Manila Standard - 2020 November 30 - Monday

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Lockdown changes loom Rody slated to announce new quarantine rules; MM mayors go for GCQ 'til January

By Joyce Pangco Pañares, Willie Casas and Rio N. Araja

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte will announce new lockdown classifications today even as Metro Manila mayors push for the extension of the general community quarantine (GCQ) until the end of December, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Sunday.

The chief executive earlier placed the National Capital Region, Batangas, Lanao del Sur, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Tacloban City and Iligan City under GCQ from Nov. 1 to 30.

Duterte also placed his hometown, Davao City, under GCQ on Nov. 20 following the rise of COVID-19 cases in the area.

National Task Force COVID-19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. Next page

COVID-19 PH AT A GLANCE

(AS OF 4 PM NOV. 29)

429,864 TOTAL NUMBER OF CASES

2,076 22,867 NEW

ACTIVE

8,373

40

DEATHS

NEW

398,624 10,579 RECOVERIES

NEW

VOL. XXXIV • NO. 269 • 3 SECTIONS 12 PAGES • P18 MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

BONIFACIO DAY. On the eve of the commemoration of the 157th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio, also known as the Great Plebeian and founder of the Katipunan movement against Spain, the Bonifacio Shrine in Manila gets spruced-up, courtesy of a maintenance worker (left).

Norman Cruz

Shanghai marathon draws 9K runners amid virus threat AROUND 9,000 marathon as an runners—some opportunity to wearing face show how China masks—took part —where the virus in the Shanghai Inemerged late last ternational Marathon Sunday, Chinese year before unleashing a pandemic—is media said, a rare mass event in a year moving ahead despite the continuing when coronavirus laid waste to most global health crisis. such sport.

The prestigious New York, Berlin, Next page Before the race, officials touted the

WORLD ROUNDUP

TO THE RESCUE. Eight senior citizens, three children, two PWDs and 18 other residents have been evacuated by the Coast Guard from Barangay Annafunan East, Tuguegarao City on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020 as a result of flooding caused by continuous rain since Saturday. CoastGuard

Filipino among 13 new cardinals Party-list solon's daughter killed in clash with Army

COTABATO Archbishop Emeritus Orlando Cardinal Quevedo on Sunday greeted the Philippines' new cardinal, Capiz Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula.

Quevedo said Advincula had a lot of experience to guide him through his new task as an aide of the Pope in the

Philippine Church.

He said he witnessed Advincula's journey since the new cardinal was teaching at the Vigan School of Theology, and that many praised him for being a good teacher and pastor.

“Congratulations and prayers to

Next page

BEATING THE RUSH. People flock to Ylaya street in Divisoria on Sunday November 29,2020 despite the lingering threat brought about by the COVID-19. Norman Cruz

BUTUAN CITY—The daughter of Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Eufemia Campos Cullamat was killed in an encounter on Saturday afternoon in the hinterlands of Barangay San Isidro, Marihatag, Surigao del Sur, an Army report said Sunday.

A military spokesman said killed in the encounter with the Army's 3rd Special Forces Battalion was Jevilyn Campos Cullamat, 22, said to be a member of the propaganda unit of Guerrilla Front 19 of the Northeastern Regional Committee of the New People's Army (NPA).

The Army also recovered three AK47 rifles, one M14 rifle, one M653 5.56 caliber rifle, five backpacks containing war materiel and documents at the encounter site.

“Our troops were conducting security operations after receiving reports from civilians of the presence of Next page

PAGASA warns Cagayan residents of new flooding near the lower part of Cagayan River to brace for possible floods, saying the THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophys- Cagayan River had reached above alarm ical and Astronomical Services Admin- level. istration on Sunday warned residents In a 7 a.m. hydrological forecast for

By Rio N. Araja

the Cagayan River basin, the weather bureau said the lower Cagayan River and its tributaries Pinacanauan de Tuguegarao, Chico, Pared and Dummun Next page were threatening flooding.

MISS EARTH WINNERS. American bet Lindsey Coffey of Pennsylvania wins the Miss Earth beauty pageant, a first in almost two decades for the USA. Her consorts or elemental queens include the. Philippines's Roxanne Baeyens (Water); Valenzuela's Stephany Zreik (Air) and Denmark's Michala Rubinstein (Fire).

Contributed photo

US bet crowned Miss Earth 2020

By Eton Concepcion AFTER almost two decades since the Miss Earth pageant’s inception in 2001, pageant powerhouse the USA got its first winner in the statuesque Lindsey Coffey of Pennsylvania.

Coffey bested 83 delegates from

around the globe in the finals held virtually on Sunday and became the first American beauty to win the title that focuses on environmental issues. She succeeded Nellys Pimentel of Puerto Rico.

“I love surprises, it’s fun, but is this for real?” Coffey said in tears upon hearing she won.

Next page

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News

GSIS sets P3.3-b fund release T HE state pension fund Government Service Insurance System announced Sunday it will start to release P3.3 billion in Christmas cash gifts to 330,496 old-age and disability pensioners starting Dec. 1.

“Every year, our pensioners look forward to receiving the cash gift which they call their Christmas bonus.

Thus, we made sure that the cash gift will be credited to their electronic card before Christmas this year to somehow relieve them of the additional financial expenses during the Christmas season,” GSIS president and general manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet said.

Qualified pensioners who received a Christmas cash gift of P10,000 in 2019 will be granted an amount equivalent to their one-month pension up to a maximum of P10,000.

Pensioners whose 2019 Christmas cash gift was above P10,000 will similarly receive a one-month pension up to a maximum of P12,600.

Pensioners who resumed their regular monthly pension after Dec. 31,

2019 (after the five-year guaranteed period) will be given one-month pension up to a maximum of P10,000.

Eligible to receive the Christmas cash gift are old-age and disability pensioners under Republic Act 8291, Presidential Decree 1146, and RA 660 who are receiving their regular monthly pensions and who are still living as of 30 November 2020.

Old-age and disability pensioners whose pensions were suspended before the Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation requirement was temporarily lifted in March 2020 and are still on suspended status as of Dec. 1, 2020, will also receive the cash gift, provided they activate their status with

Lockdown...

also observe the minimum health protocols such as physical distancing, she said, adding that families should skip buffet-style meals for now.

Vergeire also discouraged both national government agencies and local government units from conducting outreach programs, since such activities will draw crowds.

If holding such a program cannot be avoided, Vergeire said people must observe physical distancing and wear face masks and shields. Organizers must also limit the number of people in the venue.

In GCQ areas, groups must be limited to only 10 people. Under a modified GCQ, 50 people are allowed in a gathering.

The DOH earlier issued guidelines on upcoming Christmas celebrations.

Aside from warning against singing karaoke with people other than those you live with at home, the DOH also advised the public to limit social interaction to less than 15 minutes, as a recent study showed that even this amount of time could result in a COVID-19 infection.

The DOH said it would also be better if celebrations are held in well-ventilated areas or open spaces.

The Philippines logged 2,076 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total to 429,864, even as seven laboratories failed to submit their reports, the DOH said.

The DOH also reported 10,579 persons who newly recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 398,624, after the DOH implemented a “mass recovery” adjustment. The total number of recoveries is 92.7 percent of the total number of cases.

The DOH reported 40 new fatalities, bringing the death toll due to COVID-19 to 8,373, which is 1.95 percent of the total number of cases.

There are 22,867 active cases, representing 5.3 percent of total cases.

Of the active cases, 82.9 percent are mild; 7.4 percent are asymptomatic; 6.1 percent are critical; 3.2 percent are severe; and 0.34 percent are moderate.

Also on Sunday: • PLDT Chairman Manuel V Pangilinan joined other top business lead-

ers to support the national government in providing 2 million doses of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine for frontliners.

Pangilinan joined fellow business leaders Joey Concepcion, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Tessie Coson, Ricky Razon, and Ramon Ang in the vaccine donation to the government. “The protection of our health workers and public frontliners is indeed a priority. We equip our frontliners with PPE and we have also provided disinfectants and COVID-19 testing extraction machines to hospitals nationwide —all these to ensure that we have the necessary means to help combat the pandemic. A vaccine will hopefully stem the pandemic, which is, literally, a shot in the arm that we need,” Pangilinan said.

• The Philippine National Police said it will deploy more police in areas of convergence during the Christmas season. Joint Task Force COVID-19 Shield commander Police Lieutenant General Cesar Hawthorne Binag said he ordered a doubled police visibility in these areas in an interview on radio dzBB.

surging infections prompt a return to shutdowns that traumatized nations and the global economy earlier this year.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said its vaccines committee would meet on Dec. 10 to discuss the request for emergency use authorization.

"The FDA recognizes that transparency and dialogue are critical for the public to have confidence in COVID-19 vaccines," the organization's head Stephen Hahn said in a statement.

"I want to assure the American people that the FDA's process and evaluation of the data for a potential Covid-19 vaccine will be as open and transparent as possible."

He said he could not predict how long the review would take, but the federal government said earlier the final green light would probably come in December. AFP

Filipino...

der the age of 80 who will elect his successor.

That increases the chances that the pope's efforts to make the Roman Catholic Church more inclusive, transparent, and more focused on defending the most vulnerable members of society, may continue after his death.

During the ceremony, Francis warned the new cardinals not to be seduced by their new "eminence" and stray from being "close to the people".

"The scarlet of a cardinal’s robes, which is the color of blood, can, for a worldly spirit, become the color of a secular 'eminence,'" said Francis. "When you feel that, you will be off the road."

Typically, all the world's cardinals travel to Rome to welcome the newly promoted cardinals during the consistory.

This year, however, many did not attend, and coronavirus restrictions prevented travel for two new cardinals— Archbishop Jose Fuerte Advincula of the Philippines and Cornelius Sim, the Apostolic Vicar of the Muslim-majority nation of Brunei.

Only about 40 current cardinals, all in masks, were in attendance, sitting spaced apart before a limited audience of guests.

Due to the coronavirus, the tradition of exchanging "a kiss of peace" with the pope and all the other cardinals was suspended.

Nine cardinals in the latest group are under the age of 80 and thus eligible to join a conclave to elect the next pope upon the death or resignation of Francis.

Francis' choices reflect not only a desire to promote non-Europeans within the church, but the pontiff's personal fight against social inequality and poverty.

The Philippines' Advincula said he believed the pope chose him to acknowledge Catholics living in far-flung areas from Rome.

"I always thought that the Church has to be closer to the people, especially those that are in the peripheries," Advincula told Vatican News last month after being named. With AFP

armed men in the vicinity of San Isidro,” 1Lt. Krisjuper Andreo J. Punsalan, civil-military operation officer of the 3SFBn said.

He added that the encounter lasted about 45 minutes before the NPA rebels retreated, leaving behind Cullamat's body.

“We already talked to the family this Sunday. The older children of Representative Cullamat were already at the funeral parlor in Barobo, Surigao del Sur and confirmed that the body was their younger sister, Jevilyn,” Punsalan said.

Pursuit operations were still ongoing in the area to track down the remaining rebels, he added.

Punsulan added that former rebels said Cullamat was a student of schools that were influenced by the NPA, including the Alternative Learning Center for Agricultural and Livelihood Development (ALCADEV) in the area.

In a statement Sunday, 3SFBn commander Lt. Col. Joey Baybayan, said the security operation shed light on the continuing NPA exploitation and recruitment of indigenous peoples (IP) communities in Surigao del Sur. Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday said Benito Tiamzon and his wife, Wilma are still in the country, urging them to surrender three days after a Quezon City court sentenced them in absentia to up to 40 years for kidnapping and serious illegal detention.

“Based on our information, they are not in other countries. We can monitor so it is better for them to surrender,” Año said.

He directed the Philippine National Police to intensify its manhunt against the Tiamzon couple following the Quezon City RTC’s verdict.

Año, who was chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines when the Tiamzons were arrested in March 2014, said he had exerted a lot of effort to capture them.

“I spent half of my career looking for this couple," Año said.

He said the verdict was “a great victory” because the couple owed “so much blood” to the Filipino people, having kidnapped and killed so many people.

On Aug. 15, 2016, the couple was granted bail to join the peace talks between the Philippine government and the NDF, the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

The couple remains at large since the same Quezon City court ordered their rearrest in 2018 after President Rodrigo Duterte terminated the peace talks with the communists.

Doctor degree in the near future.

Asked the final Top 8 question, “This year brought us a lot of conspiracy theories and conflicting news or fake news, how would you reconcile fake news with the concept of truth?”

Coffey answered: “It’s very hard and difficult to decipher what is to believe and what not to believe. But we should try to find a reputable source that you can actually trust and try to figure out on your own what is the truth out there.

It’s very crucial at this time to respect science, to respect the evidence in front of us,” said Lindsey who is also an ordained minister.

The others named in the Top 8 were Puerto Rico’s Crystal Badillo, Poland’s Sabina Poltawska, The Netherlands’ Tessa Le Conge and Myanmar’s Amara Shune Lei. The Top 20 semi-finalists were the delegates from Japan, Thai-

land, Singapore (Asia-Oceania), Costa Rica, Panama (the Americas), Poland, Portugal, Germany, Belarus (Europe), South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Cote d'Ivoire (Africa).

The Miss Earth 2020 coronation, hosted by James Deakin and telecast on TV5 and FOXlife, opened with a virtual tour of the world featuring the 84 Miss Earth 2020 delegates in their eco-angel and respective national costumes.

The guest performers were international violinist Iskandar Wijaja and Latin American singer and TV host Patricia Zabala. Joining Iskandar and Zabala as finals judges were Hassan Eltigani Malik, president of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, Natalia Barulich, international DJ and model, Michael Ma, restaurateur, and Jewel Lobaton, Bb. Pilipinas-Universe 1998.

From A1

said Metro Manila mayors have voiced their desire for the region to remain under GCQ during the holiday season.

“We need to listen to their opinion and recommendation. For them, they would like the Christmas season to pass under GCQ,” Galvez said.

“We are worried that there might be a spike or surge if people go out and engage in activities such as parties and caroling,” he added.

Vice President Leni Robredo said she supported the mayors' recommendation for an extension of the GCQ. Meanwhile, the Department of Health (DOH) advised the public to hold Christmas parties with members of the same household only, warning of a potential rise in COVID-19 cases if they invite people from different households.

“Let's keep the parties within the household only,” said Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, speaking in Filipino. Household parties should

World...

From A1

Boston and Chicago marathons all fell victim to coronavirus this year, while London and Tokyo were open only to elite runners.

Bucking that trend, the Shanghai marathon went ahead under sunny skies following several days of rain, and with virus prevention measures in place to thwart infections.

Shanghai is on edge following a scattering of recent local cases, but China has largely got to grips with the epidemic thanks to strict lockdowns and aggressive mass testing.

Pfizer seeks US FDA nod US biotech giant Pfizer and German partner BioNTech sought approval Friday to roll out their coronavirus vaccine early, a first step towards relief as

PAGASA...

From A1

It warned of a continuing rise in the water level of the lower Cagayan River since scattered rain showers and thunderstorms were expected.

Its 7 a.m. flood bulletin for the Cagayan River basin said flooding was threatening the low-lying areas near the lower part of Cagayan River: Penablanca, Tuguegarao City, Enrile, Solana, Iguig, Amulung, Alcala, Baggao, Lasam, Gattaran, Lallo, Camalaniugan and Aparri.

On the other hand, above alert level was raised over the upper Cagayan and Middle Cagayan River and their tributaries.

Flooding is still possible in those areas.

Meanwhile, Speaker Lord Allan Velasco on Sunday backed the declaration of a climate emergency to encourage swift action to fight climate change and its impact.

He said the declaration would compel the government, including Congress and other stakeholders to place climate change at the center of their policy and planning decisions.

“Declaring a climate emergency means recognizing that climate crisis is the fight of our lives and that there is an urgent need for a massive-scale mobilization to protect Filipinos and the environment from climate change and its devastating impacts,” he said in a statement.

He says the Philippines has been facing a climate emergency for decades now with millions of Filipinos left to suffer the catastrophic effects of extreme weather events made stronger and deadlier by climate change.

He says it is for this reason why the Philippines is considered one of the most disaster-prone and climate-vulnerable countries in the world.

The devastation caused by the recent tropical cyclones including “Rolly” and “Ulysses,” which claimed 73 lives and caused the worst flooding in Metro Manila and Cagayan Valley in years, has made it imperative for the country to pursue stronger climate-adaptive and

climate-resilient measures.

“There will be more typhoons that will come our way, and we have to become better at preparations and in handling situations that call for sound judgment to prevent devastating death tolls and economic costs of future calamities,” Velasco said.

The House of Representatives recently unanimously adopted a resolution endorsed by the committee on climate change declaring a climate and environmental emergency.

House Resolution 1377 also seeks to mobilize government agencies and instrumentalities, together with local government units, to effectively implement environmental, climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

The committee on disaster resilience has adopted HR 535, expressing the sense of the legislative body that there is a disaster climate emergency requiring a “whole-of-government, wholeof-society and whole-of-nation policy response to anticipate, halt, reduce, reverse, address and adopt to its impacts, consequences and causes.”

Velasco said the declaration of a climate emergency would amplify the country’s demand for climate justice from developed nations and help achieve its goals under the landmark Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

The Paris Agreement calls all signatory countries to submit stronger climate targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions every five years.

The NDCs state what each country will do at a national level to reduce emissions, enhance their resilience to climate change threats, and help finance climate action.

At the recently concluded virtual conference of lawmakers from 48-member-nation Climate Vulnerable Forum, Velasco said the country’s NDC would show “the world our resolve to pursue low carbon development, as well as the support we need from developed countries in terms of climate finance, capacity building and technology transfer in the context of climate justice and in accordance with the Paris Agreement.”

From A1

Archbishop Joe Advincula as he becomes Jose Cardinal Advincula, Cardinal Priest. I remember him as a young priest from Roxas City, assigned to teach Theology in the Vigan School of Theology for a few years,” Quevedo told Radio Veritas.

"He was admired as a teacher and friend of the seminarians. He would attend their ordinations even when he had returned to Roxas City. He learned to speak Ilocano and would mingle with the Ilocano bishops at the CBCP.” “Created as a Cardinal "at the margins" Cardinal Joe will surely continue to be a zealous, humble, simple, and loving Shepherd of his people. Prayers, friend, best wishes, God bless you, Cardinal Joe!” Pope Francis raised Advincula to the rank of cardinal on Nov. 28, 2020.

He created 13 new cardinals, including Advincula, on Saturday—including the first African-American—putting his personal stamp on the body that will one day choose his successor.

Under the soaring dome of St Peter's Basilica, the new "princes of the Church" knelt one by one at the feet of the 83-year-old pontiff, who placed the quadrangular scarlet cap, or biretta, on their heads.

The diverse group-whose members hail from Italy, Malta, the Philippines, Chile, Brunei, Mexico and the United States—reflect not only the changing face of the church of 1.3 billion faithful, but also the Jesuit pope's belief in priests focused on the world's poor.

The 72-year-old Archbishop of Washington, Wilton Gregory, told AFP on Friday he was a "symbolic individual" for being made the first AfricanAmerican cardinal.

Since Francis' election in 2013, the Argentine pope—the first from the Americas—has created 95 new cardinals in ceremonies known as consistories.

Those named by Francis now make up the majority of those cardinals un-

US...

From A1

“Honestly, I had no idea, I’m new to this, But they said that I’m deserving of the title. We made history today, this means so much to me,” Coffey said in shock and disbelief.

Named elemental queens were Venezuela’s Stephany Zreik, Miss Earth Air 2020; the Philippines’ Roxanne Allison Beyens, Miss Earth Water 2020; and Denmark’s Michala Rubinstein, Miss Earth Fire 2020.

The 28-year-old, Coffey, a political science and communication arts graduate, represented the Atlantic Ocean in Miss Earth USA 2020. A full-time model of Women360, Coffey ranks as one of Pennsylvania’s best collegiate high jumpers and aspires to obtain a Juris

the GSIS on or before June 30, 2021.

Not eligible for the Christmas cash gift are survivorship pensioners, dependent pensioners, pensioners under RA 7699 (Portability Law) and those receiving a pro-rata pension.

New pensioners from 2016 to 2020 who availed themselves of immediate pension under RA 8291 are also not yet entitled to receive the cash gift.

They will start receiving their Christmas cash gift five years after their retirement date.

Those who availed themselves of a five-year lump sum and who will resume their regular monthly pension after Dec. 31, 2020, are also not eligible for the benefit.

PhilHealth told to pay P571 m in debt to PRC

By Willie Casas THE Philippine Red Cross on Sunday urged the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation to settle its P571 million remaining debt as the PRC secured COVID-19 tests from China at a lower price.

PRC chairman Sen. Richard Gordon said the non-government organization haggled with China to lower its COVID-19 testing to P3,409 so as not to exceed the government's price cap of P3,800.

The PRC in October stopped the coronavirus testing for returning Filipino migrant workers pending PhilHealth's payment of its dues that ballooned then to more than P1 billion.

"PhilHealth is paying P100 million every 10 days. At least they are paying now. But we are also struggling,” Gordon told ABS-CBN's TeleRadyo.

"PhilHealth's outstanding balance is now P571 million. Maybe they can settle it...because we haggled with China. We will get test kits at a lower price now,” he added.

Party-list...

From A1

News DOJ orders NBI to look for missing UP law professor

By Rey E. Requejo JUSTICE Secretary Menardo Guevarra has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation to join in the intensified search for missing University of the Philippines Law Professor Ryan Oliva whose belongings were recently found along the shoreline of Barangay Balikyas, Looc, Occidental Mindoro.

Guevarra said the NBI will coordinate with the local officials in Mindoro Occidental and the Philippine Coast Guard in the search for the missing lawyer.

“The NBI MIMAROPA field office is already involved in the search for Atty.

Oliva. I have directed the OIC Chief (NBI officer-in-charge Eric Distor) to intensify the NBI’s coordination with the local police of Looc, Mindoro Occidental and the Philippine Coast Guard in the joint search,” the justice secretary said.

MIMAROPA is an administrative region covering the provinces of Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Palawan, and Romblon, Oliva, who also works in the Department of Tourism’ Legislative Liaison Unit has been reported missing since November 21.

Reports showed that Oliva was last seen at a resort in Batangas province.

Oliva reportedly contracted a cab driver to bring him to any resort in Nasugbu, Batangas The driver told investigators that they stopped at a resort in Barangay Wawa in Nasugbu and Oliva told him to wait for him as he needed to check the resort first.

After several hours, a tricycle driver approached him and told him that Oliva wanted him to go back to Manila already.

NBI investigators are still gathering more information that may lead to Oliva’s whereabouts.

Stay vigilant vs corruption--Morales

By Rey E. Requejo and Rio Araja FORMER Supreme Court Associate Justice and former Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales and a transparency and good governance advocate have called on the public to be more vigilant for possible corruption in the disbursement of billions of pesos in public funds intended to bankroll government’s responses to emergencies arising from coronavirus disease and devastations brought by super typhoon Rolly and typhoon Ulysses, which caused destructions in large parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila in recent weeks.

Morales warned that the COVID-19 pandemic, just like during the previous global crisis, “provide a perfect environment for corruption to flourish and that this guarantees further lost of lives, depreciation of public funds.”

“Indeed, the people should remain vigilant now more than ever,” Morales said, in her speech during the webinar held last week on “Opportunities within the COVID-crisis: Towards transparent and accountable governance” organized

by Stratbase Albert del Rosario Institute.

“The people should watch closely how power wielders exercise the extended power at their disposal, on top of their vast array of already existing governmental powers. If these leaders seriously fail in their use of power and will go unpunished…,” the former Ombudsman added.

Morales made the call after Malacanang reported that the government has already released nearly P78 billion to 15 agencies for their COVID-19 pandemic response under the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act (Bayanihan 2).

In his weekly report to Congress, President Rodrigo Duterte said P76.22 billion of the released budget came from the fund allocated by the law, while some P1.75 billion are charged from the 2020 budget allocations of the respective government agencies.

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

A3

Ang wants RFID application extension G IVEN the continued high volume of applications for RFID electronic toll collection stickers, San Miguel Corporation president Ramon S. Ang is appealing to the Department of Transportation to consider a further extension for motorists of its order to implement 100% cashless transactions at all expressways.

PUJ REGISTRATION. Public utility jeepney drivers participate in the last day of the General Registration and Orientation Activity of the Service Contracting Program at the Quezon City Memorial Circle Basketball Covered Court, November 29, 2020.

Du30 vows strong partnership with Asean, China PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte vowed to remain a strong partner of China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, saying multilateral ties are necessary amid the prevailing coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) health crisis.

Duterte made this commitment in a taped message during the 17th China-Asean Expo (CAEXPO) & China-Asean Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) Opening last Friday.

“This important annual economic event is vital in strengthening multilateral ties between China and Asean member-states, especially now as we collectively face the challenges of economic recession and uncertainties due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said in his speech.

He also expressed gratitude to China for

its investments which have boosted global economic recovery hit by recession.

“We thank China for its substantial investments in trade, infrastructure, telecommunication and transportation that strengthened economic integration, productivity and financial stability in the region,” he said.

Duterte assured Asean member-countries that he would continue joining efforts in promoting the mutual prosperity of the ChinaAsean economic community for the years ahead.

“Let us ensure a harmonious collaboration among our countries and achieve the goal of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership under the blueprint of the China-Asean Strategic Partnership Vision 2030,” he said.

The RCEP is a comprehensive trade and investment agreement of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and its five free trade agreement (FTA) partners — Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, and South Korea concluded last Nov. 15 after eight years of negotiations.

According to the trade department, the RCEP covers one-third of the world’s population and one-third of global gross domestic product and export market.

Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez earlier described the scope of RCEP as “more modern” and a “high quality FTA” as this include economic technical topics such as micro, small and medium enterprises, intellectual property, e-commerce, trade access, and other topics in trade in products and services, as well as investments.

Ang assured the government that all lanes at toll plazas of its expressways—Southern Tagalog Arterial Road Southern Luxon Expressway the Skyway System, NAIA Expressway, and the TarlacPangasinan-La Union Expressway—are ready and fully equipped for the shift to 100% electronic toll collection by December 1.

However, it’s the huge number of motorists that have still not secured their RFID stickers, that should be given due consideration, Ang said.

“I have been monitoring the situation. We only have a few days to go, and yet our sticker installation sites are still packing long lines, especially this last weekend before implementation on December 1.

Given the surge in last-minute applications we’re seeing, we don’t think we will be able to serve everyone. A large number of motorists will not make it to the December 1 deadline,” Ang said.

Ang said that despite the company’s efforts to roll out additional measures to fast-track the installation of stickers—including opening 100 additional sticker installation sites and implementing 24 hours installation at major locations—the volume is just too much.

“My honest opinion is we will really need at least until February.

And that is what we are asking government. To allow us to retain even just a few cash lanes until February,” Ang said.

Population not likely to increase--POPCom

By Willie Casas THE Commission on Population and Development has said the number of pregnancies reported in the country yearly will not likely increase from 1.7 million to 2.5 million despite the lockdowns imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a recent interview on “Balitanghali,” POPCOM undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez III said that the UP Population Institute’s estimate that pregnancies would increase by 750,000 was based on a 100 percent lockdown scenario across the country.

“So ang mangyayari dahil sa pandemic na nag lockdown ang ating transportation, ang mga health services natin nakatutok sa COVID ay maaring bumaba ang serbisyo ng family planning,” Perez said.

“Since about 30 percent are naka lockdown ngayon particularly dito sa NCR, Region III, CALABARZON, at ibang lugar, sa palagay namin hindi naman ganoon kataas ang magiging dagdag sa population. Baka nasa 200,000 plus,” he added.

However, Perez said that should the number of pregnancies increase to two million, this will be the highest number of pregnancies to be recorded in the country. “‘Yun ang pinag-hahandaan namin.

Tina-try din namin ma-avoid by daily providing family planning and other services,” he said.

NEW LAKAS MEMBER. House Majority Leader and Lakas-CMD President Martin Romualdez (center) assisted by Senator Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. administers the oath taking of Cavite Rep.Strike Revilla as the latest member of the House to join the Lakas-CMD Party.The oath taking was held at the Angelus Eternal Garden in Imus Cavite. Jun Cabasag

Lawmaker seeks stiffer fines for game-fixing

By Rio N. Araja MANILA Rep. John Marvin Nieto has filed another bill for stiffer penalties against game-fixers in Philippine sports.

Nieto, kown in showbiz circle as Yul Servo, is the committee on youth and sports development hearing chairperson.

He said a substitute bill has been approved in lieu of House Bill Nos. 1226 and 5281, both aiming to redefine gamefixing, impose stiffer penalty, and penalize even mere proposal or attempt to commit game-fixing.

The measures seek to repeal Presidential Decree No. 483 of 1974.

Due to its limited applicability in the present time, Representatives Enrico Pineda and Michael Odylon Romero of 1-Pacman party-list introduced House Bill No.1226, while Ilocos Norte Rep. Angelo Marcos Barba authored House Bill No. 5281, to make anti game-fixing law more responsive to how fraudulent schemes have developed and being operated at present.

In a statement, Nieto said he surmised that scrupulous individuals and syndicates

earn staggering millions of pesos from game-fixing, point-shaving, and game machination at the expense of the athletes and the games.

The old law could penalize only up to P2,000.

“Ito po ang dahilan kung bakit namamayagpag pa rin sila sa sektor ng palakasan. Ayaw po natin itong magpatuloy sa ngalan ng integridad ng bawat palaro natin gayun din ng ating mga manlalaro.

Sa isinusulong po natin na batas, mas madali silang matutukoy at mapapanagot,” Nieto said.

Las Piñas gets 27 isolation facilities from DPWH

BUY-BUST. Operatives of PNP DEG, PDEA seize more than 210 kilos of marijuana from

three suspects in a buy-bust operation in Brgy Apolonio Samson, Quezon City. The drugs are worth P26 million.

TO HELP the government respond to the needs of COVID-19 patients, the Department of Public Works and Highway led by Sec. Mark Villar turned over 27 container vans-turned 96- bed quarantine/isolation facility to the Las Pinas city government .

“The new quarantine/isofacility will augment the existing healthcare facilities in Las Pinas City which will definitely help in controlling the spread of Covid-19 affected persons in the city,” noted Villar.

Villar said that each of the 24 units of the 40-footer container vans, located inside Goodyear Compound in Barangay Almanza, has four rooms complete with healthcare amenities, toilets and utilities.

Another two units 20-footer container vans serve as nurse station and one unit of another 20-foot container van is for X-ray facilities.

With proper ventillation, the isolation facility was designed in accordance with the Department of Health guidelines and recommendation.

The 35-million budget allocation for project, known as “Rehabilitation of Disaster-Related Infrastructure,” came from the DPWH’s regular fund for 2020 and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.

The new Covid-19 quarantine/isolation facility, was turned-over to Las Pinas led

by Mayor Imelda Aguilar and Vice Mayor April Aguilar after its blessing officiated

by Rev. Fr. Inocencio Palmari held on the same day.

Las Pinas Rep. Camille Villar also witnessed the occasion, which was a partnership between the DPWH and Las Pinas City government in coordination with the National Development Company.

Sen. Cynthia A. Villar and her family have been helping the national government enhance its capabilities and responsiveness to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They have been donating hospital equipment, portable handwashing stations, PPEs, face masks and field shields.

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor lgu@manilastandard.net editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

BELENISMO AWARDING.

This ‘belen’ or Nativity Scene entitled ‘Pit Stop’ won first place for McDonald’s Capas in the Monumental Category of the 13th Belenismo sa Tarlac 2020 competition over the weekend. Receiving the award were Michael Vincent Dungca, Marketing Consultant for McDonald’s, Ma. Cristina Fider, Operations Consultant, and Fae Aveline Reyes, Restaurant General Manager. Meanwhile, Dr. Isa Suntay and Isabel Suntay of the sponsoring Tarlac Heritage Foundation (inset) hand the firstplace prize to Belen Ning Macara in the Community Category to Jojo Baluyot and his team members. Lino Santos

Sorsogon unveils 4 modernized district hospitals SORSOGON CITY—Quality medical service will now be available to Sorsoganons with the modernization of four of its eight district hospitals, which were unveiled recently.

Governor Chiz Escudero said the upgrading of all district and provincial hospitals, which are managed by the provincial government, is part of his administration’s aim to provide Sorsoganons with quality medical service through health institutions furnished with modern medical equipment.

Recently inaugurated were the Donsol District Hospital, Matnog Medicare Hospital, Bulan Medicare Hospital and Prieto Diaz Medicare Hospital.

Ongoing renovations are also being done at the Irosin District Hospital, Gubat District Hospital, Castilla District Hospital, and Magallanes Medicare Hospital, which are expected to be fully equipped with enhanced medical service by 2021.

“Naniniwala ako na sa ating paglalagay ng mga modernong kagamitan at pagpapaganda sa ating mga pagamutan mas lalong magiging maigting ang paglilingkod ng ating mga health workers sa lahat ng mga Sorsoganon na mangangailangan ng kanilang serbisyo,” Governor Chiz said.

TESDA: Digital age to affect 18m jobs

By Jess Malabanan

T

ARLAC CITY—About 18.2 million jobs across the country will be affected by digitalization, most of which are occupied by low-skilled workers and the lack of knowledge of specific fields especially in the virtual world, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) revealed over the weekend.

TESDA regional director Jesus Fajardo said future jobs over the next 10 years will focus mainly on the digital tailor, virtual store sherpa, personal memory curator, quantum machine learning analyst, augmented reality journey builder, financial wellness coach, and fitness commitment counselor.

To meet the demand of the digital age skilled workforce, Fajardo said TESDA will be coming up with a strategic plan to ad-

dress future crisis brought about by the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR).

“There will be a higher demand for a skilled workforce in large employment industries. For the next six years, six million quality workers are needed by industries that are forecasted to generate larger employment markets,” Fajardo explained.

He said TESDA is offering courses that would match the digitalization need.

“To match the regional development op-

portunities, we are pushing for Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for Global Competitiveness and Workforce Readiness, and TVET for Social Equity. In line with these thrusts are our strategic responses: agility, scalability, flexibility, and sustainability,” he said.

Fajardo said plans are underway for enterprise-based training as a dominant mode; pushing for TVET international standards; and implementing Skills Needed Anticipation to identify skills requirements that will address the challenges posed by the 4IR. Among the priority industries of TESDA are tourism, hotels and restaurants, construction, IT-BPO, transport, communication, manufacturing, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, health and wellness, and other social services.

Runruno settlers set to evacuate

QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya—More than 200 illegal settlers in the geo-hazard areas in barangay Runruno here vowed to leave their abodes following government efforts calling for their evacuation due to threat of landslides.

Edgar Martin, DENR Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer(PENRO) said they have assisted several illegal settlers in Runruno yesterday as they voluntarily dismantled their shanties and houses after being compensated by the FCF Minerals Corporation which covers the areas of the small scale miners with its Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) with the national government.

“We expect others to follow after being compensated fairly by the mining firm so their lives will not be put in constant danger from the impending landslides,” he said. Ben Moses Ebreo

GBP TO TOLEDO. Turning over Global Business Power’s P23.3-million remittance to Toledo City are (from left) GBP Cebu Site Head Leah Diaz, Toledo Mayor Marjorie “Joie” Perales, City Treasurer Representative Galilee Mutia, and City Mayor Executive Assistant Faida Christine Tacandong.

GBP remits P23m to Toledo City to boost pandemic response effort GLOBAL Business Power Corporation (GBP) has remitted a total of P23.3 million to Toledo City in Cebu to further support and boost the city’s COVID-19 pandemic response.

The amount represents the Energy Regulations 1-94 (ER 1-94) fund share of Toledo from the electricity sales of GBP’s subsidiaries, Cebu Energy De-

Vice mayor faces probe for ‘game’ THE Department of Interior and Local (DILG) is now investigating a vice mayor of a town in Batangas province over his “online game show” which was done during office hours.

Commissioner Aileen Lizada of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), when asked about the case filed against San Pascual, Batangas Vice Mayor Isagani “Willy” Dimatatac, said she has forwarded the complaint to the DILG. “Forwarded na po kay SILG (Secretary of Interior and Local Government),” Lizada said.

She added that Interior Secretary Eduardo Año himself told her they are looking at the case.

“As per SILG, pina-check na niya (on-

line game show during office hours),” Lizada said.

Dimatatac put himself in hot water after a concerned citizen filed a complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman, the DILG and CSC, for his allegedly violating Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, as he conducted the “gimmick” during office hours.

In a three-page complaint filed before Ombudsman Samuel Martires, DILG Secretary Año, and CSC Chairperson Alicia Dela Rosa Bala, it was petitioned that Dimatatac and Council Lanifel Manalo be placed under preventive suspension during their investigation on the “online game show.”

velopment Corp. (CEDC) and Toledo Power Co. (TPC).

CEDC and TPC, with a combined generation capacity of 428 MW, facilitated the release of the fund share in order to assist the city in mitigating the effects and consequences of COVID-19.

The Department of Energy issued Department Circular (DC) No. 2020-04-

00080 to allow the utilization of ER1-94 funds for COVID-19 response to help local government units in their fight against the pandemic, in accordance with the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. The funds provide LGUs more access to protective personal equipment (PPEs) for frontliners, essentials, and an improved capacity for mass testing.

IN BRIEF Trillana Academy inks digital pact with Globe EDUCATIONAL institutions hurdle constant challenges and changes.

However, the challenge brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic was different and difficult—with schools struggling to transition to eLearning.

For Santiago Trillana Academy (STA), the pandemic was a welcome challenge that pushed the school to partner with Globe for their Brightspace Learning Management System (LMS) which is vital for digital education.

Through the partnership, the school secured Brightspace LMS licenses for its students and staff for the school year 2020 to 2021. The platform will serve as a tool for both learners and teachers in the creation and compilation of lessons, as well as resource materials.

Additionally, the LMS tool integrates both synchronous and asynchronous learning through video assignments, virtual classrooms, video notes, and ePortfolio.

BPSU leads mango research in Batangas BALANGA CITY—The Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU) is considered the mango research center in the province.

University Vice President for Research, Extension, and Training Services Dr. Hermogenes Paguia has been leading the mango research studies that saw productive growth of mango farming in Bataan and even nearby provinces for the past decade.

Paguia’s paper, “Improvement of Mango Production through Science and Technology Innovations and Support Mechanisms for Capacity Development in Bataan and Zambales” has recently been adjudged a finalist in the Development Category of PCAARRD Best Research and Development Paper Awards 2020.

He has already led several research studies on mango.

BPSU President Dr. Greg Rodis has been pushing for sustainable innovations and research like in mango production. Butch Gunio

Uniqlo, SM give 37k face masks to Bulacan folk JAPANESE global apparel retailer UNIQLO, through SM Foundation Inc., has donated 37,200 pieces of AIRism face masks for the communities and families in Bulacan affected by the recent typhoon “Ulysses.”

Being one of the hardest-hit provinces during Ulysses’ landfall, Bulacan’s communities in low-lying areas have been submerged by floods, prompting families to seek temporary shelter in evacuation centers or public disaster shelters.

As part of the mitigation efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to encourage communities to wear mask, 11 municipalities benefitted from the donation.

Through SM City Marilao, a total of 80 boxes each containing 300 pieces of AIRism masks were donated to the local governments of Marilao, Bocaue, Guiguinto, Malolos, Calumpit, and Hagonoy.

The donations will be brought to families, communities, and evacuees that were affected by the recent typhoon. Around 24,000 individuals benefited from the donation.

Rounds of donations, on the other hand, were conducted by SM City Baliwag in Bustos, San Rafael, and Baliwag. In close coordination with the local government units of these town, the 7,500 pieces of AIRism masks are to be distributed to highrisk groups like senior citizens and institutions that are most vulnerable to COVID-19.

SM Center Pulilan likewise donated 5,700 pieces of AIRism to municipalities of Plaridel and Pulilan. Jun David

ANTI-MOSQUITO CURE. Marvin Angeles, Marketing Sales Promotion Manager of UPL Philippines, stands with host Miss Earth 2015 beauty queen Angelio Ong, UPL Philippines Country Head Tapas Battacharjee, and UPL Country Regulatory Lead Mary Flor Gamino during the virtual launch of ‘Natular DT Walang Kiti-Kiti,Walang Kati’ held at New World Hotel in Makati.

Natular DT is a mosquito larvicide touted as crucial in the fight against dengue, yellow fever, and Chikungunya diseases. Manny Palmero

Opinion ‘Sabong’ SENADORA Imee is perplexed. The Inter-Agency Task Force to combat the pandemic has allowed the resumption of cockfighting, “sabong” in the vernacular, but does not allow normal resumption of classroom learning.

“Mas importante pa sa kanila ang sabong?” the chairperson of the basic education committee in the Upper House asks.

DepEd Secretary Liling Briones also argued for normal classroom teaching before, but the IATF over-ruled her, for fear of children getting infected. And so our young students have to use their laptops (a privileged few) or their parents’ cellphones (for many) with their teachers and the education department providing learning modules.

Will there be temperature checks as well before eager aficionados enter the cockpits?

Everybody agrees that there can be no effective substitute for classroom teaching, and working parents find it difficult to cope with the unaccustomed rigors of e-learning, but what alternative do we have? The IATF, chaired by the DOH secretary rules us in these parlous days.

But sabong, really?

My recollection of a cockpit is one where adult bettors (many of whom are vulnerable senior citizens), cramp among each other in a muggy arena, shouting at the top of their voices, with “kristos” taking bets through hand signals and amazing memory, while watching roosters trying to slash each other with a razor-sharp “tari.”

Did the IATF, or the LGU’s come up with proper social distancing rules, masks and face shield requirements, so as to contain the virus? Will there be temperature checks as well before eager aficionados enter the cockpits?

But Sen. Marcos is right: if cockpit-crazies are allowed to congregate and lose their money, why not allow kids to congregate in normal classrooms and learn? *** The ever-bankable and unsinkable gambling laureate, Atong Ang, had of course cashed in on an “electronic” version of sabong to make sure gambling addicts could

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

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EDITORIAL

while away the drudgery of quarantine, using their cellphones to place bets. Trust Double A to cash in on any form of gambling, wherever and whenever.

The cockfights are beamed by satellite from a city in Laguna whose mayor is a good friend of Double A, and the electronic bets are placed by cellphone. Winnings, if any are properly credited to the bettor.

Atong Ang’s e-sabong has become so widespread that the daily bets are estimated by an aficionado friend of mine at around a hundred million pesos each day.

Yes Virginia, each day! That’s a lot of moolah (a billion pesos in ten days, 3 billion a month, 36 billion a year) and the earnings from which could well be used to finance Atong’s favored candidate in 2022!

I would think the cops know where the sabungan is, no matter if it moves from one place to another in the same city, unless their intelligence is shushed up by big “intelihensya”.

And I thought Pagcor was the only legal game in town. With casinos still closed and POGO revenues drying up with a 5-percent gross tax on all bets (win or lose), E-sabong must be the only game in town, other than good old jueteng, of course, where the kobradores also use cellphones to take bets in these days of strict quarantines. *** Speaking of the police, now headed by Chief Debold of “mananita” fame, what were the Bantayan police doing when Spox Harry Roque came down from the heavens into Madridejos to “grace” an airport inauguration, where hundreds or maybe a thousand onlookers forgot social distancing, awed as they were with the presence of the man who spoke for the President, mismo!

Oh well, if the Chief could forego IATF rules on his birthday, why not the Spox in the island of danggit and alimasag, not to mention the chief supplier of eggs to mainland Cebu? *** And in the capital, starting tomorrow, the powerful “third chamber” of Congress, its bicameral committee, will finalize the compromises that make up the General Appropriations Act of 2021, the “election year” budget.

Will the Senate’s Don Quixote of the pork barrel, Sen. Ping Lacson, succeed in paring down the congressional insertions of the warring factions of the previous and incumbent Speaker of the HoR? Lacson wants to transfer billions in the liempo-laden public works budget to assist grief-stricken and typhoon-visited LGU’s, and add to the health and education departments in these pandemic times. But will sensible budgeting triumph over the politics of the election year budget?

Abangan!

Ending child rape IT IS a story that is often told in hushed voices. A 13-year-old girl is raped, at times repeatedly by an adult who is known to her and her family. Trauma impedes her from telling anyone, and fear for her family’s safety keeps her from reporting it to them.

But the pain and the distress build up to a point that it would be too much for a child to bear. So one day, she decides to tell her mother the truth.

The mother reports the crime to the police. The offender gets jailed, but due process, as it is every person’s right, would have to take its course.

From the investigators to the prosecutors, from the police station to the courthouse, the poor girl would be asked to testify and narrate the facts of the incident, painfully forcing her to relive every minute of that traumatic moment.

Then the child breaks down and refuses to continue on with the legal process, providing the offender the opportunity to take advantage and propose and compromise with the family.

Worried about their child, not to mention the hassles and costs of a lengthy court litigation, the family concedes.

Then freed from any criminal liability, the rapist goes on to molest another child.

This vicious cycle of child rape is what House Bill 7836 intends to end. By amending the current rape law and increasing the age of sexual consent to determine statutory rape.

Unknown to many, the current law assigns the age of sexual consent at 12 years.

Thus those who are above 12 years are considered old enough to rationally decide to agree to sexual activity. In fact, sexual relations with those aged 12 to 18 years are only penalized if they were done with force, threat, or intimidation.

The age of consent in Philippines is the lowest in Southeast Asia. It is also one of

Adelle Chua, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

the second lowest in the world following Nigeria—where the age of consent is 11 years old.

In fact it is a shocking fact for many to know, in a country, where you have to be at least 15 years old to be legally employed or 16 years old to apply for a driver’s license.

The law requires that you must be 18 years old to exercise the right to vote, and 21 to marry without your parental consent. In fact, a 12-year-old child would not even be allowed in a cinema to watch a movie with nudity and predominantly sexual themes.

‘Our indignation must translate into action.’

But our laws presume that a 12-year-old child is mature enough to legally consent to sex. This is the absurdity that the bill aims to correct. Once House Bill 7836 will be passed into law, the age of sexual consent will be increased to 16 years.

This means any sexual activity with a child 16 years and below will be automatically considered as rape, regardless of whether the child may have said or appeared to do it voluntarily.

The child only needs to prove two things —her or his age, and that the sexual act happened. Even when consent is allegedly present or was presumed given, it cannot be used in defense of the offender.

It took more than twelve years for the House of Representatives to pass this bill —not until Tingog Party-List Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez vigorously pursued its passage with the support of several other lawmakers, among them, Rep. Lawrence Fortun and Rep. Cheryl Deloso-Montalla.

Its Senate version is awaiting plenary approval. Child welfare stakeholders are hoping it will be approved before Congress suspends its sessions for the Christmas break.

Child rape can result in a serious psychological trauma, that leaves them emo-

S

Gap in humility

PEAKING before an international assembly of Asian liberals and democrats, Vice President Leni Robredo denied assertions that unfilled promises in democratic systems gave rise to populist and right-wing leaders.

“The past few years, we have seen ideas we hold dear under attack, with populist-authoritarians the world over tapping into long-simmering frustrations, capturing office through the same participative mechanisms that form the bedrock of our beliefs,” Robredo told the 13th Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats General Assembly.

“The main message, it seems, has to do with a world order that has failed to deliver in its promises. The diagnoses and prescriptions may be different, but the main thesis is that this world order—liberal and democratic in its processes—given rise to new dangers, bred widespread inequality, and allowed the powerful few to hoard vast riches while leaving everyone on the dust,” she added.

Robredo also cited the stereotyping of liberals as elite and educated, and out of touch with the world’s problems.

These claims, she said, were untrue—but she also acknowledged that democrats across Asia must strive to listen and understand the stories of people on the ground, and not just treat

This is how populists come to power. them as mere data samples for policy-making.

“This process requires shedding the idea that, armed with our position papers and PhDs, we always know what is best. This gap in humility is in fact what demagogues are so skilled at weaponizing: They make their crass pronouncements and sleep in mosquito nets to signal a sameness with the frustrated,” Robredo said.

“But while populism dresses itself up in cosmetic affinity, the liberal response must be to pursue authentic human engagement. To lean towards the ground and share in the struggle of the people,” she said.

More than four years after her own Liberal Party was drubbed out of office in national elections that chose a populist president, it is interesting to hear

the vice president make this point.

Certainly, there was a gap in humility in the Liberal Party’s six-year rule under President Benigno Aquino III, who famously asked a Tacloban businessman worried about looting after his city was destroyed by Typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013, “Why, you’re still alive, aren’t you?”

Certainly, too, there was a gap in humility when then President Aquino joked that he was ready to be run over by a train along with his transportation secretary, if a light rail project would not be completed in the allotted time, only to renege on his promise two years later, when railway extension missed its deadline.

We also saw a gap in humility when the Aquino administration bragged about self sufficiency in food then turned increasingly to rice imports that hurt Filipino farmers.

In all this, some hubris might have been forgiven, if it were accompanied by competence and honest public service—but clearly even these were in short supply in the Liberal Party’s sixyear rule.

All these, in the vice president’s words, were easy to weaponize, because people were angry and the Liberals in office didn’t seem to know or didn’t seem to care.

And that is how a populist came to power.

Suspicious AS A consumer advocate, I am always attentive to issues raised on power and energy. Last week, news reports of some militant party list representatives and lawyers calling for an investigation of Meralco’s purchase of costly power called for a closer look at the facts and, in this time of mis-information and fake news, warranted careful perusal.

A House resolution was filed by Bayan Muna Representatives to examine what they called ‘overpriced’ rates imposed by the Quezon Power Philippines Ltd. (QPPL) that ultimately affected the electricity bills of consumers. This is particularly interesting because for several months, Meralco has reported that retail rates are now at its lowest in years. After some research there are some interesting findings.

The investigation proponents insinuate that there might be an underhanded deal in their 25-year power purchase and transmission line agreement. What was not mentioned was that the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) between Meralco and QPPL was approved by the regulator. In the Energy Regulatory Board’s (ERB) decision on Case No. 94-217 dated July 16, 1995, the ERB found that, “In view of the fact that Ogden’s power rate is lower than the NPC rate, applicant Meralco will not only diversify its sourcing of power from NPC but will also benefit from the project’s competitive cost of power. Thus, it can be concluded that the cost is just and reasonable.”

Moreover, the implementation of the provisions of the said PPA were confirmed by the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), after the conduct of public hearings. ERC regulations require distribution utilities (DUs) like Meralco to submit the generation charge computations and all relevant documents to the ERC, to ensure that the calculations were in accordance with the regulator-approved contract. The ERC had tionally scarred for life, or cause them chronic post-traumatic stress or self-esteem issues, even leading to instances of suicide attempts. Over the long term, the sexual abuse of children has damaged the ability of persons to establish trust and intimacy even years thereafter.

UNICEF has expressed strong support for the measure, stating that “the objective of the minimum age of sexual consent is to protect adolescents from sexual abuse and from the consequences of early sexual activity on their rights and development.”

Leaving the age of sexual consent at 12 years makes it possible for sexual offenders to commit rape to leverage on legal technicalities, allowing them not to be not prosecuted under the rape law but are instead imposed lesser penalties. This leaves children vulnerable to sexual predators especially those who are significantly older than them and who may take advantage of their immaturity and manipulability.

House Bill 7836 also seeks to rectify an-

already confirmed QPPL’s billings to Meralco and how these billings were reflected in the Generation Charge from the start of QPPL’s operations up to calendar year 2016.

For the period 2017-2019, Meralco submitted similar documents/calculations to the ERC. Another important fact is that QPPL is not an affiliate of Meralco.

Wouldn’t it be more credible if the same kind of probe were done on other gencos?

News reports also quoted Bayan Muna and consumer group Matuwid na Singil sa Kuryente saying “the price of coal used by coal plants fell by 28 percent from $69.66 in January to $50.34 in August, and that prices at the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market price fell by 193 percent from P8.49 per kWh in January to only P2.421 per kWh in August.”

This point should have considered the whole historical data based on the Newcastle Spot coal price index which will show that going back a few years, QPPL’s coal prices were lower. While Newcastle prices spiked in late 2016, QPPL’s remained stable due to its annual indexing. This system also did not allow it to immediately reflect the declining spot prices.

Another point quoted the filed House Resolution saying, “Last January 2020, the QPPL rates went up from P6.5919 per kWh to P6.723 per kWh despite coal prices coming down by 28 percent during that period. Moreover, last March 2020, Meralco allegedly paid QPPL at a rate of P28 kWh, which was passed on to consumers.”

However, QPPL’s effective selling price is also affected by its level of dispatch or utilization. A higher dispatch or utilization will mean that QPPL’s fixed other wrong—imposing the crime of rape , regardless of the sexual orientation of the offenders or the victims – providing equal protection for both boys and girls.

While the amendments to the Revise Penal Code introduced in 1997 recognized the rape of males, rape against males are only considered by law as rape by sexual assault, which carries a lesser penalty of six to twelve years as opposed to the same act against females which is penalized by life imprisonment.

The proposed measure hopes to remove this disproportionality, ensuring that boys are protected from sexual exploitation in equal measure to girls.

The bill’s principal author, Rep. Romualdez, rightly puts it, “Child rape is an ugly and painful reality that we must collectively confront and address immediately and decisively. But it is not enough that we are indignant. Our indignation must translate into action, and concrete measures to stop it.”

charges can be spread over more kWhs generated, which will optically lead to a lower P/kWh. In 2020, partly because of its comparatively higher fuel cost and partly because of the lower overall power demand due to the pandemic, the dispatch of QPPL was lower vs the other gencos, which optically led to a higher P/kWh for QPPL. If QPPL were utilized more, its effective selling P/ kWh will correspondingly decline.

The same effect happened to the natural gas-fired -San Gabriel plant when its selling price to Meralco in the Oct 2020 supply month reflected in the Nov 2020 Generation Charge was P9.99/kWh, an increase from its P6.54/kWh in the September 2020 supply month. This was due to its outage, which limited its generation output. Hence, San Gabriel’s fixed charges were spread over a smaller kWh. A technical reality that is no one’s fault.

There are other items in the House Resolution that raise similar questions on how information readily available from Meralco’s disclosures were being interpreted.

This raises questions of motive and diminished the credibility of the allegations.

The impression I get is that the data gathered by the critics, which can be found in Meralco’s website postings and disclosures, were craftily selected to fit their narrative.

The focus on QPPL is strange. Wouldn’t it be more credible if the same kind of probe were done on other gencos?

The questionable bases of these allegations raise suspicion of malice. A little effort to spin some figures and words can disrupt a critical industry. But then this may be the objective.

MORE OPINION ONLINE NAKED THOUGHT

CHARLIE V. MANALO

(www.manilastandard.net) TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Questions on the vaccine NAKED THOUGHT CHARLIE V. MANALO

An open letter to the President TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

The vaccine comes (Part 2)

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IN BRIEF Mysterious monolith in US desert vanishes A MYSTERIOUS metal monolith found in the remote desert of the western United States, sparking a national guessing game over how it got there, has apparently disappeared, officials said Saturday.

The Bureau of Land Management in Utah said it had received “credible reports” that the object had been removed “by an unknown party” on Friday evening.

The bureau “did not remove the structure which is considered private property,” it said in a statement.

“We do not investigate crimes involving private property which are handled by the local sheriff’s office.”

The shiny, triangular pillar which protruded some 12 feet from the red rocks of southern Utah was spotted on November 18 by baffled local officials counting bighorn sheep from the air.

After landing their helicopter to investigate, Utah Department of Public Safety crew members found “a metal monolith installed in the ground” but “no obvious indication of who might have put the monolith there.”

News of the discovery quickly went viral, with many noting the object’s similarity with strange alien monoliths that trigger huge leaps in human progress in Stanley Kubrick’s classic sci-fi film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

Although officials had refused to disclose the object’s location out of fear that hordes of curious sightseers would flock to the remote wilderness, some explorers had been able to track it down. AFP

Poland’s ‘silent majority’ favors strict abortion law A COURT decision to ban terminations in cases of foetal anomaly has fomented protest -- here, a woman’s anti ruling PiS party banner shows the red lightning bolt symbol of the women’s strike movement While mass protests against a court verdict backing a near-total ban on abortion have taken on an increasingly political flavour in Poland, the devout Catholic country is far from turning pro-choice.

Surveys show that Poles have grown comfortable with existing abortion legislation—among Europe’s most restrictive—adopted in 1993 as part of a church-state compromise after the collapse of communism.

Abortion is only permitted in cases of rape or incest, when the life of the mother is at risk or if there is a severe foetal anomaly. That last provision was struck down by the constitutional court last month, triggering a wave of protests nationwide. AFP

BOMBED. Security personnel near the army base hit by a suicide bomber on the outskirts of Ghazni Afghanistan. AFP

Suicide car bomb kills 30 Afghan security personnel A

SUICIDE car bomber struck an army base in Afghanistan on Sunday killing at least 30 security personnel, officials said, in one of the bloodiest attacks in recent months.

The attack occurred on the outskirts of Ghazni city, capital of the eastern province of Ghazni, which has seen regular fighting between the Taliban and government forces.

It came as the government and Taliban are engaged in peace talks to end the war in the impoverished country that has killed tens of thousands of people in nearly two decades.

“Thirty bodies and 24 wounded people have been brought to hospital.

All of them are security personnel,” Baz Mohammad Hemat, director of Ghazni

hospital, told AFP. Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said a suicide bomber had detonated a vehicle full of explosives.

“The bomber drove a Humvee vehicle right inside the base and detonated it,” Ghazni governor spokesman Wahidullah Jumazada told AFP. No group has so far claimed the attack.

The Ghazni attack comes just days after two bombs killed 14 people in the historic city of Bamiyan, ending years of calm in the isolated town famous for

its ancient Buddhist heritage.

In another suicide car bomb attack on Sunday, one civilian was killed and 20 others wounded in the southern city of Qalat in the province of Zabul, provincial police chief Hekmatullah Kochi told AFP. Violence surges He said the attack targeted the vehicle of Zabul provincial council chief, Atta Jan Haqbayan, who was wounded.

Sunday’s bombings marked the latest carnage in Afghanistan, where violence has surged since the start of peace talks on September 12 in the Qatari capital of Doha.

Brutal attacks have killed more than 50 people in Kabul in recent weeks, including two assaults on educational centres and a rocket attack.

The three Kabul attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group, but Afghan officials blamed the Taliban—who de-

Trump loses another election court challenge

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF COURT & EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF MANDALUYONG CITY PHILIPPINE SAVINGS BANK Mortgagee, -versus-

FRE-MC20-1221 EXTRAJUDICIAL FORECLOSURE OF REAL ESTATE MORTGAGE UNDER ACT 3135 AS AMENDED BY 4118

LEON A. DADIOS, JR., Borrower/Mortgagor. x---------------------------------------------------x

NOTICE OF SHERIFF’S SALE Upon Extra-Judicial petition for sale under Act 3135 as amended by Act 4118 filed by PHILIPPINE SAVINGS BANK Mortgagee, against LEON A. DADIOS, JR., Borrower/Mortgagor, with postal addresses at 5B Carlton 1 California Garden Square Libertad Street, Highway Hills, Mandaluyong City, to satisty the mortgaged indebtedness which as of September 30, 2020 amounts to TWO MILLION TWO HUNDRED TWO THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED EIGHTY SEVEN PESOS & 31/100 (PhP 2,202,687.31) ONLY, Philippine Currency, plus accruing interest, penalty and other charges, the Ex-Officio Sheriff of Mandaluyong City or his duly authorized deputy will sell at PUBLIC AUCTION to the HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CASH OR MANAGER’S CHECK and in Philippine Currency on the 16th day of December 2020 at 9:00 A.M. or soon thereafter in front of the main entrance of the Hall of Justice Building, Maysilo Circle, Mandaluyong City, the following condominium unit with all the improvements existing thereon to wit: CONDOMINIUM CERTIFICATE OF TITLE No. 008-2016001744 Registry of Deeds for Mandaluyong City ------------------------------------------------The unit identified and described as: CLUSTER : CARLTON TOWER : 1 LEVEL : 5/F UNIT : B TYPE : 2BR AREA (SQ.M.) : 57.50 PERCENT PARTICIPATION (%) : 0.03% OF THE “CALIFORNIA GARDEN SQUARE” CONDIMINIUM PROJECT in the diagrammatic floor plan appended to the enabling or master deed of the condominium project annotated on Transfer Certificate of Title 16184, 16185, 18483-18486, 18890-18893 which embraces and describes the land located at MANDALUYONG CITY with an area of (THIRTY THREE THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED NINETY TWO (33,492) Square Meter, is registered in the name of: Owner: LEON A. DADIOS, JR., FILIPINO, SINGLE, OF LEGAL AGE Address: #29 PLARIDEL STREET, POBLACION 38, INFANTA, 4336 QUEZON “All sealed bids must be submitted to the undersigned on the above stated time and date.”

“In the event the public auction should not take place on the said date, it shall be held on December 28, 2020 9:00 A.M. or soon thereafter without further notice.

Prospective bidders or buyer are hereby enjoined to investigate for themselves the title of the said real property and the encumbrances thereon, if any there be.

Mandaluyong City, Philippines, November 9, 2020.

(Sgd.) ATTY. ERWIN N. BARATA Clerk of Court VI & Ex-Officio Sheriff (Sgd.) HELDER A. DYANGCO Sheriff IV WARNING: It is absolutely prohibited to remove, deface or destroy this Notice of Sheriff’s Sale on or before the date of Auction Sale under penalty of the law.

Copy furnished: Leon A. Dadios, Jr., 5B Carlton 1 California Garden Square Libertad St., Highways Hills, Mandaluyong City Chuanico Salgado Gordove & Associate 4th Floor PSBank Center, 777 Paseo de Roxas corner Sedeno St., Makati City (MStandard-Nov. 16 23 & 30, 2020)

nied any involvement.

The Taliban have launched daily attacks targeting Afghan forces despite engaging in the peace talks.

The talks had been bogged down by disputes on the agenda, the basic framework of discussions and religious interpretations, but agreement has now been reached on all issues, according to sources close to the talks.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called for “expedited discussions” during a visit to Doha last week during which he met with both Taliban and Afghan government negotiators.

The Pentagon said earlier this month that it would soon pull out some 2,000 troops from Afghanistan, speeding up the timeline of a full withdrawal by May 2021 as agreed with the Taliban in a separate deal signed in February. AFP

Ameer Alhalbi, a freelance photographer who worked for Polka Magazine and AFP, was wounded covering the Paris demonstrations. AFP

Britain, France sign new deal on migrants INCREASED patrols and technology will be deployed along France’s beaches under a new agreement between Paris and London aimed at stopping illegal migration across the Channel.

A growing number of migrants have tried to reach Britain across the perilous and busy shipping lane in recent months, with four deaths recorded in 2019 and seven so far this year.

The deal will see French patrols doubled from December 1, with drones and radar used to detect those attempting to cross, Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel said Saturday.

Welcoming the deal, Patel said it would help the two countries with their “shared mission to make channel crossings completely unviable”.

The issue has been a source of tension, with Britain accusing France of not doing enough to stop the crossings.

In September, French authorities said they had intercepted more than 1,300 people trying to reach Britain, including a handful who had attempted to swim the 30-odd kilometres (18 miles) across the Channel. AFP

Award-winning fotog hurt in Paris protest A PRESS freedom group has denounced the “unacceptable” injury of an awardwinning Syrian photojournalist during a Paris protest against police brutality.

Ameer Alhalbi, a freelance photographer who worked for Polka Magazine and AFP, was covering the demonstrations over the weekend opposing police violence and the French government’s new law restricting sharing images of officers.

In AFP photos Alhalbi’s face appears bruised with much of his head covered in bandages.

Christophe Deloire, secretary general of Reporters Without Borders, tweeted that the 24-year-old had been wounded at Place de la Bastille by “a police baton”

and condemned the violence.

“Ameer came from #Syria to #France to take refuge, like several other Syrian journalists. The land of human rights should not threaten them, but protect them,” he said in a second tweet.

Deloire also noted Alhalbi had been clearly identified as a journalist.

Dimitri Beck, director of photography for Polka, said that Alhalbi had suffered a broken nose and injured forehead, and had been taken to hospital.

Alhalbi has won several international awards, including second prize in the “Spot News” category for the World Press Photo in 2017, mainly for his coverage of the Syrian conflict in his home city Aleppo for AFP. AFP

THE US state of Pennsylvania’s supreme court dismissed another legal challenge to the election by supporters of President Donald Trump on Saturday, further reducing his already near-impossible odds of overturning the results.

A Republican lawsuit had sought to invalidate mail-in ballots in the battleground state that President-elect Joe Biden won by about 81,000 votes -or to throw out all votes and allow the state’s legislature to decide the winner.

The court dismissed both claims in a unanimous decision, calling the second one an “extraordinary proposition that the court disenfranchise all 6.9 million Pennsylvanians who voted in the general election.”

The lawsuit argued that a Pennsylvania law from 2019 allowing universal mail-in voting was unconstitutional.

The judges said that their November 21 challenge to the law was filed too late, coming more than a year after it was enacted and with the election results “becoming seemingly apparent.”

Pennsylvania officially certified Biden’s victory there on November 24.

The lawsuit had also sought to stop certification.

Saturday’s decision follows a long line of similar ones, including a ruling the day before in which a federal appeals court flatly dismissed Trump’s claim that the election was unfair and refused to freeze Biden’s win in Pennsylvania.

Trump has refused to give up on his claims of fraud in the November 3 election despite his repeated court defeats, tweeting bizarre conspiracy theories and vowing to continue his legal fight. AFP

Iran assassination could undercut Biden’s diplomatic options THE assassination of a top Iranian nuclear scientist, which Tehran has blamed on Israel, risks not only sharpening tensions across the region but also severely complicating plans by US President-elect Joe Biden to resume dialogue with the Islamic republic, analysts said Saturday.

Iran has accused arch-foe Israel of seeking to sow “chaos” by killing 59-year-old Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and has strongly implied that the Jewish state was acting with US blessing.

Washington has not officially com-

mented on the operation, in which gunmen targeted Fakhrizadeh’s car on a road outside Tehran, according to Iran’s defense ministry.

But President Donald Trump has retweeted others’ comments on the incident, including at least one that said the scientist had been “wanted for many years by Mossad,” the Israeli intelligence agency.

Trump in 2018 withdrew the US from the multination nuclear agreement with Iran, instead launching a “maximum

pressure” campaign which he appears determined to pursue until he leaves office in January.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who recently visited Israel, on Friday announced new economic sanctions against some Chinese and Russian firms accused of having supported Iran’s missile program.

“This administration... is here until January 20” and will “continue to pursue its policies,” a senior US official traveling with Pompeo said during a stop Sunday in Abu Dhabi. AFP

Business

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020 || extrastory2000@gmail.com

OPEC, allies in 2-day meet to finalize new output cuts VIENNA, Austria—The OPEC oil producers’ club and its allies will hold a virtual meeting on Monday and Tuesday to finalize an expected extension to production cuts as the coronavirus pandemic continues to weigh on global demand.

The meeting comes as the oil industry hopes to turn a page on a disastrous year which saw the cartel forced to adopt drastic cuts in response to the cratering of demand caused by the pandemic.

Member states want to avoid a repeat of the collapse in prices seen in April.

According to the deal reached in that month, the current cut of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) is meant to be eased to 5.8 million bpd as of January 2021, but most observers expect this to be extended by between three and six months.

Key players within the grouping have hinted in recent weeks that such a move may be on the cards despite positive news on the development of vaccines against the virus by several pharmaceutical companies.

AstraZeneca, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have all shared encouraging trial results from their candidate vaccines in recent weeks, providing a lifeline for the oil demand.

However, while the effects of a vaccine will play out over the longer term, OPEC and its allies will be focused on supporting prices in the first and possibly the second quarter of 2021.

While an extension of the cuts is the most likely scenario, there is always the possibility of discord arising among the 23 countries involved.

The memory of the debacle of a meeting in March this year is still fresh, when Saudi Arabia and key ally Russia failed to reach agreement and spent the next month engaged in a fratricidal price war.

In mid-November the United Arab Emirates displayed reluctance at the prospect of fully applying the cuts past the end of the year.

Then there is the sensitive topic of whether all members are currently sticking to the output quotas that have already been assigned to them.

Those exceeding their allotted output—foremost among them Iraq and Nigeria—regularly come in for a scolding from Prince Abdelaziz bin Salman, energy minister of OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia. AFP

PSEi November 27, 2020

TOP GAINERS

LOOSER LOCKDOWN. People stand in line at the Citadium department store on November 28, 2020 in Paris after French government eased COVID-19 lockdown measures and allowed all ‘non-essential’ shops to re-open. AFP

Stock market regrouping, building new momentum

By Jenniffer B. Austria

S

hare prices are expected to expected to move sideways during this shortened trading week after a huge correction last week, with the index starting to build a momentum back to the 7,000-point level.

BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the market’s recent run-up had been steep and made valuations quite expensive despite lack of earnings visibility.

Given the market’s recent correction, Ravelas said the index could further weaken toward the 6,700-point mark, adding any rebound would be limited toward the 7,000 level.

First Metro Investments Corp. said sustaining the upward momentum requires more positive news, such as accelerating growth, job creation, positive earnings of listed companies, free movement for workers and sufficient liquidity among firms.

The passage of crucial recovery bills

to assist firms, specially, micro, small and medium enterprises should add to this catalyst.

After four consecutive of weekly gains, the Philippine Stock Exchange Index plummeted 5.28 percent, dropping by 378 points to close at 6,791 on profit taking.

Except for mining and oil index, which rose 3.5 percent, all sectors registered week-on-week declines led by holdings firms, which fell 6.4 percent,; property which dropped 5.8 percent; and services which dipped 3.7 percent.

Average daily value turnover rose to P16.4 billion, while average daily net foreign selling rose to P1.56 billion.

Weekly top price gainers were Petron Corp., which advanced 13 percent to P4.27; Macay Holdings Inc., which jumped 12.3 percent to P8.99; and Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., which rose 11 percent to P4.75.

Weekly top price losers include SM Investments Corp., which declined 8.2 percent to P970; Ayala Land Inc., which fell five percent to P38; and Bank of the Philippine Islands to P83 which dropped 4.6 percent to P83. ]Meanwhile, major US stock indices drifted to fresh records Friday as markets continued to look past rising coronavirus cases toward a better 2021

Evidence-based management for better decisions MANAGERS make decisions day in and day out. From solving interpersonal conflicts among employees to strategizing on how to communicate more effectively with customers, leaders overwhelmingly rely on experience and intuition to inform their decision-making process. Why do we adopt such an arbitrary approach to solving business problems? After all, when we see a physician for a healthrelated concern, we expect a personalized diagnosis and treatment recommendations founded in evidence. Since we know that history and context play a role in determining how physicians treat their patients, it should not be a surprise that an management intervention that works for one organization might not work for another.

Over the past 15 years, management scholars and practitioners have been increasingly promoting the use of evidence in the decision-making process.

The premise behind this approach is that when one makes decisions using a combination of critical thinking and the best available evidence, the likelihood of a favorable outcome increases.

In their book entitled Evidence-Based Management: How to Use Evidence to Make Better Organizational Decisions, Eric Barends and Denise M. Rousseau describe four sources of evidence that one can gather data from when trying to solve a business problem. They define evidence as information, facts, data, assumptions, or hypotheses, which can be gathered from articles in scientific journals, the experiences of practitioners, the internal data of organizations, and the values and concerns of stakeholders. Many managers already draw on some of these evidence sources when making decisions; however, the quality of evidence acquired tends to vary quite significantly.

The evidence-based management model emphasizes using the best available evidence because each business problem comes with its own unique set of circumstances. For example, the recommendations of a consultant who has a decade of experience advising a wide variety of clients would be con-

sidered better quality evidence than the results of a survey of 12 companies published in a popular magazine. To figure out what evidence to gather and how to ascertain its value, it’s essential to begin by defining the problem in the form of a question.

That brings us to the first step of the evidence-based management model, which is to formulate a focused question that encompasses the population affected by the decision, the intervention, the end objective, and the context.

A good example of a focused question might be: What incentives would be most effective for motivating front desk agents to upsell reservations from standard rooms to suites during the check-in process in a luxury city hotel?

Once the question is clearly defined, the next step is to begin gathering evidence. In this example, the decisionmaker could conduct a rapid evidence assessment by reviewing journal articles on factors that motivate workers in the service industry, interviewing experienced industry professionals, analyzing data from past upselling campaigns, and conducting focus group discussions with front desk agents. Acquiring evidence can be time-consuming, so managers should consider what is at stake when determining how much time and resources to devote to this step. A decision that could jeopardize the organization’s reputation would warrant more extensive data gathering and diligence than one with limited financial and stakeholder impact.

With the evidence in hand, we can proceed to critically appraise it to make sure that it is trustworthy. This involves looking for alternative explanations, validating a claim through multiple reliable sources, and looking for flaws in a study’s design and methodology.

After making a decision using the best available evidence, the last step in the process involves continuously reviewing our decisions and questioning our assumptions to make adjustments when we realize that we may have been wrong. There’s no guarantee that a decision will be the right one. However,

economy with likely vaccines.

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq notched alltime highs, while the Dow edged higher, joining European equity markets, which earlier won modest gains.

Many US traders had taken advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday to give themselves a long weekend.

“We look set for a quiet end to the week,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

“This end-of-week caution appears to be predicated on concern over the shortterm economic outlook, as the extension of tighter restrictions on economic activity in France, Germany and the UK creates further uncertainty over the potential for permanent economic scarring as we head into 2021.”

Asian markets maintained their upward momentum Friday as investors took heart from the prospect of vaccines being rolled out in the coming weeks.

Hopes are high that, with at least three in the pipeline, life can begin to get back to normal next year and give the battered global economy a much-needed boost.

“The vaccine story is undoubtedly good news; however, there is some concern as to what the economic landscape will look like when we come out of the other side of winter,” cautioned Hewson. With AFP

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

MACAY LCB MBC ATN VLL LC MAHB WLCON PCOR DWC

LAST PRICE 8.99 0.154 13.2 1.03 4.75 0.156 2.16 18 4.27 1.82

CHANGE 1.08 0.014 1.2 0.08 0.35 0.011 0.15 1.2 0.26 0.11

% CHANGE 13.65% 10.00% 10.00% 8.42% 7.95% 7.59% 7.46% 7.14% 6.48% 6.43%

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

IPM MFC JOH COAL BPI MED SM HI LSC AEV

LAST PRICE 4.35 731 4.99 0.31 83 0.34 970 3.93 0.98 42.2

CHANGE -0.5 -69 -0.43 -0.02 -5 -0.02 -55 -0.22 -0.05 -2.1

% CHANGE -10.31% -8.63% -7.93% -6.06% -5.68% -5.56% -5.37% -5.30% -4.85% -4.74%

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

BPI RLC SMPH ALI BDO SM GLO HVN AC JGS

VOLUME 79,392,190 167,398,500 64,400,700 41,245,100 12,211,250 1,203,935 532,510 2,275,810 1,111,390 10,901,120

VALUE (PHP) 6,668,544,307.50 2,786,814,146.00 2,317,549,535.00 1,557,528,935.00 1,266,381,129.00 1,174,993,270.00 1,041,018,245.00 978,678,250.00 913,990,860.00 715,925,064.00

Iconic Vienna hotel turns to drive-in cake as coronavirus pandemic bites

DR. ANTHONY DECOSTE

Green LiGht

the chances of success increase significantly when we use the best available evidence.

Evidence-based management is not the responsibility any one individual in the organization, but rather a disciplined way of making decisions that all managers can partake in. The steps that I described above can also be applied to the decisions that we make in our personal lives, for example, choosing what investments to make based on our circumstances and our future goals.

The ability to critically appraise information, whether it be the news, survey results, or claims made by people in positions of authority, is more critical now than ever because of the ease with which people can publish unverified and inaccurate information on the Internet.

De La Salle University, a trailblazer in graduate business education, has introduced an MBA course on EvidenceBased Management this term. Students enrolled in the course gain practical experience on how to critically appraise evidence and make better informed decisions, which will undoubtedly increase their performance as managers and benefit the organizations that they work for.

Dr. Anthony Decoste is a Senior Professional Lecturer in the Decision Sciences & Innovation Department of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business at De La Salle University, where he is teaching an MBA course on Evidence-Based Management. He is also the President & CEO of Global Virtuoso and CareJet and a Fellow of the Institute of Corporate Directors.

You can reach Dr. Decoste at anthony. decoste@dlsu.edu.ph.

The views expressed above are those of the author’s. They do not necessarily reflect the position of De La Salle University, its faculty, and its administrators.

Concierge Uwe Katzendorfer poses at the entrance of the famous Hotel Sacher in Vienna on November 25, 2020. Since the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic in Austria, the famous Sacher, which faces the Opera, has been trying to get through the crisis by drawing on the examples of resilience inherited from its long imperial and royal tradition. AFP

By Blaise Gauquelin VIENNA, Austria―The coronavirus pandemic may have forced many of Vienna’s luxury hotels to close indefinitely as global travel restrictions keep away the many millions of tourists who usually visit the Austrian capital every year.

But the city’s iconic Hotel Sacher is determined not to let fans of its worldfamous chocolate cake go hungry.

The hotel’s concierge, Uwe Kotzendorfer, is selling “Sacher Torte,” as the rich delicacy is known, on a drive-in stand just across the road from Vienna’s prestigious State Opera house.

“I do a bit of everything now,” says Kotzendorfer, standing next to a small two-wheel cart stacked high with cakes, as he hands an imperial red bag containing one of them to a customer driving past in his BMW. “I thought it was a fantastic idea,” says another customer, Claudia Bednar.

“Because we can no longer travel, I am going to send one to my aunt in Germany for her 65th wedding anniversary,” she explains, then pays for the cake, which typically costs between 50 and 60 euros ($60 to $71), with her credit card.

The vast majority of the Sacher’s staff are

now on government-subsidized furlough.

And the rooms and dining halls in the six neoclassical buildings―decorated with autographed images of previous guests such as Britain’s Prince Charles, Franco-German film star Romy Schneider and US opera singer Jessye Norman―are deserted.

Nevertheless, the hotel insists on displaying fresh flower arrangements in honor of the five business travelers currently staying there.

For those parts of the hotel not currently occupied, the management is taking the opportunity to carry out some much-needed maintenance, and Kotzendorfer often guides workmen around the deserted swathes of the building.

Past crises According to owner and managing director Matthias Winkler, the Sacher is the last five-star hotel in Vienna that is still in family hands.

But it has survived a number of existential crises in the past and during the global economic crisis in 1934 event went bankrupt.

“We’ve gone through many trials since the creation of the brand and our family is still planning for the long term,” said Winkler, who took over the hotel from his mother-in-law in 2015. AFP

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

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

PSE INDEX

Friday, NOVEMBER 27, 2020

-136.29 PTS. 6,791.46

TOTAL VOLUME TOTAL TRADES TOTAL VALUE ADVANCES DECLINES UNCHANGED

4,516,781,147 153,712 27,647,302,340.11 129 75 50

F oreign e xchange r ate Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2020

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

48.1020

Japan

Yen

0.009592

0.4614

UK

Pound

1.336200

64.2739

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129019

6.2061

Switzerland

Franc

1.103631

53.0869

Canada

Dollar

0.768462

36.9646

Singapore

Dollar

0.747105

35.9372

Australia

Dollar

0.736100

35.4079

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652309

127.5814

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266660

12.8269

Brunei

Dollar

0.744325

35.8035

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000071

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.033058

1.5902

UAE

Dirham

0.272272

13.0968

Euro

Euro

1.191700

57.3232

Korea

Won

0.000905

0.0435

China

Yuan

0.152112

7.3169

India

Rupee

0.013544

0.6515

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.246002

11.8332

New Zealand

Dollar

0.700500

33.6955

Taiwan

Dollar

0.035089

1.6879 Source: BSP

PPA waiving some port fees as gov’t aid to shipping firms

Business

Ayala Group plans to put up 550-MW diesel power plants

By Alena Mae S. Flores

T

HE Ayala Group may build diesel power plants with a combined capacity of 550 megawatts in Luzon costing around P27 billion.

Documents submitted to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources showed that AC Energy Inc., the power unit of Ayala Corp., would develop a 150-MW diesel power plant in Mariveles, Bataan through Ingrid 2 Power Corp.

Ingrid 3 Power, a unit of AC Energy, is also building a 400-MW diesel power plant project in Calaca, Batangas.

The Mariveles power project is estimated to cost around P10 billion while the Calaca project would amount to P17 billion, based on documents.

The projects are being considered for mid-merit/load-following, peaking or ancillary service application.

Ancillary power plants help address sudden fluctuations in the frequency and the voltage of the transmission system while mid-merit and peaking/ loadfollowing plants are operated with flexibility to respond to varying demand for electricity throughout the day.

AC Energy is also developing a 150MW diesel power plant project in Pililla, Rizal which is expected to be operational next year.

AC Energy president and chief executive Eric Francia earlier said they were looking at investing in technologies to complement renewable energy such as battery energy storage and peaking plants.

“We believe the country will need more peaking and reserve, ancillary capacity…especially in a world where you inject more renewables,” Francia said.

Francia said that as more renewable

energy was injected to the grid, there would be more intermittency in power, thus “you need ancillary for that.”

AC Energy issued US dollar-denominated senior perpetual fixed-for-life (non-deferrable) green bonds worth $300 million on Nov. 27.

“We are very pleased to see the high level of investor confidence in AC Energy and the strong market response to our perpetual green bond, following our maiden green bond in 2019. We believe that this will power AC Energy in its pursuit to scale up renewable investments in the region as we continue the transition to a low carbon portfolio,” Francia said in a statement.

AC Energy said it would use the net proceeds from the bonds to fund a tender offer and $400-million senior perpetual fixed-for-life notes callable in December 2022, and the balance to finance eligible green energy projects.

Villar’s AllHome opens outlet in Cabanatuan ALLHOME Corp. opened a new store in Cabanatuan City, signaling the company’s optimism on the recovery of the domestic economy amid the pandemic.

AllHome said it was expanding towards the northern part of Luzon with the opening of its 48th store along Mabini Street Extension in Cabanatuan City in Nueva Ecija province.

The new store is the sixth store of AllHome in Luzon outside Mega Manila.

The company it would open next month one more brand in Bulacan to end the year with 49 stores.

“We resumed opening of new stores as soon as we have seen the positive results of the previous months,” said AllHome president Benjamarie Therese Serrano.

“This is a testament to how fast we can mobilize our store expansion programs which we attribute to our synergies with the Villar group of companies,” she said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

Coron begins easing restrictions in travel

LOCAL officials in Coron, Palawan decided to ease travel restrictions start Dec. 1 for leisure-seeking travelers with ages 15 to 65 years under a test-before-travel policy.

“We’re grateful for the decision of the local government officials and tourism stakeholders of Coron to finally welcome local visitors from all over the country. This will further help the tourism community of Palawan thrive during this time and bring back lost jobs to tourism workers,” said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

Known for the iconic Twin Lagoon, Coron emerged as a popular site in Palawan because of its World War II wreck diving spots, beautiful rock formations and unbelievably clear waters such as those found in Kayangan Lake. Tourists can take a break at the Maniquit Hot Springs or watch the sunset from the top of Mt. Tapyas.

Tourists are required to first acquire a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction result within 72 hours before entering Coron. They should also have a prearranged booking at DOT-certified accommodation establishments and tour operators, as tour packages and travel itineraries need to be booked in advance. Othel V. Campos

CREATE’s approval to boost recovery

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE Department of Transportation through the Philippine Ports Authority said over the weekend it will waive the collection of some port fees for shipping companies and operators and provide returning seafarers with free coronavirus disease 2019 testing.

It said the initiatives would be implemented starting Dec. 1 in line with the provisions of Republic Act No. 11494, or the “Bayanihan to Recover as One Act” (Bayanihan 2).

Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the financial assistance, in the form of the waived fees and free COVID-19 testing, would be of great help to maritime workers who were affected by the economic downturn.

PPA general manager Jay Daniel Santiago said the financial assistance would be implemented immediately.

The PPA said that to reduce the adverse effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the shipping industry, it would provide P250 million to subsidize the fees collected from domestic shipping owners, specifically dockage (domestic) and lay-up fees (domestic).

It said that to avail of the financial assistance, applicants should be a holder of a valid certificate of public convenience, provisional authority or special permit issued by the Maritime Industry Authority.

Shipping companies/operators should also be a holder of a valid accreditation certificate issued by PPA. Those that have pending applications for accreditation are also eligible, unless otherwise denied by PPA. The PPA said the financial assistance would be on a ‘first come, first served’, per vessel and per transaction bases.

IN BRIEF

DOSE OF HOPE. Aboitiz Foundation president and chief operating officer Maribeth Marasigan (fourth row, second from right), along with more than 30 private sector donors, joins (seated, from left) Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Philippines Inc. president Lotis Ramin as they signed a groundbreaking deal to bring close to 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to be donated to the government.

FINANCE Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said the Senate’s timely passage on Thursday of the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act will provide businesses with one of the largest economic stimulus measures to help them recover from the economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dominguez said over the weekend that the Senate made history with its approval of the bill. Once signed into law, CREATE will finally put in place long-needed reforms in the country’s corporate tax and fiscal incentives system, he said.

Senators deliberated on the bill for 14 months and worked closely with the Department of Finance to ensure that a fiscally responsible measure would be enacted by Congress.

The House of Representatives approved the earlier version of CREATE, then known as the Corporate Income Tax and Incentives Rationalization Act bill, in September last year.

“The success of TRAIN, CREATE, and other tax reform measures cannot be attributed exclusively to current efforts. In fact, our tax reform program is a logical continuation of the decades of reforms arduously passed by previous administrations, notably under Presidents Arroyo and Aquino,” he said. Julito G. Rada

Construction sector warns against unregulated entry of foreign contractors

By Othel V. Campos CONSTRUCTION industry experts warned over the weekend against the unregulated entry of foreign contractors, saying it will create undue disadvantage to a sector that is 97-percent dominated by micro, small and medium enterprises.

The construction industry employs around 4.2 million Filipinos, making it the largest direct job generator in the last 10 years, they said.

“This is the worst idea in the worst possible time,” said Divina Law senior partner Enrique dela Cruz Jr. during the first virtual discussion of the Philippine Construction Arbitration Conference 2020 organized by the Philippine Institute of Construction Arbitrators and

Mediators.

Dela Cruz ,who specialized in government contracts, especially those involving public-private partnerships and build-operate-transfer projects, said the unrestricted market access of foreign contractors in the country would create undue competition against SMEs which comprised the bulk of licensed contractors.

Commissioner Emilio Lolito Tumbocon of the Construction Industry Arbitration Commission said foreign contractors had been doing business in the country since the 1970s through joint venture arrangements.

“Strictly speaking, foreign contractors are here as we speak,” said Tumbocon, adding an average of nearly 2,500

licenses are issued to foreign contractors every year since 2015.

Tumbocon said these foreign contractors should have some “skin in the game” to level the playing field as construction projects carry a 15-year warranty. “But it wouldn’t be easy for proponents to go after foreign contractors once they have finished the project even when something has gone wrong in the project,” he said.

The Philippine Dispute Resolution Center said if these foreign contractors did not have assets in the country, it would be hard to enforce judgment on them even in an arbitration case.

Construction stakeholders said an investment requirement should be in place

for foreign contractors to make sure the foreigners have assets here.

Dela Cruz said there is also no existing reciprocity agreement with foreigners that would guarantee the same treatment for Filipino contractors who would do business in their countries.

“No other country in the world allows foreign contractors’ unregulated market access,” he said.

Tumbocon said the Philippines should look at other Southeast Asia countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand who all have a robust domestic construction industry as they encouraged joint venture agreements between local players and foreign companies, rather than allow the unrestricted entry of foreign contractors.

Home Designs

& Builders 2020

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Inside the new

normal home

By P.Y. Deligero

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S THE public adjusts to the new normal, caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, health and safety still remain top priorities for everyone. Which is why even though the community quarantine guidelines have become more lax as compared to before when the pandemic first started, many people stuck to working or studying inside the safety of their own homes.

Using technology, companies and schools have made it possible to engage their employees and students in doing their assignments indoors, keeping them safe from the health risks of the pandemic.

To create a more functional space, homeowners shifted several spaces from their previous set up to become home offices or study spaces. These areas, like most workspaces are well-lit, well-ventilated, and are located in places that have a good WiFi connection to ensure productivity.

Another factor that they consider in finding the ideal workspace is privacy.

Homeowners, who are engaged in work at home scenarios, make sure that they’re in a spot where they won’t be disturbed by unwanted noise and other distractions especially when they’re in the middle of an important meeting or if their kids are taking an online exam.

Choosing a good spot can also help increase concentration.

SINGLE FAMILY VS. MULTI-FAMILY HOMES There are different kinds of designs in houses that cater to its inhabitants.

For example, single family homes are independent establishments that have a single kitchen, private rooms, and unshared utilities.

Usually, these houses have a little more space for dwelling, depending on the number of household members. Plus, this type of home gives more freedom to the residents because since they own this establishment for themselves, they can freely do what they like such as adding in more walls for privacy, repainting, or moving around furnishings as they please.

On the other hand, multi-family homes are establishments like apartments or condominiums which houses more than one family. There are some units where residents share utilities such as bathrooms with other tenants, but commonly, quality establishments offer separate and personal utilities for each of their residents.

Multi-family homes, particularly apartments or condos on lease, also require permission from the original owner of the unit before any drastic changes or construction can be done on the residence.

Both designs have their own unique features but aren’t limited to being the same for each and every unit. So in the new normal situation, homeowners have to be creative and resourceful in creating their own personal space to carry out their tasks.

THE POWER OF THE COLOR PALETTE Another way to secure productivity in a particular room is by strategically choosing the color that best fits the room’s purpose because there are underlying meanings to each color and how they affect the general mood in a room.

For example, the color blue evokes a feeling of peace and is said to lower blood pressure as well as heart rate, making it a common sight in bathrooms. However, this shade can also be used in bedrooms to promote tranquility and help the resident get a good rest.

On the other hand, yellow reminds people of sunshine thus promoting happiness.

It is also known to raise focus, increase intelligence, and mental ability. It also helps stimulate conversations, making it a good color to have around areas such as re living and dining rooms, where people connect.

But the bright color shouldn’t be used in

PHirst brand ambassador Robi Domingo led the company’s digital project launch on November 21 via the brand’s Facebook page as part of PHirst’s digitalization thrusts and a safe, contactless, and convenient homebuying journey.

PHirst Park Homes launches P1.9-b Magalang, Pampanga project

PHIRST Park Homes, the First Home Buyer Brand of Century Properties Group and Mitsubishi Corporation, has unveiled the 10-hectarePHirst Park Homes Magalang project in Pampanga, signaling the company’s second digital property launch for 2020 with a total of 1,079 units in the property valuedat P1.9 billion.

The Magalang project is PHirst’s second community in the north after Pandi, Bulacan and the seventh masterplanned development to be launched only three years since the affordable housing brand started in 2017. The first phase of the development will initially have 556 house and lot units.

PHirst Park Homes Magalang, shown here in artist’s rendition, will have PHirst’s signature 4Cs: Complete and well-provisioned homes with a perimeter fence “PHirst Park Homes is culminating the year and gate, Conceptive amenities that promote a healthy and holistic lifestyle, with the very positive reception on the muchanticipated launch of our Pampanga project. Connected living through WiFi zones and a shuttle service, and a Convenient and simplified selling and buying experience.

Aside from Calabarzon, we are eyeing projects in the key growth areas of Central Luzon where buying experience. there continues to be strong demand. We are on The Magalang project amenities celebrates by the progressive track with our development plans as more Filipinos recognize the value of home ownership as a primary essential and a way energy of Pampanga, city living conveniences, and the renewed to provide a safe and secure place for their families,” said PPHI focus on health, wellbeing, and safety in these new normal times. In addition to the Village Clubhouse, Swimming Pool, President Ricky M. Celis.

Located in Barangay Santo Rosario and accessible through Kiddie Pool & Waterplay Area, and Basketball Court, there the Magalang-Mabalacat Road, PHirst Park Homes Magalang is will be play areas such as the Transit Park, Plane Hop, and City strategically located near 3 hospitals, six schools, 3 supermarkets Race, as well as bicycle racks and lanes for cycling and jogging.

PHirst brand ambassador Robi Domingo led the company’s and several dining establishments. The property is a 30-minute digital project launch last November 21 via the brand’s Facebook drive to the Clark International Airport and SM City Clark.

The Project will have four types of housing configurations, page (https://www.facebook.com/PhirstParkHomesOfficialPage) the 40-square meter Calista End, the combinable 80-square as part of PHirst’s digitalization thrusts and a safe, contactless, and meter Calista Pair, the 40-square meter Calista Mid, and the convenient homebuying journey.

As of end October 2020, PPHI has sold 6,916 out of 9,940 54-square meter single-attached Unna with prices starting at house and lot units in its inventory valued at P12.7 billion. The P1.5 million.

As with all PHirst masterplanned developments, home sales came from the company’s first six projects: the 26-hectare seekers can expect the brand’s 4Csin the Magalang project: PHirst Park Homes Tanza (Cavite), the 20-hectare PHirst Park Complete and well-provisioned homes with a perimeter fence Homes Lipa (Batangas), the 18-hectare PHirst Park Homes San and gate, Conceptive amenities that promote a healthy and Pablo (Laguna); 18-hectare PHirst Park Homes Pandi (Bulacan); holistic lifestyle, Connected living through WiFi zones and a 9-hectare PHirst Park Homes Calamba (Laguna); and the shuttle service, and a Convenient and simplified selling and 13-hectare initial phase of PHirst Park Homes Batulao (Nasugbu).

an entire room because the brilliant color can have adverse effects such as making people irritable and frustrated, especially after a long exposure to the color. Simply add a splash of yellow in a room by putting in a yellow chair, yellow pillows, or yellow curtains.

In between the two is green which is considered as one of the most refreshing colors as it combines the brightness of yellow, and the calming properties of blue. Green is good for almost all rooms as it helps relieve stress. If used in the kitchen or dining area, it elicits a feeling of togetherness, warmth, and comfort.

Having a range of well-balanced colors is a key to making a room both visually-pleasing and productive for its residents. It is advisable to use only three to four colors in a room to make it look cohesive; having more than four can make a room look cluttered and disorganized.

SETTING UP A PERSONAL YET INVITING SPACE Since the pandemic has forced a work or study from home scenario for employees and students, it has given them more time with their families than before. So even if their workspaces need to be private for work-purposes, it also has to be inviting to others who might want to share in the same space.

One way to do this is by adding comfortable chairs and placing them in a spot that also receives good lighting and good ventilation.

Homeowners can even assign particular areas for each individual so they can have a sense of privacy among themselves.

Sharing in a well thought out workspace can help residents blow off some steam from the pressure of their responsibilities or brainstorm a solution to a problem, thus helping families bond even more.

Also, if the area is well-decorated even by simply having a vase of fresh flowers, it could help liven up the mood and make those working or learning from home more relaxed as they go about their tasks.

Hanging encouraging posters or visually-pleasing artworks can also help in making a space more convivial and could even spark creativity.

In addition to all the changes that must be done in homes to make it suitable for work-from-home or online learning purposes, these areas also have to be organized and clean. Not just for health purposes, but because having a neat space lessens the stress that can already come from work or school.

New normal or not, homeowners should invest in ergonomical designs in their homes through quality, multi-purpose furnishings and strategically chosen paint to make sure that they feel comfortable and productive in either doing their tasks or bonding with each other.

Turn your Hive to a work-from-home area, a study corner, or to your favorite house spot.

Lessandra launches its latest home innovation, Sienna A HOME that caters to the new normal needs of Filipino families – this is what Lessandra aims to deliver with its new house model, Sienna.

Launched virtually last Nov. 18, Sienna is Lessandra’s latest offering under its roster of quality and affordable house and lot in the Philippines.

“Sienna brings the same familiar comfortable vibe of Lessandra’s angat and maaliwalas homes, coupled with an even bigger, breathable, and flexible home space that every Filipino family will surely enjoy”, said Ed Aguilar, Division Head of Lessandra, during its launch.

The house design goes beyond maximization of the space, it also provides multi-functional areas that can cater to the different needs and requirements of the homebuyers. Coming in bigger lot areas compared to the company’s current house model line-up, Sienna offers an additional house feature, the Hive, among other upgrades.“The Hive is an added feature of Sienna. It is a pod within your home, which can be transformed to a work from home area, a study corner, or a lounge for other activities.

This is our response to the demand for a flexible area inside the house, which is highly

needed in this New Normal.” said Aguilar.

Aside from the Hive, Sienna will also have a Master’s Bedroom with an attached toilet and bath, as well as a carpark - both features are additions to Lessandra’s existing house models. The living room and dining areas area are also bigger and are configured to give homeowners flexibility for a contemporary home experience. The new house model will have a floor area of 60sqm. with a minimum lot area of 88sqm.

Sienna is Lessandra’s first house model under its new Series, the Step up Series, an upgrade from the company’s Starter and Angat Series, which have the house models of Arielle, Criselle, Ezabelle, and Frielle.

As Lessandra sets it sight in bringing more quality and affordable house and lot to Filipino families nationwide, the new Sienna will be initially available in Santa Rosa, Nueva Ecija, Santiago, Isabela, and General Santos City.

For a maaliwalas yet affordable house and lot, visit Lessandra’s website at lessandra.com. ph or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube at LessandraOfficial for more information.

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Sports

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

POC: PH has a lot of catching up to do De Jesus impressive in first game with Duke DUKE rookie and Gilas Pilipinas prospect Vanessa de Jesus was impressive in her Blue Devils debut with 13 points, four assists, three rebounds and one blocked shot in 31 minutes.

The 18-year-old Fil-American cager came up with this showing at the start of their National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 campaign Wednesday The Blue Devils, who are slated to next face East Carolina, turned in an impressive, 94-64, victory over Longwood in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

De Jesus, who recently accepted an invitation to join the Gilas program, became the first Duke freshman to start at guard in their first game since Mikayla Boykin in 2017.

And de Jesus’ output is the most by a freshman that started their first game since Rebecca Greenwell had 17 in 2014 at Alabama.

Overall, de Jesus is the 30th Duke freshman to start her first collegiate game.

The Blue Devils are handled by l head coach Kara Lawson, who was hired at Duke in July.

The Blue Devils were led by sophomore Jaida Patrick, who scored a career-high 21 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists.

Onome Akinbode-James, a junior, added her third collegiate double-double with career highs of 15 points and 16 rebounds.

Duke and East Carolina will meet for the eighth time in school history. Peter Atencio

By Peter Atencio

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HE Philippines has a lot of catching up to do in preparing for numerous international meets next year.

With the Tokyo Olympics just around the corner, the Philippine Olympic Committee will work to live up to these challenges.

Newly elected POC president Abraham Tolentino said this Friday, as he talked about the many things that lie ahead after he got more time to serve as the top official of the Philippine sports.

“We have a lot of challenges, lot of big contributions to give, especially in Tokyo. We might have our first gold medal there,” said Tolentino.

Tolentino believes that many things can be done for national athletes and Philippine sports when he assumes his term by Jan. 1.

There are delays in the preparation of the national athletes who training for the Tokyo Olympics, the Southeast Asian Games, and other international meets next year.

But, this will be addressed as soon as approval from the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases to resume training is given.

The POC chief said many changes and surprises will happen at the beginning of 2021, as the pace of preparation accelerate.

Tolentino remains the POC’s 12th president after Ricky Vargas quit June 2019. He was elected September last year, to assume the remaining months of Vargas’ term.

Handball’s Steve Hontiveros stays on a chairman, after beating triathlon’s Tom Carrasco, 28-25.

Two key officials in Tolentino’s ticket got the nod during the polls with Al Panlilio, who as president of Smart Communications and Chief Revenue Officer of PLDT, getting the post of first vice president.

With a vote of 33 to 23, Panlilio eased out aspirant Philip Ella Juico of athletics.

Ormoc City Mayor Richard Go-

mez, who is the president of the fencing and the modern pentathlon federation, assumed the position of second vice president, with 31 votes for him, and 22 for opponent Ada Milby (rugby), 22.

Gymnastics chief Cynthia Carrion is the treasurer while baseball’s Chito Loyzaga is the new auditor.

Assuming positions in the board of directors are surfing’s Dr. Raul Canlas, muay’s Pearl Managuelod, Robert Bachmann (squash) and atty. Charlie Ho (netball).

There were 54 voters in the POC elections from 51 national sports associations, International Olympic Committee representative Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski and Athletes Commission representatives, weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and swimmer Jhessie Lacuna.

Exhibition of old-timers Tyson, Jones ends in draw

Mike Tyson (right) connects with a right hand to the torso of Roy Jones Jr. during their exhibition bout presented by Triller at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. AFP

De los Santos continues winning ways with 24th gold JAMES de los Santos continued his winning ways, and snatched another gold medal win in the fifth edition of the SportData eTournament World Series over the weekend.

Thinking of a better way execute the unsu form, the 30-year-old de los Santos had a better of overall score over Swiss rival Matias Domont, 24.9-23.7 in claiming the title in the fifth leg finals of the individual male seniors event.

With the help of Japanese coach Masa Saito, de los Santos earned his 24th straight medal since he started competing online when the lockdowns started last March.

“Used my final kata, Unsu. Coach Masa always reminded me to keep my stances lower and to execute proper timing in between techniques to reach the maximum capacity,” said de los Santos.

De los Santos made it to the finals after he disposed of Silvio Cerone-Biagioni, 24.4-24.1, in the semifinals.

Last week, de los Santos was not in the

best of shape, but he still managed to come up with a great presentation in the finals of the third leg of the Golden League Karate eTournament.

His resolve be to be at his best paid off, as the 30-year-old de los Santos went on earn his 23rd straight gold medal for the year.

A 25.7-24.3 win over United States rival Alfredo Bustamante sealed the deal for de lo Santos, who again used the difficult Unsu form.

A total of 11,520 points is now credited to de los Santos, who increased his ranking points at the no. 1 spot of the world rankings.

Earlier, de los Santos got past German Lukas Grimm, 24.4-23.2 in the quarterfinals.

“I’m widening the gap even further in the eKata world rankings since this e-tournament is nearly quadruple the amount of ranking points. Forward is the only way to go,” said de los Santos.

Peter Atencio

James de los Santos holds up his right index finger to indicate his status as Number 1 in the world.

LOS ANGELES, United States—Mike Tyson’s return to boxing at age 54 ended in a draw with 51-year-old Roy Jones Jr. on Saturday (Sunday Philippine time) in an eight-round exhibition battle of former heavyweight champions.

Fifteen years after retiring with a 2005 loss to journeyman Kevin McBride, Tyson made his comeback at Staples Center in Los Angeles without spectators in a pay-per-view matchup that mixed curiosity and nostalgia.

California State Athletic Commission officials required two-minute rounds instead of the usual three-minute rounds, mandated larger than normal 12-ounce gloves, said neither fighter could seek a knockout and declared there could be no official winner in safety moves for the over-50 fighters.

“Sometimes that two minutes felt like three minutes,” Tyson said. “I’m glad I got this under my belt and I’m looking forward to doing it again.”

An “unofficial” panel of former World Boxing Council champions at ringside scored the bout a draw, an outcome that Tyson applauded despite appearing to dominate.

“I’m good with that,” Tyson said, admitting he thought he had won the fight.

“Yeah, but I’m good with a draw. The crowd was happy with that.”

Jones, who looked tired and grabbed Tyson much of the fight, was unhappy at a draw.

“I ain’t never happy with a draw. I don’t do draw,” Jones said, admitting that Tyson hurt him throughout the bout, particularly with body blows.

“If he hits you with his head, punches, body shots, it don’t matter, everything hurts.

Body shots definitely took a toll. Body shots are what makes you exhausted.”

Tyson, who entered 50-6 with 44 knockouts, lost 100 pounds and began training again, his desire to get back in shape becoming a hunger to strap on the gloves once more.

Jones, who entered 66-9 with 47 knockouts, had not fought since a February 2018 cruiserweight victory. He hoped a solid effort against Tyson might set up a fight with 45-year-old Brazilian mixed martial arts star Anderson Silva.

‘It’s going to hurt’ Tyson came out aggressive and fast, swinging and connecting often to the body of Jones, who was able to hit and evade at times, then hugging Tyson often when all else failed. AFP

Parks gives Tropang Giga unfair advantage

By Reuel Vidal

TNT Tropang Giga player Ray Parks (1) slashes past Barangay Ginebra defenders, from left: Stanley Pringle Aljon Mariano and Japeth Aguilar. PBA

NOBODY seems to have noticed but TNT Tropang Giga has an unfair advantage in the 2020 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup. TNT is playing with an import!

Well, not really. But Ray Parks is playing like an import and assistant coach Mark Dickel is making full use of his abilities by giving him the playing time and free rein to play his best.

Needing to win the best-of-five semifinal playoff against Phoenix Super LPG Dickel simply unleashed Parks and played him an average of 43 minutes per game.

You can compare that favorably with the playing time and numbers of the best imports of the 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup. Ginebra’s Justin Brownlee—who eventually led the team to the title— played an average of 43.42 minutes and scored 27.91 points in the eliminations

of that conference. Meralco Bolts import Allen Durham logged 40.08 minutes and scored 29.64 points per game.

Parks has been spectacular during the five-game semifinal series where TNT beat the Phoenix.

Parks averaged import-worthy numbers of 27.8 points (which included a high of 41 points), 8.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 steals per game against Phoenix in the PBA semifinals.

And like an import Parks has stepped up when needed the most. With TNT trailing 1-2 in the best-of-five semifinals and facing elimination Parks took over the next two games, winning Player of the Game honors both times, to power TNT to victory.

Parks scored 36 points (with 17 points in the fourth quarter alone), grabbed 6 rebounds, dished 3 assists and had 2 steals to carry TNT to victory in Game 4.

He then tallied a double-double of

26 points (with 15 points coming in the fourth quarter) and 10 rebounds to go with 6 assists and 1 steal as he again carried TNT on his shoulders to victory in Game 5.

TNT’s Jayson Castro may be the best point guard in Asia but it has been Parks who has been carrying this Tropang Giga team inside the PBA bubble.

And how far TNT Tropang Giga can go in their chase of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup crown against Barangay Ginebra will largely depend on how far Parks can take them.

Parks is the league’s statistical leader this season with 38.3 statistical points. He has an average of 22.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.

And as good as he was early in the conference Parks improved those numbers across the board in the five-game semifinal series where he powered TNT past Phoenix.

Entertainment

Rolling out the digital red carpet for MMFF 2020

Nickie Wang, Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com MODAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

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Jukebox icon April Boy Regino in his signature ‘Di Ko Kayang Tanggapin’ pose. PHOTO FROM GMA NETWORK

‘DI KO KAYANG TANGGAPIN’

‘90s OPM icon April Boy Regino passes on

A wide mix of film genres will treat movie fans on Christmas Day as the annual Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), albeit digital or available on-demand online, continues to provide entertainment in its 2020 edition.

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HE Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) together with exclusive partner Globe, announced the muchawaited lineup of films for the 2020 MMFF in a virtual event held via zoom, together with Dondon Monteverde of Sphere Entertainment, Inc. (UPSTREAM).

Instead of the usual eight entries, the MMFF 2020 will showcase a diverse lineup of 10 movies, ranging from family drama, horror, action, thriller, romance, fantasy adventure to romantic comedy.

The 10 official entries are: Magikland, a fantasy adventure from Brightlight Productions; Coming Home, a family drama produced Maverick Films,

A2Z Channel 11 now on digital TV boxes

A2Z Channel 11, the Philippines’ TV network whose mission is to inspire and entertain, is available on digital TV boxes.

A2Z CHANNEL 11 can now be seen and heard more clearly by televiewers as it is available on digital TV boxes in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and Pampanga. This development was announced recently

by Sherwin N. Tugna, Chairman and President of Zoe Broadcasting Network, which owns and operates A2Z Channel 11.

“We are pleased to share the news that A2Z is now on digital TV after a successful test broadcast conducted early this month. Viewers with digital TV boxes can now watch our programs in superior picture and audio quality, for their enhanced enjoyment,” Tuna said in a statement.

To access A2Z Channel 11 on digital TV, follow these simple steps: 1) Press the Scan button on the remote control of the digital TV box, 2) Choose “Yes” to start auto-scan, 3) Select “OK” after scanning; 4) Find A2Z. Formerly carrying the brand of a news TV network, A2Z rebranded to A2Z Channel 11 in October 2020. Its core religious programming composed of Bro. Eddie Classics, Jesus The Healer, and Jesus is Lord Sunday Worship and Healing Service; and hit CBN Asia animated series Flying House and Super Book; has now expanded to include ABS-CBN’s variety shows, TV series, game shows, and talk shows; Knowledge Channel’s educational programs; and blockbuster Tagalog movies and Tagalized foreign films.

For the latest updates, like and follow the official A2Z Channel 11 Facebook page: www.facebook.com/OfficialA2ZPH/.

ALV Films; The Missing, a horror film from Regal Entertainment; Tagpuan, a romance movie by Alternative Vision Cinema; Isa Pang Bahaghari, Heaven’s Best Entertainment’s family drama entry; Suarez, the Healing Priest, a biopic film produced by Viva Films and Sarangola Media; Mang Kepweng, Ang Lihim ng Bandang Itim, a comedy film

by Cineko Productions; Pakboys Takusa, a comedy film by Viva Film; The Boy Foretold by the Stars, a romantic comedy film from Clerver Minds; and Fan Girl, a drama film produced by Black Sheep and Globe Studios.

But amid the challenges of the pandemic, with social distancing protocols still in place, one asks how the public can fully enjoy these films and recreate the wonderful tradition of the MMFF. Thankfully, Filipinos from here and even abroad can recreate the wonderful tradition of watching these MMFF films, through

the UPSTREAM video streaming platform/ app provided by UPSTREAM and GMovies ticketing platform provided by Globe.

“We are pleased with the lineup of films that we have for the 2020 MMFF. These excellent films made by top-caliber talents will surely bring cheer to Filipinos all over the world. Thank you to our partnership with Globe and UPSTREAM for making it possible to bring this cherished tradition to Filipino homes, here and abroad,” said MMDA Chairman and concurrent Chairman of MMFF Danilo Lim. MMFF has inked a partnership with Globe as the exclusive presenter for this year’s festival. The partnership brings this year’s line-up of festival entries onto the UPSTREAM video streaming platform, the newest transactional video-on-demand (VOD) platform, where you can stream your favorite MMFF films from anywhere in the world. Tickets are affordably priced at P250 and can be purchased on Globe’s GMovies,

the country’s largest aggregator for online cinema ticketing platform.

“We are grateful to MMFF for allowing us to recreate this well-loved Christmas tradition of enjoying the MMFF films.

Through innovation, we are proud to say that we have elevated this event to a higher level of experience with the use of our GMovies ticketing and UPSTREAM’s video streaming platforms. Now, all Filipinos can watch this exciting MMFF lineup on a platform that revitalizes the local film industry,” said Albert de Larrazabal, Globe’s Chief Commercial Officer.

“UPSTREAM is excited to bring these proudly Philippine-made 2020 MMFF film entries- which are truly some of the finest in the history of MMFF- to the international arena,” UPSTREAM partner Dondon Monteverde added.

All ten films of the 2020 MMFF will be made available by UPSTREAM via worldwide streaming from Dec. 25 to Jan. 7.

Time transcending love

I

s time transcending love possible? In the realm of cinema, yes it is.

Somewhere in Time, which starred the late Christopher Reeves and the ethereal Jane Seymour, is just one of the many examples including South Korea’s Il Mare, which had an American remake, The Lake House with the dynamic duo of Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock as its headliners.

Now, its filmmaker Adolfo Alix, Jr.’s turn to spin the previously asked question with Happenstance, a love story that transcends time and space. It’s a tale with more delicious wickedness and kilig, thanks to the fact that the lovers here are men.

“Yes, Happenstance is a boy’s love drama that defies the expectations and limitations when two men share a different kind of romance,” director Adolf

begins. “It was not the easiest of shoots since we had to design the entire rooms with less number of people because of the pandemic and all.”

“Gusto ko talaga na believable ang set design, para aside from the intriguing story and my good looking actors, mas maraming reasons ang BL supporters to give it a chance. Effort talaga to give the audiences something novel that the BL audiences will embrace and support.”

Happenstance, which Alix co-wrote with Jerry Gracio, tells the romance between Wade, given life by Kiko Ipapo who lives in the present, and Jose Manuel, portrayed by Jovani Manansala, whose timeline is in the 1970s.

“Based on our research, a super moon occurred in March 2020 and it also happened during March 1974, and we used that as the ingredient when the magical moment transpires,” the director relates. “Dahil sa ganap na iyan, it opens a portal between the two time zones, making it possible for the two people to meet and fall in love.”

His divine inspiration that led to making this BL drama, Alix admits: “The story’s premise was actually based on a real-life incident. I read an article about a woman who found letters in the ceiling of

Acting newbies Kiko Ipapo and Jovani Manansala play the lead roles in ‘Happenstance,’ a BL series written

by Jerry Gracio and directed by Adolfo Alix, Jr.

her house while cleaning it during the lockdown. They were letters of love from a man to someone. When the quarantine order became less strict, the woman went out to look for the person who wrote them and discovered that his love was unrequited.

Something inside me stirred kaya sabi ko na this must be made and since BL drama ang trend sa ngayon.

Might as well go with what is the current fixation now and we added a dose of magical realism and great storytelling.”

Happenstance has nine episodes to be released weekly this month exclusively on GagaOOLala.

GMA execs join International Emmy Awards jury

GMA first vice president for program management Jose Mari R. Abacan

GMA Network executives Marissa L. Flores, Vice President of GMA’s Worldwide Jose Mari R. Abacan, and Roxanne J. BarDivision Roxanne J. Barcelona, on the celona were tapped anew to be part of the other hand, was a judge in the finals of 48th International Emmy Awards jury. the Drama Category in this year’s EmOut of four Philippine representatives, mys. Barcelona, with over three decades the three GMA officers were invited as Fiof industry experience, heads the worldnal Round jurors at the International Emmy wide distribution of GMA’s drama and Awards which held its first-ever virtual entertainment programs. Under her leadawarding ceremonies last Nov. 23. The presership, GMA is recognized as the primary tigious award-giving body, traditionally held source of Filipino content which is seen in in New York City, celebrates the best in global over 26 countries and in four continents. television with over one thousand television Notably, the International Emmys also producers from around the world showcasing tapped GMA News pillar Jessica Soho durtheir programming. ing the First Round judging. The award-winGMA worldwide division vice GMA Senior Vice President for News and ning broadcast journalist hosts the network’s Public Affairs Marissa L. Flores was one of the president Roxanne J. top-rating program Kapuso Mo, Jessica Barcelona judges for the News & Current Affairs categoSoho, and anchors the GMA News TV flagries. Flores is at the helm of the network’s forship newscast State of the Nation with Jessica midable News and Public Affairs group, which has con- Soho. sistently delivered Serbisyong Totoo to Filipino viewers Descendants of the Sun The Philippine Adaptaall over the world. tion director Dominic Zapata and program head writ- GMA Network Joining the esteemed panel of jurors for the Comedy er John Roque were likewise part of the 2020 First senior vice Category was GMA First Vice President for Program Round Jurors. president for news and Management Jose Mari R. Abacan who has been sharing The International Emmy Awards is an annual event his expertise with the Emmys since 2007. Abacan, who organized by the International Academy of Television public affairs Marissa L. was instrumental in GMA becoming the pioneer in intro- Arts and Sciences. It is a membership-based organizaFlores ducing Koreanovelas, Lakorn, Turkish and Indian series tion of leading media and entertainment figures from in the country, also oversees all program acquisition initia- all sectors of television including internet, mobile, and tives from foreign producers. technology.

SINGER-COMPOSER April “Boy” Regino has passed on, his family confirmed in a social media post on Sunday morning. He was 51.

“This day is so sad.. my brother April Boy is gone,” his brother Vingo, also a member of the ‘90s group April Boys, said on Facebook.

His family has yet to release an official statement on the cause of death of the popular ‘90s singer and composer.

Six years ago, April Boy, or Dennis Regino Magloyuan Magdaraog in real life, quit show business after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

He revealed in a television interview that he was “cancer-free” but was suffering from a heart ailment. In 2015, he was diagnosed with diabetic retinopathy that caused him to lose sight in his left eye.

Known for his trademark caps, April Boy’s hits include “Paano Ang Puso Ko,” “Umiiyak Ang Puso,” “Di Ko Kayang Tanggapin,” the Judy Ann Santos’ drama series theme song “Esperanza,” and the catchy novelty dance tune, “Ye Ye Bonnel.”

April Boy is survived by his wife Madel, daughter Charm, and son JC, who is also following in his footsteps. Nickie Wang

‘Miracle in Cell No. 7,’ which stars Aga Muhlach, Bela Padilla (not in photo), and Xia Vigor streams exclusively on WeTV Philippines starting today.

WeTV unveils highly-anticipated local, regional content slate STREAMING platform WeTV promises to deliver the very best in regional content, including highly-anticipated Chinese dramas, K-dramas, Indonesian horror, Thai series, and now the best in Filipino content.

WeTV, which also available in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and India, is owned by Tencent, one of the largest global tech and entertainment companies, which has built a reputation as an industry leader in internet-related services.

Among their more popular brands are RPG titles League of Legends, Fortnite, Clash of Clans, Path of Exile, Minecraft, and instant messaging platforms Tencent QQ and WeChat. They have also expanded further into music and film production with Tencent Music Entertainment, which has partnerships with top global music labels, and Tencent Penguin Pictures, which produces popular Chinese movies and series.

For its initial movie offering for 2020, WeTV is pulling out all the stops as it brings one of the biggest movies of 2019 – Miracle In Cell No. 7 – exclusively to its users starting today.

The film starring Aga Muhlach, Bela Padilla, and Xia Vigor was produced

by Viva Films and was the top grosser of the 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival.

“As a streaming service, we have a distinct opportunity to offer our users the widest variety of content across genres. It also gives us a platform to work with really creative minds to tell unique and compelling stories,” country manager Georgette Tengco explains.

“Taking our cues from Tencent and Tencent Video, we have seen how well-crafted Chinese WeTV Originals are, and how they are gaining traction across Asia and other markets. WeTV Philippines carries on this DNA in creating quality original content designed to cater and appeal to the Filipino market,” Tengco adds.

Among the first titles launching under WeTV Originals are Section St. Valentine: The Disappearance of Divine, BetCin, B&B: The Story of Battle of Brody & Brandy, and The Anatomy of Loneliness.

In China, streaming platform Tencent Video is the leading OTT platform, with more than 600 million users per month, delivering a large content library across many categories. They are also leading the pack in producing premium Chinese movies and series. In 2019, they expanded that reach into Asia, under the carrying brand of WeTV, delivering Asian premium content to a wider audience.

The platform is also working with content producers in each territory to create original movies and series for its users.

Among the top Asian titles coming soon are Chinese Dramas Oath of Love and The Golden Hairpin, the new Thai BL series Manner of Death, K-drama hits like Tale of the Nine Tailed and Flower of Evil, and Filipino rom-com James & Pat & Dave.

WeTV goes with a monthly subscription of P59, quarterly at P159, and an annual subscription is only P599.

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

C4

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Life FOOD

Chef Tatung Sarthou on keeping things ‘Simpol’

‘‘

Chef Tatung presents 101 recipes of his favorite dishes in his fourth cookbook, ‘Simpol the Cookbook’ which also comes with QR codes that redirect readers to the cooking video of each dish.

By Bernadette Lunas

W

HY complicate things when you can make them simple?

In so many recipes, if you remove what you do not need, they’re going to be better.”

COOKING MADE SIMPLE. Driven by his advocacy to make cooking delicious dishes simple and

understandable, Chef Myke ‘Tatung’ Sarthou strips the process down and shares his secrets with his audience to enable them to cook good food that does not burn a hole in their pockets.

While other chefs create complex dishes, fusing and twisting ingredients and methods to make things “interesting,” Chef Myke “Tatung” Sarthou is busy simplifying recipes, sharing secrets to some of the most loved dishes, and inspiring a new breed of home cooks who once thought they couldn’t make anything edible from the kitchen through his cookbooks and YouTube channel Simpol.

“When you’re a young chef, ang dami mong ilalagay na kung anu anong mga (you tend to put different kinds of) ingredients because you’re exploring,” Chef Tatung said in an interview.

He continued, “But later on you realize that in cooking and in life what is important are those that are essential. Kung kaya ng asin, asin na lang; kung kaya ng patis, patis na lang. Ganun lang ka-simple, don’t complicate it. Ang importante you do it right para maging masarap (If salt would suffice, use salt; if fish sauce would cut it, use fish sauce. It’s that simple, don’t complicate it. The important thing is you do it right so it will come out delicious).”

According to Chef Tatung, so long as you have salt, vinegar, soy sauce, and fish sauce in your pantry, “you can cook a lot of dishes.”

“If you have those basic condiments kaya mo nang magsimula, and eventually just add on when you have budget until it becomes an array of condiments you can use.”

In his way, Chef Tatung promotes and enriches Filipino cuisine by enabling—by means of teaching—Filipinos to cook food the way they are meant to be cooked using the suitable ingredients they can easily get from the market or their pantry.

“Simplicity is elegance because you remove what you do not need. And in so many recipes, if you remove what you do not need they’re even going to be better,” he emphasized.

Referring to one of the recipes in his latest

and fourth cookbook, Simpol the Cookbook, he shared, “[I used] sweet chili sauce, oyster sauce, garlic, onion, sugar. If you taste it, para kang nasa (you’d feel like you’re in) Singapore, pero ang ingredients mo nasa bahay lang (but the ingredients can be found at home). That’s what we’re trying to do with Simpol, kain ka ng masarap pero tipid lang (you get to eat delicious food that’s affordable).”

Instead of starting out with much more expensive ingredients, Chef Tatung encourages beginner home cooks to master the cooking methods first.

“It’s not about how expensive your ingredients are, it’s really focusing on the methods, on the techniques,” he told Manila Standard, adding, “Kung masunog mo man ang (If you burn) tuyo, bangus, salmon, sea bass, pareho lang silang sunog (they’re all burnt). That means ‘di ka marunong magprito. So wag ka muna mag-sea bass, mag-practice ka muna sa galunggong (you don’t know how to fry fish yet. So don’t use sea bass, practice with galunggong first).”

Looking at his huge online fanbase (over 1 million fans and subscribers between Facebook and YouTube), Chef Tatung’s simple and practical approach to cooking—which he honed through the years as he even admitted to being “pretentious” when he was younger—is truly effective and perhaps timely in the current economic landscape.

Chef Tatung is extremely passionate about educating people. “I really want to be known more as an author, a teacher, and an advocate. Being a chef is just a stepping stone for me to be able to do what I want to do, to understand what I want to understand.”

In his latest cookbook, launched in partnership with NutriAsia and published by ABS-CBN Books, he strips the process down and makes cooking the 101 recipes (his personal favorites) included in the book as “simpol as A-B-C,” quite literally.

Each recipe in Simpol the Cookbook is written in a way that lets readers follow the method required per each set of ingredients—Set A procedure using Set A ingredients, and so on.

And to make the book interactive, each recipe has a corresponding QR code that redirects the readers to the cooking video of the dish.

SIP Milk tea in a bottle HAPPINESS, sometimes, comes in a bottle. In this case it’s milk tea.

Bottled flavored green tea brand C2 Cool and Clean makes enjoying milk tea more convenient with its cool and refreshing C2 Milk Tea in wintermelon and chocolate flavors. Both variants are made from 100 percent natural tea leaves and real milk.

They can be enjoyed cool, or for those who prefer their milk tea warm can simply transfer the contents to a microwaveable mug and reheat.

C2 Milk Tea is now available in leading supermarkets C2 Milk Tea wintermelon and chocolate flavors are made with real and convenience stores nationwide. tea leaves and creamy milk.

Calderetang Bulalo and Sizzling Bulalo

Doña Elena Olive Oil introduces new look

Bibingka Cheesecake and Puto Bumbong Cheesecake

Calderetang bulalo, puto bumbong cheesecake —Pinoy Christmas treats with a twist TRUST Max’s Restaurant when it comes to knowing what Filipino palates prefer, so much so they even mastered how to add a twist to their dishes and still appeal to diners.

This holiday season, the homegrown brand introduces four new items in the menu that offer a new take on Pinoy favorites.

Max’s Calderetang Bulalo is a lavish fusion of two Filipino dishes. It’s made with a rich tomato-based beef shank stew with boiled vegetables and topped with melted cheese and sautéed peppers.

Bulalo gets a sizzling update in the restaurant’s Sizzling Bulalo made with tender beef shank lathered in rich and savory gravy, and sprinkled with crispy fried garlic.

Starting at P549, these two new dishes are available for dine-in, takeout, and delivery.

Over at Max’s Corner Bakery, Puto Bumbong Cheesecake and Bibingka Cheesecake are also available for dine-in, takeout, and delivery starting at P289.

A special take on the classic Simbang Gabi kakanin, the puto bumbong with a twist is made with glutinous rice flour with ube flavor, smooth and silky cheesecake, and topped with ube crumbs, coconut, and muscovado sugar.

Bibingka Cheesecake, meanwhile, is made with soft and fluffy vanilla chiffon, smooth and silky cheesecake, and topped with salted egg slices.

But same good stuff in every bottle

The new bottle design features two engravings and usage recommendations printed on the label.

Chicken Galantine by Chef Mikel Zaguirre made with Doña Elena Pure Olive Oil.

OLIVE oil brand Doña Elena sports a new bottle design that’s functional and elegant.

Each bottle, which is rich in good fats and antioxidants, features two significant, fine engravings that are exclusively Doña Elena: the Doña Elena insignia near the top, and the olive fruit near the base.

To make it easier for customers to choose the right olive oil for their cooking needs, the packaging has usage recommendation per variant printed on the label. Variants include Doña Elena Pure (for pasta and everyday cooking), Extra Virgin (for dips and salad dressing), and Pomace (for roasting and frying) in 250ml, 500ml, 1-liter, and 5-liter PET bottle sizes.

The makers of Doña Elena tapped a renowned French designer in 2017 to create a new bottle “befitting a well-loved premium quality product” made from olives directly sourced and harvested from the farms of Andalucía, Spain.

Each bottle contains 80 percent monounsaturated oleic acids, proven to regulate insulin and support weight management according to research. The heart-friendly fat is also known for supporting the health of the heart and enhancing brain function.

Doña Elena Olive Oil comes loaded with high levels of antioxidants like polyphenols and is packed with vitamins E, K, and A that help lower bad cholesterol levels.

Doña Elena Olive Oil is available in all groceries and supermarkets nationwide, and online at www.AceMarket.ph.