Manila Standard - 2019 July 9 - Tuesday

Du30: Cayetano new Speaker Taps Romualdez as majority leader

By MJ Blancaflor and Macon Ramos-Araneta

Martin Romualdez

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte announced on Monday that Taguig City Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano will become the next House Speaker and will share his term with Marinduque Rep. Lord Allan Velasco.

“I’m sorry, I’m quite late. I was talking to three people. I think it’s about time I talk. So your Speaker will be Alan Peter Cayetano…. he shares the term with Lord Velasco,” Duterte said.

Alan Peter Cayetano Lord Allan Velasco

The Chief Executive also announced that Leyte Duterte made the announcement in Malacañang, leaders does not undermine the independence of Rep. Martin Romualdez will become the majority during the oathtaking of newly-appointed officials. the legislative branch.

Next page floor leader.

The President said his endorsement of House

Customs bans seditious works, abortion items

By Joel E. Zurbano VOL. XXXIII • NO. 145 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019 • www.manilastandard.net • mst.daydesk@gmail.com

TRAVELERS arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport are being reminded that they may not bring materials advocating or inciting rebellion or sedition and other banned items into the country.

The reminder comes as airport authorities began reimposing a policy requiring all arriving airline crew and passengers of international flights to fill out a Customs baggage declaration form before landing at the NAIA. Other prohibited items include abortion paraphernalia, counterfeit goods, misbranded food and drugs, Philippine currency of more than P50,000 and foreign currency of more than $10,000. These items will be forfeited in favor of the government while importers or carriers can be prosecuted and penalized under the law.

Ma. Lourdes Mangaoang, NAIA Customs deputy collector for passenger service, said all airline passengers Next page

Sino crewmen face raps over boat ramming

By MJ Blancaflor

NARCOTICS CRACKDOWN. London-based Amnesty International has described President Rodrigo Duterte’s clampdown on illegal drugs as ‘systematic’ campaign of abuses, with Bulacan (inset) as ‘the country’s bloodiest killing field’—with the non-government organization focused on human rights saying the media losing interest in the killings and the government failing to investigate or proving adequate treatment programs for drug users. Photo and Map from AI

Palace slams AI for politicizing drug war

day, urging the United Nations to launch a probe into thousands of killings.

The Palace, however, accused AI of PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s narcotics crack- politicizing the war on drugs, while down has become a “systematic” campaign of the Philippine National Police said abuses, Amnesty International alleged on MonNext page

By MJ Blancaflor, Rio N. Araja and Rey E. Requejo

14 Kapa officers slapped with estafa charges

By Rey E. Requejo THE National Bureau of Investigation filed a complaint before the Justice department on Monday on behalf of three of the millions of investors of Kapa who claimed they were duped by its officers into investing their hard-earned money with guaranteed high returns.

The bureau asked the department to prosecute for syndicated estafa and violation of Next page

Rody’s rating soars to new high at 68%, SWS survey shows

By Nat Mariano PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte’s net satisfaction rating has reached a new high of +68, the latest Social Weather Stations’ survey revealed Monday.

The survey, conducted face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults from June 22 to 26, and found that eight of 10 of the respondents were satisfied with the President’s performance.

Nine percent were undecided while 12 percent expressed dissatisfaction with his performance.

SWS said President Duterte’s gross satisfaction rose by 1 point from 79 percent in March 2019.

“This gives a net satisfaction rating of +68, classified by SWS as very Next page

THE Palace on Monday backed the filing of raps against the Chinese crew involved in the Recto Bank incident, saying the Chinese could be held liable for criminal offenses after they left the fishermen adrift at sea.

“There is only one way by which they can justify the abandonment of our fisherfolks. And that is if by so doing, their lives would have been endangered,” Panelo said.

He made the statement even as Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said charges should be filed against the Chinese crewmen behind the ramming and sinking of a Philippine fishing boat in the West Philippine Sea. He said this was based on the results of an investigation by the Philippine Coast Guard and the Maritime Industry Authority.

He said those liable in the incident on June 9 should be charged.

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TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

IPs warn of aid-seeking NGOs W

ISCONSIN―Indigenous people’s leaders on Sunday appealed to the Filipino community here to be vigilant in giving support to organizations asking for financial assistance, saying those might be channeled to groups affiliated with the Communist Party of the Philippines, the New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front.

“They have campaigns of adoption of schools, adoption of students, adoption of alleged teachers, but the CPP-NPA-NDF imposes a policy on these organizations where 60 percent of the funds go to them,” Datu Jacob Lanes said in an interview.

Lanes, of the Mandaya tribe from Davao City, said the CPP-NPA-NDF has built its networks across the world while fostering a strategy that includes

Oil prices swing high, low: Gas up; diesel down

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE country’s oil firms raised the price of gasoline by P0.25 per liter but cut the price of diesel by P0.40 per liter and kerosene by P0.35 per liter effective 6 a.m. Tuesday.

“Petron will implement the following price adjustments effective 6 a.m. tomorrow, July 9: increase of P0.25/ li for gasoline; rollback of P0.40/li for diesel; and rollback of P0.35/li for kerosene. These reflect movements in the international oil market,” Petron Corp., the country’s biggest oil firm, said in its advisory.

Other oil firms that implemented the price adjustment are Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., PTT Philippines and Seaoil Philippines.

Phoenix Petroleum Philippines implemented the price rollback of P0.40 per liter for diesel ahead of the pack on Saturday but raised gasoline prices on Tuesday.

Unioil Philippines, in an earlier forecast, said consumers should expect “fuel prices to have a rollback for diesel and an increase for gasoline.

Diesel should decrease by P0.40 -0.50 per liter while gasoline should increase

by P0.20 - P0.25 per liter.”

Domestic pump prices move to reflect the movement in world oil prices as the Philippines import more than 90 percent of its fuel requirements.

Rody’s rating...

From A1 good. This is a new personal recordhigh that surpassed the previous record of very good +66 in March 2019 and June 2017,” SWS said.

The two-point rise in Duterte’s net satisfaction rating was due to an increase in Balance Luzon, offset by declines in Mindanao, the Visayas, and Metro Manila.

The Chief Executive’s net satisfaction rating stayed very good in Balance Luzon at a new record-high +65 and remained excellent in Mindanao at +81.

It stayed very good in the Visayas at +66 and also remained very good in Metro Manila at +59.

Urban net satisfaction with Duterte stayed very good at +67. Rural net satisfaction also stayed very good at +68.

The President’s net satisfaction rating stayed very good among class E respondents with a record-high +68, surpassing the previous record of very good +67 in June 2017.

It stayed very good in class D, maintaining the record-high +68 in June. It also stayed very good in class ABC at +58 in June.

The surveyhad sampling error margins of ± 3 percent for national percentages, and ±6 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao

14 Kapa...

From A1 the Securities Regulation Code the 14 officials of Kapa-Community Ministry International Inc. who allegedly perpetrated the Ponzi scheme involving P50 billion in investments from its more than five million members.

The NBI withheld the identity of the complainants for security reasons but said the complainants included a mother and her son.

Charged were Kapa founder and president Joel Apolinario, its officers

armed struggle and the use of progressive fronts.

“The Filipino community, especially in the United States and Europe, should be vigilant so that they will not fall to the deception of the CPP using their different organizations,” Lanes said.

Stopping the channeling of funds to the Reds’ front groups, Lanes said, would constrain the capacity of their

Du30:...

From A1 “I am not interfering in the work of legislation. We are only talking about the leaders,” Duterte said.

He clarified the final decision on the next House leaders will still come from the lawmakers themselves.

“That is their privilege actually.

We’re just trying to end impasse. They kept on asking, ‘Who is the candidate of the President?’” Duterte said.

In a statement sent to reporters, Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said that Cayetano will serve as Speaker in the first 15 months, while Velasco will occupy the post in the remaining 21 months.

Palace...

From A1 the rights group painted with a broad brush when it said the buy-bust “narrative” was being used as “a script” to justify the killing of drug suspects.

In its second report on the crackdown since 2016, Amnesty said the campaign targets, mostly poor people, are largely drawn from “drug watch lists” supplied by local officials who are “under immense pressure” from police to provide a steady stream of suspects.

“Worse still, individuals on watch lists appear to be placed on them indefinitely, with no means of getting delisted, even after they have gone through drug treatment or stopped using drugs,” the report said.

Amnesty said it was impossible to determine how many people have been killed in the campaign, accusing Manila of “deliberate obfuscation and misinformation” that has left victims’ kin feeling helpless.

The government’s official toll is just over 5,300 suspects killed by police, but watchdogs say the true number is quadruple that.

“What we believe is most important, in assessing the current situation, is the systematic nature of the violations,” Amnesty’s East Asia director Nicholas Bequelin said.

Amnesty said the press has lost interest in the killings while the government fails to investigate or provide adequate treatment programs for drug users.

“It has had the effect of creating a climate of total impunity in the country, in which police and others are free to kill

Sino...

From A1 Meanwhile, former Ambassador Alberto Encomienda has defended Senate President Vicente Sotto’s position on the issue of whether the Philippines has the exclusive right to explore the marine resources in the disputed West Philippine Sea, which is part of the country’s exclusive economic zone.

Encomienda, the former envoy to Malaysia and Singapore, lent some credence to Sotto’s statement that it is contestable to invoke exclusivity in marine resource use in the area because it is technically impossible to determine their sources.

Asked when the Philippines file a

Nonita Urbano, Junnie Apolinario, Nelio Nino, Maria Pella Sevilla, Jouelyn del Castillo, Cristobal Barabad, Joji Jusay and other officers Reyna Apolinario, Modie Dagala, Benigno Tipa Jr., Marnilyn Maturan, Ricky Taer and Margie Danao.

The NBI specifically charged the respondents with five counts of violation of Section 8 and 26 of the SRC and eight counts of syndicated estafa as defined and penalized in Presidential Decree 1689.

Section 8 of the SRC says “no person shall engaged in the business of buying or selling securities in the Philippines as a broker or dealer, or

armed wing to operate and frustrate their ability to launch attacks.

Datu Ramon Bayaan, on the other hand, said communist insurgents have been deceiving IP communities, bringing them to rallies that go as far as Manila.

“Our problem has a huge connection here in the US. The communist terrorists would rally in Manila, in Davao, what do they shout? Bring down the US, bring down imperialism,” he said.

Bayaan, however, said he wondered why amid their call to oppose the US and bring down capitalism and imperialism, they would still ask financial aid from organizations in the US. “In other words, they deceive us. Because they don’t want the US govern-

PNA with Nat Mariano

Before Monday’s announcement, the President had repeatedly distanced himself from the speakership race, refusing to endorse any of the candidates because they were all his “friends and allies.”

But the President got involved because the three congressmen sought his help, Panelo said.

“Since the election of the Speaker has resulted in a bitter and fractious rivalry that threatens the break-up of political allies, the President, to save the unity of the alliance and avert its fragmentation, obliged to the request of the three candidates,” he said.

Cayetano, Velasco, and Romualdez agreed to respect the choice of President Duterte, Panelo said.

Cayetano, who ran unsuccessfully

for vice president as Duterte’s running mate, thanked the President for his endorsement.

“We thank him for the announcement that he has made. We want the House of Representatives to be the Congress of the people,” he said.

He promised that “good governance will always come first.”

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III, president of the ruling PDP-Laban, said the term sharing was a “good proposal.”

“We made our own term sharing proposal in order to resolve the issue of House Speaker,” said Pimentel, who had earlier said they would agree to a deal if Velasco would sit first as Speaker.

“But if the President himself has resolved the issue, then great!” he said.

without consequence,” it said.

“There is sufficient evidence to conclude that crimes committed may constitute crimes against humanity,” the group added.

Amnesty said it investigated the deaths of 27 people over the past year in Bulacan, a province that has become “the country’s bloodiest killing field.”

Police broke down doors before shooting drug suspects inside and abducted others to be killed elsewhere, it alleged.

Police also tampered with crime scenes and fabricated their reports, planted evidence and stole from victims, it added.

“The failure of the international community to meaningfully address the serious human rights violations committed... has emboldened the government to carry out a wider crackdown on independent media, human rights defenders, and political activists,” the report said.

Amnesty called on the UN Human Rights Council to open an independent inquiry to “put an end to these crimes, and to provide justice and reparations for countless families and victims.”

It also urged the Office of the Ombudsman and the Justice department to investigate violations of the law being committed by the police in the war on drugs.

The group’s appeal echoed a draft resolution proposed by Iceland at the UN rights council and backed mainly

by Western nations.

With the council expected to vote on the document before ending its sessions on July 12, the Philippine government on Friday reiterated Duterte’s warning to back off.

“Any attempt... by any foreign country to interfere with how this govern-

ment maintains its peace and order, not only is an affront to their intellect but an interference with the country’s sovereignty as well,” Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo said in a statement.

Panelo said police operations in the drug war are legitimate, and police officers are entitled to self-defense if suspects resist arrest violently.

It keeps on calling for an investigation ever since, but the fact remains that the basis for their call is factually wrong.

They are saying that there have been murders in this country as if all those who were killed in the police operations have been intentionally slaughtered or killed by the policemen,” Panelo said.

Malacañang has previously shunned the call for probe, calling it an “interference” in the country’s sovereignty.

The government also says the countries who sought a probe were misled by “untruthful narratives.”

In its report, Amnesty dismissed police claims that all those killed had fought back.

“This so-called buy-bust narrative doesn’t meet the feeblest standards of credibility,” Amnesty International said in its 2019 report.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on Monday said the Department of Justice is ready to investigate law enforcers who violate the law in the conduct of the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign.

“The DOJ and the National Bureau of Investigation are ready and willing to investigate and prosecute law enforcement agents upon proper complaint by people who have personal knowledge of any wrongdoing by police officers during drug operations,” Guevarra said.

With AFP and PNA

METRO Manila Police Chief Guillermo Eleazar on Monday said he will not tolerate any abusive act by a police officer and that sanctions will be imposed on any erring policeman.

This developed as another member of the Eastern Police District got involved in another controversy, and this time by threatening to arrest a man for “disrespecting” him at an eatery in San Juan City.

The incident involving Police Senior Master Sergeant Arnulfo Ardales and Aaron Oliver Estrada was caught on video and went viral on social media.

Ardales was caught shouting and cursing after Estrada allegedly blocked him while buying.

“Nas’an ang ID mo? Ang bastos mo sa pulis, ah. Bumibili ako, haharangan mo ‘ko? Tarantado ka pala eh,” Ardales said.

Estrada also asked why he was being asked to come with Ardales “Bakit ako sasama? Wala naman akong ginagawa, ah?” Estrada said.

“Binabastos mo ako ‘di ba? Papalag ka?

‘Wag mo ko babastusin,” Ardales said.

“We are public servants. We are here to serve and protect. To serve means going the extra mile to assist, help, and accommodate citizens beyond the call of duty,” Eleazar told police personnel at the San Juan City Police Station where he visited after he received information about the incident.

“As public servants, patience should be our virtue.”

During Eleazar’s visit at the police station, Ardales was absent and could not be contacted.

Eleazar ordered the San Juan City Police Station commander to have Ardales report to the National Capital Region Police Office headquarters in Bicutan, Taguig City, immediately.

He assured Estrada that his office will investigate the matter. He also guaranteed the safety of the victim and his family, and urged them to file charges against the police officer.

Eleazar earlier ordered the relief of Ardales from his post at the San Juan City Police Station, and his transfer to the Eastern Police District Headquarters Support Unit “while a thorough investigation on the incident is being conducted.”

Just recently, EPD Police Chief Christopher Tambungan was relieved from his post for allegedly assaulting a female police officer.

Eleazar ordered the administrative relief of Tambungan based on the complaint filed by police corporal April Santiago.

Tambungan hit Santiago in the head and deliberately opened his car door to hit Santiago because Santiago failed to help him in a task.

The report said Tambungan also committed verbal abuse on Santiago, who is assigned at the Greenhills Police Community Precinct of the San Juan City Police Station.

Eleazar showed a copy of the CCTV footage of the incident, which happened in front of the Greenhills PCP on May 12.

case against the Chinese crew, Panelo said the country will compare its findings with the results of the investigation of the Chinese government before releasing a joint statement.

If the Philippines and China would have conflicting results of the investigation, Panelo said, “We’ll talk about how can we resolve the difference.”

Malacañang on Monday said there was no contradiction between the PCG-Marina findings that the Recto Bank incident was “a very serious marine casualty” and President Duterte’s remark that it’s just “a little maritime incident.”

Panelo said Duterte did not belittle the collision between a Chinese trawler and a Filipino boat.

He said Duterte meant that the inci-

dent should not be blown into an international crisis.

“It is serious in the sense that when you leave our countrymen there after that accident, then that’s a serious matter,” Panelo said.

“But you cannot blow that and make it into an international crisis. You know why? Because that was a Chinese vessel; that’s not China Republic.”

Panelo made the remark after the Philippine Coast Guard and the Maritime Industry Authority deemed the June 9 Recto Bank incident was a “very serious marine casualty.”

In its 14-page report dated June 20, PCG-Marina said the Chinese vessel involved in the Recto Bank incident failed to undertake measures to avoid hitting the Filipino fishing boat Gem-Ver.

The Chinese ship also abandoned the Filipino crew despite “direct knowledge of their distress situation,” according to the report.

“By maneuvering back and stopping approximately 50 meters away from FB ‘Gem-Ver’ with her fishing lights open, the other vessel can be considered to have direct knowledge of the distress situation,” the document read.

It said this was in violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea. The report did not state whether the Chinese ship that sank the boat was a private vessel or used by China’s maritime militia. With Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo

act as a salesman, or an associated person of any broker or dealer unless registered with the SEC.” On the other hand, Section 26 of the SRC prohibits a Ponzi type of investment scheme and considers it a fraudulent transaction.

“The investment scheme of Kapa, being in the nature of securities is required under Section 8 of the SRC to be registered before being offered or sold to the general public. However, …Kapa is not a registered issuer of securities under Sections 8 and 12 of the SRC and therefore not licensed to issue or offer securities to the public,” the complaint says.

ment, but they ask support from organizations in the US,” added Bayaan, tribal leader of the Obu-Manuvu tribe.

In other developments: The Armed Forces of the Philippines on Monday dismissed and called Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman Jose Maria Sison a “coward and insane” for claiming that the US can influence the military and police to arrest President Rodrigo Duterte.

“This coward has gone insane. He is already muttering the words of an old man whose memory has abandoned him. Come back to the Philippines and face reality,” AFP public affairs office chief Noel Detoyato said.

NCRPO chief slams abusive policemen

Customs...

From A1 and crew members must accomplish a Customs declaration form and submit it to a Customs officer.

The airport authority, during the time of then President Benigno Aquino III, stopped implementing the policy and the scanning of baggage, saying the system was one of the causes of passenger congestion at the arrival area, especially during peak hours.

But Mangaoang said the bureau is bringing back the form based on orders

By Joel E. Zurbano

from the Department of Finance.

Mangaoang cited a Customs law provision that “whenever dutiable goods are not declared by any person arriving within the Philippines, such goods shall be seized and the person may obtain release of such goods, if not imported contrary to any law, upon payment of a surcharge equivalent to 30 percent of the landed cost of such goods.”

Mangaoang said her office earlier wrote a letter addressed to Airline Operators Council chairman Edgar Allan Nepomuceno informing them about the reimplementation of the policy beginning July 1.

News

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TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘WPS dispute, fishing issues used in plot vs. Du30‘

‘Ardot’ claims PNP threat, seeks SC protection

“WITH the continuing destabilization efforts coupled with moves toward impeachment, it’s not difficult to see the big picture why President Duterte’s detractors are jumping in like vultures on the Recto Bank fishing-boat and the territorial dispute issues,” singer, Anthony Castelo said, adding “Thank God we have a President who is determined, unwavering and is well-loved by our people.”

Castelo believes that these issues are being used heavily in the internationally and locally coordinated “OustDuterte” plot which ultimately the objective is to remove President Rodrigo Duterte from office either through impeachment, people-power or even assassination.

“Duterte’s enemy’s main target this time is the President’s character, his strongest trait—since all other accusations had not seemed to work. With the over-stretched fishing boat issue and the ongoing territorial dispute, they are stirring people’s emotions to influence public opinion locally and internationally by maliciously painting the patriotic Duterte as ‘insensitive’, ‘anti- poor’, ‘anti-Filipino’ and even ‘pro-China’, Castelo said.

“Oust-Duterte” plotters only have 36 months left to do it—before a new President is elected in 2022. Their strategy is to build a basis for impeachment, organize anti-government rallies and hope to get the Filipino masses—Duterte’s strongest base, and the military to slowly turn against the president hoping to eventually get world leader’s to call for Duterte to step down, like they did to Presidents Marcos and Estrada,” Castelo explained.

“If you and I were heart-broken with what happened to our fishermen and at the same time angered knowing they were left adrift last June 9-so was President Duterte! He must have been fuming! It just wasn’t captured on TV!” Castelo said.

Castelo also believes that people have been caught up with the wrong media culture that, “If we didn’t see it in the news -it didn’t happen!” he said.

FORMER Ozamiz City Councilor Ricardo “Ardot” Parojinog has asked for protection from the Supreme Court due to alleged continuous threat from the Philippine National Police.

In his writ of amparo petition, Ardot, the brother of slain Ozamiz City Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog Sr. also appealed to the SC to stop the transfer of his custody to Ozamiz City Jail and to stop the proceedings in court.

Parojinog is facing cases for violating Republic Act 10591 or the Comprehensive Law on Firearms and Ammunition and RA 9516 or the law penalizing illegal possession of firearms and explosives.

The petitioner argued that there is “an imminent danger to [his] life whose circumstances can only be mitigated if not fully allayed by the issuance of a protection order against the respondents.”

Named respondents in the petition were PNP chief Police General Oscar Albayalde, controversial Ozamiz City Police Major Jovie Espenido, and Ozamiz RTC Judge Soliver Peras.

Parojinogs have been accused by President Rodrigo Duterte of involvement in the illegal drug trade particularly in Northern Mindanao.

The petitioner was arrested in Taiwan in May last year and deported back to the country after two months, after leaving the country following the bloody police raid in his house which killed his older brother and 14 others on July 30, 2017. Rey E. Requejo

Gov’t commission vows to help LGBTQI members find jobs

By Rio N. Araja THE Presidential Commission on Urban Poor on Monday vowed to pursue programs to help the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LGBTQI) community, particularly the poor ones, find jobs in Davao City.

Alvin Feliciano, PCUP chairperson and chief executive officer, recently initiated a three-day training for sustainable livelihood program through the assistance of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

PCUP assisted several organizations of LGBT-Davao City Coalition to access livelihood program in order to create socio-economic opportunities for their members.

During the training, the DSWD oriented the beneficiaries on fundamentals of business management, such as financial management, resource mobilization, conflict management and leadership.

According to Feliciano, each qualified beneficiary will receive P 15,000 in financial assistance from the DSWD after going through the mandatory training.

“We initiated this kind of program with the DSWD to capacitate and identify [LGBT] leaders who can sustain the program, the marginalized sector and the minority groups like them can also be given assistance from the government,” PCUP Commissioner Norman Baloro said.

The commission has created a convergence strategy with several government agencies to offer avenues for economic, social and productivity development of the urban poor LGBTQI. Last year, PCUP issued a resolution— he Kabahagi Kabahaghari—to provide social inclusion of the urban poor LGBT community in policy reform agenda and decision-making for human development.

Balaoro promised to create more effective policy reforms to alleviate poverty in urban poor areas for all sectors of society.

He gave the assurance to support the needs of urban poor, “especially those who are oppressed, depressed and disadvantaged minority groups.”

SIDEWALK RECOVERY.

The Baguio City Engineering Office under Engineer Edgar Olpindo actively pursues the recovery of sidewalks especially along school zones to provide schoolchildren and pedestrians a safe and convenient access and mobility along walkways and roads. In some areas, the office undertook partial recovery by designating a walkway with paint and symbols that signify that the strip is off limits to vehicles.

Baguio City PIO Photo

SC asked to order Comelec to follow law on term limits

By Rey E. Requejo

T

HE Supreme Court has been asked to compel the Commission on Elections to strictly implement the constitutional provision on the term limit of elective officials, particularly members of the Senate and the House of Representatives.

In a 20-page petition, a group of lawyers and three bona fide voters through their counsel Socorro Maricel Nepomuceno asked the SC to enjoin the Comelec to deny the certificates of candidacy of senators, members of the House of Representatives and local elective officials in the upcoming May 2022 elections and in future elections for having served beyond their term limits.

The petitioners pointed out that Sections 4 and 7, Article VI barred senators from serving more than two consecutive terms while the members of the House of Representatives cannot serve for more than three consecutive terms.

The term of office of the senator is six years while the members of the House are elected for a term of three years.

However, the petitioners lamented that

based on records the Comelec had allowed several senators to serve for more than two consecutive terms, in violation of Section 4, Article VI of the 1987 Constitution.

Among them were Edgardo J Angara, who served as senator in 1987, 1992, 2001, 2007; Juan Ponce Enrile, (1987, 1995, 2004, 2010); Aquilino Pimentel Jr, (1987, 1998, 2004); Teofisto Guingona Jr, (1987, 1992, 1998); Miriam Defensor Santiago (1995, 2004, 2010); Gregorio Honasan (1995, 2007, 2013); Rodolfo Biazon (1992, 1998, 2010); Loren Legarda, (1998, 2007, 2013); and incumbent senators Vicente Sotto III, (1992, 1998, 2010, 2016); Franklin Drilon, (1995, 2001, 2010, 2016); Panfilo Lacson (2001, 2007, 2016); Francis Pangilinan (2001, 2007, 2016); Lito Lapid (2004, 2010,

2019); Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. (2004, 2010, 2019); Pia Cayetano (2004, 2010, 2019); and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel (2007, 2013, 2019).

The petition also identified 31 former and current members of the House who also benefitted from Comelec’s failure to enforce the term limit on elective officials.

“It is readily apparent that respondent failed to perform a mandated ministerial function under the Constitution because had it denied giving due course to the certificates of candidacy of the above individuals, based on the text of Sections 4 and 7, they would not have been allowed to run and to be elected to office “for more than two consecutive terms,” the petitioners said.

The petitioners argued that the Comelec has failed to enforce the term limit by allowing elective officials to have respite or “hiatus,” despite the absence of such permission in the text of the said provisions in the Constitution.

They argued that Sections 4 and 7, Article Vi of the Constitution are regulatory rules whose aim is to restrict conduct for particular purposes such as to “guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service.”

Dela Rosa apologizes over ‘shit happens’ remark

By Macon Ramos-Araneta NEOPHYTE senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa said he was sorry for his remark that “shit happens” regarding the death of a three-year-old girl who was allegedly used as “shield” by his drug suspect father during a drug bust operation.

“I apologize to the family for the comment I said. What at said was wrong,” said Dela Rosa.

He admitted that the word he used was for the police community and not for the general public because it is proned to be given another meaning.

“Please, I will recall my words, instead of shit, let us replace it with ‘unfortunate incident happens’,” he added.

He said the death of Myca Ulpina was unacceptable and added that no one wants anyone killed during operations, especially innocent ones.

“I’m sorry if I hurt the family. Nobody had wanted that somebody would die. That’s bad especially for innocent people, an innocent child, 3 years old.

Napakasakit ‘yun pag namatayan ka ng anak,” he said.

The neophye senator said he is not heartless as he also feels the agony of the family of the victim, but was just stating what happens in operations when things go awry.

The former PNP chief vowed to conduct a probe on the matter when he is formally elected as chairman of the Senate public order and dangerous drugs

committee when the 18th Congress starts.

On June 29, the police conducted a buy-bust operation targeting Renato Ulpina and another drug suspect.

Police claimed Ulpina used his daughter Kateleen Myca Ulpina as a human shield during the shootout but the victim’s family and a witness denied this.

Four were killed in the incident including Ulpina, Kateleen, another drug suspect, and Senior Master Sergeant Conrad Cabigao who acted as the poseur buyer.

Dela Rosa, the incoming chairman of the Senate Public Order and Dangerous Drugs Committee, admitted being hurt by criticisms after his “shit happens” remark.

BI agents arrest Chinese fugitive wanted for fraud

By Vito Barcelo IMMIGRATION authorities arrested a Chinese fugitive wanted by authorities in Beijing for economic crimes and engaging in large-scale fraud that victimized thousands of his compatriots who were lured to invest in a pyramid investment scheme.

Nabbed was Hu Mingtian who was cornered inside his residence unit in Pasay City.

Hu is included in the wanted list of the bureau since last month when he was issued a summary deportation order by the bureau’s board of commissioners for being an undesirable and undocumented alien.

The Interpol and the Chinese embassy earlier sought the BI’s help in locating Hu who is the subject of a criminal complaint from 7,455 victims who claimed they were defrauded of more than 435 million yuan or equivalent to US$63 million.

Chinese authorities alleged that Hu perpetrated the scheme from March 2016 to September 2018 when, without government approval, he operated a pyramiding business in Fujian province that enticed victims to deposit their money, with a promise that their investments would earn huge profits.

“Instead of fulfilling his promise, however, he absconded with the victims’ money and fled to the Philippines together with two of his accomplices who remain at large,” Raquepo said.

Raquepo added that Hu has been illegally staying in the Philippines as an undocumented alien because the Chinese government already canceled his passport last May 31.

Cebu lawmaker refiles FOI bill

By Maricel V. Cruz A LAWMAKER has refiled a bill which aims to strengthen the people’s right to information, otherwise known as the Freedom of Information bill.

Rep. Raul del Mar of Cebu City, in filing House Bill 12, seeks to put in place the enabling law necessary to implement the constitutional provision on the right of the people to information on matters of public concerns.

“Under the Constitution, citizens shall be afforded access to official records, and to papers, and documents pertaining to official transactions, acts, or decisions, as well as government research data used as basis for policy development,” he said.

Del Mar said the same proposal was approved on third and final reading by both the House and the Senate and further approved by the Bicameral Conference Committee constituted by both chambers to harmonize their both ver-

sion during the 4th Congress.

“Unfortunately, however, while the subject Conference Committee Report was ratified by the Senate, the same could not be ratified by the House due to lack of quorum of the last session day of the 14th Congress,” he said.

The proposed “Freedom of Information Act” covers all government agencies in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches including departments, bureaus, offices, agencies and instrumentalities of the national government, Constitutional Commissions and constitutionally mandated bodies; local government units and their agencies; regulatory agencies; chartered institutions; government-owned-or-controlled corporations; financial institutions; state universities and colleges; the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police; all offices in the Congress of the Philippines, including the offices of the Senators and Representatives; and the Supreme Court.

OATH OF OFFICE. Tingog Party-List Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez (right) administers the oath of office to Judge Gian Enrico Navarro as new judge of the Tagaytay City Regional Trial Court Branch 133 during a simple ceremony at the Social Hall of the Speakers Office at the House of Representatives. Ver Noveno

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Opinion

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

160 signatures OVER the weekend as I was seated on my Lazy-Boy, I realized that next year I will have been married for 65 years. I wonder whether or not we should celebrate, because, as my wife and I keep saying, whom would we invite? Most of our friends have either gone ahead of us, or are bedridden or wheelchairbound.

For my group of friends, as far as I know, there are only three of us around.

Our summa cum laude, Ting Roxas, former Vice President Tito Guingona and myself. Many of my wife’s friends are themselves not so healthy anymore.

People say you should give your wife a diamond ring for your 65th anniversary. But I cannot afford it.

The congressman has reportedly gathered more than this number.

Come to think of it, when I proposed to my wife, I did not kneel in front of her or give her a diamod ring. But she said “yes” when I proposed to her in close embrace to the sweet music of Serafin Payawal at the Skyroom, to the tune of Mona Lisa, Autumn Leaves, Strangers in Paradise and Love Letters.

I must tell you that marriage is not a bed of roses. There were many times we fretted about where we would get our next meal. After all, she married a journalist. We never expected to be millionaires. But whatever we faced, we always believed in the will of God. Here is our prayer:

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

When things go wrong as they sometimes will When the road you are trudging seems all uphill When funds are low and debts are high And you want to smile but you have to sigh When care is pressing you down a bit By all means pray and don’t you quit Success is failure turned inside out God’s hidden gift in the clouds of doubt.

You can never tell how close you are It may be near when it seems far So trust in the Lord when you are hardest hit It’s when things go wrong that you must not quit! *** I find no one aside from Rep. Martin Romualdez as the best choice among all those running for Speaker of the House of Representatives.

A non-commissioned survey revealed that he is the top choice among those in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

With only two weeks until the State of the Nation Address, three power blocs are reportedly going for Romualdez.

Reports have it that Anakalusugan Party-list Rep. Mike Defensor says Romualdez has the support of his colleagues.

Note that Romualdez’s wife, Tingog Party-List Rep. Yedda Romualdez, is also part of the party-list coalition.

Another power bloc is Majority Leader Fredenil Castro. Romualdez spells the difference in Congress, Castro said.

To my mind the most compelling support is from Rep. Joey Salceda, who says Romualdez has the credentials to make a good Speaker.

It is on record that Martin now has more than 160 signatures, well above the 156 needed to clinch the post. *** International businessman Bobby Ongpin outdid himself when he as chairman

F

Guaranteed returns OUR hundred fifty-five years.

the penalties imposed upon him.”

But 455 years is not just a figure; it is a reminder of the ignominy of what the couple did—tell investors that for a minimum investment of P10,000, they are certain to receive a 4-percent interest per month, or a whopping 48 percent per year. Multitel also offered a double-your-money scheme so long as one agreed to a lock-in period of 18 months. Conduit companies offered investors a lower, but still attractive, rate of 10 percent per annum.

The affliction is not unique to the Baladjays and their followers.

We have seen too many people falling for similar get-rich-quick schemes. Just this year, numerous investors in the Southern Philippines were duped into parting with their hard-earned money by an organization which also masqueraded as a religious group.

There are countless other sob stories.

The anger is understandable.

These people lost money they worked hard to save over many years. These are funds they could have used to buy property, send children to school, pay for health-

This is the jail term given Rosario and Saturnino Baladjay for duping thousands in their “investment” firm Multinational Telecomes Investors Corporation (Multitel) more than 20 years ago.

The Court of Appeals has affirmed the November 2015 decision of a Makati court that found the couple guilty of 65 counts of violation of the Securities Regulations Code for selling unregistered securities to the public. Each count carries a penalty of seven to 21 years in prison. The Makati court also ordered the couple to pay the complainants P8 million.

Of course, 455 years in prison an impossibility. Saturnino has died.

Rosario is not expected to be kept in jail for the next four and a half centuries. Instead, the sentence will be, at most, 40 years. There is a threefold rule on penalties that says “the maximum duration of the convict’s sentence shall not be more than three-fold the length of time corresponding to the most severe of

care. By becoming an investor in these dubious funds, they put their life savings to waste.

They opted in and suspended disbelief because of grand promises of payback. Why work harder, when you can park your money and reap even greater returns?

The anger could just as easily be turned on themselves, for being gullible, or greedy, or both.

Unfortunately, the adage remains true: When something seems too good to be true, it likely is.

These days, not even hard work and good credentials can guarantee professional success and greater freedom even as they increase their likelihood. One has to have the right skills—both technical and interpersonal—to attain a measure of success. One has to be at the right place at the right time, and be of a disposition so positive as to overcome initial frustrations.

Get rich quick is only possible if deceit, corruption or an extraordinary stroke of luck is involved.

The only returns that duping other people and letting greed cloud better judgment guarantee are failure, shame and comeuppance.

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Time to declare a climate emergency WITH this column, I begin a new series on the climate emergency. I write this first article from Songdo, South Korea where I am attending the Board meeting of the Green Climate Fund and I am realizing that there is a lot of new information and important global and Philippine developments on this issue. This series will shed light on these.

Last year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world’s preeminent scientific body on climate change, published a report with a long and complex title: “Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above preindustrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.” With such a title, the message of the report could be lost in translation.

That is a pity because the findings of the report are crystal clear. As Brooking’s Institution’s Nathan Hultman pointed out in a blog posted right after the IPCC report was released: “An equally accurate but more evocative title could have been “We’re almost out of time.”

In essence, we only have until 2030 to transform the global economy to avoid the worst impact of climate change by 2050. This is very different from when I did a law dissertation on the subject for Yale Law School in the early 1990 when the science was much more uncertain and the projections of the worst scenarios were for the end of the 21st century or 2200 and thereabouts.

Of course, between the 1990s and the 2010s, we have seen how the early science has underestimated in terms of timing and severity the arrival of the impact of climate change. In the 1990s, whenever I talked about climate change, I always mentioned how one day typhoons like Yolanda, Pablo, Sendong, Ondoy, etc. could devastate our islands and cities.

But in my first presentations, because of the scientific information available then, I always said these storms were like to happen later in the 21st century or early in the 22nd century. I was a hundred years off in my projection.

Nowadays, in my climate change

lectures, I point to our vulnerable cities, foremost of which are those in the Manila Bay region. I tell my usually younger audiences that I will not be surprised if within their lifetimes, they would have to deal with major storm surges that threaten the reclaimed areas and Manila’s historic sites. When I give my usual lecture to our young diplomats undergoing training as cadets at the Foreign Service Institute, I ask them to imagine themselves or their colleagues one day trapped by floods and/or storm surges, exacerbated by sea level rise in the old Department of Foreign Affairs building in Roxas Boulevard.

In the context of the threat of climate change, all the efforts of Mayor Isko Moreno to revive the glory of Old Manila will come to naught. Certainly, all proposed reclamation projects in the region should be abandoned as they will increase the threat for all of us.

Hope must be grounded in courage to change things. Without courage, hope is false.

Given the magnitude of the climate change impact we are facing, it is time now to declare a climate emergency.

The global community should do that.

The Philippine government must do that.

The city of Manila, all the cities of our metropolis, and all our coastal cities and provinces must do that.

Among others, instead of withdrawing or minimizing our diplomatic engagement on climate change, we actually need to give it more priority and emphasis. Our strong voice, effective for many years (including up to the 2015 Paris meeting, the last important gathering of heads of state), is needed to push this important goal of having the global community declare a climate change emergency.

I would encourage Foreign Affairs Secretary Teddy Boy Locsin, a man I will always admire even when I sometimes disagree with him, to plan ahead for the 2020 Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That is a critical conference if we want to push the agenda of climate justice forward.

A climate emergency declaration is also Turn to A5

Can Mayor Isko transform Manila?

THE good news is that the new mayor of the City of Manila, Francisco “Isko” Moreno hit the ground running when he assumed office on July 1, and with a flourish, no less: a spectacular display of political will rarely seen in Metro Manila for as long as I can remember.

In his first week in office, Mayor Isko cleared several commercial areas in the city—Quiapo, Sta Cruz, Divisoria and Blumentritt—of illegal vendors and structures as well as illegally parked vehicles.

He also cleared Liwasang Bonifacio fronting the iconic Manila Post Office of the homeless, illegal structures and accumulated trash from years of neglect.

News from City Hall indicates that Isko will focus on pursuing tourism, transportation and environmental policies aimed at reviving districts and streets that would

The local government may not have enough resources. remind his constituents of their city’s heri heritage and history. Among these are Escolta, the city’s financial and business center in the Commonwealth and postwar years, along with Intramuros and Chinatown.

Here’s Isko talking: “Let’s cooperate with our national government to revive all these. We will save, we will preserve, we will protect things that remind us of our past.” These projects in Manila will serve to “remind us of our heroes, our history and our heritage.”

The Mayor revealed that all in all, he would rebuild all 47 plazas, parks and playgrounds of Manila: “It is time to reclaim them for our children so they and we too could have a place to rest, feel the breeze and play. Let’s not allow our

children to grow up with their concept of an open space limited to the lobbies of malls.”

With regard to the traffic problem in the city, Moreno vowed to “manage traffic systematically” and end “the law of the jungle in our streets.” He will also direct the state-run Universidad de Manila and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila to create an institute that will streamline the traffic system. He promised to set up a modern traffic command center, implement a one-strike policy against corrupt enforcers, and build a city-wide rail system that will be called Manila Sky Shuttle in partnership with the private sector.

“We have to dream big. We may be short of funds, but not of ideas. The last thing my administration will be guilty of is poverty of ideas,” he said.

Moreno said an open governance policy “will be the cornerstone of my administration,” under which all financial records and transactions will be accessible to the public. More than this, he will also use social media to “crowdsource ideas and Turn to A5

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Opinion The kids take over A LOT of online chatter has lately focused on Manila’s new mayor, the goodlooking former movie star Isko Moreno (Domagoso), who took over last July 1 from former action star turned senior statesman Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

The two may belong to the same thespian industry, an occupation that in the Middle Ages was filled out by wandering minstrels and court jesters, people who ranked so low in the pecking order that they had to share sleeping space on the floor with the king’s dogs. But between the disrespected medieval entertainers and today’s adulated celebrities—as between Erap and Isko, in fact—the difference is like, well, night and day.

In just a week after taking office, Mayor Moreno has moved swiftly to close down sidewalk betting parlors; demolished even barangay halls that were illegally built; opened up government business to online transparency; and—most tellingly—cleared the busy streets of Divisoria and Quiapo of itinerant sidewalk vendors literally overnight.

The urban blight that most Manila residents had already become resigned to as permanent is now being dispatched with unsettling speed. And to allay apprehensions that this may just be the usual ningas-kogon, the mayor has advised people that if the vendors return, it can only mean that he ended up being bribed.

But the mayor’s possible insincerity over the long term isn’t what troubles me. On the contrary; the blight he’s cleaning up also means the loss of billions of pesos especially by syndicates and corrupt officials, as we learned after he disclosed having received a bribe offer of P5 million a DAY just to stay away from the sidewalk vendors. And that’s just one of the longstanding rackets going on in Manila.

In this country where a man can be ordered killed for just P5,000 (presumably the mayor’s head would fetch a much higher price), we can only hope that his bodyguards are many and well-armed. But more important for the long-term security of the mayor, as well as the radical reforms he’s so impatient to carry out, is the collective support of all Manila residents who still care about their city and who still

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implement best practices, punish bad behavior, and reward good performance.”

“Ours will be a grassroots electronic democracy. If we want to win the future and join the league of great cities of the world, we cannot run on the software of the past,” he said.

No doubt, all these are steps in the right direction. And we therefore join the chorus of voices expressing full support for Moreno’s reform program for our beloved City of Manila.

After all, Mayor Isko has an intimate knowledge of the challenges facing the city. He is a former Vice Mayor of the capital city and a former three-term councilor of its first congressional district.

But the local government may not have enough resources to implement Isko’s vision of a clean and livable city. The Commission on Audit (COA) has reported that City Hall is short of cash to the tune of

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urgent for local governments.

Among others, New York City, London, Sydney and a total of 722 localities in 15 countries have already made this declaration of “an immediate emergency mobilization to restore a safe climate.” The City of Manila should join this cohort as a matter of priority.

Indeed, we are faced with a climate crisis of immense dangers. The climate threat has been described as not just “dangerous” or even ‘”catastrophic” but “existential”—‚“a threat that could annihilate most people on earth.”

The threat is not only to people, but to all life. Climate change, as pinned down by the recently released Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), accelerate the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of species. In that assessment, the authors conclude that a million species face extinction and rank five direct drivers of that, with climate change as the third biggest culprit following changes in land and sea use and direct exploitation of organisms and ranked higher than pollution and invasive alien species.

Time is running out to address the cli-

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believe it’s possible that—as Duterte likes to put it—change is coming. *** Mayor Isko is only the most visible of several young politicians who’ve taken over key mayorships in Metro Manila— part of an intergenerational transfer of power in local government last May that has also swept other provincial and municipal positions of leadership throughout the country.

In Quezon City, the fetching Joy Belmonte has candidly owned up to a looming cash deficit in the city’s finances that will most likely see her scrambling for more revenues as her term starts. In Pasig, movie industry scion Vico Sotto unilaterally suspended color-coding in his city—which unfortunately may weaken overall traffic management in the metro area—and showed his activist colors early on by declaring himself anti-Marcos.

The rest of the country, especially those from a jaded, war-weary generation like mine, can only wish them the best.

up new words. From Locsin’s speech at the US Embassy during Phil-Am Friendship Day last July 4th, I learned “celerity” (no, it’s not a green vegetable) and “climacteric” (no, it’s neither a literary nor sexual allusion).

One of his lines that I found quite striking: America’s great power and commitment to freedom for herself and for the rest of the world “allows her allies the freedom to maneuver with other nations; to make close friends of an untried disposition; to strike postures of friendliness dangerously bordering on blind trust; and of belligerence but without anxiety because someone has their backs.”

That’s a pretty astute summing-up of the PH-US-China triangulation. Some might quibble over the celerity of the American commitment, or even claim that America may be descending from climacteric into senescence. But after over a century of being so close to each other from half the world away, this sese nior/junior partnership has got to define what “natural allies” means at least in this region.

I’m almost reminded of the typical philandering Filipino husband who’s emboldened to play the field and fool around only because he’s absolutely, one hundred percent sure that his infinitely patient Filipina wife will still be waiting to take him back. In our case, it’s the lady guarding the New York harbor, her lamp of liberty forever held high, who lights it all up for us so we never lose our way. *** Today’s readings teach us the importance of perseverance in obedience and how this is ultimately requited by God’s compassionate support.

In the Old Testament (Gn 32: 23-33), we find Jacob filled with fear over possible violence from his brother Esau. He ends up wrestling all night with an angel to earn God’s blessing, thereby also earning for himself the new name Israel, “the one who contends with divine beings.”

In Psalm 15, David also prays to be rescued from his persecutors: “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings from the violence of the wicked”. And the compassion of God’s response to human weakness is narrated in the Gospel (Mt 9: 32-38), as Jesus goes about His ministry of teaching and healing, His heart filled with pity for the crowds who “were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd.”

These new mayors may prefer to tread more cautiously than Moreno is doing, hewing instead to triedand-tested mechanisms of transition teams, coalition-building, and consensus agendas. But they all have political savvy, having served previously as vice-mayors or top-rated councilors, with many of them as well belonging to mini-dynasties like the Belmontes in QC or the Zamoras in San Juan.

The rest of the country, especially those from a jaded, war-weary generation like mine, can only wish them the best. And if a new federal system allows these promising young local executives to rise all the way to the top in their new regions, we will be breeding a new generation of presidentiable timber—like former governors Reagan, Carter, Bush or Clinton in the US—who (unlike all those preening media creatures in the Senate) actually know how to get things done. *** Foreign Affairs Secretary “Teddyboy” Locsin is one of a handful of writers from Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@ whom this columnist can actually pick yahoo.com.

P4.39 billion. The city government’s payables and obligations totalled P9.05 billion as of Dec. 31, 2018. It had only P5.36 billion in its general funds, or a shortfall of P3.69 billion. COA said the previous city administration spent money it had yet to collect, a violation of the Local Government Code.

The COA report said that aside from the P3.69-billion deficit, the city had incurred more liabilities because it borrowed from some city funds, such as the development fund and intra-agency accounts that were meant for specific projects. The COA said the cash overdraft was not sound fiscal administration and did not comply with laws, rules and regulations.

Given this fund shortfall, Isko faces a big hurdle in getting various projects off the ground.

Former Manila Mayor and now Buhay Party-List Rep. and Senior Deputy Minority Leader Lito Atienza told the Saturday News Forum@ Annabel’s that while he wholeheartedly supports Isko’s initiatives

to fast-track much-needed reforms, the latter must also deal with forces out to derail his plans. Isko said last week that he had been offered P5 million a day to allow the illegal vendors to continue occupying every nook and cranny of Divisoria. Atienza said he believes a criminal syndicate has been behind the proliferation of illegal vendors in Divisoria over the years.

Atienza quipped that given the monumental headaches Isko is likely to experience in his term, he’s certain that the youthful mayor’s face would age prematurely by the end of his three-year term.

That’s a highly likely possibility, considering that Isko must also deal with a host of other problems, including rampant criminality, poverty, homelessness, and horrendous traffic, among others. But we hope he keeps up what he’s been doing right in his first week in office until the end of his term in 2022 and succeeds in this acid test of governance in our capital city.

mate emergency, but actions being done are not commensurate to what has to be done. As pointed out by Jane Morton in Don’t Mention the Emergency: Making the Case for Emergency Climate Action (See climateemergencydeclaration.org), this is because “vested interests are running the biggest disinformation campaign in history.” Fossil fuel, mainly oil and coal interests, unfortunately have “a corrupting influence on politicians and the media and are prepared to spend millions of dollars to block action.”

Morton documents how climate scientists are pressured to understate the risks, threatened and harassed and risk losing research funding for making strong statements. She describes IPCC reports as tending towards reticence and caution, erring on the side of ‘least drama’, and downplaying the more extreme and more damaging outcomes.”

Having previously been Executive Director of the Manila Observatory, a 150-year-old scientific research institution that used to be the weather bureau of the Philippines and is a leading climate change science institution in Asia, I appreciate the need for peer review and avoiding catastrophic language. Many of my colleagues have doctorates in physics and are trained in the scientific method.

Although they are not activists, they do know that what we are studying has serious consequences for human well-being and especially for the poor.

Morton quotes Kate Marvel, a climate scientist, who wrote eloquently that what we need to face climate change is not hope, but courage.

I always end my talks on climate change with a message of hope. But I agree that such hope must be grounded in courage to change things. Without courage, hope is false.

I agree with Hans Schellnhuber, founding director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact, who points out that humanity is “now reaching the end-game.”

Morton is right: “There is now not enough time for a long debate about whether the current climate trajectory is an emergency or can be addressed with gradual change.

The forecasts are compelling and the scenarios are devastating. It’s time to move straight to the most important question of our times: how to restore a safe climate at emergency speed.”

In the next column, I will write about climate change and poverty, summarizing and reflecting on a recently released Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. This will be followed by two columns on adaptation and mitigation solutions that can be done at the local, national, and global levels. Finally, I will write about what the climate emergency demands of our leaders—from national government officials, local leaders, and our diplomats.

list of best hotels in Metro Manila.

Ranking first out of 420 in Metro MaFrom A4 nila and 1,011 in Luzon, Alpha Suites of the high-end property developer Alpha- operates like a hotel and offers apartland Corporation put up Alpha Suites, a ments suites complete with living and serviced hotel, in Makati. dining areas.

Alpha Suites is now in Trip Advisor’s I have gone around the world many

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

Command responsibility: PhilHealth chairman should lead the way government suffers financial loss as a result. He cannot be heard to say “I was only the chairman” because, as has already been stated, a chairman of a corporate board is not meant to be a mere spectator.

I have been an admirer of the SecreA CLAMOR quickly arose for the res- tary of Health ever since he came onto ignation of Secretary of Health Fran- the public scene. The Duque family is a cisco Duque after the revelation by family of fine people, and in Francisco the media of fraudulent claims totaling Duque II’s case the fruit has fallen close several hundred million pesos alleg- to the tree. A charge of wrongdoing edly submitted by a kidney-dialysis against the Secretary is bound to fail.

Nonetheless, I say with utmost center to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) and reluctance that Dr. Duque should repaid by the national health insurance sign. I’m saying this not because he institution. The clamor was founded has been a negligent PhilHealth chairon the fact that Secretary was, and re- man or because of any other charge mains, PhilHealth’s ex oficio chairman. of a qualitative nature. My reason As such officer, the clamorers argued, for suggesting that Secretary Duque Dr. Duque participated in PhilHealth resign has to do with the concept of board meetings and therefore knew— command responsibility.

In most of the developed countries or should have made it his business to know—what was happening in and to the concept of command responsibility has long been, or has become estabPhilHealth.

The insinuation was also made that lished as, a concomitant of governance and public serP h i l H e a l t h ’s vice. Observance chairman was of this concept soft on the diis particularly alysis center’s It is high time this strong in Japan owner because and South Kothe latter was his is made a part of rea. In Japan the godson. the culture of public Minister for RailThese charges ways has been against Secretary administration in this known to resign Duque are not forthwith when without validity. country. a commuter train The chairman has been derailed of the board of and the Minister a corporate intenstitution is not appointed in order to of Transportation has summarily ten decorate an office in the institution. He dered his resignation when a civilian or she is appointed to perform a func- aircraft has fallen out of the sky. The tion: that function is to preside over the Ministers in question had nothing to body that oversees the institution’s op- do with the mishaps, but they nonetheerations. Performing oversight means less relinquished their positions without keeping oneself abreast of everything hesitating because their administrative that is happening within the institution: domains were involved.

Governance and public service in reading reports, asking questions, seeking explanations and being observant. this country know no concept of comA chairman who does not do these mand responsibility. Public officials adthings is reduced to being a piece of judged to have fallen down on the job invariably tough it out, hoping that the decoration.

Francisco Duque II has declared that Chief Executive will allow them to stay he has engaged in no wrongdoing and in the government (often in another cahas pointed to what he says is a record pacity) or that the short-memoried Filiof professional integrity. Indeed, not pino people will soon forget or forgive one of his detractors has accused the their shortcomings. The word for this Secretary of Health of profiting from in Filipino is pakapalan. It is not right the dialysis-center shenanigan or any for government officials, when charged other fraudulent arrangement. What with non-performance of duty, to say “I they are charging him with are negli- serve at the pleasure of the President”; gence, dereliction of duty and—in the they should instead say “I serve at the case of the lease to PhilHealth of office pleasure of the Filipino people.”

It is high time the concept of comspace belonging to the Duque family— mand responsibility was made a part of conflict of interest.

Because the dialysis-center scam the culture of public administration in has apparently been going on for some this country. Someone has to lead the time, PhilHealth’s chairman can fairly way. In the face of the PhilHealth scam, be said to have been sleeping on the that someone might as well be Franjob. An act of omission is punishable cisco Duque II. Please accept command responsibilunder Republic Act 3019 (the AntiGraft and Corrupt Practices Act) if the ity, Mr. Secretary, and go.

An innocent casualty and one hero cop

ernhil@yahoo.com

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times and have booked in the best hotels. I say Alpha Suites is really superb, with world-class amenities.

I’m really proud of Bobby,my former student. *** I have been receiving complaints

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A NO-NONSENSE investigation is in order in connection with the fatal shooting of a three-year-old daughter of one of two illegal drug dealers, who were also killed in an alleged shootout with policemen in Rodriguez, Rizal days ago.

It is sad to note that one of the police operatives, who posed to buy shabu, was also shot and killed in an actual “shootout” this time around.

The investigation must clearly establish the lapse in the conduct of the police raid leading to the deadly shootings that probably did not have to happen.

At least 20 cops, including the chief of the Rodriguez town police, have been relieved pending probe of the incident.

I would like to believe that the ill-fated child, Myka Ulpina, was hit unintentionally, in all likelihood by a stray bullet in the crossfire between her father Renato and the operatives. Another suspect was gunned down.

The policeman killed, Master Sergeant Conrado Cabigao, Jr. widowed a wife and two small children. He paid the ultimate price in performance of duty.

It is a shame that the tragedy of an innocent child is now being used by critics and the Yellow opposition as yet another case against the Duterte administration’s relentless and chilling antiabout the entry of Chinese nationals in Philippine Online Gaming Operations.

It seems that Southern Metro Manila has become a target.

There are reports that condo units are being occupied by them, not by the unit but by the floor. They are also said to be

illegal drugs campaign.

I know for a fact that policemen, both the good guys and the bad eggs, are easy targets for critics especially the media.

PNP’s scalawags get the harsh badmouthing they deserve.

But, I’m one who knows for a fact that there are many cops worthy of praise, as well. I’ve been around them as a veteran police reporter since Marcos’ last years in Malacañang.

I’ve also been privileged to have the security services of some fine police officers over the past years. I appreciate their sacrifice of time that they were supposed to spend with their family and their sheer dedication to their sworn duty to serve and protect.

That is exactly what MSgt Cabigao did. He gave it all as what a gallant soldier does in the war zone.

But there is no mention of Cabigao’s heroism in the cries for justice from the human rights groups and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) for whom the young Ulpino is actually just a faceless addition to their freaking stats.

No less than the United Nation’s High Commission on Human Rights is also questioning the unbelievable numbers of poor drug dealers killed in “encounters” which militant groups instead call “extrajudicial killings (EJK).”

Well and good. This latest case may have strong evidence of an actual incident of drug suspects resisting arrest but it still merits full investigation as to serve justice to both the slain girl and police hero. taking over agricultural lands for Chinese consumers.

I am alarmed about all these and you should be, too. Soon they will take over the fishing industry. www.emiljurado.weebly.com

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News

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Poe: Strike balance on regulation and service

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Grace Poe cited Monday the urgency to strike a balance on the need to regulate and the need to serve the riding public.

“While we respect the LTFRB’s mandate to regulate the industry and ensure the safety of the riding public,” Poe said they also must recognize calls to make the process easier.

She said this was based on the Ease of Doing Business Act , only for the good of everyone.

“We have recognized for a long time the capacity of this industry to address the lack of a good transportation in Metro Manila,” she said.

“Why do we need to burden all?” she also asked.

At the same time, she noted “we also see that LTFRB already promised in its Memorandum Circular 2018-005 back in February 2018 that it will allow existing hatchbacks in the system to continue for three more years to recoup their investment.”

She added it was important to know why LTFRB was not following its own circular.

She said these were issues which had been raised in previous hearings of the Senate Committee on Public Services.

“What we should look into is not just the necessity of the requirements issued, but the scope of what the LTFRB can regulate and the consistency of its regulations,” she said.

“It is not acceptable that it has varying regulations being implemented, which are not fair to the commuters and the other stakeholders,” she said in Tagalog.

This transport holiday—strike in the language of some transport observers —called by the TNVS, she said, was an opportunity for the parties to come to the table.

“We support the dialogue tomorrow and hope that both the LTFRB and TNVS drivers can come to terms for the good of the riding public. “ While the parties are on the table, we hope that the LTFRB can consider lifting the deactivation on those who failed to comply with the requirements.

She also gave assurances to continue to work hard in the Senate to tackle bills that would put in place a law governing TNVS operations.

‘Foreigners must follow our laws’

By Vito Barcelo “NO SUPERPOWER in Manila,” these were the words uttered by Manila Mayor Isko Moreno who wanted a Chinese national deported immediately for allegedly urinating in public and assaulting a barangay tanod.

Moreno said “foreigners, whether you’re from a superpower country,” apparently alluding to to China, according to observers, “must simply follow rules in Manila.”

The Manila mayor said he would ask the Bureau of Immigration to deport the Chinese man, who is now detained, for peeing on a wall and for assaulting a tanod.

“When a barangay tanod tried to stop him, the man reportedly got angry and physically assaulted the tanod,” Moreno told reporters.

“If you hit our enforcer, attempt to hurt our policemen because you are a superpower, you are not welcome in Manila,” Moreno said.

“It is immaterial what country you come from. If you go to Manila, follow simple rules. And I think that is a generally accepted rule that you don’t pee in the streets. You will be arrested because it is prohibited,” he said.

The case was similar to a Chinese woman who threw “taho” at a police officer who refused her entry in line with the ban on liquids in the Metro Rail Transit.

He said petty crimes in Manila had gone down following his campaign to clear the city’s streets and sidewalks of obstructions.

Moreno also ordered the Manila Police District to go after “wanted” persons facing arrest but hiding in Manila.

Moreno ordered MPD chief Police Brig. Gen. Vicente Danao Jr. to hunt down criminals using Manila as their sanctuary, saying “don’t let Manila the haven for criminals because it’s an insult to the eyes of the law and justice.”

Earlier, the MPD arrested two wanted persons who have been hiding in Manila for years, Moreno said.

The two—one of them a suspected rapist who was the subject of an arrest warrant in 2015—were presented to the media.

Jinggoy’s plunder trial date: Aug 5

By Maricel V. Cruz

T

HE Sandiganbayan has deferred anew the trial date of former Senator Jinggoy Estrada even as it allowed him to file a supplemental motion for his earlier motion for the dismissal of his plunder case.

The court set Estrada’s trial on Aug.5.

Estrada is facing charges at the Sandiganbayan for the alleged misuse of the 183 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund.

The court earlier denied Estrada’s motion for leave of court to file a demurrer to evidence; that if granted will result in his acquittal without him having to file

counter-evidence to that filed by the Ombudsman in filing the case.

The Sandiganbayan has ruled that the Ombudsman’s evidence is strong enough to warrant the holding of the full trial of the case involving alleged misuse of his PDAF funds.

In his motion, Estrada said the Ombudsman failed to prove that he allegedly

misappropriated his P183-million PDAF, or pork barrel, to the fake non-government organizations of pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim-Napoles.

He said the prosecution had no evidence that he was the mastermind behind the scheme, nor was there proof he acted in conspiracy with Napoles and his former deputy chief of staff Pauline Labayen.

The scheduled hearing on Monday was canceled, where the prosecution was given five days to reply.

State prosecutors had reacted to the initial motion for reconsideration, but were seeking to file another comment because they said they received the supple-

mental motion from Estrada’s camp only last Thursday.

Estrada was charged with plunder after being accused of receiving kickbacks worth P55.79 million for allocating a portion of his PDAF to bogus non-government organizations handled by coaccused Janet Lim-Napoles.

Last June 13, the anti-graft court denied Estrada’s demurrer to evidence on the grounds that he allegedly approved transferring the PDAF to Napoles’ NGOs. If the court granted Estrada’s demurrer, legal sources said the plunder case Estrada was facing would have been dismissed.

Nograles proposes No Hunger measure

CIRCULATING ONLINE. Manila’s Plaza Miranda and some areas of Quiapo in the capital city are now viral in the social media after Mayor Isko Moreno continunes his unrelenting cleanup and beautification campaign in the city. Norman Cruz

Villar files bill to look after OFWs affairs SENATOR Cynthia Villar has filed a bill creating a dedicated department that will look after the affairs of 12-million Filipinos overseas.

Citing Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas records in 2018, the Nacionalista Party senator acknowledged the OFWs’ remittances, which amount to $28.94 billion sent through formal channels and $32.21-billion personal remittances.

Senate Bill 141, which creates the Department of Migration and Development, addresses the problem of redundant and difficult procedures and unnecessary fees government agencies impose on overseas Filipino workers.

Once enacted into law, Villar said the department would recommend and implement the government’s policies, plans and programs for the promotion of protection, safety, development, support, of and for Filipinos overseas and their families left behind.

“It is appropriate to create a government agency in the executive department, which shall have the exclusive function of protecting and enforcing the welfare and rights of Filipinos overseas.

We need an empowered agency that will adequately support and give assistance to them,” Villar said.

The Department of Migration and Development is envisioned to develop, implement and improve coordination with other countries with the presence of Filipinos and monitor foreign developments to ensure the most reasonable working conditions for the OFWs and create a proactive approach in providing assistance to them especially in times of war and civil unrest, whether potential or apparent.

It will also promote, develop and monitor the continuing education, training and qualification, availability and deployment of OFWs and coordinate with concerned

agencies in the training of overseas Filipinos to improve their competitiveness globally.

Villar noted that despite the presence of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration and the Overseas Workers’ Welfare Administration, even taking into account the assistance provided by the Department of Foreign Affairs, many of our Filipino overseas see that they are being neglected by government.

“There are reports of numerous complaints and resentment towards government harbored by overseas Filipino workers apparently brought about by the government’s delayed and inadequate support and assistance while they are facing difficult predicaments abroad,” she said.

Under the bill, POEA and OWWA will be attached to the department for policy and program coordination.

Macon Ramos-Araneta

A PRO-ADMNISTRATION lawmaker on Monday filed a bill that makes food a right and the subject of sustained priority for the government.

Pwersa ng Bayaning Atleta Party-list Rep. Jericho Nograles filed the bill in his effort to be part of the 18th Congress’ legacy in helping eradicate hunger and poverty in the country.

“Hunger remains a significant challenge to the country. With a Global Hunger Index score of 20.2 in 2018, the Philippines is considered to be suffering from ‘serious’ hunger based on the level of undernourishment and child wasting, stunting and mortality,” Nograles said.

Citing Social Weather Stations data, Nograles said 9.5 percent of Filipino families, or about 2.3-million families, suffered from hunger in the first quarter of 2019, a slight improvement from 10.5 percent in the last quarter of 2018 and down from 13.3 percent in 2016. But the latest figure still translates to about 11.5-million Filipinos experiencing moderate to extreme hunger, he said.

Nograles also said about 21.6 percent of the total population live below the poverty threshold of $1.25/day, citing the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture data as of February 2019.

He also cited the 2018 survey by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute 2018 showed that 19.9 percent of Filipino children, aged zero to five years old, were underweight.

Nograles’s filing of the bill was witnessed by representatives from the National Food Coalition (NFC), a broad organization of peasants, fisher folk, informal settlers, women, elderly, indigenous peoples and youth.

The NFC appealed to legislators as well as President Rodrigo Duterte to make this an urgent bill.

Once passed into law, the zero hunger bill would make food a sustained priority and a legal right, not an object of charity.

Nograles said the bill would establish and sustain the right to adequate food for all Filipinos. Maricel V. Cruz

Passenger slams airline officials over weighing scale

By Joel E. Zurbano

CEREMONIAL TURNOVER. (from left) Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. president and general manager Ronald Mascariñas, PNP Chief Gen. Oscar Albayalde, Ayala Foundation Inc. president Ruel Maranan, and National Historical Commission of the Philippines Chairman Dr. Rene Escalante during the Flag Raising Ceremony, MOA signing among the Philippine National Police, Ayala Foundation INC, and National Historical Commission of the Philippines and Ceremonial Turnover of 3,000 Philippine Flags from public schools to police precincts at Camp Crame in Quezon City. Lino Santos

A DEPARTING passenger slammed airport and airline authorities regarding a defective weighing scale at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport-Terminal 2 last month.

The passenger, David Dimuzio, filed a complaint after the incident happened while he was checking in for his flight at the airport terminal last June 28.

Dimuzio said he was initially informed by the check-in agent that his baggage was overweight but only to find out later that it was within the allowable weight after a second weigh-in using another scale.

Sources said the weighing scale that initially used was not properly calibrated.

The PAL management has reached out to the passenger and apologized for the inconvenience caused to him.

The airlines also assured its passengers of the integrity of its airport operations and continues to coordinate with airport authorities on the upkeep of airport equipment.

The airline has reminded, in the strongest terms, all its airport personnel to check the calibration of devices used for check in activities.

Initial probe found out that no malicious intent or ill-will on the part of its ground staff and agents in the handling of the luggage.

Año, Murad share flashback on Marawi City’s liberation in 2017 COTABATO CITY—As soon as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front gave its commitment to support the state security forces’ campaign against terrorism, top government officials including the President “knew that half of the war” in liberating Marawi City from homegrown extremists “was already won in 2017.”

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, then Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said President Rodrigo Duterte did not ask then MILF Chairman Hadji Murad Ebrahim for anything more than peripheral vigilance to prevent entry of possible reinforcement to local extremists in May that year.

During their meeting at his office on Monday, Año recalled that Murad then committed to deploy MILF guerrillas to fight side-by-side with government forces against pseudo Islamic extremists at the start of the Marawi siege in May 2017.

Murad visited Año for the first time since he assumed the top leadership of the newly created Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao last March.

“Secretary Año revealed that when the MILF made the commitment of support, they already knew that half of the battle in liberating Marawi has been won,” BARMM Interior and Local Government Minister Naguib Sinarimbo said of the meeting.

Año said he and the President met Murad in Davao City upon their return from a shortened state visit to Russia then, when the President had to decide on launching military offensives against the Maute group holed at Marawi City’s main commercial district holding residents hostage.

“Secretary Año recalled that at that very crucial moment, he and the President were truly grateful for [Chairman Murad’s] expressed commitment to support the government by whatever means possible and necessary, including the deployment of MILF snipers and other armaments to promptly address the Marawi crisis,” said Sinarimbo. Nash B. Maulana

Sports

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TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Globe, MET team up for Bang Bang corporate tilt AS PART of this second season of the Philippine Pro Gaming League 2019, Globe Telecom and MET Events have announced a special Mobile Legends: Bang Bang corporate league.

Aspiring competitive gamers and avid fans of Mobile Legends: Bang Bang from offices across the Philippines can join this leg of the PPGL for a chance to represent their companies. At least four out of the five players in a registering team should be full-time employees of the same company so gather the best gamers in your office and join now!

The schedule of the tournament is as follows: Registration Open: July 2; Qualifier 1: July 27; Qualifier 2: July 28; Group Stage: August 3; Grand Finals: TBA The two top placing teams in the league will advance to Singtel’s PVP Regional Corporate League Online Qualifiers with the Grand Finals to be held in Singapore later this year. This is not only your chance to experience the thrill of professional esports but also get to represent your company at the regional level.

The Philippine Pro Gaming League continues to provide an avenue for the country’s aspiring gaming athletes to pursue their esports dreams and take their games to the next level. Don’t let all that practice time during lunch breaks and commute go to waste! This is your chance to become an esports athlete and join the country’s biggest gaming league.

PSA Forum tackles boxing, PBA D-League THE coming Philippine Basketball Association D-League second conference and the men’s boxing team preparing for the 30th Southeast Asian Games will share the spotlight in Tuesday’s session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at the Amelie Hotel-Manila.

D-League officials Mauro Bengua and Rosc Teotico will accompany Derek Pumaren of CEU, TIP’s Potit De Vera, and representatives of Sumisip Basilan-St. Clare and Marinerong Pilipino as they talk about what’s to expect in the coming tournament set to kick off on July 23.

Meanwhile, boxers Eumir Marcial, John Marvin, and Ian Clark Bautista together with coach Roel Velasco make up the other half of the session presented

by San Miguel Corp., Braska Restaurant, Amelie Hotel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation to discuss the boxing team’s preparation for the SEA Games this December.

Also invited is Alliance of Boxing Association of the Philippines secretarygeneral Ed Picson.

Members are enjoined to attend the 10 a.m. session.

PH karateka in comeback bid REXOR Tacay, who won a silver medal in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, is set to make a come back.

Back from an injury, the 27-yearold Tacay will make an effort to rejoin the national men’s karatedo team being formed for the 30th SEA Games.

He will join other members of the national pool when they see action in the 2019 Asian Championships in Vietnam.

A slot in the men’s 67-kg kumite is at stake for him, when he plunges into action in the meet set from July 19 to 21 in Can Tho, Vietnam.

“Babalik po ako. Gusto kong magqualify sa SEA Games,” said Tacay.

Tacay, along with Jayson Macaalay settled for two silver medals in the men’s kumite 67 and 60 kilogram divisions, respectively, back in 2017.

Tacay lost to Thailand’s Supa Ngamphuengphit, who came back from a 3-5 deficit to win the gold medal, 6-5.

Last year, Tacay had to undergo rehabilitation for a right knee ACL injury.

He got injured while competing in the semifinals of the Philippine National Games in Cebu City.

Peter Atencio

Santiagos lead Foton’s bid to regain PSL glory Games Today

(Bacoor Strike Gym) 4:15 p.m. – Generika-Ayala vs Petron 7:00 p.m. – Foton vs Cignal

By Lito Cinco

Eagle Ace Superal holds her huge FCG Int’l trophy after ruling the 13-14 category.

Superal, Malixi score big in Future Champions golf T

WO Filipina rising stars primed up for this week’s Junior World as Eagle Ace Superal and Rianne Malixi ruled their respective age-group divisions in varying fashions in the 12th FCG (Future Champions Golf) International Championship at the Singing Hills Golf in El Cajon, California last Friday.

Superal showed some spunk and pulled through in a pressure-packed finish, hitting a clutch birdie on the par-5 No. 7 for a huge three-shot swing to salvage an even-par 71 and foil Chinese-Taipei’s Chun-Wei Wu by three in the girls’ 13-14 division with a 141 total.

Wu, who double-bogeyed the seventh, ended up with a 74 for a 144.

Malixi earlier completed a wire-towire triumph in the 11-12 play as the reigning Philippine Amateur Open overall champion fired a 69 and 71 for a 140 and routed US-based Thai Natrada Pongsasin (70-74) and Arianna Lau (7173) of Hong Kong by four.

Wu matched Superal’s opening 70 and the duo, teeing off at the backside of the par-71 Willow Glen, remained tied with eight holes left in the 36-hole championship before the Taiwanese pounced on The Country Club mainstay;s bogey on No. 2 to take command.

But after both traded bogeys on No. 5, Superal birdied the par-3 No. 6 from six feet and surged ahead as Wu three-putted for bogey. Gaining control and momentum, the younger sister of former US Girls’ Junior champion Princess hacked a solid drive on the next hole to set up an easy birdie then watched her rival succumb to

pressure and holed out with a 7.

“Ace took a gamble on No. 7, crossing the lake off the mound that left her with 180 yards to the green and made the birdie. It was a bold move but she did it and earned a three-stroke lead,” said Team TCC coach Nestor Mendoza.

Not even a three-putt miscue on the 17th could shake off Superal, who hit a perfect drive on No. 18 and set up an easy par to wrap up her first major junior crown which Princess also won back in 2010.

Superal and Malixi’s victories should augur well for their campaign in the Junior World, which gathers the world’s leading and rising age-groupers, beginning Tuesday.

Vito Sarines, meanwhile, fell short by one to Benjaming Dong in the boys’ 6-and-under division as the Las Piñas City bet pooled a 133 on 65 and 68, as against the Chinese bet’s 67-65 for a 132.

THE Foton Tornadoes are back to their winning ways following impressive back-to-back victories over PLDT and Marinera to even their record to 3-3.

They will be facing another contender CIGNAL today in their final game for the first round.

And coach Aaron Velez sees the return of the two power-playing sisters, Jaja Santiago and Dindin SantiagoManabat at full force, as the major factor in the team’s bid to recover lost glory.

“I have to give it to them, they are very professional as players and are pushing one another to be at each other’s best without any rivalry at all.

The team is very happy that Dindin is recovering her form, coming back from an injury and I credit that to her passion for conditioning,” said Velez.

The Santiago sisters have been leading the team together with veteran teammates Maika Ortiz, Mina Aganon, a back-to-form Jen Reyes and very promising Elaine Kasilag.

The 23-year-old Jaja, the younger of the two sisters, admitted she had been looking forward for a long time to this opportunity to play with a healthy Dindin and it has finally come.

“I get more motivated playing beside her and the fact she was able to recover, I know what she went through and I am inspired by the way she handled her situation,” Jaja said.

The 25-year-old Dindin is equally ecstatic. ”Finally, after a long time, I feel I am now contributing to the team, I went through a difficult time especially upon our return from Japan, I was injured in a game we played before and I was really frustrated at that time. But now, my focus is going back to full form and helping Foton and playing the game together with Jaja is something that we are both enjoying,” she said.

Munti Volleyball Club completes Tanduay beach volley sweep MUNTINLUPA Volleyball Club made a clean sweep in the Philippine Volleyball F-Tanduay Athletics Beach Volleyball U15 and U18 at the Tanduay Athletics Volleyball Center in Taguig City.

MVC won the U15 and U18 championships in both boys’ and girls’ divisions.

Anderson Detablan is coach of the girls’ teams, while Cico Francis coaches the boys’ teams.

Detablan is a PVF-certified and licensed coach, having undergone and passed the rigid four-day PVF National Coaching Course last year at the Cantada Sports Center, with Coach Otie Camangian as resource speaker.

St. Thomas More Academy of Bacoor, Cavite placed runner-up in the U15 girls’ division, while PVF president Edgardo ‘Boy’ Cantada is shown with the U15 University of the Cordilleras in Baguio City was Philippine Volleyball F-Tanduay Athletics Beach Volleyball winners. second place in the U18 girls’ category.

Jose Fabella Memorial School in Mandaluyong placed runner-Up in U18 boys’ division and Rizal High School was second place in the U15 boys’ category in the weekend meet supported by Lucio ‘Bong’ Tan, Jr. and Tanduay Athletics.

Some 64 young beach belles, accompanied by their chaperones (the organizers required adult chaperones for each participating team as the players are all 17 years of age and younger), participated in the one-day event organized by the Philippine Volleyball Federation under the association’s grassroots development program.

The tournament is free and run by competent PVF officials, including PVF’s FIVB International referees and National Referees.

Complimentary Vitamilk Double Choco drink, Nestea and mixed fruit drinks from the Tanduay Athletics sampling team were served all day.

Premier Volleyball League Finals: Duel of tradition, desire seven markers in the semis.

TWO teams with explosive imports Wednesday “But right now, nobody’s thinkand equally talented locals head to 3 p.m. –Games BanKo-Perlas vs PacificTown ing about the win streak or the past. the Premier Volleyball League ReArmy (best-of-three for 3rd) 5 p.m. – Creamline vs PetroGazz We’re just focusing on the finals,” inforced Conference Finals riding (best-of-three for crown) added Creamline’s opposite spiker, the crest of a romp fashioned out in who has been complementing well virtually the same style, finishing with 9-1 cards in the double round elims and crush- with imports Kuttika Kaewpin of Thailand and Ale Blanco of Venezuela and locals Alyssa Valdez, Risa ing their respective Final Four rivals via sweep.

Each team’s lone setback was dealt by the other Sato, Jema Galanza, setter Jia Morado and liberos with PetroGazz beating Creamline in the opening Melissa Gohing and Kyla Atienza.

The Cool Smashers are surely drawing up ploys game and the Cool Smashers getting back at the Angels in the second round that highlighted their sweep to slow down—at the very least—PetroGazz’s of their next 11 games, including two in the semis, to prized import tandem of Wilma Salas of Cuba and American Janisa Johnson, whose spiking prowess, earn a third straight crack at the championship.

Creamline actually won the first two, beating leadership and poise helped put the Angels within PayMaya in this conference last year and then foil- two wins from realizing a dream championship in ing Ateneo-Motolite in the Open Conference finals. the league organized by Sports Vision and sponPerhaps there lies the contrast in the title protago- sored by Mikasa, Asics and KFC. nists with the Cool Smashers boasting of championship experience and the Angels, who placed fifth here last year and wound up fourth in the Open, coming into the series hungry for recognition.

Game One is set at 5 p.m. tomorrow after the 3 p.m. clash for third between BanKo-Perlas and PacificTown Army at the Filoil Flying V Center in San Juan.

Michele Gumabao cites consistency as the reason behind Creamline’s success although she stressed the need for the Cool Smashers, who overwhelmed the PacificTown Army Lady Troopers in the Final Four, to stay focused in anticipation of a big challenge from the fired-up Angels.

“Facing a new rival in the finals is good as it only proves that we are consistent as a team, consistent in our teamwork, in our preparation and in our practices,” said Gumabao, who Cohesion has been Creamline’s main weapon in its scored a total of 54 in the elims and normed title-retention drive

Hungry for title, the PetroGazz Angels hope to whoop it up in the end

“Going back to our team building before the season, we have really set this goal (to reach the finals),” said PetroGazz coach Arnold Laniog. “Now, we’re here, it’s a different thing.”

“We’ll give it all that we’ve got—for the championship,” he added.

To achieve that, Salas, the No. 2 scorer behind Motolite’s Channon Thompson, with 212 points after the elims and poured in 48 markers in their two-game sweep of the BanKo-Perlas Spikers, and Johnson, No 4 in the elims and fired 36 markers in the Final Four, must sustain their attacking ways and the likes of Jeanette Panaga, Cherry Nunag, setter Djanel Cheng, Cai Baloaloa, Alyssa Layug, Paneng Mercado and Jonah Sabete and liberos Rica Enclona and Cienne Cruz must step up to at least neutralize the Cool Smashers’ edge in local support.

Sports

Riera U. Mallari, Editor; Reuel Vidal, Assistant Editor sports@thestandard.com.ph; sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

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TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

Veteran lawyer to lead POC’s poll commission

By Peter Atencio

US player Cori Gauff celebrates beating Slovenia’s Polona Hercog during their women’s singles third round match on the fifth day of the 2019 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London. AFP

Batang Gilas lifts Pirates past Squires Games Today

(The Arena in San Juan) 8 a.m. EAC-ICA vs LSGH (jrs) 10 a.m. Mapua vs UPHSD (jrs) 12 nn EAC vs CSB (srs) 2 p.m. Mapua vs UPHSD (srs) 4 p.m. San Sebastian vs JRU (srs) 6 p.m. San Sebastian vs JRU (jrs)

BATANG Gilas standout McLaude Guadana delivered 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Lyceum Junior Pirates as they waylaid the Letran Squires, 74-64, yesterday at the start of the 94th National Collegiate Athletic Association junior basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

Jaerolan Omandac added 14 points for the Junior Pirates in scoring their first win of the season.

John Barba made eight of 13 points in the first period as the Pirates took charge and never looked back from a 15-8 lead.

CJ Saure had seven of 23 points in the second period for the Squires, who were held to just 12 points in the last 10 minutes of the first half.

Meanwhile, the Mapua University Cardinals are raring to make an impact with new coach Randy Alcantara when the senior division games resume today.

After sending Malayan Red Robins to the finals in the next three season, Alcantara hopes to produce miracles in the Cardinals’ bid this season.

“Excited na ako sa Cardinals.

Siyempre, kailangang ibigay ko ang best ko,” said Alcantara, who replaced coach Atoy Co. The Cardinals brace themselves for action against the University of Perpetual Help Altas at 2 p.m. today at the Arena in San Juan.

Veteran cagers Christian Buñag and Laurenz Victoria are the new leaders of the team, following the graduation of Cedrick Pelayo and Exequiel Biteng.

Sophomores Warren Bonifacio, Eric Jabel and Noah Lugo are expected to make big contributions when they seek to get past their 14-6 winloss record last year.

The presence of rookies Cyril Gonzales, Paolo Hernandez and Pons Bicharra will be another factor for the Cards.

Gonzales is a scorer from the National University Bullpups, while Hernandez is a 6’2” forward from the Malayan Red Robins. Bicharra is another 6’2” find from Ateneo de Naga. Peter Atencio

Teenagers (from right) Karina Angelica Gelito, Pia Francesca Suarez and Micaela Rhey Jayme join the Penong’s Barbecue Seafood & Grill mascot at the finish line after ruling the Ladies Relay event during the Penong’s 5150 Davao.

Teen sensation Gauff hogs Wimby spotlight

L

ONDON—Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic share top billing on ‘Manic Monday’ at Wimbledon with teenage sensation Coco Gauff.

Eight-time champion Federer, fourtime winner Djokovic and Nadal, a double champion, all play last 16 ties against opponents who have never before progressed this far.

Federer, the second seed, tackles Italy’s world number 20 Matteo Berrettini in what will be the Swiss great’s record 17th fourth round appearance at the All England Club.

“I don’t know him very well, so that makes it a bit more tricky,” said Federer, chasing a 21st Grand Slam title.

Nadal, the champion in 2008 and 2010, also has an unexpected opponent in the shape of world number 69 Joao Sousa, the first Portuguese player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon.

Nadal has a 2-0 career advantage over the 30-year-old Sousa, with both wins coming on clay. Nadal is looking to back up his 12th Roland Garros title with a third Wimbledon.

Djokovic faces grass court rookie Djokovic insists he will not be complacent about his chances of reaching the final for the sixth time.

The highest seed that the world number one can face before the final is number 15 Milos Raonic, the 2016 runner-up from Canada.

But first up for the defending champion and 16-time major winner is 21-year-old Ugo Humbert from France who is playing in his first Wimbledon.

Raonic tackles Argentine 26th seed Guido Pella who has reached the last 16 at a Slam for the first time—at the 20th attempt. The 29-year-old Pella knocked out last year’s runner-up Kevin Anderson in the third round.

Roberto Bautista Agut, the Spanish 23rd seed, faces French 28th seed Benoit Paire with both men aiming to make the quarter-finals for the first time.

Monday’s other ties see 2017 semi-finalist Sam Querrey face last-16 debutant and US compatriot Tennys Sandgren.

Japan’s Kei Nishikori, a quarter-finalist in 2018, tackles Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

‘Keep it up’ In the women’s fourth round, 15-year-old Gauff must overcome former number one Simona Halep.

“I feel like I’ve always been confident in myself,” said 313-ranked qualifier Gauff who shocked five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round.

Seven-time champion Serena Williams believes her teenage compatriot could go the whole way.

“I think there’s some 15-year-olds, like me, who wouldn’t know what to do at Wimbledon,” said Williams.

“Then you have a 15-year-old like Coco who knows what to do.”

Australia’s world number one Ashleigh Barty looks in ominous form and although she lost on grass on the only previous occasion she played last 16 opponent Alison Riske it was three years ago. AFP

VETERAN lawyer Rene Sarmiento will head the election committee that will supervise the coming elections of the Philippine Olympic Committee on July 28.

The executive board of the POC named Sarmiento to the post following yesterday’s special meeting at the Philsports Complex in Pasig City.

“These are one of the two resolutions that we passed today. And that’s the composition of the election commission,” said spokesman and board member Robert Mananquil.

Last year, Sarmiento was chair of election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting for five years.

But Sarmiento later resigned to recover from a head surgery he had following an accident.

Before heading the PPCRV, Sarmiento served as Commission on Elections commissioner for seven years.

The executive board also named NCAA management committee member, Fr. Victor Calvo as part of the POC elecom.

They will also have a representative from the Philippine Disputes Resolution Center, an arbitration group formed by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce.

The executive board has also resolved to take this matter up before the POC extraordinary general assembly on July 18 at the Manila Golf and Country Club in Makati.

The decisions made during the executive board meeting is among the first steps that the POC has taken in preparing for the coming elections on July 28.

Acting president Joey Romasanta is expected to preside over the extraordinary general assembly meeting in 10 days.

The others presiding are former president Jose “Peping” Cojuangco Jr., IOC representative Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, Robert Mananquil of billiards and snooker, Julian Camacho of wushu, Jonee Go of canoe/kayak, Prospero Pichay of chess and Jeff Tamayo of soft tennis.

Star-studded field starts chase in PGT Southwoods CARMONA, Cavite—Notwithstanding the unpredictable weather, softened fairways, thick roughs and sleek putting surface, a star-studded international field of 112 pros, including all of the country’s top guns, set out for an explosive start in the ICTSI Manila Southwoods Championship today (Tuesday) at the Legends course here.

A select pro cast tested the bunker-laden layout in the heat and rain in yesterday’s pro-am tournament, most hinting at a run of under-par scores, some intimating of a tougher, challenging outing and others remaining wary of what lies ahead in the next four days of this $100,000 championship.

“The course looks tough, especially with the erratic weather conditions.

Mabigat ang bola,” said Jay Bayron, who ruled this event serving a leg of the Philippine Golf Tour Asia with a whopping 26-under total last year.

But what concerns most of the bidders in this third leg of the region’s emerging circuit put up by ICTSI is the depth of the competing field with the likes of Angelo Que and Miguel Tabuena taking time out from their

campaigns abroad to beef up the local roster headed by the red-hot Juvic Pagunsan.

“It’s difficult to feel so confident. The field is strong, anybody can go low at any given day,” said 2017 PGT Order of Merit winner Clyde Mondilla, on a comeback from a recent injury that hampered his campaign after emerging the surprise winner in the Solaire Philippine Open at The Country Club last April.

“I’ll just play my game,” added the Del Monte ace, who also hopes to recall the form that netted him a one-stroke victory over Tabuena and Tony Lascuña here in 2017.

“It’s going to be interesting. Despite the condition of the course, especially the thick roughs, I think a 20-under score will win here,” said American Lexus Keoninh, a three-year local campaigner due for a big finish in the circuit organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. and backed by PLDT Enterprise, Meralco, BDO and PGT Asia official apparel Pin High.

Jobim Carlos also joins the hunt for the top $17,500 purse with the reigning

Bayron

PGT OOM champion coming into the 72-hole championship brimming with confidence with a form toughened up by a recent stint in Japan following a hand injury that forced him out of a number of local tournaments.

Namchok Tantipokhakul and Wisut

Artjanawat are also expected to stir up interest in the next four days, both looking to sustain Thailand’s big start in the circuit after the former topped the kickoff leg at Luisita last April and the latter winning the first PGT Asia cosanctioned event in Taiwan last May.

Gelito, Suarez, Jayme rule Penong’s 5150 women’s relay

By Reuel Vidal DAVAO CITY— The Penong’s 5150 Davao was a complete success achieving its main objective of making the sport of triathlon more accessible to the public at large.

The shorter 5150 distance, as well as the Sunrise Sprint held in conjunction with Penong’s 5150 Davao were easier options than the 70.3 IRONMAN for those who want to participate in the multisport event for the first time as well as graduates of IRONKIDS who want to continue in the sport.

Young athletes were able to compete on even terms with adults in the event resulting in surprising but welcome victories for the youngsters.

Teenagers Karina Angelica Gelito, 17; Pia Francesca Suarez, 17; and Micaela Rhey Jayme, 17, ruled the

women’s relay in the Penong’s 5150 Davao while recent IRONKIDS graduates Gian Wallace Tumabang Taylor and Moira Martinez Erediano won the men’s and women’s categories of the Sunrise Sprint.

Gelito said they were grateful for the chance to compete in the shorter distance as a team.

“Our goal was for the three of us to run together in a race. We worked and trained really hard for this event,” said Gelito.

All three are high school students in Davao City.

Gelito is a student of Davao Christian High School.

Suarez studies at Ateneo De Davao. Jayme is a student of Stella Maris Academy of Davao.

Sunrise Events General Manager Princess Galura said the 5150 race and the Sunrise Sprint were introduced precisely to welcome everyone to the triathlon community in the country by in-

troducing shorter distance races thus making it easier for more people to join.

“We are trying to grow the triathlon family. Many really want to participate in the 70.3 IRONMAN but they are not yet capable of going the distance.

This is why we established the 5150 distance along with the Sunrise Sprint,” said Galura.

“As organizers we want them to be ready. We don’t want them to join when they are not yet ready. Because if they join the IRONMAN before they are ready, they can be a danger to others and themselves.”

Jakub Langhammer of the Czech Republic ruled the Men’s Pro Category. Dimity-Lee Duke won the Women’s Pro. John Leerams Chicano took home the title in the Asian Elite in the Penong’s 5150 Davao held over the weekend here.

IN BRIEF Manila to host first PH-Asia gaming expo MORE than 30,000 gaming entrepreneurs and 200 exhibitors from 15 countries will converge in Manila for the three-day Phil-Asian Gaming Expo, Asia’s biggest gathering of online game suppliers, product and payment solutions and industry support services.

In partnership with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp., PAGE is a one-stop B2B industry platform for networking and showcasing latest gaming industry trends. The expo will be held at the SMX Convention Center on July 12 to 14, 2019.

More than 1,000 online games, products solutions and peripheral products will make their first public appearance at PAGE. The exhibits and networking group is based in Asia but is eyeing global expansion in the coming years.

The first PAGE convention will also feature an “Inspiring Talk” segment where industry experts, leaders and brand developers can discuss and share industry knowledge and technology, as well as new products and services.

PAGE also has a “non-gaming” special zone with peripheral industry service providers like banking, telecoms, real estate, and headhunting services. Industry professionals will also have an opportunity to touch base with industry regulators like Pagcor, Department of Labor, Bureau of Immigration and various local government units, among others.

Business

NGCP spending P17.9b in Luzon GRID operator National Grid Corp. of the Philippines said it will strengthen the Western Luzon transmission backbone with four projects worth P17.9 billion that are expected to be completed by 2025.

NGCP said it would develop the P1.34billion Western Luzon 500-kilovolt backbone project to cater to the impending load growth in the western part of Luzon.

The project will be constructed to accommodate the bulk generation in Zambales province such as the planned 600-megawatt RP Energy coal-fired power plant.

The first stage of the project will involve the construction of the Castillejos-Hermosa 500 kilovolt transmission line and will be connected to the new Hermosa Substation. The ERC-approved Western Luzon 500 kV project is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2020.

The second stage of the project will involve the construction of a new Castillejos substation, Bolo Substation and the Castillejos-Bolo 500kV Transmission Line. Stage 2 of the project is slated to be completed by 2025.

NGCP is also gearing up for other projects in Bataan, particularly the P5.94-billion Mariveles-Hermosa 500kV Transmission Line Project, the P10.28-billion Hermosa-San Jose 500kV Transmission Line Project and the P315.77-million Hermosa-Floridablanca 69kV Transmission Line.

“All of these projects in the western part of Luzon are critical in the stability and reliability of the transmission system in the near future,” NGCP said. Alena Mae S. Flores

Pag-IBIG extended 12,000 socialized housing loans worth P4.52b in first half PAG-IBIG Fund extended socialized housing loans to 11,894 members from the minimum-wage and low-income sectors totaling P4.52 billion in the first half of 2019.

The figure represents nearly 30 percent of the total number of housing loans financed by the agency from January to June. Pag-IBIG Fund financed a record 41,746 housing loans amounting to P37.07 billion in the sixmonth period to help members acquire or improve their homes.

“Socialized housing is designed especially for minimum and low-wage workers.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte directed that there be government programs catering to this underserved sector, hence, we have this housing program that is suited for their financial capacity. This is the essence of the BALAI [Building Adequate, Livable, Affordable and Inclusive] Filipino Communities Program of the government’s housing sector towards providing decent shelter for every Filipino family,” said Secretary Eduardo del Rosario, chairperson of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council and Pag-IBIG Fund board of trustees.

Socialized housing loans are up to P580,000 for a 32 square-meter residential unit in a horizontal housing project. Under the Affordable Housing Loan Program, Pag-IBIG Fund maintains the lowest interest rate in the market of 3 percent per annum – a special rate it has provided for minimum and low-wage workers since May 2017.

business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

B1

MPIC revives P10-b Sangley toll road offer

Visitor arrivals hit 3.5m in five months INTERNATIONAL visitor arrivals increased 9.8 percent in the first five months to 3.5 million from a year ago, the Tourism Department said Monday.

“The numbers are very encouraging.

From 3,178,984 tourists recorded from January to May in 2018, we are already close to breaching the 3.5 million mark this year.

This only shows that the preservation of our environment can go hand in hand with economic gains,” said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.

Puyat said that in May, tourist arrivals saw a 15.62-percent growth, from 537,743 last year to 621,719 this year.

Korea continued its foothold in the top spot with 788,530 arrivals in January to May, up by 11.76 percent from the same period last year.

China trailed closely with 733,769 arrivals for a staggering 30.96-percent increase.

Sustaining the third and fourth rankings are the US with 472,469 and Japan with 281,988.

Othel V. Campos

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

GAMING EXPO. Officials of state-run Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and top executives of the first Phil-Asian Gaming Expo sign a memorandum of agreement to seal their partnership for Asia’s biggest gathering of online game suppliers, product and payment solutions and industry support services to be held at SMX Convention Center in Pasay City on July 12 to 14, 2019. Attending the signing of MOA are (from left) Pagcor vice president for offshore gaming Atty. Jose Tria Jr., PAGE director Brian Ang, PAGE chairman Kevin Wong, Pagcor chairperson Andrea Domingo, chief operating officer Alfredo Lim and director Reynaldo Concordia.

Mislatel bags govt license to operate as 3rd major telco

By Darwin G. Amojelar

M

ISLATEL Consortium of Davao-based businessman Dennis Uy and China Telecommunications secured a license from the government to operate as the country’s third major telecom player that would challenge the duopoly PLDT Inc. and Globe Telecom Inc. Uy accepted the certificate of public convenience and necessity at Malacañang Palace on behalf of Mislatel after posting a P25.7-billion performance bond for their commitments as the new major player.

The awarding of the CPCN by Department of Information and Communications Technology and National Telecommunications Commission officially signaled the third telco’s operation in

the country.

The entry of a third major telco is one of President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign promise to promote genuine competition in the industry and improve the country’s telecommunication services.

The NTC will assign the frequencies 700 megahertz, 850 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2010 MHz, 2.5 GHz, 3.3 GHz, 3.5 GHz and 10.5 GHz to Mislatel.

Mislatel Consortium committed to

improve the country’s telecommunications capability within five years by increasing basic internet speed to 55 mbps and covering more than 80 percent of the country’s population.

Mislatel vowed to invest P257 billion over a five-year period, including P150 billion in its first year of operations.

The group committed to provide 27 megabits per second of internet speed in its first year and 55 mbps in five years. It plans to cover 84 percent of the population in five years and 34 percent in its first year of operation.

Mislatel Group as the new major player would challenge existing players PLDT and Globe.

Chelsea is the holding company of the shipping and logistics arm business segments of the Udenna Group of Companies.

METRO Pacific Tollways Corp. revived a proposal to construct and operate an expressway connecting Manila-Cavite Expressway to Sangley Point in Cavite worth P10 billion.

“We are looking into that. We’re just reviving the [feasibility] study,” MPIC president and chief executive Rodrigo Franco said.

“We hope this year there’s a proposal that we will submit initially to PRA [Philippine Reclamation Authority] and then to TRB [Toll Regulatory Board],” he said.

Franco said the proposal was to build an expressway going to Sangley Point as a road extension of Manila-Cavite Expressway Segment 5.

Segment 5 of Cavitex is a 7.6-kilometer road that will link Kawit to Noveleta to Rosario in Cavite province with an estimated project cost of P22.5 billion.

“Segment 5 is very close to Sangley, so we will easily build this part,” Franco said.

Cavitex Holdings Inc., owned by MPTC, submitted a letter of intent to the Public Works Department to build the Cavitex-Sangley Extension Project as early as 2017.

The project aims to connect the Kawit Interchange of Cavitex to Sangley Point and neighboring provinces of Laguna and Batangas and Metro Manila via a reclaimed road and viaduct totaling 4.63 kilometers.

Cavitex is a 14-kilometer expressway linking Manila and Cavite province.

MPTC’s revival of the proposal to build an expressway going to Sangley came after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the transfer of domestic flights from Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Parañaque City to Sangley Air Base to ease airport congestion.

Sangley Airbase or the Danilo Atienza Air Base used to be a US naval station base until it was turned over to the Philippine Navy and Air Force in 1971.

The Department of Transportation earlier said the removal of general aviation at Naia would increase the capacity of the terminal by 18 percent to 21 percent.

Darwin G. Amojelar

PSALM plans to transform Diliman property into mixed-use development

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE government plans to transform the five-hectare energy complex in Diliman, Quezon City into a high-rise mixed-use development, state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. said Monday.

“The plan is to develop the Diliman property into a commercial center with high-rise mixed-use development, offering both office spaces and retail spaces.

It will be an accredited economic zone that will also provide offices for PSALM, the National Power Corp., Transco and other members of the Energy family that would like to move to the said location,” PSALM said in a statement.

PSALM selected the architectural conceptual design submitted by WTA Design Studio as the winning conceptual design for the Diliman project after a three-day rigorous selection process held from July 3 to July 5.

The winning conceptual design of WTA Design Studio will be utilized by PSALM as the basis for the master plan-

ning and the privatization options for the Diliman Property―a 5.195-hectare asset of PSALM located at Quezon Avenue corner BIR Road, Quezon City.

“The design contest specifically required that the design entries would have to integrate into such development the existing two buildings designed by the National Artist Leandro Locsin, in compliance with the requirements of the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009,” PSALM said.

PSALM said WTA Design Studio’s conceptual design entry entitled “The East Grid” was selected for its multidimensional people-oriented concept of developing a new environmentally friendly business center that integrates energy efficient systems and innovative and sustainable design ideas.

“This design entry assimilates pedestrian-friendly spaces, interactive installations, bike trails, green promenades, alfresco spaces and play areas into a development that will ensure a net leasable space of about 400,000 square meters,” it said.

NEW 7-ELEVEN STORE. World leading convenience store chain 7-Eleven opens its fifth branch in Nueva Vizcaya province. Located in Poblacion Bayombong, the capital town of Nueva Vizcaya, the new 7-Eleven outlet makes buying quality goods a 24/7 convenience for the residents, students of nearby schools and employees of local businesses and government offices in the area.

Meralco announces third consecutive month of electricity rate reduction POWER retailer Manila Electric Co. on Monday announced the third consecutive month of power rate reduction, amounting to P0.1068 per kilowatt-hour in July.

This would mean a decrease of around P21 in the monthly bill of a typical household consuming 200 kilowatthours.

Meralco said in a statement overall electricity rates decreased to P9.9850 per kWh in July from last month’s P10.0918 per kWh. “The third straight month of electricity rate decrease represents a total downward adjustment of around P0.57 per kWh since May 2019,” the country’s biggest power distributor said.

The generation charge lightly went up to P5.4227 per kWh from P5.4158 per kWh last month.

Meralco attributed the slight generation charge increase to higher charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market. This was mostly offset by the lower charges of independent power producers and stable charges of power supply agreements.

Charges at WESM, the country’s trading floor of electricity, increased by P1.8794 per kWh due to tight supply condition in the Luzon grid. Demand for power in the grid peaked at 11,344 MW in June.

National Grid Corporation of the Philippines raised the red alert status for

the Luzon grid five times and declared 13 instances of yellow alerts in June.

Meralco sourced 8.1 percent of its power requirements last month.

Cost of power from IPPs declined by P0.2239 per kWh largely due to peso appreciation. About 97 of IPP charges are dollar-denominated. IPPs supplied 41.4 percent of Meralco’s power supply in June.

Meralco said the cost of power from PSAs remained stable with a slight increase of P0.0414 per kWh. PSAs supplied about 50.5 percent of Meralco’s power needs.

“The overall reduction this month was mainly brought about by a lower transmission charge for residential custom-

ers, which decreased by P0.0788 per kWh, primarily due to lower ancillary service charges,” the company said.

Taxes and other charges also decreased by P0.0349 per kWh which included a reduction of P0.0731 per kWh, in compliance with the Energy Regulatory Commission’s directive to implement a one-time decrease in rates for reset cost adjustment.

This month’s rate, however, includes an increase in the universal chargestranded contract cost amounting to P0.0543 per kWh to be recovered for 12 months as approved by the ERC. Meralco’s distribution, supply and metering charges were unchanged.

Alena Mae S. Flores

B2

Business

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market retreats; Chelsea climbs S TOCKS retreated from a five-month high after a blockbuster US jobs report dashed hopes that the Federal Reserve would slash interest rates this month.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, fell 66 points, or 0.8 percent, to close at 8,051.52 Monday. Despite the loss, it was still up 7.8 percent since the start of the year.

The broader all-share index also dropped 32 points, or 0.6 percent, to settle at 4,913.47, on a value turnover of P5.6 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 119 to 74, while 50 issues were unchanged.

Six of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Chelsea Logistics and Infrastructure Holdings Corp. of

businessman Dennis Uy which climbed 5 percent to P9.02. Mislatel Consortium led by Uy recently secured a government permit to operate as the country’s third major telecom player.

Renewable energy producer First Gen Corp. rose 2 percent to P27.50, while airport operator and construction firm Megawide Construction Corp. went up 1.7 percent to P18.30.

Meanwhile, most Asian stocks also traded lower Monday as the US Labor Department data showed that despite recent disappointing indicators, the world’s top economy continues to show resilience as it created far more posts than expected in June.

The news took traders by surprise and sent all three main indexes on Wall Street falling from record highs, while the dollar bounced against its main peers.

Investors had been hoping the Fed would cut borrowing costs by as much

as 50 basis points at its next policy meeting at the end of the month, but Friday’s report reduced the chances of that happening.

Asian investors extended the selling, with Shanghai losing more than two percent, Hong Kong down almost two percent and Tokyo off one percent.

Sydney, Singapore and Mumbai sank more than one percent. Wellington, Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta were also lower.

Seoul sank 2.2 percent, hit by a simmering trade row between South Korea and Japan. Tokyo last week imposed restrictions on exports used by South Korea’s tech companies in a dispute over court rulings linked to Japan’s wartime forced labour policy. Samsung fell 2.8 percent and LG Display sank almost five percent.

“Markets remain convinced the Fed will cut rates at the end of the month,” said Oanda senior market analyst Ed-

ward Moya.

“But the strong labor market has many questioning whether we will see just two rate cuts in 2019 and not what some call the required three to see US stocks make another 3-5 percent push higher into uncharted territory,” Moya said.

He added that the focus will now turn on Fed boss Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony this week, with investors hoping he will provide some forward guidance on the bank’s plans.

“The testimony this week will be crucial around how they are seeing the evolution of the US economy,” Anne Anderson, at UBS Asset Management, told Bloomberg TV. Also up this week is the release of minutes from the Fed’s June meeting, while US and Chinese officials are working to schedule top-level trade talks.

On currency markets, the dollar maintained Friday’s gains against the yen, pound and euro. With AFP

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, JULY 8, 2019

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO LEASING BDO UNIBANK BRIGHT KINDLE CHINABANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK FERRONOUX HLDG FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK UNION BANK VANTAGE

58.5 78.6 2.44 143 1.19 27.15 18.7 12.12 4.76 7.71 1.34 0.49 71.75 0.99 13.2 56 190 58 27.15 172.4 62 1.12

58.9 78.8 2.44 143 1.23 27.25 18.7 12.18 4.9 7.71 1.34 0.5 72 0.99 13.2 56 190 58 27.15 172.5 62 1.12

58.05 78 2.32 141.1 1.16 27.1 18.7 12.08 4.72 7.71 1.3 0.48 71 0.99 13.2 54.4 190 57.5 26.7 170 61.1 1.12

58.9 78 2.43 141.1 1.22 27.15 18.7 12.16 4.85 7.71 1.3 0.485 71.6 0.99 13.2 54.4 190 57.8 27 171.9 61.1 1.12

8,700 1,192,710 126,000 734,360 260,000 76,000 15,200 780,100 30,000 5,500 42,000 438,000 2,669,740 20,000 140,700 473,290 1,230 1,740 66,400 583,640 4,740 41,000

512,264.50 93,494,368 296,740 103,806,481 305,200 2,060,840 284,240 9,468,526 144,370 42,405 55,470 213,525 190,776,409 19,800 1,857,240 25,960,162.50 233,700 100,581 1,789,310 100,522,844 291,712 45,920

500,650 -39,960,734 -24,883,462 36,600 -851,250 -1,258,526 19,600 -52,083,132.50 7,145,788 -19,000 -11,520 -42,885 8,887,557 -271,968 -

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

37 14.58 0.86 1.36 0.26 3.07 14.68 16.52 40.6 100 110.3 2.09 5.01 6.47 10.54 15.58 11.1 7.6 1.6 26.95 91.45 57.4 2.55 13.5 10.24 1.74 285 4.23 3.44 9.78 25.1 14.5 18 383 0.19 5.87 1.89 4.74 5.9 2.24 12.1 38.8 4.9 1.38 1.92 1.12 13.7 104.1 6.57 0.127 1.2 176 2.48 1.28 1.45

37.2 14.58 0.86 1.37 0.265 3.07 14.68 16.56 40.6 102.5 117.8 2.09 5.01 6.5 10.54 15.62 11.18 7.6 1.6 27.65 94.2 59.85 2.58 13.6 10.24 1.74 285.2 4.23 3.44 9.78 25.35 14.5 18.72 386 0.194 5.88 1.96 4.77 5.92 2.29 12.16 39.2 4.9 1.38 1.95 1.13 14.12 104.1 6.57 0.127 1.23 180.4 2.59 1.28 1.45

36.6 14.32 0.81 1.36 0.26 3 14.3 16 40.6 93.1 105 2 5.01 6.3 10.22 15.44 10.96 7.58 1.59 26.95 91.45 56.95 2.52 13.5 10.08 1.71 280.2 4.23 3.44 9 24.85 14.14 18 382.2 0.189 5.87 1.85 4.7 5.89 2.21 11.94 38.8 4.9 1.35 1.9 1.11 13.7 102 6.49 0.127 1.19 173.5 2.48 1.25 1.34

37.1 14.5 0.82 1.37 0.265 3.01 14.4 16.02 40.6 94.6 106 2.06 5.01 6.32 10.24 15.46 11 7.6 1.59 27.5 91.7 57.4 2.52 13.6 10.1 1.72 282 4.23 3.44 9.49 25 14.2 18.3 383 0.19 5.88 1.86 4.7 5.9 2.28 12.02 38.8 4.9 1.36 1.95 1.12 14 102.8 6.56 0.127 1.19 178 2.59 1.26 1.35

551,600 1,473,800 3,086,000 68,000 2,870,000 7,792,000 463,500 414,100 800 25,450 4,310 687,000 4,200 188,100 1,258,600 1,244,400 349,200 130,300 54,000 5,425,200 493,400 320,070 4,741,000 585,400 172,400 316,000 317,970 6,000 5,000 26,300 1,009,700 1,509,700 6,317,000 127,350 3,210,000 41,200 7,993,000 19,000 2,171,300 17,594,000 71,500 281,500 2,233,000 582,000 41,000 1,272,000 177,600 1,131,920 140,600 20,000 503,000 1,318,260 12,000 1,821,000 17,663,000

20,395,705 21,335,418 2,536,360 92,810 754,450 23,557,030 6,679,688 6,676,586 32,480 2,466,544.50 463,824 1,388,460 21,042 1,209,323 12,929,546 19,280,876 3,847,528 989,445 86,040 149,107,270 45,834,199 18,423,603.50 12,086,420 7,927,760 1,742,514 543,330 89,681,074 25,380 17,200 242,634 25,347,020 21,475,832 115,727,046 48,831,950 610,170 241,845 15,175,080 89,810 12,815,197 39,798,250 865,488 10,973,910 10,941,700 793,520 79,000 1,422,390 2,485,898 116,471,898 913,687 2,540 602,210 235,783,341 30,070 2,304,550 24,107,890

1,691,495 7,485,638 -135,610 1,127,240 -596,302 -2,910,922 24,360 -111,970 -3,502,638 2,687,054 2,812,748 76,516,310 9,178,633.50 4,380,696.50 -2,504,590.00 -1,267,202 -679,094.00 -43,318,546 -1,507,010 -476,908 -15,750,472 20,419,012 -673,300 -5,551,662 513,840 -51,458 -1,857,840 739,900 -136,000 1,525,514 -104,707,569 64,480,490 -466,190 1,252,930

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

1.02 55.7 15.4 0.75 7 13.1 1.29 1.32 912 3.85 6.87 10.24 14.06 0.228 859 6.4 68.3 0.495 4.26 15.92 0.63 4.78 0.039 1.52 175 980 0.83 1.4 433 266.8 0.235 0.33

1.05 55.75 15.62 0.76 7 13.2 1.32 1.32 920 3.85 6.9 10.3 14.06 0.243 866 6.41 68.5 0.495 4.43 15.96 0.63 4.79 0.041 1.55 175.5 983.5 0.83 1.42 465 266.8 0.241 0.335

0.99 54.55 15.14 0.74 7 12.52 1.28 1.32 907 3.75 6.82 10.22 13.9 0.224 840 6.4 67.45 0.485 4.26 15.44 0.61 4.74 0.039 1.49 174.8 960 0.81 1.38 433 266.8 0.232 0.32

0.99 55 15.3 0.74 7 12.78 1.31 1.32 920 3.75 6.87 10.24 14 0.243 840 6.41 68.5 0.485 4.35 15.8 0.62 4.78 0.04 1.55 175 960 0.81 1.38 465 266.8 0.236 0.33

46,889,000 626,840 6,328,400 259,000 203,600 56,300 3,030,000 71,000 204,370 5,609,000 360,200 2,099,800 134,300 350,000 55,180 205,000 447,170 60,000 3,100,000 2,441,900 1,764,000 18,382,000 33,700,000 4,408,000 82,140 97,110 142,000 440,000 30 110 4,850,000 4,790,000

47,428,520 34,589,195 96,876,768 192,460 1,425,200 719,066 3,926,700 93,720 187,408,470 21,244,050 2,471,795 21,528,316 1,883,652 80,730 46,961,330 1,312,650 30,564,577 29,200 13,494,240 38,665,536 1,096,020 87,777,890 1,332,800 6,761,340 14,376,596 93,956,100 116,220 614,660 13,310 29,348 1,154,500 1,561,600

-1,065,180 -6,885,316.50 -54,004,018 14,800 30,800 -75,178 66,000 39,184,625 507,140 277,833 -3,674,862 -445,068 -7,432,575 -736,400 3,699,324.50 -964,440 12,354,770 22,320 7,720,950 -140,400 -865,668 -2,214,225 -6,640 -2,668 -65,500

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

15.3 0.86 2.05 0.97 51.85 2.35 5.18 6.1 0.62 0.81 0.91 0.238 0.46 10.66 25 0.47 1.92 1.38 6.1 0.335 0.48 1.82 0.405 2.26 49.5 26.8 2.22

15.38 0.91 2.05 1.02 52.65 2.37 5.28 6.11 0.63 0.82 0.93 0.243 0.49 10.68 25 0.48 1.92 1.4 6.17 0.34 0.485 1.82 0.405 2.26 49.5 26.8 2.23

15.26 0.85 2 0.93 51.8 2.32 5.17 6.09 0.59 0.8 0.89 0.238 0.46 10.32 24.65 0.47 1.84 1.38 6.08 0.33 0.48 1.74 0.4 2.1 49.5 26.3 2.21

15.28 0.87 2.04 0.95 52.1 2.35 5.17 6.1 0.6 0.8 0.9 0.243 0.475 10.5 24.9 0.48 1.86 1.38 6.12 0.335 0.485 1.75 0.405 2.11 49.5 26.6 2.22

338,800 11,442,000 228,000 14,364,000 18,957,550 287,000 2,189,100 76,800 63,496,000 734,000 33,000 410,000 7,920,000 188,700 210,100 470,000 30,097,000 1,244,000 4,307,200 18,090,000 140,000 7,655,000 730,000 1,110,000 3,600 762,700 69,000

5,175,968 10,057,350 459,710 14,198,820 991,906,354 673,790 11,432,431 468,555 38,423,520 588,120 29,680 97,730 3,783,100 1,983,742 5,205,755 221,000 56,136,300 1,719,780 26,338,714 6,041,150 67,650 13,481,640 294,100 2,390,110 178,200 20,282,565 153,170

-808,038 38,370 -109,500 21,281,899.50 121,710 -175,164 -132,336 622,650 24,000 9,000 -28,200 -559,498 -25,365 -14,754,990 357,451 -130,450 -24,000 601,130 42,200 12,585,085 -2,230

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

3.15 38.25 1.96 6.48 0.74 7.23

3.16 38.3 2 6.48 0.75 7.24

3.15 37.8 1.93 6.21 0.74 7.16

3.15 37.8 1.93 6.22 0.75 7.24

312,000 5,707,000 946,000 64,500 53,000 4,140,900

983,800 216,868,605 1,855,980 405,426 39,730 29,896,221

-56,910,005 740 -6,181,576

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

11.3 17.96 1.34 0.54 0.046 2.76 11.64 0.057 92.75 7.21 8.85 6.27 2.32 10.06 2,262 5.45 427 2.23 1.99 143.2 9.9 5.85 0.118 7.01 3 14.4 3.79 0.83 19.34 0.52 3.15 2.64 1.55 1.64 14.4 2.43 3.03 9.02 5.52 135.4 3.89 1,259 0.75 0.9 43.8 77.3 9 3.37 0.76 0.385 5.35 0.77 16.96

11.3 17.98 1.34 0.55 0.046 2.76 11.64 0.057 93.6 7.21 9.06 6.27 2.32 10.14 2,262 5.47 427 2.23 1.99 144.7 9.9 5.85 0.118 7.09 3 14.4 3.79 0.85 19.34 0.52 3.15 2.64 1.55 1.64 14.4 2.49 3.09 9.46 5.53 136 4.15 1,259 0.75 0.91 44.2 77.3 9 3.48 0.79 0.385 5.51 0.79 17.08

10.8 17.48 1.34 0.53 0.045 2.68 11.4 0.055 92.65 7.21 8.73 6.27 2.32 10.02 2,178 5.4 410.2 2.2 1.92 142.2 9.9 5.8 0.116 6.84 3 14.4 3.71 0.83 19.04 0.5 3.1 2.59 1.55 1.6 14.4 2.4 3.02 9.01 5.5 135.4 3.89 1,204 0.73 0.84 43.7 76.7 9 3.36 0.76 0.355 5.35 0.77 16.9

10.98 17.98 1.34 0.54 0.045 2.72 11.48 0.055 93.4 7.21 9.02 6.27 2.32 10.06 2,196 5.42 421 2.2 1.92 142.2 9.9 5.8 0.118 6.84 3 14.4 3.75 0.85 19.28 0.52 3.1 2.6 1.55 1.6 14.4 2.48 3.02 9.46 5.5 136 4.14 1,205 0.73 0.86 43.85 77 9 3.47 0.79 0.365 5.45 0.77 16.9

55,200 125,700 7,000 8,957,000 9,400,000 398,000 7,352,600 13,920,000 208,650 100 17,235,800 100 2,000 35,700 34,545 78,500 680 1,285,000 41,000 1,613,800 10,800 10,000 1,360,000 16,602,100 14,000 200 629,000 424,000 294,000 848,000 110,000 1,677,000 1,000 4,000 6,000 3,277,000 265,000 34,800 35,000 870 7,708,000 62,835 8,487,000 59,411,000 1,318,100 373,430 4,400 6,709,000 14,173,000 26,370,000 1,509,300 4,408,000 354,400

601,622 2,213,078 9,380 4,831,200 425,800 1,079,800 84,520,494 778,070 19,421,515.50 721 154,192,123 627 4,640 359,160 75,922,480 426,252 285,406 2,833,840 78,790 230,296,712 106,920 58,250 158,180 115,482,294 42,000 2,880 2,353,770 351,990 5,652,116 434,670 342,610 4,376,650 1,550 6,440 86,400 7,975,100 801,960 315,095 193,265 117,903 31,497,450 76,663,615 6,239,920 51,605,900 57,785,765 28,751,816.50 39,600 22,970,310 11,065,900 9,763,350 8,211,684 3,431,090 6,005,082

-6,620 -54,964,984 4,131,099.50 3,224,263 -6,836,920 110,000 -25,199,997.00 -1,752,714 419,570 -166,000 3,860,078 -338,750 -427,560 -157,300 22,080 117,903 -4,276,290 -21,415,185 -1,714,440 544,410 -24,203,165 7,926,663.50 8,262,110 2,660,190 210,600 -7,977,144 -156,000 -607,890

MINING & OIL ABRA MINING APEX MINING ATLAS MINING ATOK CENTURY PEAK DIZON MINES FERRONICKEL GEOGRACE LEPANTO A LEPANTO B MANILA MINING A MANILA MINING B MARCVENTURES NICKEL ASIA NIHAO OMICO CORP ORNTL PENINSULA ORNTL PETROL A PHILODRILL PHINMA PETRO PX MINING PXP ENERGY SEMIRARA MINING UNITED PARAGON

0.0018 1.17 2.78 12.5 2.77 7.88 1.48 0.222 0.107 0.115 0.0075 0.0076 1.21 2.26 1.04 0.53 0.87 0.012 0.01 4.71 3.5 7.5 22.75 0.0064

0.0018 1.2 2.83 12.5 2.86 7.88 1.48 0.225 0.11 0.125 0.0075 0.0076 1.21 2.27 1.04 0.55 0.87 0.012 0.011 4.86 3.54 7.94 23.15 0.0064

0.0017 1.14 2.78 12.48 2.76 7.82 1.46 0.219 0.105 0.115 0.0075 0.0076 1.12 2.2 1 0.53 0.84 0.012 0.01 4.66 3.48 7.5 22.5 0.0064

0.0018 1.14 2.83 12.5 2.83 7.82 1.48 0.219 0.11 0.125 0.0075 0.0076 1.17 2.2 1.01 0.55 0.86 0.012 0.011 4.8 3.5 7.92 22.8 0.0064

50,000,000 7,371,000 80,000 2,700 1,047,000 400 633,000 210,000 4,970,000 80,000 4,000,000 1,000,000 68,872,000 2,156,000 14,000 6,000 1,761,000 15,500,000 103,600,000 120,000 400,000 2,710,700 733,900 2,000,000

89,900 8,542,250 224,840 33,744 2,961,360 3,134 931,840 46,090 528,120 9,300 30,000 7,600 77,857,910 4,780,300 14,090 3,280 1,497,180 186,000 1,129,800 565,550 1,400,180 21,175,058 16,706,960 12,800

-4,932,760.00 2,940 76,275,000 -2,241,490.00 8,000 -22,000 -259,000 1,325,832 -2,429,590 -

PREFERRED ABS HLDG PDR ALCO PREF B DD PREF GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A LR PREF PCOR PREF 2A PCOR PREF 3A PCOR PREF 3B PNX PREF 3B SFI PREF SMC FB PREF 2 SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2E SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2I

17 100 98.1 485 5.49 900 1 1,000 1,011 1,010 106 1.36 965 76.7 73 74 73.7

17.1 100 99.45 485 5.49 900 1 1,000 1,012 1,014 106 1.36 965 76.7 73 74 73.7

17 100 98.1 485 5.49 900 0.99 1,000 1,011 1,010 106 1.36 965 76.3 73 74 73.7

17 100 99.45 485 5.49 900 0.99 1,000 1,012 1,014 106 1.36 965 76.3 73 74 73.7

52,200 9,800 600 2,000 200 370 21,000 1,520 4,005 15,660 20 6,000 10,000 8,130 1,000 2,610 9,900

887,420 980,000 59,400 970,000 1,098 333,000 20,800 1,520,000 4,050,050 15,842,710 2,120 8,160 9,650,000 620,507 73,000 193,140 729,630

-884,000 1,046,385 -

WARRANTS LR WARRANT

1.86

1.9

1.86

1.9

186,000

351,960

-

SME ITALPINAS MAKATI FINANCE XURPAS

5.01 2.48 1.18

5.02 2.48 1.19

4.94 2.48 1.16

5.02 2.48 1.19

265,700 35,000 3,983,000

1,331,595 86,800 4,661,960

3,000 -23,300

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS FIRST METRO ETF 121.7

121.7

120.3

120.5

5,820

704,654

182,382

DDS USD DMPL A1 USD DMPL A2

10.2 10.1

10.16 10

10.2 10

32,540 2,500

331,904 25,201

20,301

MS 10.2 10.1

TRADING SUMMARY FINANCIAL

SHARES 9,472,210

INDUSTRIAL

101,866,783

HOLDING FIRMS

148,291,884

PROPERTY

199,648,311

SERVICES

217,853,682

MINING & OIL

267,583,149

GRAND TOTAL

949,006,050

VALUE 1,728.09 (down) 13.92 679,947,333.31 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,973.17 (down) 15.15 1,214,156,360.137 HOLDING FIRMS 7,724.09 (down) 73.12 945,086,291.96 PROPERTY 4,351.80 (down) 27.95 SERVICES 1,676.00 (down) 23.04 1,569,813,551.545 MINING & OIL 7,468.59 (up) 29.30 1,076,898,691.045 PSEI 8,051.52 (down) 66.42 138,767,258.99 All Shares Index 4,913.47 (down) 32.21 5,631,455,776.69 Gainers: 74; Losers: 119; Unchanged: 50; Total: 243

URC divesting 40% stake in NZ, Australian firms

By Jenniffer B. Austria UNIVERSAL Robina Corp. said Monday it is selling its 40-percent stake in Australia and New Zealand businesses to Europe-based Intersnack Group for an undisclosed amount.

URC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the respective board of directors of unit URC Oceania Company Limited and Intersnack approved the former’s sale and the latter’s acquisition of a 40-percent stake in URC’s consolidated businesses in Australia and New Zealand.

URC said the consideration for the transaction would be a mix of cash and shares of Yarra Valley Snack Foods Pty. Ltd., Intersnack’s natural snack food unit in Australia.

“Leveraging on URC and Intersnack’s know-how from their respective markets will yield best practices in manufacturing, supply chain and sustainability practices, setting the groundwork for even larger and more efficient Oceania operations,” URC said.

“Through this transaction, URC monetizes some of the synergies it has generated from its early investments in Australia and New Zealand, while still retaining control and its ability to further create value within and beyond ANZ,” it said.

URC Oceania owns Snack Brands Australia, the country’s second largest salty snacks player and Griffin’s which is New Zealand’s leading biscuit and snack food company.

URC Oceania’s topline growth posted mixed results in 2018, with Snack Brands growing driven by the Nice and Natural brand and Griffin’s topline declining due to competitive pricing pressures on sweet biscuits and salty snacks.

URC said the transaction with Intersnack would be completed once the necessary approvals were obtained from the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board and New Zealand Overseas Investment Office.

The privately-owned Intersnack Group is a European business with operations in 24 countries. The company has built an extensive product portfolio of savory snacks including potato and tortilla chips, puffed and other corn snacks, baked products, popcorn and nuts. It holds a leading position in all markets and generates about $3 billion (P158.6 billion ) in net sales across Europe.

In Australia, Intersnack’s presence is currently limited to Yarra Valley, a market leader in better-for-you, organic and gluten-free snacks.

Michael Tan unloads P3.57-b LT Group shares LT GROUP president and chief operating officer Michael Tan unloaded P3.57 million worth of shares in the conglomerate chaired by his father Lucio Tan. LT Group said in a regulatory filing with the Philippine Stock Exchange that Michael Tan on July 3 disposed of 233,000 LT Group common shares at P15.32 apiece. After the sale, the younger Tan will be left with 1,100 LT Group shares.

The share price of LT Group closed lower by 0.50 percent on Monday to P15.80 from last Friday’s close of P15.88.

Michael Tan made the sale on the same day the conglomerate disclosed that the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the proposed amendments to its by-laws, particularly the restoration of the position of vice chairman in its corporate structure.

Under the approved amendments to the company’s by-laws, “the vice chairman of the board of directors shall preside at all meetings of the stockholders and the board of directors in the absence of the chairman”.

Beer the tobacco tycoon Lucio Tan chairs LT Group. The conglomerate, however, has yet to appoint a vice chairman.

LT Group is the listed holding company of Lucio Tan with investments in banking, beverage, sugar milling, tobacco and real estate.

LT Group’s net income jumped 22 percent in the first quarter to P4.42 billion from P3.63 billion a year ago.

The group’s banking unit Philippine National Bank contributed P1.08 billion or 24 percent of the total attributable income while tobacco business accounted for P2.84 billion or 64 percent of the total.

Liquor unit Tanduay Distillers Inc. added P229 million, while property arm Eton Properties Philippines Inc. and beverage subsidiary Asia Brewery Inc. accounted for P148 million and P82 million, respectively. Jenniffer B. Austria

World

B3

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019 CESAR BARRIOQUINTO, Editor mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Rembrandt masterpiece ‘Night Watch’ restored live

IN BRIEF Chinese students eye other universities

BEIJING―Caught in the crossfire of the US-China trade war, Chinese students are looking for alternative study destinations -threatening to turn off an important source of revenue for American universities.

China accounts for nearly a third of foreign students on US campuses who pour billions of dollars into the economy, but in March their numbers dropped for the first time in a decade.

Visa delays, concerns over being shut out of research projects and safety fears have turned off Chinese students, according to several admissions consultancies and nearly a dozen parents and students interviewed by AFP. Rival education powerhouses such as Britain, Australia and Canada are the biggest beneficiaries, a survey by New Oriental China’s biggest private education provider said.

Japan and South Korea―traditional study abroad destinations for the Chinese elite-and parts of Europe, especially Germany and Scandinavian countries with strong engineering programs, have also seen an uptick in applications, the survey found.

The chilling effect started mid-last year, after President Donald Trump’s administration slashed the visa duration of students in science and technology fields from five years to one in some cases.

“Now there’s a lot of uncertainty on whether they can even finish their studies,” said Gu Huini, founder of boutique college consultancy Zoom In. Over one third of the roughly 360,000 Chinese students in the US study in “STEM fields”—science, technology, engineering and mathematics—according to the Institute of International Education in New York.

But the number of Chinese students in the US dipped by two percent in March compared to the previous year, the first drop since 2009, data from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement shows.

Melissa Zhang, a high school senior in Beijing, said she has abandoned plans to go to the US and was instead taking German lessons, in the hope of getting into a robotics programme in Dresden.

“I’ve already wasted a year preparing for my SATs,” the 17-year-old said, referring to the standardised test needed to enter a US university. AFP

29 die as bus falls off ‘highway to hell’

AGRA, India―At least 29 people were killed Monday after a bus careered off one of India’s busiest roads which has become known as the “highway to hell” because of its poor safety record.

The driver was suspected to have fallen asleep before the bus crashed into a railing and fell into a drain between two flyovers on the Yamuna expressway which connects New Delhi with Agra, the city famed for the Taj Mahal.

Eighteen people were injured, some critically, police said.

More than 150,000 people a year are killed on India’s roads which are notorious for poor design and speeding drivers.

The 165-kilometer Yamuna expressway was India’s longest six-lane highway when it opened in 2012, but about 900 people have been killed on the road since, according to authorities, and Indian media have dubbed it the “highway to hell”.

The state-run bus was taking more than 50 people from Lucknow in northern Uttar Pradesh state to Delhi when the accident happened at about 4.15am (2245 GMT) some 20 kilometers outside of Agra.

It fell more than 40 feet into a drain below the road, crushing the roof of the bus. Running water in the drain complicated rescue efforts, police said.

“Twenty nine persons have died and 18 others are injured,” said Agra district magistrate N.G. Ravi Kumar at the scene of the accident.

“It appears that the driver was drowsy.”

People living in the area said they were woken by the crash and found the badly-mangled bus submerged in blackish-gray water.

“We rushed out of our homes and saw people screaming for help. We got into the drain and tried to save some of them. Soon police arrived and quickly brought cranes,” one witness told reporters.

Most of the victims were sleeping when the driver lost control of the vehicle which had the Taj Mahal painted on its white exterior.

State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered an investigation into the crash and cash compensation of 500,000 rupees ($7,289) for the family of each of the dead.

“The [probe] committee will give a report on the cause of the accident and also suggest long-term measures to avoid such mishaps,” government official Awanish Awasthi said.

The Yamuna expressway was intended to be a symbol of modernity when it was opened, speeding up journey times from Delhi to the key region. But authorities admit there are key safety concerns. AFP

AMSTERDAM―Amsterdam’s famed Rijksmuseum will on Monday begin the biggest ever restoration of Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”, erecting a huge glass cage around the painting so the public can see the work carried out live.

The multi-million-euro overhaul of the giant 1642 masterpiece, one of the world’s most famous paintings, will also be streamed online so that “everyone in the world” can see.

Dubbed “Operation Night Watch”, the project is the “largest and most comprehensive research on Rembrandt’s masterpiece in history”, the museum said in a statement.

“Operation Night Watch aims to preserve the painting optimally for the future and takes place in front of the public in a specially designed glass room.”

Rembrandt Van Rijn was commissioned by the mayor and leader of the civic guard of Amsterdam, Frans Banninck Cocq, to paint the picture of the officers and other members of the socalled “Night Watch” militia.

Experts say the groundbreaking three meter by four meter (nine by 13 feet) picture is the first of its kind to show such a group in motion, rather than in static poses, and features the interplay of light and shadow that the Dutch master is famed for.

Over the last three centuries Rembrandt’s brooding painting has endured travails including an escape from the Nazis, losing large chunks from each side during a move, and three attacks by vandals. AFP

BULL RUN. A heifer bull jumps over participants in the bullring after the second bull run of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, northern Spain, on July 8, 2019. On each day of the festival six bulls are released at 8:00 a.m. (0600 GMT) to run from their corral through the narrow, cobbled streets of the old town over an 850-meter course. Ahead of them are the runners who try to stay close to the bulls without falling over or being gored. AFP

HK police arrest five after night of clashes

H

ONG KONG―Five people were arrested during overnight clashes in Hong Kong between riot officers and anti-government protesters, police said Monday, as the political violence rocking the international hub shows no sign of abating.

The city has been plunged into its worst crisis in recent history following a month of huge marches as well as separate violent confrontations with police involving a minority of hardcore protesters.

The rallies were sparked by a nowsuspended law that would have allowed extraditions to mainland China, but have since morphed into a wider movement calling for democratic reforms and a halt to sliding freedoms in the semiautonomous territory.

Sunday night saw fresh political violence break out in the district of Mongkok as police baton-charged small groups of masked, largely young protesters who were walking along roads and refused to disperse following another massive, peaceful rally earlier in the day.

In a statement issued early Monday morning, police said the group were taking part in an “unlawful assembly” and had been warned that officers would take action.

“Some protesters resisted and police arrested five persons for assaulting a police officer and obstructing a police officer in the execution of duties,” the statement said.

Activists hit out at the police tactics, saying the protesters in Mongkok had remained peaceful as they made their way home and that violence was started by a shield wall of riot officers that had blocked the crowd’s path.

“HKers joined rally peacefully... against extradition bill result in being beaten and assaulted by HK Police,”

democracy activist Joshua Wong wrote in a tweet accompanying pictures of at least two protesters with bleeding head wounds.

“Just another example of excessive force used by the police,” he added in another tweet.

Public anger has soared against the city’s pro-Beijing leaders and its police force after officers used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters outside parliament last month.

Since then the chaos has only escalated. Last Monday, anger peaked as hundreds of youth-led demonstrators successfully stormed and trashed the city’s parliament.

Those unprecedented scenes―and renewed huge marches―have failed to persuade the government, whose sole concession so far has been to suspend the loathed extradition bill.

Protesters are demanding the bill be scrapped entirely, an independent inquiry into police use of tear gas and rubber bullets, amnesty for those arrested, and for the city’s unelected leader Carrie

Brazil pays homage to Joao Gilberto RIO DE JANEIRO―From the biggest names in its music world to the humblest of its citizens, Brazil paid heartfelt homage Sunday to its “greatest artist,” Joao Gilberto, the pioneering bossa nova musician who died a day earlier.

“This is an event of huge importance to me,” popular singer Caetano Veloso said in a video posted late Saturday on the GloboNews website. “Joao Gilberto, in my view, is Brazil’s greatest artist―of them all.”

The Brazilian legend, whose haunting rendition of “The Girl From Ipanema” has the power to break hearts even 60 years after it was recorded, died in Rio de Janeiro, aged 88, following a long decline.

Brazilian entertainers were quick to react.

“Anyone who was touched by Joao’s music was never the same, whether Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Roberto Carlos, Chico Buarque, Rita Lee, Jorge Ben Jor or even Tim Maia, for whom he was more than an idol: he was a beacon, an angel of the light and delicate touch,” as composer/producer Nelson Motta wrote in a tribute.

On the Sao Salvador plaza in Rio, where musicians come to improvise as passers-by sing along or show off their dance moves, Gilberto’s fans were numerous.

“Anyone who appreciates music loves Joao Gilberto,” 51-year-old biologist Ana Amelia Lima told AFP. “Maybe not all the young people, but there is a legacy, there is a community that appreciates and will continue passing on the legacy that he left behind.” AFP

ANNIVERSARY. People bow before the portraits of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il as the country marks the 25th death anniversary of Kim Il Sung on Kim Il Sung square in Pyongyang on July 8, 2019. AFP

Chigwandali, Malawi’s albino busker, is ready for the world stage LILONGWE, Malawi―Like scores of other buskers, Lazarus Chigwandali plies the streets of Malawi’s capital Lilongwe hoping for a few coins from appreciative passers-by.

But Chigwandali is not your usual street musician. He is an albino, releasing a professional album, and the star of a documentary produced by Madonna.

Albinos are often targeted in brutal attacks in Malawi and other southern African countries because they have white skin due to a hereditary condition that causes lack of pigmentation.

Killings, abductions and gruesome dismembering of body parts for witchcraft are all real dangers.

Despite the risks, Chigwandali, 39, has been out in front of the public for years playing his upbeat tunes on a homemade banjo and a drum that he hits with a pedal operated by his right foot.

His big break came just last year when a

tourist took a video of him on a cellphone and the footage was seen by Swedish producer Johan Hugo, who asked him to record an album.

Chigwandali, who sings in the local Chichewa language, draws on his tough upbringing for his music, telling of constant harassment, suspicion and the threat of physical attack.

“Growing up, people didn’t want us being close to them because of our skin,” he told AFP. “People would leave when I went to watch a football match with my younger brother [also an albino]. Others would jostle us.

“The album talks about the plight of persons with albinoism. How people should not stigmatize others.”

Chigwandali’s music stands out on its own―energetic with sharp vocals that catch everyone’s attention as they walk by.

Hugo, the Swedish producer, was so impressed by the video clip that he tracked

down the Malawian busker and offered to record his music.

“A few golden times in life something blows you away in such an amazing way you just cry and laugh and shake your head,” Hugo said later on social media. “[It was] one of the coolest and most emotional moments of my life.”

Chigwandali still busks occasionally to provide for his wife and three sons―two of them albinos―though he hopes the blossoming projects he is involved with will soon bring in a regular income.

He wears a wide-brimmed hat to keep off the sunlight that causes painful damage to his sensitive, heavily-freckled skin, and a traditional handmade shirt with a matching pair of trousers.

Ikponswa Ero, the UN’s chief expert on albinoism, told AFP that Chigwandali was playing a unique role in tackling prejudice against albinos. AFP

Manila

Standard

Republic of the Philippines

TODAY COMMISSION ON AUDIT

Commonwealth Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines

CIRCULAR No. : 2019-004 Date : July 3, 2019 TO

SUBJECT

:

All Heads of Departments, Bureaus, Offices, Agencies and Instrumentalities of the National Government, Heads of Local Government Units, Managing Heads of Government-Owned and/ or -Controlled Corporations, COA Assistant Commissioners, COA Directors, COA Auditors, and All Others Concerned

:

Clarification on the COA Technical Evaluation Report as an additional documentary requirement for payment under Variation Order/Change Order/Extra Work Order

Under Section 9.1.1.2 of COA Circular No. 2012-001 dated June 14, 2012, the submission of the COA Technical Evaluation Report for the original contract and/or for the previously approved variation order is required as a supporting document for changes in infrastructure transactions/ contracts.

This rule has been construed in such a way that the submission of the COA Technical Evaluation Report is seen as a prerequisite to the payment under variation order.

In view of the lifting of pre-audit and the adoption of risk-based audit, it is hereby clarified that the COA Technical Evaluation Report is not required as a supporting document to claim for payment under variation order. The submission of said report is necessary to aid the post-audit of payments relative to infrastructure transactions/contracts.

This Circular shall take effect immediately.

MICHAEL G. AGUINALDO Chairperson

JOSE A. FABIA Commissioner (MS-JULY 9, 2019)

ROLAND C. PONDOC Commissioner

LGUs

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

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TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS

Isko: Manila to ‘vigorously collect’ taxes

By Vito Barcelo MAYOR Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said Monday Manila will need to vigorously collect taxes as the city runs on a budget deficit after inheriting a P4.3-billion deficit left behind by his predecessor Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

Citing a report from the Commission on Audit released over the weekend, Moreno said Manila also owes P214 million to the Government Service Insurance System, belying the former city chief executive’s claim that the Estrada administration turned over P10 billion to the new regime.

As late as September 2018, thenMayor Estrada said Manila was already debt-free, as the former president handed to the Bureau of Internal Revenue a P200-million check to settle the city’s tax liabilities from 2007.

But the recent COA report said Manila’s P5.361-billion General Fund is insufficient to cover its payables and trust liabilities worth P9.047 billion, aside from unrecorded disbursements, unimplemented Development Fund projects, and savings and differences in intra-agency accounts.

Moreno also said the previous administration entered into P2.9 billion worth of contracts in Estrada 30 remaining days in office. He promised he will look if these contracts are legal and if the projects really benefit the public.

Vice governor sets aside salary for NV poor

NEW LAWYERS. Commission on Audit Chairperson Michael Aguinaldo (center, with eyeglasses) leads the 21 newly inducted members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines Bulacan chapter who took their oath before Bulacan Regional Trial Court Executive Judge Olivia Escubio-Samar last Friday at the Hiyas Pavilion in Malolos City. During the event, guest of honor and speaker Supreme Court Associate Justice Alfredo Benjamin S. Caguiao also administered the oath of the new IBP officers led by lawyer Anel Antero. Among the Bar’s new lawyer-members is lawyer Olivia Paula Mauricio (inset), daughter of Manila Standard Bulacan correspondent Orlan Mauricio.

COA flags QC’s P1.5-b works

By Rio N. Araja

T

HE Commission on Audit has flagged the Quezon City government for P1.5 billion worth of unimplemented infrastructure and development projects last year.

The city government, for its part, told COA that its observations and recommendations would be considered.

This developed as Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte issued Executive Order 2, creating the City Development Council to promote a harmonious relationship between the city government, the barangays and nongovernment organizations to formulate development various programs and projects.

Based on COA’s 2018 audit report,

the city government was able to accumulate P999 million worth of 28 suspended infrastructure projects and P559 million worth of either suspended, delayed, cancelled or otherwise unimplemented development projects.

At least 28 infrastructure projects worth P813 million were suspended due to variation order, while P10.6 million was not yet turned over to a school, state auditors said.

Other unfulfilled projects were due to revision of plans (P4.3 million),

barangay order (P2.4 million), encroachment (P21 million) existing structures (P17 million), and Maynilad repairs and construction (P3 million).

“The implementation of these projects were suspended on grounds not provided in the Procurement Act, thus affecting the dates of completion and timely use of the facilities for public services,” the COA findings read.

The commission told the city government to review the grounds for the suspension of work of the 28 infrastructure projects to determine their propriety, consider issuing another order for the project resumption, and strictly comply with the requirements of procurement laws in suspending infrastructure projects.

Wilcon unveils 8th Visayas branch in Makato, Aklan

By Ben Moses Ebreo BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya— Vice Governor Jose Tomas Sr. said he will set aside his monthly salary for the benefit of the poor in the province.

Tomas, also the Chief Executive Officer of the Tam-an Multi-Purpose Cooperative, made history as the first indigenous Ifugao to become vice governor of Nueva Vizcaya and presiding officer of the 10th session of the province’s Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

He recently presided over the provincial board’s inaugural session, which tackled the election of committee chairmanships, among others.

Tomas said his monthly salary, along with his son’s take as executive assistant, will be reserved for his assistance to the poor. It was unclear if he would still draw an income from the TMPC. “Thank you for those who came and supported me. I am asking our fellow Novo Vizcayanos to unite and work despite our political differences. We should move on and work as one for the development of our province,” he said.

While he was “disgusted” with the turnout of the election of SP committee chairmanships, Tomas said he respects the rule of the majority.

Photo shows (from left) Christian Lima and Patrick Fabrijar from the Office of the Mayor; Mayor Abencio Torres of Makato, Aklan; Johnson Dy, contractor of Blue Jay Engineering and Surveying Services; engineer Paulo Dorado of Wilcon Corp.; architect Edyjob Rivera of Wilcon Corp.; and Juanito Jacinto, project supervisor of Blue Jay Engineering and Surveying Services.

WILCON Depot, the Philippines' leading home improvement and construction supply retailer, successfully held another groundbreaking ceremony in Makato, Aklan.

Eagerly fulfilling its aspiration of bringing its retail stores to more key cities and provincial localities, the retail giant marked another business milestone last June 28 at Brgy. Calangcang in Makato for the groundbreaking of Wil-

con Depot Makato Aklan, their eighth branch in the Visayas region.

With Wilcon's plan to reach and serve more Filipino home builders and homeowners all over the country, expect more upcoming branches in different localities and provinces to be revealed soon.

Started in 1977 as a 60-square meter hardware store, Wilcon is now boasting a 53-strong store network nationwide with an average size of 10,000 square

meters per store and the only publicly listed company in its sector.

In 1977, Wilcon started as a 60-square meter shop along Quezon Avenue. It carried an extensive array of the latest building and finishing materials from international and local markets. A few years after its successful yet humble inception, more branches were established across the Metro and in various provinces in the country.

Salceda vows to push DDR, TRABAHO bills

ALBAY Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda has vowed to push as priority measures in the 18th Congress bills creating the Department of Disaster Resilience and the Tax Reform for Attracting Better and Higher Quality Opportunities.

Salceda principally authored the same measures among the 34 measures he filed in the 17th Congress, 12 of which he considers priority legislations, topped by the DDR and TRABAHO. The 10 others are the Housewives Compensation Act, Amendments to the Public Service Act, Pubic Schools of the Future, Internet Speed and Connectivity Emergency Act, 35-Hour Workweek Act, Last Mile Schools, Science for Change Program, Mandatory Overpass near schools for students safety, Public-Private Partnership Modernization Act, and Protection for Freelance Gif Workers in the Gif Economy Sector.

Salceda’s 22 other bills include amendments to the Retail Trade Liberalization Act, Foreign Investments Act, Fiscal Regime for the Mining Industry, Real Property Valuation and Assessment; National Transportation Act, Capital Income and Financial Taxes Reform, Excise Tax Rates on Alcohol, National Competition Policy Act, Productivity Incentives, National Innovation and Policy Act; Public Schools of the Future bill or PSOFT, Collective Investment Scheme, the New NEDA Law, PNR Authority and PNR Corps, Compensation for SK Kagawads and officers, SKOK or Special eligibility for SK Officers, Moving Barangay and SK elections to 2021, Proof of Parking, National Land Use Act, FinLit Law, Scam Finder Act, Mandatory Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, and Lowering of Age of Criminal Liability.

Salceda, who won his second term unopposed as Albay 2nd district Representative in the May elections, said the administration’s supermajority win in the last polls would ensure the passage of the needed legislations that would lead the country towards more economic, political and social reforms.

Arcillas back at Santa Rosa helm Mayor Arlene Arcillas speaks to city employees, officials and new councilors of Santa Rosa, including Hon. Arnel Gomez, Sangguniang Panlungsod Presiding Officer; Sonia Algabre, Mythor Cendaña, Ina Clariza Cartagena, Laudemer Carta, Roy Gonzales, Ma. Theresa Aala, Rodrigo Malapitan, Antonio Tuzon Jr., Wilfredo Castro and Jose Joel Aala.

Roy Tomandao

JULY 1 is not only the first day of Arlene B. Arcillas’ birth month, it also marked her first day—again—as City Mayor of Santa Rosa City in Laguna, having been elected to three terms previously.

Though she was also able to serve the people of Santa Rosa while in Congress, Arcillas admitted: “Your servant returned to you, because you always go back to where your heart belongs.”

Mayor Arlene served Santa Rosa as Mayor for three terms in 2007, 2010 and 2013. Before that, she served as Kabataang Barangay Federation President of Santa Rosa in 1984; was elected Senior Councilor in 2004, became Vice Mayor in 2005, and was Officer-inCharge Mayor in 2006.

Remembering her father, the late

Mayor Leon C. Arcillas, Mayor Arlene said her father’s love for the people of the city spread to their entire family as well, and that is why the hearts of the Arcillas “will be with the people for always.”

In a speech on her first day of office, she said the city has been steadily developing, and it is her dream that everyone will also feel it in their own lives and households. The mayor vowed to work doubly hard so people can really feel and benefit in its growth.

Promising to continue her administration’s practice of participatory governance, Arcillas said she and the other newly elected officials “will be needing the support of the people especially the employees of the city government.” Roy Tomandao

Life

Bernadette lunas, Issue Editor manilastandardlife@gmail.com @manilastandardlife

health and environment

@MstandardlIFe tuesday, july 9, 2019

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Monitoring Sulu Sea’s reef region DIVING FOR BETTER UNDERSTANDING. The team of researchers from DLSU-SHORE and WWF-Philippines conducts reef research trips to assess coral cover and recruitment in Sulu Sea.

A

GROUP of researchers recently embarked on consecutive reef research trips in Sulu Sea, said to be the richest reef region in the world, to monitor the coral reef situation in Tubbataha, Cagayancillo islands, honda bay, and Taytay in Palawan.

With grant from World Wide Fund for Nature Singapore, Dr. Wilfredo Licuanan with his team of research assistants from the De La Salle University br. Alfred Shields FSC Ocean Research Center (DLSU-ShORE) and the WWF-Philippines, conducted reef monitoring for the project dubbed Designing of Monitoring and Evaluation System for Coral Reef Resilience and Fisheries Sustainability in Northeast Palawan through Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) or Network of MPAs. The project kicked off with a week-long navigation in Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park, where 10 previously established coral monitoring stations were surveyed, including the ship grounding sites of Ming Ping Yu and USS Guardian.

In 2013, the grounding sites of the two vessels left fields of rubble, an environment where little to no coral could recruit. however, upon consistent monitoring, Dr. Licuanan found that some plots, specifically in the USS Guardian, are recovering.

“Our projections on recovery rates at the USS Guardian site appear accurate.

The impact plots should look like how it was before the grounding in four years,”

expounded Dr. Licuanan.

“One Ming Ping Yu plot is also doing well,” he added In June, the research team established monitoring stations in Arena atoll, and in Cawili, Calusa, and Dondonay islands—all part of the Cagayancillo group of islands 178 nautical miles off the coast of Puerto Princesa, and approximately four hours away from Tubbataha.

“The Cagayancillo reefs are interesting as most sites we visited have coral cover levels of oceanic reefs and atolls yet also have the diversity of inshore fringing reefs,” said Dr. Licuanan.

During his surveys, he also observed that the corals in the Arena atoll are most likely prone to temperature fluctuation because of the surge of warm water from the lagoon as the tide changes. This brought him to a hypothesis that the Arena might have climate-resilient corals.

“I suspect it will be tested in the next few weeks as the seas are expected to get warmer in the region,” he said, adding, “I wish we can revisit those reefs sooner.” before the month ended, DLSUShORE and WWF-Philippines organ-

ized a reef assessment training in Puerto Princesa with delegates from the Tubbataha Management Office, Western Philippines University, Palawan State University, Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, Office of the Provincial Agriculture, Office of the Puerto Princesa City Agriculture, Provincial Environment Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and Smart Seas Philippines.

The collaboration with concerned stakeholders and academic institutions is key for establishing a reef monitoring system in the region.

“Working with local people to effectively manage MPAs entails having a common understanding about the situation of the marine environment in the area. Science plays a significant part to achieve this. As we experienced in the past, research results helped explain better the local observations and insights, thus creating a platform for meaningful conversations,” averred WWF-Philippines project manager Marivel Dygico.

For Dr. Licuanan, monitoring reefs is a necessary step after the three-year nationwide coral reef assessment project.

“Monitoring allows us to generate information that we can act on, and potentially save corals. Assessments are useful only for writing obituaries for nature,” he opined.

Researchers assess the situation in Cagayancillo.

Reef survey team gears up for the establishment of a monitoring site in Calusa island.

8 reasons why you should take care of your liver

Not your ordinary 5K run About 4,000 runners join the 100 Run, a challenging running event filled with obstacle courses.

IN CELEbRATION of the 100th anniversary of AIA, life insurer Philam Life‘s hong Kong-based parent company, a fun obstacle-filled run event was recently held to challenge participants’ muscles in the body.

The 100 Run is a 5-kilometer course which had 10 stations composed of rows of hurdles, 10 meter-long challenges, and various types of obstacles.

Participants went through limbo racks, ran through a tunnel, wiggled their way out of a spider maze, jumped on tires, and went down an inflatable slide to get to the finish line.

To make the 100 Run more exciting, Philam Life’s brand ambassadors Mond Gutierrez, Solenn heussaff, Nico bolzico, and Wil Dasovich formed their own Runbassador Teams of 25 members each, challenging their members to run faster than the other teams to earn more points.

Coming out on top was Team Mond, whose members each brought home a Garmin Vivofit 4 watch.

Various prizes were also raffled off, including a trip for two to bali, Rudy Project and ITAnano watches, and Garmin fitness devices.

Philam Life brand ambassadors (from left) Solenn Heussaff, Mond Gutierrez, Nico Bolzico, and Will Dasovich

ThE liver is the largest and busiest internal organ of the body. With more than 500 bodily functions attributed to it, it may as well be called a “Silent hero.” here are eight things about this hardworking organ you probably didn’t know about.

- Liver is a storage facility. It stores important vitamins, energy, and minerals and releases them in the blood.

- It is a soldier. It helps in resisting infections by producing immune factors and removing bacteria from the blood.

- It is a nutrient processing plant. Every time a person feeds themselves, their liver feeds them. It processes multiple nutrients once food is digested, thus what an individual eats and drinks can tell how healthy their liver is. Among l i v e rfriendly food and drinks are grapes, berries, garlic, coffee, and green tea.

- It is a detoxifier.

It detoxifies by metabo-

lizing and expelling drugs, alcohol, and environmental toxins from the system.

- It also produces proteins that are crucial in blood clotting.

- It can be abused by alcohol.

Further, liver disease may be caused by obesity, parasites, viruses. and bacteria.

- Symptoms of liver disease include fatigue, jaundice, abdominal pain, and weight loss. There are blood tests used to help diagnose and monitor liver disease or damage.

These tests measure the levels of liver enzymes and proteins in the blood.

- It needs love and care. Experts strongly advise eating and drinking mindfully to keep the liver healthy. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and proper diet, together with intake of essential phospolipids may also help improve liver function.

Manufactured in Germany, Phospolipids (Essentiale Forte P) contains purified essential phospholipids or EPL extracted from natural food that can be easily absorbed by liver cells.

Essentiale Forte P contains essential phospholipids that help improve liver function.

Life

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tuesday, ju juLy 9, 2019 manilastandardlife@gmail.com

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Gene-based program addresses recurring pain problems

physicAl therapy clinic utilizes genetic profiling to devise a treatment program for recurring joint and muscle pain.

Almario physical Team (ApT) offers a new program, dubbed Prueba, which uses an innovative diagnostics technology from the United States to determine the patient’s underlying health problems on muscles and/or joints, which usually occurs even after the patient has already taken medicines or when procedures were already done.

Using results of the genetic analysis, Prueba combines pain management, weight management, and strength and conditioning in one program.

This helps patients return to their productive lives and reach their maximum health potential, without worrying of constantly going back to their physiotherapy centers, a common issue among physical therapy patients who have poor weight management according to APT chief executive officer Ayeza Almario.

According to Almario, the increased weight places more stress on joints in the lower back, hips, knees, and ankles. The body’s reaction from extra stress brought by poor weight management and sedentary lifestyle leads to symptoms of pain, tightness, and postural issues.

“During our seven years in the physical therapy industry, my team has constantly been looking for how we can treat patients to prevent the recurrence of pain,” said Almario, adding, “It’s not because I don’t want to see them again but because I understand what they are going through.”

With her personal experience, the physical therapy clinic CEO, who does a lot of traveling, can attest that a busy lifestyle can bring disadvantages to one’s health. For one, she shared, she experiences stress from a strained body.

Almario Physical Team’s new treatment program Prueba uses an innovative diagnostics technology to devise the right procedure to address patients’ muscle and joint pain.

While she does regular visits to their clinic to check on her back pain and continue her strength and conditioning regimen, she knows that managing her health need not be a trial and error method.

“If I, myself, spend this much time and effort but still unsatisfied with my results, what more our patients?” she mused.

“I told myself that I want a map that will bring me to the right direction for my health. I want to share this map with our patients so we can help them save time, energy, effort, and money.”

Almario said she was inspired to bring this development to a larger audience so that more people not only receive health treatment which has value-for-money but also save time and effort.

The Prueba Premium Program consists of world-class machines including Rehab Roller, Rehab Capsule, Vacuum Treadmill, Body Composition Analyzer, and Real Time Ultrasound Imaging for core muscles.

APT’s physiotherapists are trained to use these machines, keeping in mind the mission of providing patients the most comfortable and painfree experience.

APT is a group of medical practitioners, and highly skilled and licensed professionals. They have been trained to analyze the results of the gene profile, and have extensive experience in the recommendation of treatment through a thorough medical assessment.

Using results of the genetic analysis, Prueba combines pain management, weight management, and strength and conditioning in one program.

Skin SOS: Post-summer skincare

cAring for skin goes beyond the summer season. Here’s a rule thumb: throughout the year—rain or shine, indoor or outdoor—UV rays are present and can cause serious damage on a person’s largest and, as it is, most exposed organ.

Keep skin cool with a facial spray

Always have a bottle of facial mist ready especially when outdoors. Not only does this help the face cool down a bit, it can also soothe and hydrate skin.

Stay hydrated

It’s a year-round priority to stay hydrated, especially during increased temperatures, to avoid dizziness and headaches. Drinking eight glasses of filtered water can go a long way in maintaining proper health so always bring a water tumbler.

Go to www.almariophysioteam.com for more information.

6 things to avoid when you have a sore throat sore throat or pharyngitis can begin as a simple inconvenience of minor itch and a bit of scratchiness at the back of the throat, and turn into an extremely painful complication that makes swallowing and talking difficult.

The most common, or 85 percent, cause of sore throat is viral infection.

There’s also a less common type of sore throat, called streptococcal infection that is caused by bacteria. in any type of sore throat, most people’s concern is easing the pain. But experts say there are some things that people think relieve the condition but actually worsen it.

Use sunscreen

Unknown to many, sun’s rays are dangerous even on cloudy days. Hence, underscoring the importance of wearing sunscreen every day. choose a sunscreen that provides UVA and UVB protection with SPF levels of 30 or higher. It is recommended to reapply every two hours for maximum protection, and if possible, stay away from direct sunlight during peak hours of 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Wear a hat

More than a fashion accessor y, wearing a hat—ideally one with a wide brim—whenever outside, can help shield a person properly from the sun’s harmful rays.

Consuming cold food and beverages

While consuming cold food and beverages may help eliminate discomfort, some food items should be avoided as, instead of easing pain, they may even aggravate it.

Most cold food and drinks that are dairy-based such as ice cream, milkshakes, and yogurts should be avoided because they only thicken the mucus and may eventually worsen sore throat.

Taking antibiotics

Antibiotics fight bacteria, but most of the time, sore throat is caused by viruses, which means antibiotics are not going to work. Taking up antibiotics when not needed may lead to antibiotic resistance.

This, however, changes if the sore throat is due to bacterial infection.

Thus, it is important to consult with a doctor before taking any antibiotics.

Relieve, exfoliate, moisturize

Experts says there are things that people think relieve sore throat but actually worsen it.

help treat sore throat. But this legend is full of hot air. Those fluffy, sweet treats do not contain anything that can treat the condition. Made up of sugar, water, and gelatin, marshmallows are quite easy to swallow, but that does not mean that it does anyone any good.

Sugar is a super acidic food that

Gargling with a regular mouthwash

Trying out various home remedies

More often than not, self-medication will not make sore throat go away. Some can just soothe or provide relief for discomfort for some time, but not prevent it from getting worse. Hence, it is best to use clinically-proven products that can help kill viruses quickly as soon as one experiences the onset of sore throat.

A regular mouthwash is only effective in removing food debris in mouth, and does not help in killing viruses, bacteria, and fungi.

Most mouthwashes which claim to have antibacterial properties may not suffice as well.

When treating sore throat, it’s important to reach for an oral gargle that is clinically proven to address the root of the problem quickly.

Opting for temporary relief

Munching on marshmallows

There’s this internet urban legend thatsays marshmallows can

causes an imbalance in body’s acidbase. Pathogens (infectious agents) love an acidic environment and thrive on such imbalances in the body. This means consuming marshmallows may make one’s body—throat included—a hangout of viruses and bacteria.

Povidone-Iodine (Betadine) throat spray and oral gargle

Trying currently available over-thecounter throat lozenges can gently numb the tissues in throat but this temporary relief from pain and burning won’t last long. Though it can keep throat lubricated, it won’t be an effective and enough treatment for sore throat.

Antiseptic products, such as Povidone-Iodine (Betadine) throat spray helps stop sore throat with its antiseptic properties that claim can kill 99.99 percent of viruses. It also comes in oral gargle variant ideal for home use.

Suffering from sunburn after failing to apply sunblock? Don’t wait any longer and immediately apply soothing creams and cooling gels to reduce inflammation and redness.

Get rid of dead skin cells by exfoliating using facial and body scrubs. Apply a moisturizing cream to help keep skin hydrated and soft, especially after taking a shower.

Caring for skin and protecting it from harmful rays is just one of the many wellness habits a person can practice to protect their health, that aside from getting an insurance. Axa Philippines offers a line of superior health plan products such Global Health Access, Health Max, and Health eXentials, each one designed to provide the health protection for various needs.

*** speaking of sunscreen, there’s a brand that does not only protect the skin, but cares for the environment, too.

MAgWAi reef-safe sunscreen, born from two beach-lovers’ passion and admiration for the ocean and coral reefs, is designed with natural ocean-loving ingredients that keep users safe from sun damage.

It contains SPF 50+ broad spectrum, and UVA and UVB protection. It’s water and sweat resistant, parabenfree, and uses non-nano ingredients. It also boasts all-natural ingredients such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide which are harmless to coral reefs.

Magwai Reef-Safe Sunscreen

Go to www.magwai.com.ph to know where to get a bottle.

Entertainment

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

C3

nickie.standard@gmail.com

Romina vs Daniela plus Leon in ‘Kadenang Ginto’ ’Aladdin’ airs on GMA 7

COUCH POTATO IVY ROSSINI

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HE teleserye that spawned a thousand memes gets even feistier as Kadenang Ginto opens its newest chapter, promising more high-stakes showdowns between the clashing Mondragons.

Expect more heated confrontations between Romina (Beauty Gonzalez) and Daniela (Dimples Romana), whose lives will soon turn upside down as they meet the new character Leon, played by Richard Yap. But before their paths cross, Romina will continue to experience Daniela’s wrath, after the latter seized all of the riches Romina inherited from Robert.

However, Romina’s sheer determination will put her back on top as she uses all her experiences to rebuild her empire. Leon (Richard), her new business partner, will guide her every step of the way and help her retrieve everything that was taken from her.

As Romina works her way up, Daniela’s world will slowly crumble as their company goes bankrupt. This will ignite Daniela’s fury against Romina and will do whatever it takes to pin down her rival.

Where will the battle between the two Mondragons lead them to? How will Leon create more chaos in their lives?

While the new season of the series has not started yet, viewers have already expressed their excitement for the show on social media. The trailer for its newest chapter, which has already earned 3.8 million views, proved to be a breeding ground for memes, where Daniela is shown walking and wearing a red dress with a matching red luggage.

Since the series started airing in October 2018, Kadenang Ginto has kept viewers glued to their TV screens

The lead cast of 'Kadenang Ginto' (from left) Beauty Gonzalez, Richard Yap, and Dimples Romana

every afternoon, hitting an all-time high national TV rating of 27.3 percent, according to Kantar Media --- a feat for an afternoon series.

The show also helped launched into stardom teen idols Francine Diaz, Kyle Echarri, Seth Fedelin, and Andrea Brillantes, who are now known as The Gold Squad. Their popularity and success have also reached online as their YouTube channel recently received the Silver Creator Award after reaching 100,000 subscribers. The channel currently has more than 500,000 subscribers. *** Asia’s first demonic possession It was in 1953 when the name Clarita Villanueva became the talk of the town.

It was splashed in newspapers especially about her alleged demonic possession.

Different accounts told of her supposed demonic possession while she was in jail.

The story of 17-year-old Clarita— the first reported demonic possession in Asia—is the inspiration behind the film Clarita that has already grossed over P70million as of June 27.

The film focuses on the puzzling occurrence when Clarita was incarcerated.

The character is played by Jodi Sta. Maria in the film and it shows how Clarita’s faith and those of the people

who tried to help her were tested because of the obstacles they had to overcome.

Derick Cabrido studied the records of Villanueva’s case before he filmed her supposed possession. Clarita, a probinsyana, traveled to Manila to look for her father, but, due to some unfortunate incidents, she landed in jail.

In her detention cell, she started manifesting what others thought were signs of demonic possession. While it was suspected that the possessions started even before her incarceration, it became more haunting when she was already behind bars.

Clarita is also screening in Paris (July 14), July 26 in the U.S., 28 July in Dublin, Ireland; and Aug.4 in Oslo, Norway. *** Ariella Arida’s solution for dark spots on her skin If you’re one that immediately develops dark spots on your skin when you go under the sun even for just a short period, then take Ariella Arida’s advice: take CosmoSkin Grape Seed Extract Dark Spot Corrector.

Says the former Miss Universe Philippines representative (2012) where she ended up as 3rd runner up, “I don’t have the fairest of complexions, but it doesn’t mean that I won’t have dark spots.

I love the outdoors. I love the beach, I like doing things under the sun, so the risk of having dark spots is always there. Thank God for CosmoSkin GSE Dark Spot Corrector, the risk is minimized.”

Ariella has been signed by business partners Nino Bautista and John Redentor Gatus of Bargn Farmacuetici Philippines Company (BFC) to be the face of the new product. Ariella is the lead ambassador of the #nofilter campaign of the pharma company.

Says Bautista who founded the company, “Ariella best represent the market the product is addressing.

Especially among Filipinos who love to go under the sun, go on holidays at beach resorts where they soak the sand and sea, like Ariella, CosmoSkin GSE will be their best companion to make sure that their selfies and IG photos are still #nofilter, which means you don’t need an app to “beautify” yourself in photos.”

The “No Filter” campaign seeks to promote natural healthy beauty through the use of supplements that make use of natural ingredients like Cosmo Skin Grape Seed Extract (GSE).

Bautista admits that these are only secondary to what they want to achieve for the millions of Filipinos who use their products.

GMA Heart of Asia unlocks another first as it airs the highlyanticipated Indian series Aladdin (You Would’ve Heard The Name).

The live-action fantasy series follows the intriguing yet enchanting story of Aladdin (Siddharth Nigam) who disguises as the Black Thief of Baghdad, robbing wealthy people to provide for the impoverished communities of their city.

Aladdin’s life is about to change the moment he gets assigned by Zafar (Aamir Dalvi), a minister of Baghdad, to look for a magical lamp. Accidentally, he frees the genie locked inside.

As the story progresses, he will meet his childhood love, the beautiful princess of Baghdad, Yasmine (Avneet Kaur), who is arranged to marry Zafar. While being caught on a love triangle, Aladdin goes on a quest to find his long lost father.

Will the genie help him in his search?

Join the adventures of the Black Thief of Baghdad in Aladdin (You Would’ve Heard the Name) from Monday to Friday at 9:20 a.m. on GMA Network.

Why Loisa is not joining Sue’s ‘Rock Chic’ gig STAR Magic artist Sue Ramirez explains that Loisa Andalio’s non-inclusion as special guest in her upcoming concert titled Rock Chic doesn’t mean that things are not okay between the two of them.

“My friendship with her is back to normal after the controversy we figured into two years ago,” she says.

Tongues started to wag when the list of guests was revealed and it included Maris Racal and Kristel Fulgar whom, together with Loisa, collaborated for a concert with Sue in 2014 titled, 4 of a Kind.

“I hope people won’t put color into it. A limit was set in the number of guests who will appear in the concert.

I can’t have seven guest performers,” Sue explains.

According to the singer-actress, only those who are close to her were considered.

“It was largely based on the level of closeness, I guess. Well, everyone knows that Loisa and I have been estranged for quite some time though everything is settled now. Besides, I’m

really closer to Maris and Kristel so I want to keep it as a concert that is very close to my heart,” she points out.

“In fact, Michael (Pangilinan) who is another close friend of mine will be part of the line-up as well. But as I’ve said, it doesn’t mean that things are not okay between me and Loisa. Truth is we’re good. Actually, I suggested her to be part of the show but she didn’t make the cut.

Perhaps, if the concert is being planned at this point, Loisa will surely be part of it,” she adds.

It can be remembered that two years ago, Sue and Loisa had a tiff. Reports have it that the latter allegedly unfollowed the former in Instagram because of Ronnie Alonte. The two girls were being linked to Ronnie at that time but as everyone knows, it was Loisa and Ronnie who eventually became an item.

“I think what’s important is that Loisa and I are friends again. That thing in the past, we were able to overcome and I’m grateful. Finally, we talked about it and settled our differences. I’m happy with such development. It’s not a good thing if you’re carrying excess baggage in your system, when you’re not good with someone and vice-versa.”

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, July 9, 2019

ACROSS 1 Long-necked pear 5 Resolute 9 Pull candy 14 Wrist-to-elbow bone 15 Actress — Adams 16 Kukla’s friend 17 Not bogus 18 Haunted-house sound 19 Moon goddess 20 Reasonable 22 Software revisions 24 Ultralight wood 26 Unser and Gore 27 Rigorous 30 Request earnestly 34 View from Giza 35 Deviates 36 Trawler’s haul 38 Canteen initials 39 Crocheted items 42 Dorm climber 43 Eatery 45 California’s — Woods 46 Moderator 48 Kerosene burner 50 Past 51 French wine 52 Big swigs

54 Compunction 58 Hurried 62 Major Japanese port 63 Ponce de — 65 Blarney Stone site 66 Made inquiries 67 Run-in 68 Harness part 69 Jazzy Della — 70 Raids the fridge 71 Hearty laughs DOWN 1 Thread knot 2 Margarine 3 Unforeseen difficulty 4 Bullet size 5 Egg producer 6 Sacred images 7 Estuary 8 Diner’s options 9 Start walking 10 False names 11 Like a pancake 12 Excellent 13 Stadium shouts 21 Health-food buy 23 Out-of-date 25 Letting up 27 Wind-driven spray 28 Flip-chart stand 29 String instrument

31 Pitcher in a basin 32 Tijuana kid 33 Refuge 35 It’s — move 37 Changed the color 40 Signs of the future 41 Leaks slowly 44 Makes supplication for 47 Detective story 49 Heated discourse 50 Dulls

53 Convoy chaser (hyph.)

54 Waterfall sound 55 Latin I verb 56 Craft 57 Ultimatum word 59 “Instead of” word 60 Estrada or Satie 61 Lairs 64 Clean air org.

Sue Ramirez and Loisa Andalio

Since they’re okay now, some ask if she will again follow Loisa in her Instagram account.

“Well, in the first place, I didn’t unfollow her. It was only her who unfollowed me.

But she said that of late, she followed me again. Actually, for me, it’s not a big thing.

It’s just social media,” she ends. *** Kapuso actress Andrea Torres admits

she is under pressure now that her latest primetime series The Better Woman opposite Derek Ramsay has officially started airing.

“There is definitely pressure on my part because I want to deliver a convincing performance as twins who are bitter rivals in love. That’s where the pressure is coming,” she states.

How about when it comes to ratings? Isn’t she bothered with the fact that they’re competing with Angel Locsin’s The General’s Daughter over at ABS-CBN? “Well, that’s also part of the pressure although I’ve already prepared myself on that. Yes, I’ve made myself ready with the ratings. What matters is that we’re doing our best to make the show enticing to viewers.”

This is her first time to be paired with Derek. How different is this project from her previous Kapuso programs?

“I think, The Better Woman has a very sexy theme. I did things here that are out of my comfort zone. I did many firsts for the show. As for Derek, my level of trust on him is so high. I’m both honored and challenged to be doing this project with him,” ends Andrea.

Siddharth Nigam as Aladdin in the Indian live-action fantasy series airing on GMA.

Turning...

From C4

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To know more, visit https:// smart.com.ph/Pages/netflix or follow Smart’s Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Nickie Wang, Issue Editor nickie.standard@gmail.com

C4

TUESDAY, JULY 9, 2019

Eugene Domingo is Josephine Bracken in ‘Septic Tank’series ACTRESS Eugene Domingo returns to her iconic role as herself in the “mockumentary” Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 3: The Real Untold Story of Josephine Bracken, the follow-up to the two critically acclaimed Septic Tank movies that will make its way to the streaming service iWant as an original series.

Streaming on iWant this July 17, Septic Tank 3 boldly and wittily takes on historical biopics, after its satire prequels poked fun at the indie film industry and the Filipino rom-com that made the “Septic” brand popular.

In Septic Tank 3, Eugene’s character goes out of her comfort zone and challenges herself by directing, taking on the lead role, and producing her own film about Bracken, Jose Rizal’s wellknown paramour.

As a first-time director, Direk Uge makes the calls and decisions, gathering the best talents in the industry to produce her movie.

Will her first movie achieve its desired outcome after she casts hunky actor Tony Labrusca as her leading man Jose Rizal?

Manila hosts Man of the World 2019

By Eton Concepcion

MALE pageant Man of the Word 2019 pageant kicked off with the press presentation of some thirty candidates from around the world at Hotel Benilde, Arellano Avenue, Manila on Thursday. Man of the World Nepal was voted Media’s Choice while Netherlands and Guinea-Bissau tied for second and Philippines was third.

Mr. Spain Carlos Marquez Saez won the gold medal in the National Costume competition.

Indonesia’s Isaac Agung Budiman won the silver while the bronze was awarded to the Philippines’ John Paul Ocat and India’s Krishna Salak. Ocat, a model from Cebu, wore a Sinulog-Santo

In 'Ang Babae Sa Septic Tank 3,’ comedienne Eugene Domingo plays Josephine Backen opposite hunk Tony Labrusca as Jose Rizal.

Before the seven-episode series drops on iWant, users can watch the first two Ang Babae sa Septic Tank movies for free on the streaming service.

Niño (Child Jesus) festival-inspired national costume.

The Man of the World 2019, now on its third year, is being presented by Prime Event Production Philippines, Inc. (PEPPS), headed by its president Carlo Morris Galang, and aims to promote education through its “Masculinity With Responsibility” campaign motto. Last year’s Clint Karkliñs of the Philippines finished as first runner up.

The gorgeous candidates, along with the reigning Man of the World 2018 Cao Xuân Tài of Vietnam, went to Dipolog City for advocacy tour, school visit and Mayor’s Night event prior to the swimwear competition that took place at Dipolog Boulevard on July 7 and the formal wear Fashion of the World show in Dipolog City on July 8.

A Charity Gala Night will be held tomorrow, July 10, at Windsor Place in St. Mary Ave., Jose Dela Peña, Marikina. The World Finals will be held at Fil-Oil Flying V Center, San Juan City on July 11 at 7:00 p.m...

Man of the World 2019 winners of the National Costume competition with Mr. Philippines John Paul Ocat (leftmost) placing third.

Turning Manila upside down with launch of ‘Stranger Things’ new season WHAT to better way to celebrate the new season of Netflix’ Stranger Things than enter its mysterious and quirky ‘80s universe?

PLDT, Smart turned Manila upside down by bringing fans of Netflix’s Stranger Things, an immersive experience through a fun-filled pop-up event held from July to 7 at the SM Mall

Millie Bobby Brown, lead cast member of Netflix's 'Stranger Things'

Seasoned broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez-Roxas hosts the third edition of The EDDYS on Sunday at the New Frontier Theater.

of Asia Atrium and a grand pyromusical billboard along EDSA Libertad Southbound, also on July 4.

The Stranger Things Fun Fair at the SM Mall of Asia Atrium transported maligners to Hawkins, Indiana during the summer of 1985, with themed booths that let them complete an adrenaline-pumping mission to defeat the Demogorgon into the Upside Down for a chance to win awesome prizes.

Smart Elite ambassadors Laura Lehman, Curtismith, Ava Daza, Paolo Valenciano, Katarina Rodriguez, Alyssa Gibbs, and Gabs Gibbs dove headfirst into the fun by visiting the ‘80s carnival on its first day.

Each challenge let visitors earn points, which gave them a chance to take home exclusive Stranger Things 80’s memorabilia. Plus, they got to watch snippets from the latest season along the journey.

As an additional treat to the Filipino fans, PLDT, Smart, and Netflix mounted the first-ever vertical pyromusical billboard featuring Stranger Things on EDSA Libertad Southbound on July 4. Continued on C3

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HE annual EDDYS Awards or Entertainment Editors’ Choice returns to its home at the New Frontier Theater in Araneta Center in Cubao, Quezon City.

The premier performing arts venue hosts the third edition of The EDDYS on July 14, Sunday, 8:00 p.m., with seasoned broadcast journalist Korina Sanchez-Roxas as the master of ceremonies.

The awards show will be powered by the performance of artists such as Kuh Ledesma, Ice Seguerra, Aicelle Santos, Gerald Santos, Rayver Cruz, Lara Maigue, Bituin Escalante, Rita Daniela, Hashtags’ Rayt Carreon, Jem Cubil and Andrea Babierra, Sean Oliver, Both of Us (BOU), RJ dela Fuente, Acapellago, and Raket Manila Dancers.

In partnership with Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), led by its chairperson and CEO Liza Diño, the Society of Philippine Entertainment Editors (SPEEd) will pay tribute to the illustrous career of EDDYS Icon awardee and 2019 best actor nominee (Rainbow’s Sunset) Eddie “Manoy” Garcia.

Among the nominees in the Best Picture category are Citizen Jake, Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral, Liway, Rainbow’s Sunset, and Signal Rock.

In the Best Director race, Chito Roño (Signal Rock), Jerrold Tarog (Goyo), Joel Lamangan (Rainbow’s Sunset), Kip Oebanda (Liway), at Mike de Leon (Citizen Jake) are vying for the coveted award.

Up for the Best Actress plum are Angelica Panganiban (Exes Baggage), Glaiza de Castro (Liway), Gloria Romero (Rainbow’s Sunset), Judy Ann Santos (Ang Dalawang Mrs. Reyes), Kathryn Bernardo (The Hows of Us), Nadine Lustre (Never Not Love You) and Sarah Geronimo (Miss Granny).

Piolo Pascual (Ang Panahon ng Halimaw), Carlo Aquino (Exes Baggage), Christian Bables (Signal Rock), Daniel Padilla (The Hows of Us), Dingdong Dantes (Sid & Aya: Not a Love Story), and Paolo Contis (Through Night & Day) are competing for the Best Actor trophy.

Apart from the major acting and technical awards, six special awards will be given out during the big night: The Joe Quirino Award will be handed to TV-radio host-columnist Cristy Fermin; Manny Pichel Award will be given to entertainment columnist and talent manager Ethel Ramos; Rising Producers’ Circle will be awarded to Spring Films and T-Rex Entertainment; Producer of the Year will go to Star Cinema; Lifetime Achievement Award will be received by Elwood Perez; and a recognition will be given posthumously to the late Comedy King, Dolphy.

Carrying on the tradition of paying tribute to movie stars who have made an indelible mark in the industry through their significant bodies of work, this year’s Icon Awards will be conferred upon Amalia Fuentes, Tirso Cruz III, Christopher de Leon, Joseph Estrada, Eddie Gutierrez, Anita Linda, Dante Rivero, Celia Rodriguez, Vilma Santos, and Lorna Tolentino.

As SPEEd joins in the celebration of the 100 years of Philippine Cinema, the group will also honor some of the industry’s “unsung heroes” who work behind the camera.

Some of the honorees are Tommy Abuel, Tony Mabesa, Pepito Rodriguez, Perla Rodriguez, Lorli Villanueva, Robert Arevalo, Rustica Carpio, Val Campbell, Lucy Quinto, Romy Peralta, Romy Vitug, Vic Delotavo, Armida Siguion- Reyna (posthumous), Val Iglesias, Rosa Rosal, and Odette Khan.

This segment of the awards night will be anchored by TV hostjournalist Lourd de Veyra.

Meanwhile, Kapuso artists Juancho Trivino and Arra San Agustin will be the red carpet hosts.

Produced by Echo Jham Entertainment, led by director Calvin Neria, the EDDYS 2019 is presented by Cignal and will be telecast on Colours Channel on July 21, 9:00 p.m.

Tickets to the EDDYS 2019 will be available on a first come, first served basis at the New Frontier Theater box office on July 9, 10, and 12, from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m.. Only two tickets per person is allowed. Nickie Wang

Celebrated diva Kuh Ledesma is among the guest artists who will perform.

Juancho Trivino and Arra San Agustin will man the red carpet for pre-event interviews with guests and nominees.

The EDDYS 2019 will also pay tribute to the illustrious career of EDDYS Icon awardee and 2019 best actor nominee (Rainbow’s Sunset) Eddie “Manoy” Garcia.