to rein in corruption are failing. I cannot say that I blame him.

For one, it was from the beginning a monumental effort whose success was doubtful at best. But at least, he is trying. If it is any consolation, we are not the only country seriously afflicted with the disease. Corruption is everywhere. For instance, the head of government of Israel is going to go on trial on alleged corruption charges.

But at least that country has a legal system that can put a sitting Prime Minister on trial—something we cannot say about many countries around the world. Israel is not an isolated case. The former Prime Minister of Malaysia is now on trial also because of corruption.

For us, corruption cases are nothing new. In fact, it seems that it is deeply ingrained in our national psyche. The current corruption allegations against the Bureau of Immigration, PhilHealth, and now the Department of Public Works and Highways are just part of the cyclical corruption stories that we read every so often. This is not to mention the yearly congressional corruption allegations every time the national budget is being deliberated on account of the unequal distribution of pork barrel allocations among our lawmakers.

According to the latest date from the world corruption index, our country is currently ranked as the 113th most corrupt country in the world. It is down from no. 99, which shows that we are deteriorating. This is in spite of the much publicized rants of the President against corrupt public officials.

What is telling and tragic is that not too many people are outraged by this treatment by white NHS doctors who had little understanding of their specific medical or cultural needs.

The report also cited Covid-related hostility from the majority white population, including “shocking acts of hate crime” against Chinese and East Asian communities, and conspiracy theories targeting Jews and Muslims.

‘We need bold policies’ The government has commissioned the latest in a long series of reports on

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

news item anymore. People have somehow grown indifferent to such reports.

The old saying that public service is a public trust has been thrown out of the lexicon of many public officials. In fact we do not hear it being said anymore.

Everyone who enters government service is exposed to the same temptations as they scale the ladders of the government bureaucracy. There are people who will succumb to the temptation and take advantage of their positions

Will we ever be able to stop it?

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

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

Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor Opinion Editor

Emil P. Jurado

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

Chairman Emeritus, Editorial Board

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 105, QUEZON CITY

13. However, the said Deed of Absolute Sale was not registered because the TCT No. 273575 covering the property had remained in the name of Hilaria Francisco Vda. De Villegas because the final judgment of Branch 94 Annex “B”, as affirmed by the Court of Appeals, have become stale.

MA. NENITA CHING ET AL., Plaintiff, -versus-

CASE NO. R-QZN-15-10203-CV

SUMMONS HILARIA FRANCISCO VD. DE VILLEGAS, ET AL., Defendants. x---------------------------------------------x TO: HEIRS OF HILARIA FANCISCO VDA. DE VILLEGAS No. 29 Kalawag St., San Fancisco Del Monte, Quezon City GREETINGS: You are hereby required, within fifteen (15) days after service of this summons upon you, to file with this Court and serve on the plaintiff your answer to the complaint, copy of which is attached, together with the annexes. You are reminded of the provision in the IBP-OCA Memorandum on Policy Guidelines dated March 12, 2002 to observe restraint in filing a motion to dismiss and instead allege the grounds thereof as defenses in the Answer. If you fail to answer within the time fixed, the plaintiff will take judgment by default and may be granted the relief applied for in the complaint. th

WITNESS, my hand under the seal of the Court this 7 day of October 2020.

(Sgd.) DOMINADOR C. GUZMAN, JR. Branch Clerk of Court

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION BRANCH 105, QUEZON CITY MA. NENITA CHING ET AL., Plaintiff, -versus-

CASE NO. R-QZN-15-10203-CV

B2

14. Furthermore, Domingo delos Santos passed away on February 6, 2006. He was survived by spouse, Caridad Delos Santos and his legitimate sons Villamor I. Delos Santos, Sr. and Benjamin I. Delos Santos.

15. On December 3, 2008 Domingo delos Santos Masaganda died. She was survived by her legitimate children, Rodolfo Delos Santos Masaganda ang Ligaya Masaganda Madrid.

Merkel seeks more restrictions vs. virus

16. Rodolfo delos Santos Masaganda passed away on June 2, 2011. He was survived by his spouse Anita Lamorena Antonio and his children Mark Jayson Antonio Masaganda, Jeffrey Antonio Masaganda, Sheila Antonio Masaganda and Christian Antonio Masaganda who died on August 6, 2013 without any issue.

17. Ligaya Masaganda-Madrid who is still alive and the said heirs of Rodolfo delos Santos Masaganda have recognized the obligation of their ancestors under the Agreement hence they have executed the following documents to carry out and give effect thereto: a) Ligaya Masaganda-Madrid executed a Deed of Absolute Sale transferring her share in the property to plaintiff, a photocopy of which is hereto attached as Annex “E”. b) The heirs of Rodolfo delos Santos Masaganda, executed an Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate with Sale dated November 5, 2015, in favor of plaintiff, Ma. Nenita Ching, a photocopy of which is attached as Annex “F”.

18. The heirs of the deceased Domingo delos Santos have yet to comply with the obligation which they inherited from their father, but despite demands, the said heirs failed and refused to perform their said obligation.

ANNEX “C”

THIRD CAUSE OF ACTION 19. Because of the failure of defendants Villamor I. Delos Santos, Sr. and Benjamin I. Delos Santos to comply with the obligation which prompted plaintiff Ma. Nenita Ching to file this action for specific performance, the said plaintiff was compelled to engage services of counsel thereby incurring the sumof P 100,000.00 as acceptance fee, P5,000.00 per appearance and the sum of P300,000.00 as attorney’s fees.

ORDER For resolution is plaintiff’s Motion For Leave of Court to Serve Summons by Publication, to the Defendant Hilaria Francisco Vda. De Villegas.

Alledgely, the Sheriff’s Return dated 10 November 2015 of Ferdinand M. Peralta, Sheriff IV of this Court, which stated that the service of the summons to the defendant Hilaria Francisco Vda. De Villegas was returned unserved for the reason that said defendant already died.

This Court grants the instant Motion.

On 4 August 2106 the Court issued an order for the submission of the submission of the names and addresses of the heirs of defendant Hilaria Francisco Vda De Villegas. On 27 September 2016, plaintiff’s counsel recommended the Batino Law Offices to be considered as the executor/administrator for the estate of the deceased Hilaria Francisco Vda. De Villegas pursuant to the last paragraph of Sec. 16, Rule 3 of the Rules of Court.

On 19 May 2017 the Batino Law Offices filed its Withdrawal of Appearance as counsel for the defendant Hilaria Francisco Vda. De Villegas.

Under Section 14, Rule 14 of the Rules of Court, service of summons may be effected on a defendant by publication, with leave of court, when his whereabouts are unknown and cannot be ascertained by diligent inquiry. The Rules of Court provides: Sec. 14 – Service upon defendant whose identity or whereabouts are unknown. In any action where the defendant is designated as an unknown owner, or the like, or where his whereabouts are unknown and cannot be ascertained with diligent inquiry, service may, by leave of court, be effected upon him by publication in a newspaper of general circulation and in such time as the court may order.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the motion for leave of court to serve summons by publication is GRANTED. Accordingly, let Summons, together with the Complaint and its annexes be published together with a copy of this Order at plaintiff’s own expense twice in a newspaper of general circulation in the Philippines, chosen by raffle, pursuant to Section 14, Rule of 14, of the Rules of Court. The defendants are hereby ordered to file their Answer in Court within sixty (60) days after notice hereof.

Also, let also a copy of the Summons, Complaint and its annexes and this Order be sent to defendants by registered mail at their last known address, all at the expense of the plaintiff.

SO ORDERED.

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed of this Honorable Court that after due proceeding, a judgment be rendered as follows: 1. The first cause of action in this complaint be granted and that the decision dated October 14, 1996 in Civil Case No. Q-90-7069 be revived pursuant to Rule 39, Section 6 of the Rules of Court; 2. With respect to the second cause of action, the defendants Villamor I. Delos Santos, Sr. and Benjamin I. Delos Santos be ordered to specifically perform the obligation of their deceased father Domingo delos Santos under the Memorandum of Agreement Annex “C” hereof; 3. Under the third cause of action, the defendants Villamor I. Delos Santos Sr. and Benjamin I. Delos Santos be ordered to solidarily pay plaintiff Ma. Nenita Ching the sum of P100,000.00 as acceptance fee, P5,000.00 per appearance and the sum of P300,000.00 as attorney’s fees, plus costs.

PLAINTIFF, further prays for other just reliefs.

November 5,2015 (Sgd.) ARTURO S. SANTOS Counsel for the Plaintiff 6/F TRIDA Building, now Parkview Plaza T.M. Kalaw cor. Taft Avenue, Ermita, Manila IBP LIFETIME MEMBER NO. 437471/01-05-98 PTR NO. 3817936/1-05-15/Manila ROLL NO. 24816 MCLE Compliance No. IV-0017322/04-23-13 Tel. No. 525-1355

Copy furnished:

ATTY. ARTURO S. SANTOS ATTY. RUBEN CORDERO LANDIG MA. NENITA CHING ET.AL.,

I, MA. NENITA CHING, of legal age, Filipino, married to Jesse Ching and a resident of Unit C20 Landwealth, 1995 Juna Luna St., Tondo, Manila, after first having been duly sworn, do hereby depose and say:

ANNEX “D”

1. I am on of the plaintiffs in the above-entitled complaint; 2. I have caused the preparation and filing of the foregoing Petition, I have read and understood the same and all the material allegations contained herein are true and correct of my own personal knowledge and based on authentic records; 3. I certify that I have not commenced any similar action or proceeding in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency; to the best of my knowledge, no such similar action or proceeding is pending before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals or any other tribunal or agency; and if I should learn thereafter that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending before the aforesaid courts or agencies, I will promptly inform this Honorable Court within 5 days therefrom.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto affixed my signature this 5th day of November, 2015 at Manila.

(Sgd) MA. NENITA CHING Affiant SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 5th day of November 2015 at Manila, affiant presented to me her identification card with signature and photograph as competent proof of her identity.

CAMPAIGN TRAIL. Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden takes off his jacket as he arrives to speak during a voter mobilization event in Atlanta, Georgia, on October 27, 2020. AFP

DOC. NO. 486; PAGE NO. 98; BOOK NO. 59; SERIES OF 2015

ANNEX “A”

ANNEX “E”

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT QUEZON CITY, BRANCH ____

CIVIL CASE NO. R-QZN-15-10203-CV FOR: REVIVAL OF JUDGMENT AND SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE

ANNEX “B”

HILARIA FRANCISCO VDA. DE VILLEGAS, VILLAMOR I. DELOS SANTOS, SR. and BENJAMIN I.DELOS SANTOS, Defendants. x---------------------------------------------------x

COMPLAINT PLAINTIFFS, through counsel, to this Honorable Court respectfully allege: 1. The parties in this case are: a) MA. NENITA CHING, plaintiff, of legal age, Filipino, married to Jesse Ching and a resident of Unit C20 Landwealth, 1995 Juna Luna St., Tondo, Manila, in her capacity as attorney-in-fact of ANITA LAMORENA ANTONIO, MARK JAYSON ANTONIO MASAGANDA, SHEILA ANTONIO MASAGANDA and LIGAYA MASAGANDA-MADRID, as per Irrevocable Power of Attorney hereto attached as Annex “A”. b) HILARIA FRANCISCO VDA. DE VILLEGAS, as defendant, of legal age, Filipino and a resident of No. 29 Kalawag St., San Fracisco Del Monte, Quezon City; and c) VILLAMOR I. DELOS SANTOS, SR. and BENJAMIN I. DELOS SANTOS defendants, both of legal age, Filipinos and residents of No. 34 Umali St., San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City.

FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION 2. Domingo delos Santos and Dominga delos Santos Masaganda (now both deceased) filed before this Honorable Court a complaint for Reconveyance with Damages docketed as Civil Case No. Q-90-7069 against Hilaria Francisco Vda. De Villegas.

3. After trial, Branch 94 of this Honorable Court rendered a Decision dated October 14, 1996 disposing the case as follows: “WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered: 1. Ordering the defendant to reconvey in accordance with law the subject property in favor of the herein plaintiffs;

ANNEX “B”

ANNEX “F”

2. Ordering the defendant to pay plaintiffs P30,000.00 by way of moral damages as well as P20,000.00 by way of exemplary damages; 3. To pay attorney’s fees of P20,000.00 plus costs.”

A copy of the decision is hereto attached as Annex “B”.

4. Defendant Hilaria Francisco Vda. De Villegas timely appealed the said decision to the Court of Appeals docketed as CA-GR- CV No. 55828.

5. After due proceedings the 10th Division of the Court of Appeals promulgated its decision affirming the Decision of the RTC, except pars. 2 & 3 thereof granting damages and attorney’s fees which were ordered deleted.

6. Consequently, the defendant Hilaria Fracisco Vda. De Villegas elevated the case to the Supreme Court via a petition for review on certiorari under G.R. No. 168212 and July 25, 2005, its 3rd Division the Supreme Court issued a Resolution denying the aforesaid petition for review.

7. The said Resolution of the Supreme Court became final on November 8, 2005.

8. However, the former counsel for the deceased Domingo delos Santos and Dominga delos Santos Masaganda did not take the necessary steps to execute or enforce the said judgment within the 5-year period, hence this action for revival of judgment pursuant to Section 6, Rule 39 of the Rules of Court, in relation to Articles 1144 of the Civil Code.

SECOND CAUSE OF ACTION 9. During the pendency of Civil Case No. Q-90-7069 Domingo delos Santos and Dominga delos Santos Masaganda while still alive, entered into an Agreement dated March 15, 1995 with Irene Ong (now deceased), the mother of plaintiff M. Nenita Ching binding themselves to sell a 300-square meter portion of the property described in TCT no. 273575 with an area of 374 square meters in the event a decision is rendered in their favor, a copy of the said Agreement is hereto attached as Annex “C”.

10. The parties in the said Agreement have partially complied with their respective obligations thereunder.

11. Specifically, Ma. Nenita Ching a have paid substantial advances which Domingo delos Santos and Dominga delos Santos Masaganda have accepted as consideration of the sale.

12. On her part, Dominga delos Santos Masaganda executed a Deed of Absolute Sale dated August 22, 2008 in favor of plaintiff Ma. Nenita Ching, in substitution of her mother, a photocopy of which is hereto attached as Annex “D”.

Biden vows to tackle virus, trashes Trump JOE Biden flayed Donald Trump on Tuesday with accusations the US President has surrendered to a surging pandemic, as the Democrat took his campaign to the Republican stronghold of Georgia one week before the election.

While the former vice president went on electoral offense, seeking to expand the campaign map and his state-by-state path to victory on November 3, Trump barnstormed the Midwest in a last-gasp bid to shore up states that voted for him in 2016 but which polls show are tilting Biden’s way.

And with the campaign narrowing down to its final days, Biden tapped one of his top surrogates, popular former president Barack Obama, to deliver a closing argument for Democrats in Florida, a must-win swing state for Trump if he is to defy the odds and earn reelection.

Biden, buoyed by poll numbers that show him leading the incumbent, drilled in on Trump’s coronavirus response, reminding voters that Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows conceded at the weekend that “we’re not going to control the pandemic.”

Speaking in Warm Springs, Georgia, Biden branded the response “a capitulation” by a White House that “never really tried” to halt a pandemic which has now killed more than 226,000 Americans. AFP

MA.NENITA CHING in her capacity as the Attorney-In-Fact of ANITA LAMORENA ANTONIO MARK JAYSON, ANTONIO MASAGANDA, JEFFREY ANTONIO MASAGANDA SHEILA ANTONIO MASAGANDA and LIGAYA MASAGANDA-MADRID, Plaintiffs, -versus-

meet under corona-conditions over Christmas.

This requires a common effort now, just like in spring,” it added.

Under the federal system, individual states have the final say on which restrictions to impose, and some less affected regions are likely to bristle at measures that will inflict more economic pain.

The far-left premier of the eastern state of Thuringia, Bodo Ramelow, has voiced opposition to Merkel’s proposal.

The country coped relatively well with the first coronavirus wave earlier in the year but numbers have risen rapidly in recent weeks, as they have across the continent.

Germany’s tally of new daily cases now regularly crosses the 10,000 mark, according to data from the Robert Koch Institute for disease control. AFP

VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF NON-FORUM SHOPPING

20 November 2019, Quezon City, Metro Manila.

(Sgd.) EDITHA G. MINA-AGUBA Acting Presiding Judge

C

HANCELLOR Angela Merkel is seeking drastic new curbs, including fresh shutdowns hitting leisure, sports and the food and drink sectors, in crisis talks Wednesday with Germany’s regional leaders to halt surging coronavirus infections and save the Christmas holiday season.

The proposed restrictions to come in force from November 4 to the end of the month would limit contact outdoors to people from two households, according to a draft of planned measures seen by AFP. Schools, daycares and shops will remain open, but hotels will be allowed to offer overnight stays only for “necessary and expressedly non-tourist purposes”.

Bars, cafes, restaurants would have to shut, although takeaways and delivery services can keep going.

The aim is to “break the infection momentum, so that over Christmas, there will be no far-reaching restrictions with regards to personal contact and economic activities,” according to the draft.

“Family and friends should be allowed to

RELIEF HILARIA FRANCISCO VD. DE VILLEGAS, ET AL., Defendants. x---------------------------------------------x

World

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

(MStandard - Oct. 22, & 29, 2020)

CYAN MAGENTA CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW YELLOW BLACK BLACK

Millions cast votes in India state polls MILLIONS of Indians turned out to cast ballots in a state election Wednesday in the world’s biggest vote since the coronavirus emerged, with booths packed out and many ignoring government advice on wearing masks and social distancing.

Some 70 million people are eligible to vote in Bihar, an impoverished eastern state governed by an alliance that includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has promised a free vaccine for every person in the state if it wins.

The election comes as India, the world’s second most-infected nation, records between 40,000 and 50,000 new cases each day and looks set to surpass the eight million mark.

“I am a little afraid because corona(virus) is not a small disease,” said Nidhi Kumari, a 21-year-old student queueing up to vote in the outskirts of the state capital Patna.

“But there are precautions at polling booths.

They are giving sanitizers and gloves.”

Voting in Bihar has been split across three days -- Wednesday, November 3 and November 7 -- to reduce crowding at booths.

Coronavirus patients will be allowed to cast a ballot under the supervision of the health authorities. AFP

IN BRIEF 2 die, 26 others missing as ‘Molave’ slams Vietnam TWO people were reported killed and 26 others missing as Typhoon Molave hit central Vietnam Wednesday, knocking down trees and tearing roofs off homes in some of the worst destruction seen in years.

Authorities relocated around 375,000 people to safety, cancelled hundreds of flights and closed schools and beaches ahead of the typhoon, which made landfall south of Danang packing winds of up to 145 kilometres per hour (85 miles per hour).

State media said at least two people were killed in Quang Ngai province while trying to protect their homes from the storm.

“The people of Vietnam are tough, yet this is among the worst destruction ever seen in many areas,” said Vietnam Red Cross Society president Nguyen Thi Xuan Thu. “The relentless storms and flooding are taking a devastating human toll, further destroying livelihoods and isolating millions of people.”

Officials were also searching for 26 missing fishermen, with the storm -- Vietnam’s fourth this month -- bringing waves up to six metres high as power was cut off across the region. AFP

Paris Charles de Gaulle ‘Europe’s largest airport’ LONDON’S Heathrow said Wednesday that Paris Charles de Gaulle has overtaken it to become Europe’s largest airport in terms of passenger numbers, blaming delayed coronavirus testing and travel restrictions.

“For the first time, Paris Charles de Gaulle has overtaken Heathrow as Europe’s largest airport, with Amsterdam Schiphol and Frankfurt close behind,” Heathrow said in a trading update, warning that the UK has ceded commercial advantage.

“All three continental rivals have implemented testing regimes. The UK government has announced an intention to introduce testing for passengers from high risk countries by 1st December to help restart the UK economy.”

Heathrow also slashed its demand forecast for the next two years due to resurgent Covid-19 infections and ongoing restrictions.

The hub, which lies west of the British capital, added that it now expects to carry 22.6 million passengers in 2020 and 37.1 million in 2021.

Those compared with the group’s prior forecasts of 29.2 million and 62.8 million respectively. AFP

Business

B3

THURSday, OCTOBER 29, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

Samsung chief Lee Kun-hee of South Korea is laid to rest SEOUL—South Korea’s richest and most powerful industrialist, Lee Kun-hee, who turned Samsung Electronics into one of the world’s biggest tech companies, was buried Wednesday following his death at the weekend.

Lee died at the age of 78 on Sunday, six years after being left bedridden by a heart attack.

Under his leadership, Samsung became the world’s largest producer of smartphones and memory chips, and the firm’s overall turnover today is equivalent to a fifth of South Korea’s gross domestic product.

It is by far the largest of the chaebols, the sprawling family-controlled conglomerates that dominate business in the country.

As well as his son and heir Lee Jae-yong, the Samsung Electronics vice-chairman, who has been the group’s de facto leader since his father was incapacitated, several chaebol chiefs gathered at the the Samsung Medical Center in Seoul, where the four-day funeral rites were held.

They included Lee’s sister Lee Myung-hee, who is chairwoman of the Shinsegae retail group, and nephew Lee Jae-hyun, who heads the entertainment and food service conglomerate CJ Group, according to reports, along with the chairman of the Hyundai Motor group, Chung Euisun.

“I have been to many countries in the world, but I have never seen a man like him who did better than his father,” a childhood friend said in a eulogy, according to reports.

Afterwards a stretch Lincoln hearse carrying his coffin and an LED light display reading “May the soul of the deceased rest in peace” emerged slowly and passed by around 100 reporters.

His eldest daughter Lee Boo-jin, the chief executive of Hotel Shilla, was seen sobbing on board a following bus. AFP

PSEi October 28, 2020

TOP GAINERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

FGEN T VVT ACE BSC PSE PIZZA PHA IMI BCOR

LAST PRICE 29.3 0.81 14.18 1.21 0.239 173 6.8 0.365 6.4 4

CHANGE 2.9 0.08 1.18 0.1 0.019 13.5 0.47 0.025 0.42 0.26

% CHANGE 10.98% 10.96% 9.08% 9.01% 8.64% 8.46% 7.42% 7.35% 7.02% 6.95%

TOP LOSERS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

BMM SCC FFI LRW LBC COAL CIP ABG CNVRG DMW

LAST PRICE 70.55 10.74 7.3 0.8 14.14 0.25 120.8 8.38 14.5 5.25

CHANGE -9.45 -0.92 -0.6 -0.06 -1.06 -0.015 -7.2 -0.42 -0.72 -0.25

% CHANGE -11.81% -7.89% -7.59% -6.98% -6.97% -5.66% -5.63% -4.77% -4.73% -4.55%

Virus-Free. Patrons enjoy a drink in Nick & Nora’s bar at a midnight opening in Melbourne on October 28, 2020 after the state government lifted some of the city’s harsh restrictions as the city recorded no new infections for the second day in the row during it’s battle against a second wave of the Covid-19 coronavirus. AFP

Stocks fall again; Converge drops T HE stock market declined Wednesday on another bout of profit taking, weighed down by concerns over the surge in coronavirus cases across the United States and Europe.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index fell 37.29 points, or 0.6 percent, to 6,377.79 on a value turnover of P6.8 billion. Gainers, however, beat losers, 112 to 89, with 46 issues unchanged.

Converge Information and Communications Technology Solutions Inc. slumped 4.7 percent to P14.50, its third straight day of decline since debuting in the market Monday, while Semirara Mining and Power Corp.

dropped 7.9 percent to P10.74.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. of the Sy Group declined 3 percent to P32.50, but First Gen Corp. of the Lopez Group surged 11 percent to P29.30.

The rest of Asian markets, meanwhile, fell, while investors have essentially given up on the chances of a new stimulus out of Washington.

With US lawmakers unlikely to agree any new rescue package before Tuesday’s election, analysts said the new wave of virus infections and lingering uncertainty over the vote mean equities will face a wobbly few days.

European leaders are being forced to revert to strict, economically damaging measures to control the spread of the virus as some record a spike in deaths and new cases.

And with the United States also suffering a Covid-19 resurgence, there is a fear that the already-stuttering global

economic recovery will be thrown off track. Some experts have warned of a double-dip recession.

“Covid case counts and hospitalizations continue to rise—these will continue to be closely watched as investors gauge the likelihood of more stringent mitigation measures,” said StoneX strategist Yousef Abbasi.

The impact of this year’s lockdowns and travel restrictions was laid bare Tuesday as the World Tourism Organization said tourism had collapsed 70 percent, leading to a $730-billion loss in revenues, while the UN’s trade body said foreign direct investment was likely to slump 40 percent.

The Dow and S&P 500 both fell again, though the Nasdaq edged up as traders bet tech firms will benefit from people being forced to stay home.

The retreat extended into Asia, though traders pared or reversed morning losses Manila

Standard

TODAY

NOTICE OF ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS’ MEETING Please be informed that the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting of the of STI EDUCATION SYSTEMS HOLDINGS, INC. (the “Company”) will be held and conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams on 20 November 2020, Friday, 11:00 a.m. for the following purposes:

MOST ACTIVE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

CNVRG SMPH BDO AC ALI FGEN GLO SM PGOLD ICT

VOLUME 79,790,500 8,083,800 2,842,360 334,450 6,890,700 7,389,400 99,525 201,600 4,310,300 1,533,060

VALUE (PHP) 1,156,789,220.00 263,023,685.00 262,700,430.50 255,109,030.00 232,794,835.00 213,127,225.00 207,918,390.00 194,934,435.00 182,725,130.00 179,947,265.00

as the day wore on.

Tokyo, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Taipei and Singapore were in the red, but Shanghai, Seoul and Wellington rose.

Sydney was lifted as Australia’s second-biggest city Melbourne enjoyed its first day of being open again after a months-long lockdown.

London lost more than one percent at the open, while Paris and Frankfurt were down almost two percent.

Tai Hui at JP Morgan Asset Management said the surge in infections in the US and Europe had been expected in the northern hemisphere winter, adding it “should push investors to take a more defensive position for the time being.

In the very short term, the US elections would reinforce this conservative bias.”

However, no matter the outcome, the result of the vote “should provide the certainty that investors are constantly looking for.” With AFP

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A vendor works behind Alipay (top) and WeChat (bottom) QR payment codes at a market in Beijing, on the day Alipay’s parent company Ant Group launched a history-making $34-billion IPO on October 27, 2020. AFP

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Call to Order Certification of Notice and Quorum Approval of the Minutes of the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting held on 6 December 2019 Management Report Approval of Parent and Consolidated Audited Financial Statements of the Company as at and for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2020 and for the three (3) month period ended 30 June 2020 Ratification of all legal acts, resolutions and proceedings of the Board of Directors and of Management, done in ordinary course of business since the 6 December 2019 Annual Stockholders’ Meeting up to 20 November 2020 Election of Directors Appointment of External Auditor Other Matters Adjournment

For Chinese consumers, Ant app is part of the fabric of life

The record date for stockholders entitled to notice and vote at the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting is set on 20 October 2020 (“Stockholders of Record”).

By Dan Martin And Jessica Yang

In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and to ensure the welfare and safety of our stockholders, the 2020 Annual Stockholders‘ Meeting of STI Holdings will be conducted virtually. Stockholders of Record may attend/participate via proxy, remote communication or vote in absentia. For the detailed registration and voting procedures, please visit http://www.stiholdings.com/2020ASM and refer to the “Guidelines for Participation via Remote Communication and Voting in Absentia and through Proxy”.

SHANGHAI, China—The most essential item in aircraft engineer Tao Rui’s possession during a recent outing in Shanghai was the Alipay smartphone app from Ant Group, a company little known outside China until it unfurled plans for the biggest IPO in history.

As Tao and a friend strolled the city at the weekend, he used Alipay to buy a cup of milk tea, a deep-fried octopus snack and a box of candy. He also used it to play a basketball game at an arcade, make a small donation to a street musician, and produce a health code signaling he was coronavirus-free before entering a Buddhist temple.

They topped the day off with bowls of Japanese ramen noodles, also purchased with a scan of an Alipay code.

Tao’s day underscores why the planned $34-billion stock listing of Ant Group, the financial arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is such a big deal.

Like hundreds of millions of Chinese consumers, the 22-year-old admits he simply cannot survive without Alipay, the crown jewel of the Alibaba empire.

“I use Alipay to order a cab, to buy things, to shop on (Alibaba e-commerce platform) Taobao, to buy clothes, and air and train tickets,” said Tao. “It’s indispensable for getting around in China.”

Economy of the future The raw numbers and growth potential of

Ant Group have investors salivating over the world-record IPO. Alipay boasts in excess of 700 million active users—half of China’s population and more than double that of the United States.

Along with the WeChat Wallet function of Alibaba’s chief tech rival Tencent, it has helped propel China forward into what may represent the economy of the future.

At restaurants, grocery stores and cafes, at subway turnstiles, train stations and airports, and when buying fruits and vegetables from a streetside peddler, purchases across China are routinely made by consumers old and young with a quick QR code scan.

Even the occasional beggar is on board, sprawled on a sidewalk next to a neatly laminated printout of a QR code.

Tao said that in China’s paper-money olden days, his family would have to hail a cab to get to a distant government office just to pay the household water and electricity bills—in cash.

“Now, we pay all our utility bills through Alipay, which directly deducts the amount online,” he said.

“We don’t have to go out at all. You can do it from home.”

‘It’s revolutionary’ But direct point-of-sale payments are only part of the Alipay picture.

Ant Group has built an ecosystem around Alipay in which third-party vendors—for everything from meal deliveries to travel services or taking out a loan- are housed

under its umbrella.

Smartphone users need only open Alipay to find the service they want and place an order.

Payment, of course, is processed via Alipay.

Ant Group, spun off from Alibaba in 2011, says about half its revenue is derived from such providers.

But its super-sized ambitions also include forays into personal finance that have put traditional Chinese banks on notice by offering easy access to a range of financial services including consumer credit, smallbusiness loans and money-market funds.

“It’s revolutionary, what they’re doing,” said Jeffrey Towson, a private equity investor and lecturer at Beijing University.

“We are going to see digital finance do things we never thought it could do, and go into businesses everywhere that we never saw coming.”

‘Big Brother’ fears The Chinese consumer buy-in is so complete that many merchants today only grudgingly accept cash.

That’s fine with Communist Party policy-makers.

They have long fretted that despite decades of amazing growth, China’s economy was built on a shaky foundation relying too much on manufacturing and government investment, like a chair missing a leg.

The party wanted to unleash China’s growing consumer spending power as another pillar, and the e-commerce revolution ushered in by the likes of Alibaba and Tencent has helped pave the way. AFP

Stockholders who wish to participate in the meeting via remote communication and to vote in absentia should notify the Office of the Corporate Secretary through a Letter of Intent to be sent via e-mail to corsec@stiholdings.com.ph on or before 4 November 2020. Validated stockholders will be provided access to the live streaming of the meeting through Microsoft Teams and can cast their votes in absentia on or before 13 November 2020 through the Company’s secure online voting facility. All votes cast shall be subject to validation.

The Company is not soliciting for proxies. Stockholders who are unable to join the meeting but wish to vote on items in the agenda by proxy must submit their duly accomplished proxy forms via email to corsec@stiholdings.com.ph, not later than on 13 November 2020.

Stockholders of record may send their queries and comments to the Management Report and other items in the Agenda to corsec@stiholdings.com.ph on or before 13 November 2020.

The Definitive Information Statement containing the attendance/voting (via remote communication) and election procedures, along with the Notice, Agenda, Proxy, Management Report, SEC Form 17-A, and other information related to the Annual Stockholders’ Meeting can be accessed at http://www.stiholdings. com/disclosures.php and the PSE Edge portal.

Very truly yours, (Sgd.) ARSENIO C. CABRERA, JR. Corporate Secretary (MS-OCT. 29 & 30, 2020)

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

B4

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

Business

PSE INDEX CLOSING Wednesday, October 28, 2020 -37.29 PTS. 6,377.79

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

1,752,809,639 116,611 6,803,522,825.44 112 89 46

Foreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.4360

Japan

Yen

0.009572

0.4636

UK

Pound

1.304400

63.1799

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129032

6.2498

Switzerland

Franc

1.100231

53.2908

Canada

Dollar

0.758610

36.7440

Singapore

Dollar

0.735078

35.6042

Australia

Dollar

0.712300

34.5010

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652520

128.4775

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266652

12.9156

Brunei

Dollar

0.732386

35.4738

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000068

0.0033

Thailand

Baht

0.032041

1.5519

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.1878

Euro

Euro

1.178800

57.0964

Korea

Won

0.000885

0.0429

China

Yuan

0.149154

7.2244

India

Rupee

0.013583

0.6579

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.240327

11.6405

New Zealand

Dollar

0.670600

32.4812

Taiwan

Dollar

0.034988

1.6947 Source: BSP

2 BPO operators to hire thousands of employees for new job locations

By Othel V. Campos BUSINESS process outsourcing firm Teleperformance Philippines said Tuesday it launched a new site in Bacoor, Cavite and started the expansion in Quezon City that will open up at least 3,000 regular jobs for Filipinos.

Teleperformance Philippines chief operating officer Mike Lytle said the Molino Bacoor site would prioritize hiring people from Cavite province.

“What’s unique about this site is that not only are we providing a physical location for people to work in very safely, in an environment where we can practice and keep our employees safe, but we’re also opening up more opportunities for people to work from home, including people in Cavite,” he said during the virtual launch Tuesday night.

Teleperformance supports 47,000 employees across the Philippines with more than 4,000 front liners and 50 percent of support staff allowed to work from home.

Aside from Metro Manila and Bacoor, the company has offices in Antipolo, Baguio, Cebu, Bacolod, Davao and Cagayan De Oro. Teleperformance Molino is the company’s 22nd site in the country and the second site in the south. The site will be servicing various companies in the finance, services and telecommunications industries.

Meanwhile, Afni Inc., a US-based BPO company, opened Tuesday its third site in the Philippines that will provide employment to at least 500 jobseekers.

Afni president and chief executive Ron Greene said the company would continue to expand in the country as a part of its growth strategy.

“We have found the amazing, hardworking people in the country aligned perfectly with our mission to provide best-in-class customer interactions for the global brands we support. We are proud to further our investment in the Philippines,” Greene said.

The third Afni office is located inside SM City in Fairview, Quezon City. The BPO firm employs 6,000 workers from its sites in Diliman Commercial Center in Quezon City and One Felicity Center along Commonwealth Avenue.

PNB CARE PACKAGES. Philippine National Bank through its International Banking and Remittance Group led by senior assistant vice president Ari Rivera (second from left) and administration desk officer Karen Claire Fernandez (left) turns over the initial batch of care packages to members of the Philippine Coast Guard at the Eva Macapagal Quarantine Facility in Manila. The care packages will be distributed to arriving overseas Filipino workers who are staying in the facility, while waiting for clearance on their mandatory quarantine period.

Power firms support shift from coal to clean energy E

By Alena Mae S. Flores

nergy companies, environmental groups and consumers on Wednesday welcomed the Department of Energy’s declaration of a moratorium on endorsements for greenfield or new coal power plants.

Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi issued the moratorium advisory in the wake of the agency’s most recent assessment that called for a shift to a more flexible power supply mix.

San Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang said the company would comply with the moratorium but did not give further details, while Semirara Mining and Power Corp. chairman Isidro Consunji said the moratorium would not affect their coal projects with permits. “[It is] hard to conclude long-term effect to electricity prices at the moment, but will probably go up,” Consunji said.

Aboitiz Power Corp. also expressed support to the DOE’s efforts to make the Philippine energy system more flexible, resilient and sustainable.

“Aboitiz Power’s growth strategy for the next 10 years remains the same, which is to significantly grow our renewables portfolio, Cleanergy. We have been a pioneer of renewable

energy in the country. Our diversification into thermal technologies was primarily driven by the country’s need for a reliable, accessible and affordable power supply,” Aboitiz Power Corp. president Emmanuel Rubio said.

Rubio said having the right balance of various energy sources was key to addressing the energy dilemma of energy security, equity and environmental sustainability. He said the balanced strategy was at the core of Aboitiz Power and would continue to fuel the company’s growth in the next 10 years and beyond.

“We remain committed to achieving our goal of a more balanced energy mix or an almost 50:50 Cleanergy and thermal capacities by 2030,” Rubio said.

AC Energy Inc. president and chief executive Eric Francia said DOE’s move “is a bold and progressive policy.”

“Quite commendable as it demonstrates our government’s commitment to energy security and sustainability. AC Energy is fully supportive of Secretary [Alfonso] Cusi’s direction, and we will continue to scale up our renewable energy investments in the country,” Francia said.

Meralco PowerGen Corp. said the moratorium would not affect its power projects as the company was implementing high-efficiency, low-emission technologies. ”If you are referring to Atimonan, it already has DOE approval as a committed coal project and also a certified energy project of national significance from DOE. In addition,

Puregold’s income rose 4% to P5.05b in first nine months

By Jenniffer B. Austria

SKYWAY 2 EXTENSION. A portion of the Skyway Extension project’s northbound section near Alabang Viaduct in Muntinlupa City is expected to be completed before the end of the year. San Miguel Corp. president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang said the northbound section of the project is 70-percent done and on schedule for completion by December. The P10-billion project, which was fully funded by San Miguel, will extend the Skyway from Susana Heights on the South Luzon Expressway to Sucat, Parañaque City.

Flour millers defend DA against Brazil’s threat to file WTO case THE Philippine Association of Feed Millers said Wednesday the threat by Brazil to take the Philippines to the World Trade Organization for banning the importation of Brazilian poultry meat is uncalled.

PAFMI stands firmly behind the Department of Agriculture in maintaining the ban on Brazilian poultry.

PAFMI said Agriculture Secretary William Dar acted in the interest of the Filipino people in maintaining the ban, which was imposed amid reports that SARS-COVID 2 particles were detected in samples of Brazilian meat exported to China.

Dar had to take responsibility of ensuring that Filipino consumers are not exposed to products that may have organisms that pose a threat to consumer health and safety, according to PAFMI.

“The ban on Brazilian poultry products is, thus, a just and fair action from the DA,” said PAFMI president Nikki Sarmiento-Garcia, who also serves as the executive vice president of Vitarich Corp.

PAFMI also called on consumers and industries to support the DA’s move “in the face of the very strong lobby from the Brazilian Embassy which has threatened to bring the Philippines to the World Trade Organization for imposing this ban.”

“Every Filipino should support the DA for its courageous stand against a powerful country’s strong arm tactics.

Brazil is the world’s biggest exporter of meat and poultry products. With the COVID-19 pandemic still killing people worldwide, we should all rally behind the government as it strives to stem

the tide of this deadly virus from killing more Filipinos and inflicting more damage to the economy,” said SarmientoGarcia.

PAFMI said the feed milling industry and its allied sectors—the hog and poultry raisers, corn farmers and the veterinary medicine community, among others—are confident that Philippine poultry and livestock will rebound from the losses brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Asian swine flu that caused the culling of 350,000 pigs and the Avian flu that has hit the local poultry industry. “Though this recovery may take time and a lot of collective efforts from all sectors, we should never doubt the Filipino’s capability to rebound and recover from crisis,” the group said.

GROCERY chain operator Puregold Price Club Inc. said Wednesday ninemonth net income rose 4.1 percent to P5.05 billion from P4.55 billion in the same period last year on the back of a double-digit growth in sales.

Puregold said in a financial report filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange net sales climbed 10.1 percent in the first nine months to P121 billion from P110 billion a year ago.

The supermarket operator said the strong results in the first three quarters were driven by organic expansion, coupled with sustained consumer demand.

Puregold said the management strategies and programs to boost revenue contributions from both the base and new stores helped increase overall sales.

“The full operation of new organic stores put up in 2019 boosted the increase in consolidated net sales in addition to robust store sales growth and revenue contributions from new organic stores established during the nine months of 2020,” Puregold said.

Same-store sales increased 4.5 percent in the first nine months, while S&R outlets registered growth of 6.4 percent.

The company said net income in the third quarter declined 4 percent to P1.65 billion from P1.72 billion even as sales inched up 1.1 percent to P39.2 billion from P38.75 billion.

Puregold raised P12 billion from the issuance of fixed-rate corporate notes in September, with proceeds going to fund store expansion.

Puregold operates 444 stores nationwide among Puregold, S&R Membership Shopping and quick service restaurant formats.

US company investing P11b in Batangas gas import terminal TEXAS-BASED Excelerate Energy LP said Wednesday it is developing the country’s first open access liquefied natural gas import terminal off Batangas Bay with an investment of P11.3 billion ($230 million).

The open access LNG project is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2022 as the Philippines prepares for the depletion of the Malampaya natural gas field.

“We will submit our permit to construct, expand, rehabilitate and modify to the Department of Energy soon, which is the next steps in bringing this nationally important facility online as early as the second quarter of 2022,” Ramon Wangdi, president of Luzon LNG Terminal Inc., the local subsidiary of Excelerate, said in a statement.

Excelerate is preparing to start construction of the Filipinas LNG Gateway project and will submit its PCERM application within the year.

Under the open access model, Filipinas LNG will provide access to all power plants in Luzon that use natural gas as a fuel for generating electricity.

“Since receiving a notice-to-proceed from the Philippine DOE in late 2019, Excelerate has worked diligently to develop Filipinas LNG so that the energy markets can be prepared for the next chapter after Malampaya,” Wangdi said.

He said Excelerate and local partner Topline Energy and Power Development Corp. made significant progress on the project despite the substantial challenges brought about by the COVID-19 and its resulting lockdowns.

The supply from the Malampaya gas fields in offshore northwest Palawan started to decline and Filipinas LNG said its LNG project would address the country’s need to supplement and eventually replace Malampaya by supplying a quick, reliable and sustainable gas solution.

Alena Mae S. Flores

IN BRIEF

DTI readies circular on cement labeling

THE Department of Trade and Industry through the Bureau of Philippine Standards is set to issue a memorandum circular on supplemental guidelines on Department Administrative Order 17-06, Series of 2017, or “The New Rules and Regulations Concerning the Mandatory Certification of Portland Cement and Blended Hydraulic Cement with Pozzolan.”

The move follows the review of BPS’ policy on the manufacture and importation of cement products due to concerns raised by local manufacturers on imported cement products bagged in the country but were labeled as “Product of the Philippines.”

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez reiterated the importance of transparency and accuracy of the product markings for both locally manufactured and imported cement products.

“It is incumbent upon the importers and/or manufacturers to properly label their products and reflect the country where these products were produced. It will properly guide our consumers, especially at this time of pandemic where we encourage our countrymen to patronize locally produced products to support the economy,” Lopez said.

Lopez is promoting the “Buy Local, Go Lokal” campaign to prime up the local manufacturing industries amid the pandemic.

Othel V. Campos

WB lends $88-m loan to modernize Customs

THE World Bank said Tuesday it approved a $88.28-million (P4.23-billion) loan to improve the Philippines’ customs administration, reduce transaction costs and enhance predictability and transparency of the clearance process at the country’s borders.

The bank said in a statement the Philippines Customs Modernization Project would improve customs administration by enhancing the streamlining and automation of Bureau of Customs’ procedures and supporting the development of a world-class customs processing system.

“Improved efficiency at the Bureau of Customs will reduce trade costs and support Philippines’ competitiveness,” said Ndiamé Diop, World Bank country director for Brunei, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

He said automation would reduce face-toface interactions and delays and increase accountability to strengthen efficiency and improve the business environment.

Julito G. Rada

SM wins 15 awards from HK’s CG Asia

CONGLOMERATE SM Investments Corp. and subsidiaries BDO Unibank, Inc. and SM Prime Holdings Inc. won 15 awards in the 10th Asian Excellence Awards 2020 of Hong Kong magazine Corporate Governance Asia.

SMIC, BDO and SM Prime were awarded Asia’s Best Corporate Social Responsibility and Best Investor Relations Company.

SMIC, BDO and SM Prime executives were named as Asia’s Best chief executives, namely, BDO chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson; SMIC president Frederic DyBuncio; BDO president and CEO Nestor Tan and SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim. Awarded Asia’s best chief financial officer is Dalmacio Martin, BDO executive vice president and treasurer.

Named Best Investor Relations professionals were Tim Daniels, IR consultant for SMIC and Luis Reyes Jr., vice president of IR and corporate planning at BDO. SMIC and SM Prime were cited for Best Corporate Communications.

Sports

Tokyo 2020 organizers eyeing virus control center TOKYO—Tokyo 2020 organizers and Japanese officials said Tuesday they may set up an infectious disease control centre at next year’s pandemic-postponed Games, as they debate how to hold the event safely.

The tentatively named Organising Committee Infectious Disease Control Centre would coordinate the mammoth task of testing and tracing infections and organising isolation and treatment of anyone with the virus.

“During the Games, it would have the function of coordinating and driving anti-infection measures in cooperation with local health and hygiene centres and a general infirmary at the athletes’ village,” Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshiro Muto told reporters.

He spoke after a meeting of a taskforce grouping Tokyo 2020 organisers, city officials and government representatives.

The taskforce has been charged with developing guidelines for safely holding the massive international event next year, potentially with the pandemic continuing to rage around the world.

Tuesday’s meeting focused on health and hygiene measures for athletes, support staff, spectators and media.

The group proposed a health center dedicated to testing and treating virus cases, including a fever clinic and testing hub, staffed by medical experts and separate from city clinics and hospitals.

The 2020 Games were delayed as Covid-19 spread globally, and are now set to open on July 23, 2021.

With many countries experiencing worsening waves of infection, there have been doubts about whether the Games can be staged—but organisers and Olympic officials insist it can be done safely.

Documents released after Tuesday’s meeting showed organisers are also considering a range of additional measures on the health front, including setting aside accommodation for athletes with asymptomatic infections, and designating external hospitals for treatment of serious cases.

Many questions remain unanswered, including how to handle asymptomatic cases, and whether those in close contact with infected people will be barred from training and events.

The taskforce proposed a series of conduct guidelines, including a ban on high-fives and handshakes, with the possibility of rules to govern athletes’ behaviour during “on and offduty hours”. AFP

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

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RR Pogoy (right) will again be a marked man when the TNT Tropang Giga plays the NLEX Road Warriors today t the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Angeles City.

Tropang Giga seek 6th straight win, quarterfinals

By Arman Carandang

T

ALK ‘N TEXT is hoping it would finally complete the job as it returns to action today, playing sister team NLEX Road Warriors in the PBA Philippine Cup at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center powered by Smart 5G in Angeles City.

The Tropang Giga will try to nail their sixth straight victory at the expense of the Road Warriors, who they will meet in the 6:45 p.m. main offering of an interesting double-header that will also see two resurgent teams in Phoenix and Alaska battling in the first tussle at 4 p.m.

The Tropang Giga, who have been led

by Ray Parks and RR Pogoy, have been on top of the heap with 5-0 slate, and another win today will finally propel them to the quarterfinal round ahead of everybody in the bubble that drew and continues to draw much attention after an unnamed player from Blackwater has been reported to be afflicted with the dreaded coronavirus days ago.

TNT had a crack at picking up its sixth win last Monday at the expense of NorthPort and make its entry into the next round

assured, but the game had also been postponed since the Tropang Giga had previously played the Elite.

TNT has never won the prestigious conference again since winning it during the 2012-2013 season, and it looks like the Tropang Giga are showing signs of their readiness to end their sevenyear drought.

However, first things first, at least that’s how TNT coach Bong Ravena sees the situation they are in, and that all they want at this moment is to make the next round.

“Iyun talaga target namin sa ngayon, ang makapasok muna sa quarterfinals,” said Ravena. “Then, we will continue to try and win more games para makapasok sa top four, possibly be even No. 1.”

Still, Ravena sees positive things in their postponed game versus the Batang

Garcia: Where Belga goes, we go

By Peter Atencio BEAU Belga showed why he as one of the best big men in the league as he and Rey Nambatac played like a tag team on Tuesday evening.

Nambatac made Belga look so good twice with his passes as they propelled the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to an 85-82 overtime win over the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings.

Nambatac’s rebounds off misses by Scottie Thompson and Stanley Pringle in the last 1:34 of extra time set up Belga for a putback and triple that helped propel the Elasto Painters to their fourth triumph in five outings.

The win kept the Elasto Painters behind the unbeaten TNT Tropang Giga in the leaderboard of the Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Angeles University Foundation Sports Arena in Angeles City, Pampanga.

“Where Beau goes, we go because he’s probably one of the best big men in the PBA,” said Elasto Painters’ coach Caloy Garcia in a Zoom post-game huddle.

Garcia added that it was team effort that car-

ried the Elasto Painters to where they are right now, and that Nambatac was among those who contributed to this as well.

“Rey is a different kind of player. He’s gonna be the future of the PBA and be a superstar eventually. He’s in a position where one can have an opportunity to take a shot,” said Garcia.

Belga went on to finish with 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The heavily guarded Pringle had 20 points, but was held to just two points in the extra period, with Nambatac and other teammates taking turns to watch him.

Pringle scored on a drive to bring Ginebra within 80-83, This allowed Elasto Painters’ Mark Borboran to reach for the loose ball in the turnover and Jewel Ponferrada to unload a short jumper.

Ponferrada’s final shot gave Rain or Shine a five-point edge with only 5.3 seconds left.

GAMES TODAY (AUF Sports Arena) 4 p.m. – Phoenix vs. Alaska 6:45 p.m. – TNT vs. NLEX

Pier, stressing the PBA move was meant for the best of everybody in the bubble.

“We understand naman na itong mga measures na ginawa done to uphold ‘yung integrity nitong bubble,” he said. “Para sa kapakanan naman ng lahat ito, eh.”

NLEX has lost two straight after chalking up its first win, and that should give the Road Warriors great motivation in the game because losing this one might put them in danger of missing out the playoffs.

“We all know how important this game is for both of us. They beat us in the last conference so we cannot relax.

We have to go out and get it,” stressed Ravena.

The effect, meanwhile, continued to hound the Elite, with the PBA postponing their scheduled meeting with Magnolia Hotshots yesterday, pending the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Beau Belga of Rain or Shine prepares to make his move against Ginebra’s Prince Caperal

PetroGazz, Motolite join PSL beach tilt TWO new teams will be seeing action when the Philippine Superliga unwraps its 2020 Beach Volleyball Challenge Cup on 26 November in Subic.

PSL chairman Philip Ella Juico yesterday welcomed the inclusion of PetroGazz and Motolite, two Premier Volleyball League teams, who are raring to test their mettle against the best beach spikers from the PSL. So far, the confirmed teams from the PSL are the United Auctioneers, Cignal, Sta. Lucia and F2 Logistics, but Juico expects other teams to join since the country’s health situation is already improving with still a month left before the opening.

The HD Spikers will be deploying two teams, while the Lady Realtors will send three teams. United Auctioneers will tap players from National Collegiate Athletic Association powerhouse Arellano University.

On the other hand, the Cargo Movers are still in the process of finalizing their rosters.

“We are really opening our doors to other clubs who are not part of the PSL to make the league bigger and better in the next few years,” Juico said, extending his gratitude to the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority for hosting their volleyball bubble.

Meanwhile, other PSL teams like PLDT and Marinerang Pilipina begged off from joining, but vowed to support though sponsorships.

“We understand their decision not to join because of our situation right now,” Juico said. “The teams are very willing to join, but the players are doubtful because vaccines have yet to be made available.”

Caruso coming to take everything Folayang has and more

Antonio “The Spartan” Caruso

AUSTRALIA’S Antonio “The Spartan” Caruso is no doubt stepping into the biggest bout of his career.

Caruso meets former ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard “Landslide” Folayang of the Philippines next, when the two help kickstart the fireworks at ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX, which broadcasts live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore this Friday, October 30.

The rising star from Adelaide in South Australia believes Folayang is ripe for the taking, and is planning a statement-making performance to boost him through the lightweight ranks.

“Folayang is explosive, but no offense, he’s 36 years old now. We all know that saying that time doesn’t do us justice.

I’m a young and hungry man, so come October 30, I’m going to be all over him. My explosion, I’m going to take it out on him, and you’re going to see that Friday night,” said Caruso.

Caruso, 7-1, is a well-rounded fighter most adept on the ground. Folayang, on the other hand, is one of the

most explosive strikers in Asian mixed martial arts. It’s a good contrast of styles that should provide fans an exciting back-and-forth affair.

“The Spartan” is confident ahead of the bout, and says fans should expect a quick finish, if the opportunity presents itself.

“He shows me his neck, I’m going to take it. That’s how I work. That’s how I operate. You give me anything, and I’m going to take it. I’m going to choke him,” said Caruso. “To beat a guy like Eduard will be massive for my career, definitely sending me one step closer to that ONE Championship World Title.”

One man in Caruso’s corner, his Sanford MMA teammate Martin Nguyen, also the reigning ONE Featherweight World Champion, has already beaten Folayang before when they fought back in 2017. Nguyen put Folayang to sleep care of a counter overhand right that landed right on the button.

Nguyen has no doubt shared information on how to beat

Folayang with Caruso, and the Australian says working with “The Situ-Asian” has been invaluable for his career.

“To have the extensive information that I’ve already got on Eduard is massive. Obviously, he’s already a very experienced fighter. There’s a lot of footage on him, of how he’s fought.

And then to have a guy like Martin who has fought him and beat him is massive. To be a part of Sanford MMA, I believe is one of the best things in the world,” said Caruso.

“His striking ability, his ability to be explosive and come forward, his spinning attacks. He’s got excellent leg kicks.

There are a lot of good things about Eduard. But at the same time, there are a lot of holes also that have been exposed many times before. These are the holes that me and my team have noticed, and we’re going to expose again.”

ONE Championship returns on Friday, 30 October with ONE: INSIDE THE MATRIX, broadcast live from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore. The blockbuster features four World Title bouts for a total of six compelling martial arts contests.

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Sports

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

Converge ICT, Maroons lend hand to UP students

The Los Angeles Dodgers celebrate after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 in Game Six to win the 2020 MLB World Series at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. AFP

Zamboanga relishes 4th leg win

By Peter Atencio MEMBERS of the Family’s Brand Sardines-Zamboanga City squad are relishing the new experience they have after the fourth leg honors of the Chooks-to-Go Pilipinas 3x3 President’s Cup. Troy Rike and Santi Santillan said this is the first time for them to bounce back from a championship loss after they put away a Butuan City, 21-20, on Tuesday inside the Inspire Sports Academy in Calamba, Laguna.

“When we lost that game, I felt like the world was crashing down.

And if we won today, we will become the top-seeded team again.

So, we had to take care of the ball,” said Troy Rike on Zoom, and as he recalled Zamboanga City’s 18-21 setback to Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors in the third leg semifinals.

Joshua Munzon showed the way in that game, scoring a game-high 11 points, including a perimeter shot with less than four minutes left, 20-16.

“Marami kaming natutunan at nadala sa laro namin. Hindi namin dapat ina-underestimate ang aming mga kalaban,” said Santillan.

It was Santillan’s hustle play that allowed Zamboanga City to grab the win, through his offensive rebound and ensuing free throw.

Zamboanga City arranged a finals match after turning back Sarangani, 21-13, in the semis and ousting Zamboanga Peninsula in the quarterfinals Butuan City fought off Nueva Ecija, 21-20, before repulsing Palayan City, 21-10 (8:57) in the semis.

Because of their fourth-leg win, the Zambos will no longer go through the qualifying round of the Grand Finals in the FIBA 3x3endorsed tournament that is scheduled for Friday.

The Zamboanga cagers are in serious contention in the winnertake-all tournament, with P1 million on the line.

Also in the grand finals are Uling Roasters-Butuan City, Nueva EcijaRice Vanguards, and the Pasig-Sta. Lucia Realtors.

Dodgers end World Series drought with win over Rays

A

RLINGTON—The Los Angeles Dodgers ended their 32-year wait for a World Series title on Tuesday, beating the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 to claim the Major League Baseball crown at last after a string of agonizing near-misses.

Corey Seager drove in the go-ahead run, Mookie Betts homered late and a stream of Los Angeles pitchers stood firm as the Dodgers won the seventh World Series in club history but their first since 1988.

Back in Major League Baseball’s championship showcase for the third time in four years, the Dodgers eased the disappointment of defeats in 2017 and 2018.

They beat the Rays four-games-to-two at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, where the first neutral site World Series in baseball history capped a pandemicshortened campaign.

“This is what you think about when you are a kid,” said Seager, who was named Most Valuable Player of the series after batting .400 with two home runs and five runs-batted-in.

Djokovic closes in on Sampras record

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic returns a ball to Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic during the Erste Bank Open ATP tennis tournament in Vienna. AFP

LET us face it, sports needs money to survive.

And for big-time sports like basketball, football, baseball and hockey in the United States, basketball, meaning the PBA, and to a certain extent, women’s volleyball, and boxing for the entire world, one needs big-time bucks, too.

Big bucks though also mean bigtime expenses, particularly for the established professional leagues, what with the players’ salaries alone, the operating and organizational expenses, and other

VIENNA—Novak Djokovic defeated Filip Krajinovic in the first round in Vienna on Tuesday to edge closer to Pete Sampras’s all-time record of ending the year as world number one on six occasions.

Djokovic beat compatriot Krajinovic 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 and needs to win his next match in Austria against Borna Coric to ensure he equals the achievement of his childhood idol.

The 33-year-old Serb has been the topranked player at the end of a season five times: in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018.

He shares that mark with career rivals Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

Sampras achieved the feat six years in succession between 1993 and 1998.

Djokovic was playing in Vienna for the first time since he won the title there in 2007, and dropped serve twice in a tricky opening set.

Krajinovic served for the first set at 5-4 and then held a set point in the tie-break but couldn’t take advantage.

A couple of breaks in the second set allowed Djokovic to clinch victory -- his 38th in 40 matches this year.

“First set, I think he was the better player.

He was serving for the first set and I was lucky. He missed a smash at 6/6 in the tie-

break,” said Djokovic.

“A few points here and there can change the momentum of the match. In the second set, I stepped it up, I played better and I am just pleased with the way I finished the match.”

The 17-time Grand Slam title winner is appearing at his first tournament since his heavy loss to Nadal in the Roland Garros final two weeks ago.

Djokovic is also attempting to beat Federer’s all-time best of 310 weeks spent on top of the rankings.

On Monday, Djokovic began his 292nd week in total as world number one.

Djokovic and US Open winner Dominic Thiem are two of six top 10 players in the draw in the Austrian capital.

Second seed Thiem overcame Vitaliy Sachko 6-4, 7-5 in his opening match at home.

The Ukrainian lucky loser was making his tour-level debut, having entered the draw after Kei Nishikori pulled out due to injury.

Chile’s Cristian Garin shook off the frustration of losing a lengthy second set tiebreak to take down Stan Wawrinka 6-4, 6-7 (9/11), 6-3.

He will face Thiem for a place in the quarter-finals. AFP

The business side of sports

THE BOTTOM LINE LITO CINCO

“You strive to hear that,” he said of being called a World Series champion. “To do it with this group couldn’t be any more special.”

Added catcher Austin Barnes: “We had our hearts broken so many times.”

The Dodgers win completed a championship double for Los Angeles, whose LeBron James-led Lakers won their first NBA title since 2010 earlier this month.

As the Dodgers celebrated on the field, key contributor Justin Turner appeared, despite having been pulled in the eighth inning after testing positive for coronavirus—a final sombre reminder of the shadow cast on the season by the pandemic.

It was the first positive test since baseball put teams in quarantine bubbles for the League Championship Series, prompting commissioner Rob Manfred to

call it a “bittersweet night” for MLB. The Rays, needing a victory to force a decisive game seven, couldn’t take advantage of a dominant performance from starting pitcher Blake Snell, who gave up just two hits and no runs with nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

But Rays manager Kevin Cash opted to pull Snell with one out and one on in the bottom of the sixth with the Rays leading by just one run thanks to Randy Arozarena’s first-inning homer.

“I wanted to keep going, man,” Snell said. “I felt so confident in how I adjusted. I wanted to go the whole game.”

Sure enough, when Snell departed, the momentum shifted.

Dodgers rightfielder Mookie Betts promptly smacked a double up the left field line off Rays relief pitcher Nick Anderson.

Barnes, who had singled off Snell, advanced to third and scored on a wild pitch.

Seager then made it to first on a fielder’s choice, with Betts beating the throw to home to give the Dodgers a 2-1 lead. AFP

THE University of the Philippines Men’s Basketball Team , through the NowheretogobutUP Foundation, and its newest supporter, Converge ICT Solutions, have pledged to help scholars from the National Capital Region and other parts of Luzon cope with the demands of remote learning.

Officers of UP’s Kaagapay Sa PagAaral Ng Mga Iskolar Ng Bayan program, the UP College of Human Kinetics (UP CHK), and the UP Varsity Council have helped the fastest growing fiber internet service provider in the country to identify deserving students and student-athletes who will benefit from the project.

Kaagapay Sa Pag-Aaral Ng Mga Iskolar Ng Bayan or #KaagapayUP is a fundraising and resource generation campaign of the UP System that aims to help more than 5,600 UP students who are in danger of not being able to continue their education because of the COVID-19 crisis due to the demands of remote learning. Converge ICT will subsidize the internet connection of UP scholars from the NCR and Northern and Southern Luzon.

“We plan to support the most challenged UP students throughout the duration of the remote learning setup, or at the very least, for two semesters. Phase 1 of the initiative will provide internet connection to 30 student-athletes for the whole academic year. As the first semester has already begun, we will begin installation of pure fiber internet in their homes, as soon as possible,” said Converge ICT Solutions Founder and CEO, Dennis Anthony Uy. UP, alongside other universities in the country, shifted to remote learning and online classes this school year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and some students have expressed they are having a hard time adjusting to the new set up, largely due to lack of connectivity.

“The transition to remote learning is no easy feat, especially for those who lack the ample resources to study from home. We hope to ease the burden of those Iskolars ng Bayan who are most in need, some of whom are student-athletes, by providing them with fast and reliable internet connection so they can adjust well to remote learning. This is one way of showing our commitment to uplifting Filipino lives, by helping them #ExperienceBetter. This is why we are supporting #KaagapayUP,” said Uy.

related business costs.

Now, why am I dwelling on this topic for this piece?

Well, colleague Henry Liao posted something about the supposedly financial problems facing some NBA teams as the league has been badly hurt by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns, though as a business, the league had to find a way to resume to meet advertising commitments and ensure the NBA’s continuity .

Some of the teams mentioned in the report were those that rely heavily on their in-person attendance as revenues. These include the highly popular Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma Thunder,

with their loyal fan base that troops to the venues. Other teams that may be facing tight financial conditions are Minnesota, Miami and Indiana, among others.

For some teams, it is the core businesses of the team owners that have taken a big hit due to the pandemic, with even one team owner supposedly looking for buyers already for his team. The Los Angeles Lakers, though, are more fortunate that they are not wholly dependent on gate receipts, but bottom line, the NBA is facing a big challenge in 2021.

Looking at the local scene, the PBA has adapted the NBA bubble model resuming its games in Clark

in Pampanga. Again, without it being said, I am certain that the businesses behind the PBA teams have been negatively affected by the current crisis, though up to what extent I cannot measure.

What I am sure of is that these businesses are looking quietly into the future of the league. So far, the PBA bubble model is working, with but one referee testing positive for the virus reportedly, while a player tested negatively in subsequent tests.

Now, the Philippine Superliga has also announced its plan to hold a beach volleyball tournament in Subic to include even non-PSL squads to expand number of participating teams in the

league’s own bubble model But then I have heard, too, from a reliable source that not all the regular teams may join and I am certain that the financial cost of maintaining teams for next year will be a major discussion factor for the PSL’s regular members.

In the end, believe me, business decisions will be made, not emotional or personal ones.

I just hope that in the end, for the sake of sports and the athletes, things get back to near normal sooner than later.

And yes, I am missing watching live women’s volleyball, so I am offering special prayers for this sport.

Entertainment

Nick nickie.standard@gmail.com THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

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Kim Chiu joins Tony Labrusca, JM de Guzman in new horror flick

Actress Kim Chiu is back to the horror front with ‘U-turn,’ a scare digital movie also topbilled by JM de Guzman and Tony Labrusca.

Rock Robster NO WAY you can that love is not just a classify Robster romantic feeling but also Evangelista as a a commitment. That is rocker. In fact, his why love takes action and debut single “Sino constant nourishment for YUGEL Ba Sa Atin,” dropped it to grow and last.”

LOSORATA in digital stores last He added, “It is always summer, is described an achievement if you are as easy listening. to sing your own song because you know But looking deep into his track record, the emotion so well you can put justice to one can quickly say he simply rocks and its creation.” his versatility solidified his foundation in It helped that he was mentored by his the music scene. He has long figured out idol Rey Valera. He recalled being led the way to handle his diverse creativity to a level where he can come up with a which led to people describing him as song when asked to and get paid for it. a radio personality, songwriter, author, He related, “When I'm asked to write a speaker, singer, or all of the above. jingle or a theme song, I just scribble all Robster explained, “It takes discipline the important messages the client wants to and time management. Thus, my principle convey. If it is a song for an artist, I ask for is one thing at a time or when I set out to the artist's profile, target audience, style, do one thing, I focus on it entirely.” and repertoire.”

The man knows how and when to Robster was a vocalist and guitarist for channel himself to address a challenge. the Haranya band and the voice behind Primarily known as a radio guy, he was the theme tune of a movie starring thenasked by RJA Productions that hired him screen couple Jericho Rosales and for his songwriting services to actually Kristine Hermosa. He wrote for Parokya record the song “Sino Ba Sa Atin” which ni Edgar (“Amats") and dancer-novelty he wrote himself. He did too good a job on singer Vhong Navarro (“Mr. Papabol") the demo for it to be handed it to another and eventually won at the PMPC Star singer.

Awards for Music in 2012 for his novelty Robster shared, “I think most, if not song “Blind Item.” some, go to a phase when you doubt the Last year’s RJA releases “Stuck” relationship. But personally, I learned and “Patawad Sinta” were both his compositions sung by the fast-rising Myko Mañago.

A PBA barker since 2006, Robster spent seven years as DJ for iFM and became station manager by 2010. He created and produced Mga Kuwento ni Lolo Barbers and handled interviews of big-name local and international acts.

He authored How to Tame the Butterflies in your Stomach and How to Talk to Anyone Easily.

Asked to pick a word to best describe himself, Robster noted, “I consider myself more as a storyteller and I do it either through my music or words of encouragement.”

Commissioned to write a song for someone else to sing, multi-faceted talent Robster Evangelista handed a record producer a very good vocal demo of his composition ‘Sino Ba Sa Atin.’ He ended up singing it himself.

Avida culminates 30th year with benefit concert FOR ITS 30th anniversary, Avida once again joined forces with Ayala Museum to bring The Rush Hour Concerts online for the very first time. The virtual concert, set on Oct. 30, is a way for the museum and the Manila Symphony Orchestra to make classical music more accessible to the public.

The initiative is part of Ayala Museum’s Get Access, Give Access fundraising campaign that gives internet access to underprivileged students from all over the Philippines for their online education.

Keeping the spirit of gratitude and hope amid this trying time, Avida seized the chance to uplift more lives and saw it fit to celebrate its 30-year milestone for this higher cause.

By adapting The Rush Hour Concert experience to the digital space, audiences can get access to Manila Symphony Orchestra’s full repertoire from the comfort of their homes and at the same time give online access to Ayala Foundation’s students in this time of distance learning.

“Avida has been a long-time partner of the Ayala Museum and we are grateful that in celebration of their 30th anniversary, they have decided to support this fundraising campaign and join us in bringing The Rush Hour Concert experience to the virtual public,” says Ma. Elizabeth L. Gustilo, Senior Director for the Arts & Culture Division of Ayala Foundation, Inc.

The beneficiaries of Ayala Foundation’s Student Online Access Program include their scholars aged 5 to 21 who come from the most disadvantaged families in Tondo, Batangas, and MIMAROPA. Majority of them have limited access to digital tools and the internet, with 80 percent resorting to prepaid connectivity for their online schooling. Through the virtual Rush Hour Concert, Avida and Ayala Museum will be able to provide a child with internet access for one year with every ticket sold, with their target set at 500 children by the end of the fundraising initiative.

“Marking our 30th anniversary in these unprecedented times is a challenge, but we saw this as an opportunity to celebrate life by enriching more lives,” says Tess Tatco, Avida Land Marketing Head. “As we look back with gratitude and look forward with hope for a better tomorrow, we made it our mission to continue advocating for Filipino talent while giving hope to our nation’s future—the children.”

Join The Rush Hour Concert online on Oct. 30 at 6:00 p.m., and celebrate 30 years of home through three decades of The Best of OPM. Enjoy symphonic renditions of your favorite homegrown music from the 1970s to 1990s performed by the renowned Manila Symphony Orchestra with special guest, the Manila Symphony Junior Orchestra.

From the hits of Ryan Cayabyab up to the Eraserheads, not only will you be in for a night of sublime music; you will also be able

WATCHING a scary movie this Halloween may not be possible in cinemas this year, but there is a new way to relive the experience by watching Star Cinema's newest horror film starring Kim Chiu, U-Turn powered by CineXpress on SKY Pay-Per-View from Oct. 30 to Nov. 12.

CineXpress is the latest digital initiative of ABS-CBN Films that offers Filipinos here and abroad the chance to catch original, first-run, and new Filipino movies in the safety of their homes.

U-Turn, the maiden offering of CineXpress, features Kim Chiu as a journalist who wants to be taken seriously in her career. Her life takes a turn as her

stories become viral. She gets a taste of her own medicine when her twin brother dies in an alleged suicide and becomes the topic of sensationalized reports. She is then forced to investigate the incident, taking her boyfriend Robin (Tony Labrusca) and police officer Kevin (JM de Guzman) as they uncover more deaths. Will they solve the mystery and stop the body count from piling up?

SKY subscribers can watch U-Turn commercial-free and in high definition for 48 hours upon purchase via its pay-perview service for only P150.

In addition, SKY also brings romance and international flavor to its lineup of

movies. Subscribers can avail of the unli-viewing experience of the 2020 romantic film, Hindi Tayo Pwede, starring Lovi Poe, Marco Gumabao, and Tony Labrusca, airing until Nov. 14 for only P99, along with bonus movies such as Mr. & Mrs. Cruz and Camp Sawi.

They can also catch the Japanese horror flick Howling Village and Korean actionthriller Steel Rain 2 this month for only P99, unli-viewing.

SKY subscribers with SKYcable, SKY Fiber with HD Cable TV, and SKY Fiber with All-In Box subscription can avail of these pay-per-view movie offerings. Visit mysky.com.ph for more details.

Smarter move

with PARK SEO JOON VERY WANG

K

NICKIE WANG

OREAN drama superstar Park Seo Joon is in touch with his Filipino fans once again with the release of Smart’s latest campaign featuring the Itaewon Class actor in a new TVC.

Officially launched yesterday, the television commercial sees the 31-yearold screen actor—also best known for his roles in the television dramas Kill Me, Heal Me (2015), She Was Pretty (2015), Hwarang (2017), Fight for My Way (2017), What's Wrong with Secretary Kim (2018) —interacting with a female talent (who looks very Pinay but actually a talent from Myanmar) in a scene that emphasizes the star’s romantic persona.

He also delivers a few lines in Tagalog.

In the TV commercial, Park Seo Jun says “K-Lang Yan”, a wordplay suggesting things will be fine and that Korean shows bring delight to viewers by enabling them to immerse in an alternative reality.

“He’s very professional and made an effort to deliver those line so it was no longer needed to have them dubbed,” Jane J. Basas, Senior Vice President and Head of Consumer Wireless Business, Smart, said adding that there will be another campaign to be released in a few weeks featuring the award-winning actor.

“He’s aware of the huge fanbase that he has in the Philippines. He’s also aware of the previous campaigns we had with Son Ye Jin and Hyun Bin. His only request when we were talking to him, and his awesome management, was to make the campaign different and unique. So, we decided to play up his fun side and romantic persona,” Basas carried on.

“Like the two international endorsers we have, Hyun Bin and Son Ye Jin, Park Seo Joon is popular and well-loved by Filipino audience.

He’s been a household name in the Philippines. More than anything, the endorsers that we have chosen are very professional, humble, and very successful in their careers. That’s

Smart ropes in Korean superstar and ‘Itaewon Class’ actor Park Seo Joon to be the face of its latest campaign.

something that we are really proud of,” Smart president and CEO Al Panlilio added.

Smart has signed up the Korean superstar to launch GIGA K-Video in a multimedia campaign. The mobile services provider has also partnered with Viu, a leading pan-regional streaming service operated by Viu International Limited, to launch the new GIGA K-Video data pack with Park Seo Jun as endorser.

Smart GIGA K-Video is the first-ever prepaid data pack in the Smart Giga family that comes with a Viu Premium subscription, making it so much simpler and easier for Filipinos to enjoy the latest Korean content with unlimited downloads and an uninterrupted, no-ads

experience.

“Filipinos and Koreans uphold common values especially when it comes to love for family and friends, and I think this is one of the reasons K-dramas resonate well with many Filipino viewers. I am thankful for this opportunity to encourage more Filipinos to discover and enjoy more Korean content and to take a breather from these uncertain times,” Seo Joon said in a taped interview shared with the media during the official launch.

To learn more about GIGA K-Video and Park Seo Joon’s Smart campaigns visit www.smart.com.ph and follow the mobile service provider’s official accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The proceeds from The Rush Hour Concerts featuring the Manila Symphony Orchestra will be donated to the Ayala Museum’s Get Access, Give Access fundraising campaign that gives internet access to underprivileged students.

to help underprivileged students gain access to online learning.

The Rush Hour Concert tickets can be purchased through Ayala Museum’s

official website and Facebook page, or the discounted access rate of P700.

TicketWorld. The regular access rate is Visit www.avidaland.com to know priced at P1,000 while senior citizens, more about Avida’s 30th anniversary PWDs, students, and teachers can avail of initiatives and Avida’s latest projects.

Life

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

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HOUSEHOLD

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2020

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HRISTMAS might be different this year, but one thing’s certain: dressing up our home for the season remains a muchawaited activity that brings holiday cheer.

Furniture and furnishings store Crate and Barrel offers four holiday looks that are warm, welcoming, and festive.

Red and green

Bring the classic holiday colors to the tree and the dining table with a dinnerware collection that features folkloric style complete with bright red beasts, stars, and botanicals; a serving plate, mug, and child-mug trio that captures the whimsy of winter wonderland; hand-painted measuring cups that make for festive kitchen tools; and red and green porcelain and glass ornaments and candles.

CLASSIC CHRISTMAS COLORS. Crate and Barrel’s Red and Green collection features (clockwise) red taper candles and tree candles in ever green and white, festive measuring

cups, and Vinter folklore dinnerware

Holidays at home Après ski

(Top) White ceramic houses with cutout windows; (bottom) Woodland Trees plate and Boska Candlelight Twinkle fondue set

Aiming for a cool retro-modern holiday look this year? Pieces from this collection feature understated sophistication that can even suit other occasions beyond the holidays. Ceramic houses that glow with tea light are a wonderful mantel décor or dining table centerpiece, while the plate and fondue set highlights Nordic motifs.

SHOPPING

(Top) Bottle brush Christmas trees in green, natural, and aqua; (bottom) Holiday Snowflake dinnerware and Polar Berry napkin ring

Fresh, effortless, and awash in soft organic texture and tones, this look brings a welcome lightness to the holiday season.

Warm natural elements such as leaves and stems and pinecones, as well as white and sparkles are heavily featured in dinnerware and ornaments under this collection. It’s a minimalist Scandinavian holiday, for sure.

Sonya’s Garden offers healthy food and wellness products at Cavite’s Happy Garden.

Nothing says festive quite like jewel tones and plenty of metallic shine as seen in the modern blush hoop wreath, bottle brush Christmas trees, and hand-blown embellished glasses perfect for parties or as a housewarming gift which are part of this range.

(Top) Hand-blown glasses with geometric patterns; (bottom) Blush hoop wreath and bottle brush Christmas tree

Check out www.crateandbarrel.com to browse the catalog and order by phone at its stores in SM Aura Premier (0917889-5667), SM Makati (0917583-3573), or SM Megamall (0917-870-4796).

A purpose-driven celebration

Healthy food, plants at Cavite’s Happy Garden ORGANIC green salad, crispy mushrooms, pure honey bee, and fresh herbs and plants, among others were some of the items for sale at a pop-up held in Cavite-based malls.

Cavite’s Happy Garden held recently at SM City Dasmariñas, SM City Bacoor, and SM City Molino presented healthy and natural products from local farmers and small entrepreneurs in Cavite and nearby towns.

It showcased a variety of crops, herbal and medicinal plants, and different organic byproducts. It also featured plants to cater to the growing “plantito” and “plantita” community in the region.

Cavite’s Happy Garden featured healthy food and wellness options inspired by the beauty and magical experience of Sonya’s Garden in Tagaytay, including fruit jams, Spanish specialties like Tendon Callos in Olive Oil, and its botanicals range of organic skin and hair care products.

Joyce Mushroom Kitchen’s booth had its famous white oyster mushrooms as well as its Mushroom Bagoong and Chili Sauce; while Hive’s and Marshal’s Farm had some of the best raw organic honey.

Plant enthusiasts had plenty of choices from the variety of plants and herbs available at the exhibit. Adorable and minimalist pots, hangers, and plant racks likewise delighted guests.

Trove

Nordic neutral

Members of Landers can showcase their products in the superstore’s branches.

Landers opens space for members’ businesses SHOPPING store Landers has launched a livelihood support program in a bid to help members with small businesses.

The Landers Member Support Program allows members to sell and showcase their products at the superstore’s branches in Balintawak Quezon City, Daang Hari Alabang, Otis Manila, Arcovia Pasig, and Cebu.

Through the program, which is part of Landers’ Share the Hope campaign launched during the pandemic, members who run small businesses will be provided with support and retail space.

To join, members can apply at bit.ly/landersmsp where they will need to fill out a form with necessary information and upload photos of their products. Applicants will be required to present their company profile and other relevant business documents. Members can also apply in-store by going to the Landers Member Support Program booth where they will have to scan a QR code that will lead them to the application site.

Once requirements are met, qualified members will then be given the opportunity and the support they need to sell their products at Landers for one month at no cost.

IN CELEBRATION of its 30th anniversary, Ayala-led real estate company Avida Land Corporation partners with social enterprises to support local artisans and marginalized youth.

“Celebrating life with gratitude and hope is more meaningful when we extend this hope to more Filipinos,” says Avida Land marketing head Tess Tatco.

Fuelled by this sense of gratitude and hope, the developer continues to champion lifestyle choices that inspire its communities and promote socially responsible living by supporting Rags2Riches and Messy Bessy, social enterprises that empower dignified local artisans and at-risk youth, respectively.

For its 30-year feat, Avida once again teamed up with Rags2Riches and their community artisans for an exclusive line of merchandise called the Safe and Sound Care Set. The set includes a face mask with filters and a hand sanitizer, packaged in a personalized pouch.

Multi-purpose organizers made of natural materials and indigenous textiles were also crafted especially

for the company.

“Each set is intentionally designed to enrich the homes that they will be part of while empowering the people who made them,” says Reese Fernandez-Ruiz, president and founding partner of Rags2Riches.

Avida also partnered once more with Messy Bessy in support of its mission to assure 30 scholars a college education through the 30 Years, 30 Scholars campaign. With each special set of organic and non-toxic home cleaning essentials handed to every new Avida homeowner, comes new hope for 30 atrisk youth who have chosen to go back to school.

“Our goal is for all 30 of our scholars to finish the program armed with the first college degree in their family,” says Krie ReyesLopez, founder and chief executive of Messy Bessy.

Reyes-Lopez adds, “Beyond the 30 scholars, Avida’s support will also spread our advocacy to their community whom we know share in our aspirations for a healthier planet and a better future for everyone.”

Messy Bessy’s set of organic and non-toxic home cleaning essentials made for Avida Land.