Manila Standard - 2017 September 26 - Tuesday

Transport strike hits QC, Manila

By Vito Barcelo and Bill Casas VOL. XXXI • NO. 224 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

PHASEOUT PROTESTED. Hundreds of stranded commuters, mired in anxiety, wait for a ride along Commonwealth Ave. in Quezon City on Monday, during day one of a two-day transport strike led by the Stop and Go Transport Coalition, protesting the planned phaseout of jeepneys and gearing up for fare increase. Manny Palmero

Sea chase: PH assures Vietnam of fair inquiry

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE Philippines on Monday assured Vietnam it will conduct a fair and thorough investigation into the deaths of two Vietnamese fishermen during a sea chase involving the Philippine Navy off the coast of Pangasinan on Saturday.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano gave the assurance to Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh during the Asean Informal Foreign Ministers Meeting at the United Nations in New York hours after the incident.

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Malaysia disowns Asean stand MALAYSIAN Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said Monday his country would disassociate itself from a watered down statement on the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar released by Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, saying it was “a misrepresentation of… reality.”

Aman also said Cayetano’s statement, issued as this year’s Association of Southeast Asian Nations chairman, was not based on consensus.

“Malaysia has made known its concerns but they were not reflected in the Next page

Sereno slams House for power abuse

By Maricel V. Cruz and Rio N. Araja CHIEF Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno on Monday submitted her reply to the impeachment complaint filed against her and accused the House of Representatives of “abuse of power,” saying it was exercising its impeachment power “without sufficient legal and factual basis.”

Lawyer Justin Mendoza Next page

THOUSANDS of commuters composed mostly of students and workers were on Monday stranded by the strike staged by the Stop & Go Transport Coalition opposing the government’s jeepney modernization plan.

Group president Jun Magno said the jeepney strike, which on Monday affected mostly Bulacan province and some parts of Metro Manila, will continue until tomorrow.

Stranded commuters were observed in Commonwealth, Litex, Monumento and Fairview in Quezon City and Santa Ana and Paco in Manila, while normal jeepney operations continued in many parts of Metro Manila.

Magno said jeepney drivers and operators would not be able to cough up P800 a day to acquire new vehicles that would be sold for P1.6 million per unit for seven years at six-percent interest.

He said not all jeepneys should be required to install GPS navigation devices and speed limiters because those were not applicable to vehicles whose routes were short.

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Rody mulls over amnesty for Reds

By John Paolo Bencito

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte once again floated the idea of declaring a general amnesty to communist rebels, but only if they would surrender and give up their armed struggle against the government.

Pasay teener shot dead; cops deny Kian’s murder A 13-year-old boy was shot and killed outside his Pasay City home Sunday, GMA 7 News reported Monday.

Victim Jayross Brondial was sitting outside his home at about 2 p.m. when a motorcycle-riding gunman drove up and opened fire.

“Just as I went out the door, I heard gunshots and I ran,” Jayross’ mother, Rosanna, said in Filipino.

“But I didn’t know my son was shot, because I saw the gun was aimed at our nextdoor neighbor.”

She went out the door and found her son sprawled on the ground. He died before they reached the

“For the rebels who simply wanted to topple [the] government, just go down [from the mountains] so there won’t be trouble,” Duterte said in a speech before Davao-based journalists over the weekend.

“There won’t be any harassment. I will not make you account for the people you’ve killed. If Congress

will just agree with me, [maybe] I will just declare general amnesty,” Duterte said.

The President said that history suggests that armed struggle against the government will not succeed.

“You’ve been there for 50 years… but nothing has happened,” Duterte said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“What Sison wants, you will not get,” he said, referring to the founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines [CPP], Jose Ma. Sison. “If you fight for 50 years, 100 years, you’ll get nothing from the government. Even the people don’t want the communists.”

Early this month, Duterte said that he is considering

whether to accept the offer of communist rebels for an eventual resumption of the peace talks, but nevertheless said he could not accede to their demand that all political prisoners be released.

The CPP tagged the Duterte government as “anti-people, pro-imperialist, and fascist” for “embarking Next page

Hazing held at Aegis Juris office; police file murder raps

hospital.

Police found six .45 caliber slugs and three casings from the crime scene.

Also on Monday, the four policemen accused of murdering 17-year-old Grade 11 student Kian delos Santos during an anti-drug operation in Caloocan City on Aug. 16 denied the charges against htem.

In the preliminary investigation hearing, Chief Insp.

Amor Cerillo, Police Officer 3 Arnel Oares, and Police Officers 1 Jeremiah Pereda and Jerwin Cruz of Caloocan City Police Community Precinct 7 sought the dismissal of

FRESHMAN law student Horacio Castillo III, who died earlier this month, underwent hazing rites that cost his life at the office of the fraternity that recruited him, according to the Manila Police District.

Excerpts of the complaint filed by the MPD before the Department of Justice on

Monday against 18 individuals indicated the initiation rites were held at the Aegis Juris Foundation Office on Laon-Laan and Navarra Streets near the University of Santo Tomas, where Castillo was a student.

The complaint said the rites occurred between midnight and 8 a.m. of Sept. 17.

Witnesses said they heard some “unusual noise” from people apparently having a drinking session inside the Aegis headquarters.

Hours later, CCTV footage installed beside the Aegis Juris office showed “a member was noticed hurriedly running towards the direction of the Aegis Juris

office while another, [who] was observed busy using his cellular phone, appeared to be worried.”

The police said that based on CCTV footage, John Paul Solano was part of the convoy that brought Castillo from the Aegis Juris Foundation office to the Chinese General Hospital. Next page

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Lacson, Faeldon swap barbs over corruption at Customs

By Macon RamosAraneta SENATOR Panfilo Lacson on Monday shot back at former Customs commissioner Nicanor Faeldon, saying he was “also a bullshit” for being at the center of the tara system at the Bureau of Customs.

In an interview with reporters after filing an ethics

complaint against Antonio Trillanes IV, Faeldon said he never denied there was a tara system, a form of bribe in the BoC. “I believe there is, but saying that I’m part of it, that’s really bullshit,” said Faeldon who fumed at Lacson.

Faeldon challenged Lacson to come out with evidence that will prove his “lies.”

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THEY TAKE THEIR OATH. John Paul Solano (left), a principal suspect in the fatal hazing of UST freshman law student Horacio Castillo III, and UST Faculty of Civil Law dean Nilo Divina (right) take their respective oaths prior to tesifying Monday during a Senate inquiry into the death of the Aegis Juris fraternity neophyte. Ey Acasio

Fake news website misquotes Canadian PM

LEND ME YOUR EARS. What must

Bureau of Customs fixer Ruben Taguba be whispering to son Mark Ruben II during the resumption of the hearing Monday by the Senate into the P6.4-billion shabu shipment which slipped through the government agency.

Ey Acasio

twitter.com/ MlaStandard

CANADA’S Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has not asked world leaders why they are fighting President Rodrigo Duterte instead of focusing on the “world threat” posed by North Korean leader Kim Jongun, the Canadian Embassy in Manila said.

Describing the purported facebook.com/ ManilaStandardPH

S

manilastandard.net

attribution as “fake,” the Canadian Embassy on Monday slammed it and what it called a fake news website which “wrongly attributed” the quote to Trudeau.

“The website, aljazeeranewstv.com wrongly attributed a quote to Canada’s Prime Minister in his address to the United Nations

General Assembly,” the Candian Embassy in Manila said.

It urged the public to always refer to the Prime Minister’s official website for statements and speeches.

In a fake website, claiming to be of Aljazeera News, Trudeau allegedly expressed soft stance Next page

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Wiretap raps vs senator E

X-NEGROS Oriental representative Jacinto Paras on Monday filed abduction, obstruction of justice and wire-tapping charges against Senator Risa Hontiveros before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly keeping minor witnesses in her custody.

He said Hontiveros must be held liable for abducting and influencing the children aged 13, nine and six to leave their parents and to stay in a safe house without informing the authorities.

His accusation arose from the senator’s custody of the

witnesses from Aug. 19 to Sept. 3. He said she only produced them on Sept. 4 to testify in the Senate inquiry in connection with the killing of Grade 11 student Kian Loyd delos Santos.

But Hontiveros on Monday branded as a “desperate at-

PH justifies rejection of half of UN proposals

By John Paolo Bencito MALACAÑANG on Monday justified its decision to reject more than half of the recommendations made by United Nations memberstates on the spate of extrajudicial killings in the country, insisting these formed part of the exercise of the country’s independent foreign policy.

In a Palace news briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the rejection only meant there were certain parameters that “need not be infringed upon” even if they rejected calls of France, Ghana, Hungary and Latvia and several others to allow UN special rapporteur Agnes Callamard to conduct an investigation into the extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the country.

“This is all part of our prerogative to exercise independent foreign policy,” Abella said, stressing Duterte was willing to host a contingent from the UN to open up an office in the country.

He also insisted there was no denial from the Philippine government that there were cases of extrajudicial killings in the country.

“There is no denial there.

In fact, the UN has accepted what we’ve said. However, it’s just that we maintain that

there are certain parameters that need not be infringed upon,” he said.

Ignoring issues raised, the Department of Foreign Affairs claimed the Philippines “scored a big victory” in Geneva when the UN body “overwhelmingly adopted Manila’s human rights report card.”

Evan Garcia, Philippine Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, however, said the country could not fully support 55 of the recommendations because these “were sweeping, vague and even contradictory, especially in the context of the Philippines’ democratic processes.”

With regard to the remaining 99 recommendations, Garcia added the Philippines could not fully commit to them as these were beyond the sole control of any of the branches of the government.

“This is specifically true for recommendations that pertain to legislative action, which would require consultative processes with stakeholders,” he said.

Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said the adoption of the Philippines’ Universal Periodic Review report demonstrated the country “has nothing to hide with its human rights record.”

tempt” the cases filed against her by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre’s group Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.

In a statement, Hontiveros said the charges intended to deflect public attention away from the Aguirre/text conversation inadvertently captured by someone’s camera.

She said that “caught them red-handed plotting against me during a Senate hearing inside the Senate.

She said that also comfirmed the conspiracy hatched

by Aguirre and his VACC to “expedite” the filing of cases against her.

She said that also confirmed that the “Cong. Jing” whom Aguirre was texting was former representative Jacinto Paras.

Paras said Hontiveros received a journalist’s photograph that unlawfully recorded Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre III’s text messages with him.

He said that act fell under wiretapping and cited the law.

“It shall be unlawful for any

person, not being authorized by all the parties to any private communication or spoken word, to tap any wire or cable, or by using another device or arrangement, to secretly overhear, intercept or record such communication,” Paras said.

He said Hontiveros was also liable for obstruction of justice for refusing to turn over the 13-year-old minor witness to the Public Attorney’s Office and the National Bureau of Investigation conducting the probe. Rio N. Araja and Macon Ramos-Araneta

Malaysia...

actions that will further worsen the situation on the ground,” the statement said.

Cayetano’s statement, issued supposedly on behalf of the 10-member bloc, clearly sidesteps the Myanmar government’s crimes against the minority Rohingya people in a crisis the United Nations’ human rights chief earlier this month called “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing,” the Malaysian foreign minister said.

Reacting to Aman’s statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said that it “respects” Malaysia’s decision disassociating itself from Asean chairman’s statement.

The DFA confirmed that Malaysia was able to articulate in several Asean meetings in New York about its stand on the issue, but Manila explained that Cayetano had to “respect and take into account the sentiments of the other members of the 10-member regional bloc.”

“Asean is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in the northern Rakhine State and since Malaysia has different views on some issues, out of respect for its position, we decided that instead of a foreign ministers statement, we would issue a chairman’s statement that would reflect the general sentiments of the other foreign ministers,” the DFA said.

The DFA further explained

that the Philippines, as this year’s Asean chairman, is allowed a certain level of flexibility in formulating the Asean chairman’s statement on various issues.

The DFA said that the chairman’s statement was issued after extensive consultations with Malaysia, adding that the other foreign ministers knew that it will disassociate itself from the statement.

Several years ago, Asean came out with one statement to reflect the position of nine of the 10 member-states, also on the Rakhine issue.

“What is crucial now is that Asean undertakes a coordinated effort to assist Myanmar in addressing the needs of the people in the area, in particular their security, livelihood, and well-being, and to provide humanitarian assistance to those communities which are affected,” the DFA said.

More than 400,000 Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh to escape death and destruction of villages in the Western state of Rakhine.

The Rohingyas, a stateless Muslim minority in Buddhistmajority Myanmar, have long experienced persecution as they are believed to be illegal immigrants.

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been facing international criticism for her handling of the violence against Rohingyas.

Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

MPD officers and Castillo’s parents, Horacio II and Carminia.

Testifying before the Senate public order and illegal drugs committee chaired

by Senator Panfilo Lacson, Solano retracted his statement he was alone when he brought Castillo III to a hospital as he repeatedly invoked his right aganst self-incrimination when sought for the identities of the other fratment involved in the fatal hazing.

Solano said he was with other fratmen who took the victim to the Chinese General Hospital in Manila.

Riding his motorcycle, he tailed the two vehicles, one of which carried the “half-conscious victim.”

Pressed by Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III why Morales, a freshman law student was taken to CGH instead of UST Hospital which was near the frat library on Dapitan Street, where the fatal hazing occured, Solano said he merely heeded the order of his fraternity brothers.

Confronted anew by Senators Grace Poe and Bam Aquino who were the frat members with him when the victim was rushed to the hospital, Solano opted to remain silent and invoked again his right against self-incrimination.

But Solano belied any participation in the initiation rites.

He told the Senate panel he was merely called by a fellow fratman on two occasions and asked to go to the frat library.

During the first call Sunday

morning, he did not ask the reason why he was being directed to go to the frat library.

Since he did not accede to the request, he said the same unidentified fratman called him anew. This time, he asked for the reason, and was informed that “somebody” collapsed.

When he arrived at the frat library, Solano recalled seeing the “half-conscious” victim lying on the floor.

He immediately checked the victim’s pupil and the pulse and administered CPR. When nothing happened, he suggested to his fraternity brothers to bring the victim to a hospital.

Asked by Poe why was he the one summoned by the Aegis fratmen, Solano said he was a registered medical technologist. But he clarified he was on leave from the fraternity as he’s working in the clinic of his father.

He also debunked reports he recruited the victim as he did not personally know him. He said he met the victim only twice.

However, he admitted lying to authorities when he told them that the victim’s body was found somewhere in Balut, Tondo, Manila, when it actually came from the frat library near UST. In a six-page Omnibus Motion filed through his lawyer Paterno Esmaquel, Solano asked the DoJ to stop the inquest proceedings and/ or preliminary investigation of the case until his motion to dismiss had been resolved. Rey Requejo

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chairman’s statement. Hence the chairman’s statement was not based on consensus,” Aman said.

In the Asean chairman’s statement issued on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sunday, Cayetano wrote that the bloc’s foreign ministers expressed concern over the recent developments in Northern Rakhine State of Myanmar, also an Asean member, and extended their deepest condolences to all the victims and affected communities of the conflict.

“The statement... omits the Rohingyas as one of the affected communities,” Aman said.

Although Malaysia condemned the attacks against Myanmar security forces on Aug. 25 by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the subsequent “clearance operations” by Myanmar authorities was “disproportionate” to the incident and lead to the death to many innocent civilians and displaced more than 400,000 Rohingyan Muslims.

In his statement, Cayetano said the foreign ministers acknowledged that the situation in Rakhine State is a “complex inter-communal issue with deep historic roots.”

“They strongly urged all the parties involved to avoid

Hazing...

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Pasay...

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the murder and torture charges filed by Kian’s parents for lack of probable cause.

The policemen maintained that they shot Kian after he supposedly shot at them with his firearm—even though an autopsy showed the boy had not fired a weapon before he died.

“His death is an isolated case because out of the four minors who got involved in Oplan Galugad on August 16, 2017, it (was) only Kian Delos Santos who ran away and worse engaged our police officers in a shootout,” their joint counter-affidavit stated.

They cited the failure of the complainants to establish conspiracy among them in the killing of Kian to make them liable for murder.

“There is no evidence of conspiracy. Nobody among the number of witnesses presented by the complainants testified that a conspiracy among the respondents transpired,” they said.

“All of the witnesses of the complainants have executed their sworn statements and not a single one of them ever mentioned that the respondents conspired when they speak of the killing of Kian Loyd delos Santos,” they said.

In the previous hearing, law-

Sereno...

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went to the House of Representatives Secretary General’s office and filed Sereno’s 85page answer to the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Larry Gadon. He called for its dismissal as the charge was not based on “authentic records” but “conflated hearsay derived from news reports.”

Meanwhile, Sereno’s camp on Monday said the allegations against her were based

yers of Kian’s parents led by Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Rueda-Acosta presented witnesses before the investigating panel of prosecutors.

The witnesses, who all appeared with faces covered with scarfs, affirmed their respective affidavits in support of the allegations against the four police respondents. Their names were withheld for security.

Among them was an eyewitness who saw Kian already under custody of the respondents before he was shot dead.

The minor witness who has been with the custody of the Caloocan diocese also appeared in the hearing.

The PAO also submitted to the DOJ panel the CCTV footage in the area operated by the barangay and results of the forensic exam conducted by the PAO indicating that Kian was lying face down when shot three times--twice in his head and once at the back.

Acosta asked the prosecutors to summon records of the PNP to identify the other policemen who joined the Oplan One-Time Big-Time anti-illegal drug operation last August and who would also be named respondents in the complaint.

The panel has set next hearings on Oct. 2 and Oct. 10 for filing of reply and rejoinder, respectively. Francisco Tuyay and Rey E. Requejo on “fake news.”

At a news conference in Quezon City, Carlo Cruz, Sereno’s lawyer-spokesman, said Sereno’s reply submitted to Congress maintained the “charges in [Lorenzo] Gadon’s complaint are utterly baseless because it is based not on authentic records, much less personal knowledge of the complainant, but on conflated hearsay derived from news reports.”

“This is nothing short of an impeachment exercise based on fake news.”

Another lawyer of Sereno,

The MPD, meanwhile, asked the DoJ to prosecute Solano and 16 other members of Aegis Juris Fraternity for murder and other criminal charges, in connection with the fatal hazing of Castillo.

But Solano’s camp immediately sought the dismissal of the murder case filed against him as well as his release from detention during Monday’s inquest proceedings on the ground of lack of legal basis.

In its complaint, the MPD accused Solano and other respondents with murder in relation to Section 4 of the Republic Act of 8049 or the AntiHazing Law, perjury, obstruction of justice and robbery.

Also named respondents in the complaint for murder and violation of the AntiHazing Law were Antonio Trangia, his son Ralph, Arvin R. Balag, Mhin Wei R. Chan, Ranie Rafael Santiago, Oliver John Audrey B. Onofre, Jason Adolfo Robiños, Danielle Hans Matthew Rodrigo, Karl Mathew Villanueva, Joshua Joriel Macabali, Axel Munro Hipe, Marc Anthony Ventura, Aeron Salientes, Marcelino Bagtang, Zimon Padro and Jose Miguel Salamat.

The MPD took custody of Solano after he surfaced last Friday to deny he had actual participation in the hazing of Castillo.

Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Villanueva conducted the proceedings, attended by Alex Poblador, said Gadon’s accusations, including the purchase of a bullet-proof Toyota Land Cruiser, were not impeachable offenses under the 1987 Constitution. “... the House of Representatives can impeach the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court only upon grounds provided in the Constitution; and it can do so only on the basis of law and evidence,” Sereno said in her reply filed in the House.

But the House “abuses that power by exercising it without legal and factual basis. By do-

ing so, it would in effect place a co-equal branch at its mercy and imperil the very existence of our democratic form of government―a government which rests on the principle of independence and equality of three great branches of government.”

Gadon said Sereno should be impeached for having assets that were not disclosed in her Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth―the same reason why her predecessor, Chief Justice Renato Corona, was impeached and ultimately ousted.

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on Duterte’s government and his war on drugs and urged world leaders to offer advisory and technical assistance to the Southeast Asian nation instead of engaging in unnecessary criticism.

“Why is the world fighting the Philippine government under President Duterte instead of focusing on the real threat from North Korea’s Kim from

Rody...

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on efforts to undermine the very institutions that serve as a check on his executive powers,” including revived threats to declare martial law nationwide and impose a revolutionary government.

Duterte ended the peace talks with the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front in July following a series of attacks of its armed wing the New People’s Army against government forces.

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“We would like to offer our sympathies over the unfortunate loss of life and give you our assurance that we will conduct a fair and thorough investigation into this matter,” Cayetano told Minh.

Vietnam’s foreign ministry urged Philippine authorities to “take strict action” if any mistakes by Philippine forces were found.

The DFA said that investigating teams from the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Philippine National Police have already been dispatched to Pangasinan to look into the incident.

Cayetano, at the same time, assured Minh that the five other Vietnamese fishermen who were taken into custody will be accorded proper treatment and that they can be accessed anytime.

He said the DFA in Manila is in touch with officials of the Vietnamese Embassy to update them on developments and facilitate their access to their nationals, in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

The DFA said it received reports that Saturday’s incident involved a Navy patrol vessel and six Vietnamese fishing boats that it encountered fishing within the Philippine exclusive economic zone, 34 nautical miles off Cape Bolinao.

According to the reports, the Navy patrol boat, which was then en route to Subic, went after the Vietnamese fishing vessels.

In the ensuing chase, one of the Vietnamese boats initiated dangerous maneuvers that re-

Lacson,...

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He said the senator was “obsessed” in “destroying” him and his reputation.

Responding to this remark of Faeldon, Lacson quipped, “I’m really obsessed because he’s been challenging me— I’m really obsessed to pinning him down and to prove he’s involved in corruption.

He said it right.”

Faeldon on Monday filed an ethics complaint against Trillanes whom he called his “idol” but sought his suspension or expulsion from the Senate if found guilty of unethical, unparliamentary and improper conduct as a senator.

In an interview after filing the 14-page ethics complaint at the Senate Ethics Complaint Office, Faeldon stressed it was easy for Trillanes, a former colleague at the Magdalo Group, which launched failed coups against the government of then President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to lie.

“No one’s really taking him seriously as far as his allegations against a lot of people [are concerned]. He has proven it already several times,” said Faeldon.

He challenged Trillanes to prove in the ethics committee his malicious attacks.

“You can’t just blurt out lies to destroy people. You must be more responsible, you have been there for more than 10 years so you should be more careful. You are even my idol,” added Faeldon.

Sought for comment, Trillanes said he would face that ethics complaint squarely because his nuclear program?” the fake news website wrote, claiming Trudeau’s statement made in last week’s United Nations General Assembly.

This news emerged at the same time when some opinion writers quoted the fake news website which went viral among pro-Duterte supporters. They said the fake news cited United States ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley as saying critics should give Duterte a “space to run his nation.” Sara D. Fabunan

sulted in it slamming into the left front and left center of the Philippine patrol vessel.

The reports said this prompted personnel on board the Navy vessel to fire warning shots and when the Navy personnel boarded the fishing vessel, they found two dead Vietnamese fishermen. Five others surrendered and were taken into custody.

The five fishermen in custody would face poaching charges as they were within Philippine waters, Lt. Jose Covarrubias said.

“The Navy ship spotted the six fishing boats (which were) using bright lights to attract fish.

While it was chasing the boats, one boat maneuvered and hit our vessel,” said Covarrubias.

“The officers boarded and searched the boat, resulting in the apprehension of the five and they found the two dead bodies.”

A police report released Monday said it found gunshot wounds on the bodies of the two fishermen while their vessel sustained six bullet holes.

The fishermen’s bodies would undergo an autopsy, the report said.

Foreign fishermen have often been caught trespassing in Philippine waters. Last year President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the release of 17 Vietnamese fishermen caught in his nation’s waters.

In 2013 the Philippines apologized to Taiwan over the killing of a Taiwanese fisherman by Filipino coastguards who said his vessel had illegally sailed into local waters.

Taiwan suspended the hiring of Philippine workers and recalled its de facto representative to Manila in protest.

With AFP he believed he did not do anything to warrant such a case.

“I will also not allow it to divert the focus from the real issue—that the mastermind behind the P6.4- billion shabu shipment is Mr. Paolo Duterte,” said Trillanes.

Faeldon briefly went out of his Senate detention facility where he has been detained on contempt charges for refusal to attend the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing into the P6.4 billion in shabu shipment from China, which was facilitated through the BoC under his watch.

Three more individuals implicated in the smuggling of P6.4-billion shabu shipment seized last May on Monday asked the Department of Justice to dismiss the complaint for lack of evidence.

During the preliminary investigation hearing presided by Assistant State Prosecutor Aristotle Reyes, Customs brokers Mark Ruben Taguba II and Teejay Marcellana and Filipino-Chinese businessman Chen Ju Long alias Richard Chen all submitted their counter-affidavits and denied charges of importation of illegal drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act. The three respondents stressed the complaint by National Bureau of Investigation against them should be dismissed for lack of probable cause.

In the earlier hearing last Sept. 18, two other respondents—Dong Yi Shen alias Kenneth Dong and importer Eirene May Tatad—appeared before the DoJ and also submitted answers denying the charges. With Rey Requejo and Pearl Gajunera

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He said the government should be blamed if there were still many dilapidated jeepneys on the streets because it continued to allow the registration of those vehicles.

Meanwhile, the governmentdeployed buses failed to help ease the lack of transportation because only a few of those were deployed.

In Bulacan and Mandaluyong City in Metro Manila, classes were suspended because of the transport strike.

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Clothing allowance for govt workers up

Solon alarmed over spread of HIV in PH AN OPPOSITION leader in the House of Representatives on Monday raised concern over reports that Philippines has registered the highest growth rate for human immunodeficiency virus infections in the AsiaPacific.

“According to the latest report of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS [UNAIDS], we have become the country with the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in the Asia Pacific region. This is, quite frankly, alarming and simply unacceptable,” deputy minority leader and Kabayan Party-list Rep. Harry Roque.

Roque also batted for the swift passage of the Philippine HIV and AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) Policy Act, where he is one of the principal authors, to help the Philippine government address the problem.

“The bill has already passed muster at the committee level. I hope that it will be acted quickly by plenary as HIV-AIDS is a very critical issue,” he added.

Eamonn Murphy, director of UNAIDS Regional Support Team for Asia-Pacific, earlier said the Philippines has a “small window of opportunity” to act on the epidemic. Maricel V. Cruz

‘Enforce rules vs illegal sale of uniforms’ THE Philippine National Police on Monday ordered all police units and offices to enforce stricter measures to stop the proliferation of unauthorized sellers, manufacturers, and distributors of PNP uniforms and accessories in a bid to deter criminals and other civilians from using military clothing in committing crimes.

In a memorandum, PNP chief Ronald dela Rosa ordered all PNP offices and units nationwide to implement stricter measures on the regulation and control of the use, manufacture, sale, and distribution of PNP-owned industrial designs of uniforms and accoutrements, Dela Rosa has tapped Task Force “Bantay-Bihis” and other PNP units in implementing the new order.

“The memorandum also emphasized PNP uniforms with patches and seals are being used by some criminals and other civilians to usurp the authority and to take advantage for their unlawful actions that ravage the image of the police force to gain the trust and confidence of the public,” said PNP spokesman Chief Supt Dionardo Carlos in a statement. Francisco Tuyay

Microchip workers hold picket HUNDREDS of workers in a factory that make smartphones, missile parts and aircraft console, and other electronic gadgets and equipment held a picket in front of the worksite because of alleged union busting, unsafe and unhealthy workplace and illegal dismissal of its regular workers.

More than 600 Amertron electronics workers complained that officials of Amertron Inc. had mistreated them with poor wages, lack of health insurance benefits and substandard personal protective equipment amid the constant exposure to highly toxic chemicals, fumes and smokes in the assembly of microchips.

The workers affiliated with the United Amertron Organization-Associated Labor Unions-TUCP said that they had been abused for many years by the company’s management.

Vito Barcelo

By Macon Araneta

WATER CHAMPIONS. The Philippine delegation, led by MWSS Administrator and Asia Water Council Director Reynaldo V. Velasco, takes active part in the 1st Asia Water Week and Korea International Water Week in Gyeongju, South Korea, winning citation for its successful water projects and for the local water industry’s best practices. The delegates, include (from left), MWSS Consultant on Strategic Communications Melandrew Velasco, Manila Water Group director for Regulatory Affairs and Asset Management director Abelardo Basilio, Manila Water COO Geodino “Ding” Carpio, SMC Holdings manager Edgar Dona, Manila Water president Ferdinand M. dela Cruz, MWSS Administrator Rey Velasco, Maynilad president Ramoncito S. Fernandez, Maynila AVP for Government Relations Anette Hernandez de Ocampo, Maynilad COO Christopher Lichauco, and Maynilad CFO Ricardo de los Reyes.

Salalima about to be axed before he quit—Palace

By John Paolo Bencito

P

RESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte had wanted to replace Department of Information and Communications Technology Secretary Rodolfo Salalima even before he resigned, a report said Friday.

In a report by SunStar Davao, Duterte named Salalima as among the two Cabinet secretaries whom he wanted to replace, owing to “conflict of interest” of the former DICT chief, who

was once connected with the listed telecommunications giant Globe Telecom Inc. In a chance interview, Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella said the President was “interested”

Return lands to Maranao people, Duterte urged CAMP DARAPANAN, Maguindanao—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has asked President Rodrigo Duterte to “return to the Maranao people” the lands they lost over decades to the government through past Presidential Proclamations, a top MILF leader said Friday.

MILF First Vice Chairman Ghazzali Jaafar said during a meeting last week between Duterte and MILF leaders in Davao City that the MILF vigorously asked the Chief Executive to return to the Maranao people the lands that the government has taken from them from the time of the American colonial government.

Jaafar on Friday read to visiting foreign journalists a historical summary of the Moro land dispossession, starting with the colonial succession of the Americans from the Spaniards with the Treaty of Paris of 1898.

The vice-chairman said President Duterte had verbally approved the MILF’s intercession for the Maranao people to repossess lands they have lost literally to colonization.

Jaafar added that the MILF intercession formed part of the process of “correcting the historical injustices on the Moro people,” from the era of colonization to the extension of a largely Manila-centered government that started on July 4, 1946.

The Manila Standard has run this month a threepart story on “How the Maranaos lost Marawi,” from legislation and Presidential Proclamations by succession of Philippine Chief Executives, starting in 1934 with the QuirinoRecto Colonization Act (Commonwealth Act 4197

of 1934).

According to records of the old Bureau of Lands, which were inherited by the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Marawi City has a total area of 8,396 hectares.

“Practically, nothing is left to the Maranaos,” ARMM Gov. Mujiv Hataman had told the Manila Standard.

ARMM Environment Secretary Hadji Kahal Q. Kedtag said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in ARMM (DENR-ARMM) has preserved original copies of the documents from a sequence of older sources.

The government has classified 6,667.1625 hectares as Military Reservation under Presidential Proclamation (PP) 453, issued by President Elpidio Quirino on December 23, 1953. In 1961, President Carlos Garcia issued PP 806, setting aside 999.3560 hectares for the Mindanao State University school site, after the enactment that year of Republic Act 1387, the MSU charter authored by Senator Ahmad Domocao Alonto.

On Dec. 26, 1956, President Ramon Magsaysay signed PP 375 to apportion 171.4514 hectares of Marawi City area for the Lanao Provincial Capitol. On May 22, 1959, Lanao was divided into Lanao Norte, and Lanao Sur which has retained to date the Marawi-based provincial capitol.

On Dec. 3, 1974, President Ferdinand Marcos signed PP 1354 putting 803.1440 hectares under the control of the state-run National Power Corp. for the development of hydroelectric power facilities.

Nash B. Maulana

in knowing more about the supposed corruption allegations in the agency.

“The President is interested, but there should be validity, there should be substantial evidence,” Abella said.

“If there is really something disturbing, this matter needs to be pursued,” he added.

In a hastily called general assembly with DICT officials Friday, Salalima explained that he wanted to step down as the agency’s top official because he cannot deal with corruption and interference.

Earlier, Duterte said that Manila

he is already finding “the best guy” as a possible replacement for Salalima, whose agency is currently rolling out lucrative multibillion projects, such as the P1.7-billion free public WiFi initiative and the P1.2billion National Broadband Program.

Quoting sources, technology website Newsbytes.PH, which first reported the news of his resignation as DICT secretary, said that Salalima resigned from his post after he allegedly detested the various “pressures” on the job so he decided to quit.

Salalima is the second

member of the Duterte Cabinet to resign, following Vice President Leni Robredo as Housing Secretary. Another Cabinet secretary, former Interior Secretary Ismael Sueno was “fired” by Duterte amid allegations of corruption.

Four others who left the cabinet—former Foreign Affairs secretary Perfecto Yasay, Environment secretary Regina Lopez, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, and Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano, meanwhile, were rejected by the powerful Commission on Appointments.

THE annual clothing allowance of 1.12 million civilian national government employees will increase to P6,000 next year, from the current P5,000, Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said Monday.

The P1,000 hike for the purchase of what Recto describes as the “civil servant’s OOTD” or official outfit of the day, will cost P1.12 billion a year.

The increase will raise the total budget for clothing allowance to P6.71 billion, the amount indicated in the proposed 2018 national budget.

That amount, however, is for civilian employees only and does not cover clothing supplied to soldiers, policemen, firemen and other uniformed personnel.

The annual clothing allowance of a policeman, fireman and jail guard, whose agencies are under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, is about P14,000, Recto said.

The combined uniform budget of the DILG and the Department of National Defense—the latter for Army, Navy, Air Force servicemen—will reach P3.38 billion next year.

Overall, the government will shell out P10.09 billion for the uniform and clothing expenses of its civilian and uniformed personnel next year.

“The P10 billion does not include the clothing allowance of the employees of local governments and government corporations,” Recto explained.

Standard

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A4

Opinion

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Adelle Chua, Editor

EDITORIAL

War of the words

Y

OU know it’s bad when the verbal tussle between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and United States President Donald Trump becomes the subject of an online quiz.

The Guardian put up a story inviting readers to click on Kim’s or Trump’s photo depending on who they thought made a given controversial statement.

These are 10 of the most recent utterances. While scores might vary among quiz-takers, it is apparent either leader could have very easily said: “He is surely a rogue and a

gangster fond of playing with fire.”

“They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”

“Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.” “[The] bastards would be not very happy with this gift.”

“People are saying: ‘Is he sane?’ I have no idea.”

“A frightened dog barks louder.”

“Our nuclear arsenal…is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before…” “There will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world.”

“Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?”

“I’m telling you under the right circumstances I would meet with him.” “[He is] mentally deranged.”

It is easy to take comfort in the fact that other people are doing a fine job making at fools of themselves. We

do not have a monopoly of it, after all.

We rant about our daily inconveniences or betray our biases, or worse, our cluelessness, but we are ordinary people. These, two, however, are national leaders, responsible for the lives and futures of millions of their constituents. So it is quite amusing that they should behave, instead, like children in the school yard at recess.

Reacting to Mr. Trump’s speech at the United Nations where he called him “Rocket Man” and vowed to “totally destroy” his adversaries, Mr. Kim advised

his counterpart to exercise prudence in selecting words and to be considerate of whom he speaks to when making a speech in front of the world.

He would have been remotely convincing until he said: “Action is the best option in treating the dotard who, hard of hearing, is uttering only what he wants to say.”

A dotard is one in dotage, which the Merriam Webster Dictionary defines as a state or period of senile decay marked by decline of mental poise and alertness.

When it dawns on us that they are talking about mu-

tually assured destruction, everything ceases to be amusing. We are then overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, that our fate rests on the whims of individuals such as these.

We are curious about seeing whether it’s all noise.

Under other circumstances we would challenge them to show the world it’s not all bravado.

But because the stakes are just so high, we would prefer them to just be stupid, than stupid and dangerous. We would tolerate all the talk in the world just as long as it does not cross over into action.

TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO

Defending the indefensible LAST week, 45 years since martial law was proclaimed by the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos, President Duterte declared a National Day of Protest. There were several reactions to this.

There were the usual rallies by militants. They condemned martial law and said “never again” should it rule the land. It was also a message to the Duterte administration.

Priests and nuns also protested the alleged human

This takes the cake.

Deja vu all over again LOWDOWN

JOJO A. ROBLES AS YOGI Berra once said, it’s deja vu all over again. But while I have this uncanny but impossible feeling of being in the same situation before, I worry if perhaps some people just want to make it appear that way—to allow them to perpetrate some old, also eerily familiar skulduggery.

Deja vu engulfed me first after I read about the filing by Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno of her reply to the impeachment complaint filed against her in the House of Representatives. Because I closely monitored and covered the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona five years ago, I couldn’t help but think yesterday: Here we go again. But would the endgame would be

the same as it was before, with the country’s highest magistrate being booted out of office by the Senate sitting as an impeachment court?

Sereno’s recourse to the legality of the charges (or the lack of it) is nothing new, having been deployed by her predecessor in 2012. Her call for Congress to respect the independence of a co-equal branch that the judiciary is brought back memories of Corona, as well.

The hiring by Sereno of a crackerjack legal team led by Alex Poblador brought back memories of the great performance of Corona lead counsel, the late Serafin Cuevas, whom I greatly admired, and his own fine array of fellow defense lawyers. Sereno’s declaration that she will not resign also echoed Corona’s, who vowed to fight the charges against him to the bitter end.

But there are also very significant differences between

the impeachment of the country’s last two chief magistrates.

Foremost of these is the apparent lack of a heavy-handed involvement of Malacañang Palace in the current charges.

Everyone expected Presi-

Removing a constitutional official is a political game of numbers that has nothing to do with the guilt of the impeached person.

dent Noynoy Aquino to go after Corona even before he was sworn into office, after

all. Aquino was so obsessed with removing Corona that he took his oath of office before then Associate Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales, breaking with the tradition of new presidents being sworn in by the sitting chief justice.

And when the Corona court, in the first year of Aquino’s term, handed the new president two major legal setbacks —voiding his Executive Order Number 1 creating the Truth Commission and ordering the distribution of the farmlands in the Aquino family’s Hacienda Luisita to the farmers tilling them—the chief justice’s goose was well and truly cooked. In the beginning, Aquino may have only wanted Corona ousted because he was an alleged “midnight” appointee of his hated predecessor, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Then, as was usually the case with the vindictive Aquino, things quickly got personal. Congress was so scared of

not following Aquino’s order to remove Corona that House members didn’t even read the complaint against him, transmitting it immediately to the Senate. *** I don’t see Duterte consumed by the same hatred towards Sereno. In fact, I think it is really House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez who wants to remove the chief justice by impeachment, as he threatened several times in the past when both the high court and the Court of Appeals refused to let him do what he wanted with the case of the so-called “Ilocos Six.” So I think the impeachment of Sereno is really a House initiative. And this is also probably why the current crop of congressmen, even if they had roughly the same numbers in the majority as the Liberal Party of Aquino once had, decided to forgo with

the “creeping impeachment” method used for Corona (and pioneered by the House in 2000, when it impeached President Joseph Estrada) and elected to determine the sufficiency of the complaint in form and substance first.

For the people who want Sereno out, this is not a good omen. After all, the House used the same method in order to dismiss the impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections Chairman Andres Bautista—the official many believed was actually easier to remove, given the preponderance of evidence against him.

If this current House stays true to its penchant of merely being involved in working out Machiavellian deals like it did with Bautista, whose feet were merely held to impeachment flame, I suspect that it may only be interested in working out a similar arrangement Turn to A5

rights violations carried out in the name of the war against illegal drugs.

On the other hand, there were those who took to the streets to show their support for Mr. Duterte.

Given all these protests, what is next?

This is a relevant question about what is happening to our country. Never before has a president faced so much trouble in his term. There is the communist insurgency, and the independence movement in Mindanao, illegal drugs, corruption, criminality, terrorism.

Santa Banana, in my almost seven decades as a journalist, I have never seen a president facing as many seemingly insurmountable problems. This is why I believe that despite his protestations, President Duterte may eventually declare martial law.

Then again, how can anyone be afraid of martial law when it has been defanged in the 1987 Constitution? There are so many limitations and conditions.

Even the supposed suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, or warrantless arrests, has its limits. The Supreme Court can intervene if anybody questions the proclamation. Just look at what is happening in Mindanao. *** Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano called on the United Nations to give President Duterte’s war on illegal drugs the benefit of the doubt. He assured the international community that the Philippine government remains committed to defend human rights.

It was the height of naivete Turn to A5

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Opinion Dithering over Brexit Bloomberg editorial IN HER much-anticipated Brexit speech last week, British Prime Minister Theresa May faced three main challenges. She met one and fell short on the other two— and as a result, the threat of a disorderly Brexit continues to mount.

The best part of May’s speech was its tone: Positive and friendly, she offered Europe a close future partnership, stressing modesty and mutual interests. Given the acrimony that has marked Brexit negotiations thus far, this is no small achievement.

When it got into specifics, however, the speech faltered.

Brexit negotiations, which face a deadline of March 2019, have been paralyzed by a dispute over exit liabilities. Told Britain’s EU partners they wouldn’t be forced to “pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current budget plan as a result of our decision to leave.

The U.K. will honor commitments we have made during the period of our membership.”

This acknowledges that a substantial sum will be due, which is more than she’s allowed up to now, but it’s still too vague. One man’s “commitment” is another’s misunderstanding. And the reference to “the current budget plan” is another bone of contention—an offer on that basis will fall far short of the number that the EU has in mind.

The other sticking point May failed to address adequately was a transitional deal that would freeze existing EU arrangements until a new EU-U.K. pact can be concluded. May talked not of a transitional arrangement but of an “implementation period.” That implies there will be a plan to implement at the moment of exit. There

won’t be.

In March 2019, Britain exits, and at that point talks on the long-term future partnership may not even have started. The two years May proposes for “implementation” of the new deal will probably be insufficient for the difficult negotiations to come, let alone for the subsequent execution of what, if anything, is agreed.

She did acknowledge that during her so-called implementation period, “access to one another’s markets should continue on current terms,” which is good. There’s no time for anything more complicated. But even just extending current arrangements is far from simple, and—given how slowly the EU makes decisions—the real deadline for agreeing the terms of exit is now only a year away.

What’s missing, in sum, is an appropriate sense of urgency. Guided by her main political concern—to reassure her country’s Brexit hardliners that they aren’t about to be betrayed—May is still in the realm of big themes and broad ambitions.

By now, she should have moved the U.K. past that.

The exit terms need to be settled at once, or else referred to independent arbitration—and British citizens must be persuaded to accept a number they won’t like. A freeze of the current arrangements then needs to be agreed with no set limit on its duration. Many Brits won’t like that, either. With all this done, the focus can shift to talks on the future partnership.

For now, making Brexit work is a matter not of big ideas but of small details.

To avoid inflicting unnecessary damage on Europe and a shattering blow on Britain, May and her government need to move much faster.

Defending...

From A4

for Cayetano to say that knowing the Philippines now ranks first in the 2017 Global Impunity Index, amid mounting concerns over drug-related killings.

More than 3,800 Filipinos, mostly from poor communities, have been killed by the police in drug raids. Some say they could be as many as 8,000. I wonder what the UN members must be thinking.

And is he peddling lies, too?

Cayetano told the UN that 1.3 million drug users have since surrendered to the government. He made no mention of the fact that we need more rehabilitation facilities. Our jails are much too clogged, and inmates are living in sub-human conditions.

Nobody can question President Duterte’s motives. He believes drugs are a peaceand-order problem. I have been, from the start, in favor of President Duterte’s war against illegal drugs. But he must realize that the problem has deeper roots. *** It’s a tragedy when the elderly are left alone in their homes. This is because their children leave them to fend for themselves. I know so many of them and it’s really a pity.

A mother in her eighties was found dead one night.

She had been suffering from some illness and could not move around on her own.

Her children left her alone, nonetheless. And then the

house burned.

Yet another friend of the family, sick of diabetes, was found dead in her condominium unit. There was nobody around to care for her.

I can cite many other cases.

This is why I think there should be a law that would ensure the elderly are taken care of.

My wife is 85 and I am 90, and we are fortunate that our daughter Nina took us in.

Living alone to some may be ideal and romantic, but it can also be dangerous. *** This incident happened last September 21 during the inauguration of the monument of the late oppositionist Senator Jose Wright Diokno.

Members of the diplomatic corps were invited. When they saw members of the “Yellow” movement led by former President Benigno Aquino III, the envoys left, leaving only the Dutch and the Belgian ambassadors to grace the occasion.

Surprisingly, the oppositionists led by Aquino all wore white.

What took the cake was the speech of Vice President Leni Robredo who repeatedly denounced “45 years of brutality.”

Did she mean that the regimes of Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and BS Aquino were marked by brutality as well?

Deja vu...

From A4

with Sereno, who is objectively even less impeachable than the Comelec chairman.

I certainly wouldn’t put it past Alvarez and his sidekick (or, as some call him, the real speaker of the House) Majority Floorleader Rodolfo Fariñas.

That’s the more recent instance of deja vu that bothers me. I keep getting the feeling that the House just wants to exact its pound of flesh from the current chief justice, either because she has not acted the way the chamber’s leadership wanted her to in the past or in consideration of some future, Bautista-like “exchange deal.”

Because in the end, as we all learned from the impeachment, conviction and eventual removal of Corona, the process of removing a constitutional official is a political game of numbers that has nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of the impeached person. I hope I’m wrong, because I think that Sereno really did things that should get her removed—but deja vu of the more recent kind reminds me that perhaps I shouldn’t get my hopes up too high.

Not with this House.

And not with this House leadership.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

A5

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

News fakery FORMATION GARY OLIVAR LAST week I came across a number of online posts from pro-Duterte friends, breathlessly announcing that no less than the US ambassador to the United Nations, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, had admonished the U.N. General Assembly to “give enough space to President Duterte to run his nation,” and then continued with more words of praise for our beleaguered leader’s war against drugs.

This news immediately raised my hackles. Had the US so quickly done a 180-degree turn-about from its officially critical view of Duterte’s record on human rights? No matter how much he and Trump seem to have hit it off, these kinds of diplomatic scripts are actually run by the career bureaucrats at Foggy Bottom, where any policy shifts are glacially slow.

Even if this had been true, why was Ms. Haley and not the US ambassador to Manila, the poker-faced Sung Kim, the one breaking the news? And why before the UN General Assembly, and not a more discreet venue where the inevitable media fallout from such a radioactive speech could be better handled?

My hackles settled down when I learned that the source of the news was the redoubtable Yen Makabenta, the Manila Times columnist, a veteran newsman and part of the late President Marcos’ stable of first-rate writers. His source in turn was an online site belonging to Al-Jazeera, the Dubai-based wire service that has earned a reputation for news scoops otherwise unavailable to Western services. *** As it turned out, my initial instincts were, as usual, correct. The Al-Jazeera site turned out to be fake. And the U.S. Embassy here flatout denied the report about Ambassador Haley, pointedly commenting that news about Haley was readily available, and could easily be verified, on the website of the U.S. mission to the United Nations.

I can’t blame Yen for this incident, not when my own techie skills are roughly equivalent to a second-grader’s. At the very most, I would guess that Yen— who, like me, belongs to another era—evinced a level of trust in what he took to be “official/ reputable news sources” that is totally undeserved by most of social media.

This is what happens when you let digital technology loose in a Western-originated pop culture that totally disclaims any interest in any kind of standards, whether personal, professional, or moral. Whether

something’s good or bad simply depends on one’s point of view.

And so, paradoxically, the more information is spewed out at us, the less reliable it becomes, and so the less usable by us.

Of course, to hear the political opposition tell it, they themselves would never, ever be caught anywhere near fake news. They certainly went to town on the trickery of the fake Al-Jazeera site, just as they’ve been beating up on honest errors by the young guys and gals at Philippine News Agency, or on the rhetorical extremes sometimes indulged in by the passionate Mocha Uson before her blog followers in their millions.

The thing of it, though, is that the opposition were veteran purveyors of fake news practically even before social media was invented. It’s what they used, when they were still in power, to put down their political victims like GMA and Renato Corona, or to whitewash the offenses they committed with PDAF, or DAP, or the threefold increase of smuggling and major crimes—including drug usage—under their yellow president.

Today those past offenses are being dragged back out into the open, and the responsible parties are being called to account, one by one. Could this explain the sudden fuss that they’re raising over fake news? That’s a question even a fake news site could easily answer.

*** Here’s an example of the detritus bequeathed to us by the previous Palace occupants: Our good friend Cesar Chavez, a media man who also happens to be undersecretary for Rail at the Department of Transportation, is being pilloried for allegedly refusing to pay for the services of a company called BURI, the maintenance contractor of the MRT3 system.

Well, USec Cesar has a different story to tell. It turns out that we the taxpayers were being billed for a P4-M vehicle logic unit (VLU), a precision device that serves as a brain of the onboard train signaling system. It’s “a highly specialized equipment that functions as the train’s automatic protection system,” he says.

However, the original manufacturer, Bombardier, showed no record of such a maintenance purchase. So where did BURI end up buying this vital piece of safety equipment?

From a store called Diamond Pearl, on Bangkal street, the Makati equivalent of the Banaue automotive repair row in Quezon City. And who owns Diamond Pearl? The same characters behind BURI. One of those characters is a guy named Marlo de la Cruz, who was previously identified in a House hearing by Congressman Jericho Nograles as one of those accused by former Czech ambassador to the Philip-

pines Josef Rychtar of trying to extort $30-M from the Czech train manufacturer Inekon. *** Now, what has been the performance record of MRT-3 under the maintenance ministrations of the BURI guys?

Well, according to the USec, there were 3,824 instances of train removals, 833 cases of unloading incidents, 98 service interruptions and 6 derailments from January 2016 to July 2017. Almost all of them could be attributed to neglected maintenance: smoke emissions, Automatic Train Protection failure, train door failure, brake failure.

What is particularly “unacceptable and unprecedented” were the cases of derailment.

The standard here is simple: zero derailments, just as the airline industry is accountable for zero plane crashes. With six derailments on BURI’s maintenance watch, one might say that these guys have set a kind of world record.

As a matter of fact, this hapless company has already racked up P27.5 million in penalties for “substantial failure to meet key performance indicators,” and has been denied payment for P59.5 million worth of spare parts due to “lack of documentation”. Maybe they should be asking for more receipts from Diamond Pearl.

Readers can write me at gbolivar1952@yahoo.com.

Builders and healers of the nation TODAY, the Ateneo de Manila University confers its traditional university awards to five outstanding individuals (one of them represents an organization). Fr. Mark Lesage CICM, Alfonso Bolipata, Synergeia Foundation (under the leadership of Milwida Guevarra), Brother Carlito Gaspar CSsR, and Patricia B. Licuanan PhD will be honored for their accomplishments, More than that, Ateneo de Manila is recognizing the outcome of their work. What is common among all these awardees is that their work has made our country better; Fr. Mark, Coke, Nene and her colleagues, Karl, and Tati, are builders and healers of the nation.

Fr. Mark Lesage CICM is the Bukas Palad Award, a recognition given to religious men and women. He has dedicated three decades of his life working in and transforming St. Joseph’s Parish in Las Piñas City into a participatory church. Under his guidance, this parish is an exemplar of what a Basic Ecclesial Community (BEC) could be. It is well-known and visited by

pastoral ministers from all over the world as an example to be emulated. Now assigned to develop the Bukal ng Tipan Pastoral Center in 2001, Fr. Mark remains committed to training pastoral workers and supporting BECs in parishes all over the country. This award is timely as 2017 has been proclaimed as the Year of the Parish as Communion of Communities.

Alfonso C. Bolipata is the Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi awardee, conferred on artists that have made a difference and contributed significantly to the development of Philippines culture. A world-famous violinist, Coke was trained at the Juilliard School. He was at the beginning of an international career when he decided to come back to the Philippines to teach violin to the children of Zambales’ farmers, fisherfolk, overseas workers and other low-income families. Through 25 years and with the help of other artist family members, this year’s Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi awardee developed Casa San Miguel, a music and arts school which boasts of an auditorium, artists’ residences, a gallery, and a museum of local history and culture. The university has also taken note

that many of Casa’s scholars are now mentors themselves, teaching underprivileged children in San Miguel, Zambales and Tondo, Manila.

While I do not know Fr. Lesage and Coke Bolipata personally, that is not the case with the three other awardees.

Nene Guevarra has been a colleague for many years, from the 1990s when both of us served under President Fidel V. Ramos as undersecretaries to the present as co-faculty members of the Ateneo School of Government. I am also aware of the work of Synergeia Foundation under the leadership of Nene which is being conferred the Ozanam Award. Synergeia engages local governments, the Department of Education, socio-civic groups, schools, teachers, parents, and students in its mission to to improve basic education in the country. Passionately and patiently guided by Dr. Milwida M. Guevara since its establishment in 2002, founded from a learning circle for Ford Foundation grantees doing work on education reform, Synergeia’s programs are now in 250 municipalities and benefiting nearly 1.5 million schoolchildren. The Ozanam Award is appropriate for Nene, a devout

Catholic whose educational mission is motivated by a faith that calls all of us to service.

I have also known Karl Gaspar for many years. His writings have had a big influence on me. More than that, the testimony of his life has inspired me to also be a better Christian (even if I continue to struggle). Karl is being conferred the Parangal Lingkod Sambayanan for his service to the nation and especially to the Lumad, the indigenous peoples of Mindanao. A Redemptorist missionary, theologian and anthropologist, Karl is a champion of the indigenous peoples’ cultural and resource rights, and promotes a deeper understanding of their culture among the non-lumad population through teaching, and his academic and popular writing.

Karl is also a staunch advocate of peace and engaged in extensive peace-building efforts through inter-faith dialogues and ecumenical involvements in Mindanao.

Finally, Dr. Tati Licuanan will be conferred today with the Government Service Award. I have known Tati the longest, since the 1970s when I was a student in the Ateneo de Manila where he was already a star professor. Later, when I joined the philosophy

faculty of the university, Tati had already become one of its top administrators. While acknowledging all her academic and professional accomplishments, the Government Service award is being conferred on Dr. Licuanan specifically for her visionary and excellent leadership of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) where she has served as chair for seven years. This recognition is for steering the Commission on Higher Education to implement significant reforms in higher education and through the difficult transition in basic education that affected the curriculum as well as the faculty and personnel of tertiary institutions, for her tenacity and dedication to her duties despite challenging transition issues, and for a leadership in education marked by uprightness, integrity, practical wisdom, and a high level of competence.

Working for a vibrant church of the people, performing and teaching music, accompanying the Lumad in their struggle, upgrading basic education, and transforming higher education: all these build and heal the nation.

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Drug users everywhere HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA WHEN Rodrigo Duterte ran for president last year, he campaigned on an anti-narcotics, anti-corruption platform. Duterte lamented, among others, that there is so much crime in the country because of the unmitigated proliferation of drug abuse. He observed that the extensive drug menace afflicted both the rich and the poor, celebrities and otherwise, and involves even officials tasked by legislation to enforce the antinarcotics law.

Candidate Duterte posited that the drug menace is the worst possible evil to confront the nation. Only by eradicating the drug menace, Duterte asserted, will the country be able to return to the rule of law, with graft and corruption kept to a minimum, if not eliminated completely altogether. He also pointed out that getting rid of the drug menace will also get rid of the temptation on the part of government officials, law enforcers in particular, to become a part of a corrupt system funded by the drug syndicates.

The Filipino electorate apparently agreed with Duterte because they gave him an unprecedented mandate as President of

the Philippines in the May 2016 polls.

Immediately upon assuming office, President Duterte waged a relentless campaign against the narcotics trade.

After threatening drug syndicates and drug addicts alike with the full force of the law, and after several drug den raid-related deaths were reported in the news, drug dealers and drug addicts everywhere began surrendering to police authorities. Even local government officials identified by the police as coddlers of drug syndicates had to report to Manila to clear their names.

The extent of the drug menace was so prevalent that even President Duterte himself underestimated it. Duterte had to extend, indefinitely, the time frame within which he promised to put a stop to the drug malady.

For the past three months, heinous crimes have been repeatedly reported in the news media. They were enough to disturb even the most unconcerned of citizens.

One such criminal incident involved the massacre of an entire household by a band of criminals who were all under the influence of drugs.

On another occasion, a pair of teenagers who were high on drugs roamed the streets on a motorcycle to look for pedestrians to rob, since they needed

money for their vice. A newspaper report revealed that several teenagers stole from others, and exchanged their loot for shabu.

There are news stories about juveniles engaged in crime of the kind which only incorrigible hooligans in earlier decades engage in. Some have been reported to hold-up passengers of public utility vehicles, and similarly helpless people. There are also news reports of juvenile rape. Only drugs could have triggered these youngsters to that sort of inhumanity.

Last week, a carpenter high on drugs who was terrorizing a neighborhood with a knife was reported to the police. When he was accosted by a policeman, the enraged carpenter stabbed the policeman, who had no choice but to shoot the aggressor.

Drug addiction has not spared the rich and the powerful. At the height of Duterte’s campaign against drug users in public office, Quezon City Councilor Hero Bautista, a brother of Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista, publicly confessed to drug use. Apparently because he was the mayor’s brother, he was simply allowed to go on leave from the city council in order to undergo rehabilitation. Hero Bautista was the head of the very powerful infrastructure committee of the city council.

How Hero Bautista got away

with drug use for quite some time without being noticed by his brother the city mayor, is a mystery.

There was also an incident in the past where in broad daylight, policemen arrested a Chinese national caught with kilograms of narcotics inside his car while he was near the Philcoa area in Diliman. Mayor Herbert Bautista beat him up on live national television, in obvious violation of all known standards of human rights.

By the way, when Mayor Bautista beat up the Chinese national, did the Commission on Human Rights complain about that incident?

Filipinos eager to make money at any cost readily consent to being couriers of drug syndicates. They know that the penalty for that crime is either death or a long prison term. Despite that dreadful prospect, many, especially the impoverished, do not think twice when offered a sizeable payoff.

At least one Filipino drug mule arrested in Communist China has been executed. That incident caused a lot of embarrassment for the Philippines.

One more Filipino arrested in Indonesia for drug trafficking was spared the death sentence only because Manila has assured Jakarta that keeping the alleged drug mule alive may be vital in tracking down the drug

syndicate behind the nefarious drug trade. That incident also caused a lot of embarassment for the country.

Several weeks ago, P6.4 billion in narcotics was shipped to Manila through the Bureau of Customs. When the drug shipment was discovered, accusing fingers pointed to the customs bureau chief who, in turn, implicated an incumbent senator in drug smuggling operations at the ports. The identity of the real culprit is overshadowed only by the mind-boggling value of the smuggled narcotics —P6-4-billion! That’s enough dope to destroy thousands of young Filipinos and their families—yes, families, because drugs destroy the core of the drug user’s family.

The fact that drug smuggling has reached that proportion should be enough to scare any law-abiding citizen, and warrant the use of the strong arm of the law against everyone and anyone involved in the drug menace. That is the laudable objective of President Duterte.

If the drug menace is not destroyed by President Duterte during his term, it is doubtful if a president made of less stern stuff than Duterte can do it. As it is, Duterte’s unprecedented tough, even violent, stand against the drug menace appears to be the last clear chance to save this country

8 countries in new US travel ban WASHINGTON-President Donald Trump issued a new open-ended travel ban Sunday that saw North Korea, Venezuela and Chad among a list of eight countries cited for poor security and lack of cooperation with US authorities.

The new restrictions replace an expiring 90-day measure that had locked Trump in political and legal battles since he took office in January over what critics alleged was an effort to block Muslims from the country.

But the White House stressed that the measure was to protect the United States from terror attacks.

“We are taking action today to protect the safety and security of the American people by establishing a minimum security baseline for entry into the United States,” Trump said in a statement.

“We cannot afford to continue the failed policies of the past, which present an unacceptable danger to our country. My highest obligation is to ensure the safety and security of the American people, and in issuing this new travel order, I am fulfilling that sacred obligation.”

Sudan, one of the six majority-Muslim countries on the original travel ban, was removed from the list.

The US has recently praised Sudan’s efforts in fighting terrorism ahead of a decision expected in October on whether to lift decadesold sanctions on Khartoum.

Full bans were newly placed on nationals from North Korea and Chad, and extended for five countries on the original list: Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen.

Limited restrictions meanwhile were placed on Venezuela, for officials from government agencies including interior and foreign ministries, the main police and intelligence services, and other agencies. Trump’s order said Caracas was not cooperating on security issues. AFP

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Nearly 50,000 flee volcano K

ARANGASEM, Indonesia― Nearly 50,000 people have evacuated their homes amid fears of an imminent volcanic eruption on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, disaster officials said Monday.

Mount Agung, about 75 kilometers from the tourist hub of Kuta, has been rumbling since August, threatening to erupt for the first time in more than 50 years.

Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency said Monday 48,540 people had fled, although the number was expected to rise because more than 60,000 people lived in the danger zone.

“There are still people who don’t want to be evacuated,” Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for the disaster mitigation agency, said at a press conference.

“The reason is firstly, the mountain hasn’t erupted yet.

Secondly, they are worried about their livestock.”

Officials announced the highest possible alert level on Friday following the increasing volcanic activity,

HARVEST. An Iraqi salt worker harvests salt in saline water in the town of Diwaniyah, around 160 kilometers south of the capital Baghdad. The salt harvest season in Iraq lasts from April to October annually as workers cultivate the marshes left by the rain, selling the salt by the bag for a sum of 5000 Iraqi dinars (equivalent to 4 US dollars), to be later sold to laboratories. AFP

WHO warns of cholera threat in Bangladesh camps COX’S BAZAR-The World Health Organization warned Monday of a growing cholera risk in the makeshift refugee camps in Bangladesh where more than 435,000 Rohingya Muslims have sought shelter from the unrest in Myanmar.

A month after the exodus began, those dispersed in some 68 camps and settlements along the border do not have safe drinking water and hygiene facilities, according to the WHO. The camps also face dire shortages of food and medicine in what has quickly

become one of the world’s largest refugee settlements.

“Risk of waterborne diseases is high, especially there is very high risk of cholera and this is why everyone is concerned,” the WHO said in a statement.

“Interventions are being scaled-up, however, the situation remains critical and challenging.”

The latest influx has overwhelmed the camps around Cox’s Bazar, which previously housed at least 300,000 people who had fled earlier violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.

The WHO says mobile medical centers have been set up, while Bangladesh health authorities say they have treated some 4,500 Rohingya for diarrhea in a month and vaccinated some 80,000 children for measles and polio.

“We are trying our best to face the challenges. But we are concerned,” Enayet Hossain, deputy head of Bangladesh’s health services department, told AFP. The department said that at least 10 Rohingya have died in Bangladesh since the influx, most from bullet and

blast wounds suffered in Rakhine.

Two elderly Rohingya men died of diarrhea at a charity clinic more than a week ago, said Misbah Uddin Ahmed, a health department official at Ukhia, where most of the camps are located.

“They were also suffering from old age complications and gastroenteritis,” he told AFP. Two Rohingya women, aged 50 and 60, were shifted to a hospital in the port city of Chittagong after they were diagnosed with HIV, police said. AFP

BDO UNIBANK, INC., (formerly BANCO DE ORO UNIBANK, INC.), Mortgagee/s, -versus-

FRE NO. 11806

YA N G O N ― M y a n m a r troops on Monday searched for dozens of missing Hindu villagers feared dead after the discovery of a grave containing 28 corpses in Rakhine state, evidence of what the army says is a massacre by Rohingya Muslim militants.

Northern Rakhine has been ravaged by communal violence since Rohingya insurgents staged deadly raids on police posts on August 25, unleashing an army crackdown that has displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians.

The vast majority―more than 430,000-are Rohingya

RANDY MATITO REYES AND JONNA MANANGHAYA PINEDA, Mortgagor/s x-----------------------------------x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING Pursuant to Sections 1608/1609 of Republic Act 10863, otherwise known as the Customs Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA), the Tariff Commission will conduct a public hearing on 10 October 2017 at 9:00 A.M. on the extension of the grant of duty-free importation of capital equipment, spare parts, and accessories to companies registered with the Board of Investments (BOI). Venue of the hearing is the Tariff Commission Conference Room, 5th Floor Philippine Heart Center Building, East Avenue, Quezon City.

Interested parties will be given the opportunity to be heard and to present evidence in support of their positions. For inquiries on the final product coverage and other relevant matters, please coordinate with the Research, Investigation and International Trade Analysis Service (RIITAS) at Telephone Nos. 926-8731 or 4335896.

Issued this 22nd day of September 2017, Quezon City, Metro Manila.

MARILOU P. MENDOZA Chairperson

Muslims who have fled across the border to Bangladesh from a military campaign which, the UN says, likely amounts to ethnic cleansing of the stateless minority.

But tens of thousands of ethnic Rakhine Buddhists, and the region’s small population of Hindus, have also been internally displaced, saying they were attacked

by Rohingya militants.

On Sunday the army said it had discovered two mud pits filled with 28 Hindu corpses, including women and children, outside the village of Ye Baw Kyaw in northern Rakhine. AFP

Australia to create space body

*Grass Residences” Tower 2 Unit No. 2736 Unit Type: 2 Bedroom deluxe with balcony Total Area: 51.59 square meter

In the diagrammatic floor plan appended to the enabling or master deed of the condominium project annotated on Transfer Certificate of Title NOTICE OF EXTRA-JUDICIAL N-320819 which embraces and SALE OF REAL PROPERTY describes the land located at UNDER ACT 3135 Nueva Viscaya corner Misamis (AS AMENDED) and Nueva Ecija Streets, UPON extra-judicial petition Barangay Sto. Cristo, Quezon under ACT 3135, as amended City with an area of Thirty Six

by ACT 4118 and pursuant to Thousand Two and Twenty the terms and conditions of the (36,002.20) square meter.”

Deed of Real Estate Mortgage executed on JULY 19, 2016 All sealed bids must be

by RANDY MATITO REYES submitted to the undersigned at AND JONNA MANANGHAYA the aforesaid office on the above PINEDA – No. 15 Sto. Niño, stated date and time.

Bata, Paombong 3001, Bulacan / Unit No. 2736, Tower 2, Grass Interested parties are hereby Residences Condominium, enjoined to investigate for Nueva Vizcaya corner Misamis themselves the title/s to the and Nueva Ecija Street, said property/ies and the Barangay Sto. Cristo, Quezon encumbrances thereon, if there City, Mortgagor/s in favor of be any.

BDO UNIBANK, INC. (formerly BANCO DE ORO UNIBANK, In the event that public auction INC.), Mortgagee/s, to satisfy should not take place on said the mortgage debt in the date due to fortuitous event or amount of P5,627,742.68 as if the same be declared a nonof August 1, 2017 inclusive/ working holiday, it shall be held exclusive of interest, penalties, on October 24, 2017 at the attorney’s fees and other same time and place without charges together with all the further notice. lawful fees and expenses of Quezon City, Metro Manila, foreclosure sale, the Ex-Officio AUGUST 22, 2017.

Sheriff of the Regional Trial Court of Quezon City and/or his (Sgd.) ARNULFO O. LIM duly authorized Deputy Sheriff, Sheriff IV hereby announces that on October 17, 2017 between the (Sgd.) GREGORIO C. TALLUD hours of 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Clerk of Court VII and at the Office of Clerk of Court Ex-Officio Sheriff & Ex-Officio Sheriff, Regional Trial Court, Hall of Justice Bldg., WARNING: It is absolutely Elliptical Road, Diliman, Quezon prohibited to remove, deface City, will SELL through public or Destroy this Notice of auction to the highest bidder Sheriff’s Sale on or Before the and for cash, in Philippine date of the auction sale under Currency, the following penalty of the law. described real property/ies with all the improvements existing (MS-Sep. 12, 19 & 26, 2017)

and told people to stay at least nine kilometers away from the crater.

Evacuees have packed into temporary shelters or moved in with relatives.

Some 2,000 cows have been also evacuated from the flanks of the volcano.

Nengah Satiya, who left home with his wife three days ago, said he had been returning to the danger zone to tend to his pigs and chickens.

“There are many livestock in our village but nobody is taking them,” Nengah Satiya told AFP. “We take turns going back to feed them.”

The airport in Bali’s capital Denpasar, through which millions of foreign tourists pass every year, has not been affected.

More than 1,000 people died when Mount Agung last erupted in 1963. AFP

Troops search for more Hindu corpses in villages

thereon, to wit: REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES REGIONAL TRIAL COURT CONDOMINIUM CERTIFICATE NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION OF TITLE NO. 004-2016013610 Registry of Deeds-Quezon City OFFICE OF THE EX-OFFICIO SHERIFF QUEZON CITY

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES TARIFF COMMISSION

(MS- SEPT. 26, 2017)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

World

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 A6 Standard TODAY Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor Manila

DEFYING BAGHDAD. Female members of a Kurdish Peshmerga battalion show their ink-stained fingers after casting their vote in the Kurdish independence referendum in Arbil on September 25, 2017. Iraqi Kurds voted in an independence referendum in defiance of Baghdad, which has warned of ‘measures’ to defend Iraq’s unity and threatened to deprive their region of lifeline oil revenues. AFP

Kurds in historic independence vote in referendum ARBIL, Iraq―Iraqi Kurds voted in an independence referendum Monday in defiance of Baghdad, which has warned of “measures” to defend Iraq’s unity and threatened to deprive their region of lifeline oil revenues.

The non-binding vote on the Kurds’ long-cherished dream of independence, initiated by veteran leader Massud Barzani, has angered not only the federal government but also neighboring Turkey and Iran, concerned it could stoke separatist aspirations among their own sizable Kurdish minorities.

The United States and other Western nations have also raised concerns, saying the vote could hamper the fight against the Islamic State jihadist group in which cooperation between Baghdad and the Kurds has been key.

The initial results are expected

to be announced 24 hours after the polls close. An overwhelming “Yes” outcome is expected, but Kurdish officials have said there are no plans for an immediate declaration of independence.

Kurdish flags were festooned in all the streets, on cars and outside homes across Iraqi Kurdistan.

Voters headed to the polls early Monday, many men dressed in traditional Kurdish dress of brown shirt and billowing trousers for the occasion.

Young girls wore caps emblazoned with the Kurdish colors of red, white, green and yellow, and regional flags around their necks and shoulders.

“I came very early to be the first to vote for a Kurdish state,” Diyar Abubakr, 33, said outside a polling station in regional capital Arbil.

“It’s a day of celebration today.

That’s why I’ve put on our traditional outfit, which I bought for the occasion,” he said.

One voter even brought a cow to slaughter before the start of the referendum.

“I brought this cow as today the state is born and it’s tradition to slaughter a cow for a birth,” Dalgash Abdallah, 27, said.

Barzani, smiling and wearing a traditional outfit, cast his vote early in the morning.

Polling stations are scattered across the three northern provinces of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan― Arbil, Sulaimaniyah and Dohuk― as well as in disputed bordering zones such as the oil-rich province of Kirkuk.

In Sulaimaniyah, second city of the autonomous region, 40-year-old Diyar Omar came to cast his vote also wearing traditional clothes. AFP

SYDNEY-Australia on Monday committed to creating a national space agency as it looks to cash in on the lucrative and fast-evolving astronautical sector.

The announcement came at a week-long Adelaide space conference attended by the world’s top scientists and experts including SpaceX chief Elon Musk.

It brings Canberra-which already has significant involvement in national and international space activities―into line with most other developed nations, which already have dedicated agencies to help coordinate the industry and shape development.

“The global space industry is growing rapidly and it’s crucial that Australia is part of this growth,” acting science minister Michaelia Cash said in statement.

“A national space agency will ensure we have a strategic long-term plan that supports the development and application of space technologies and grows our domestic space industry.”

According to the government, the global space sector―encompassing innovation, defense, and telecommunications― has been growing annually since the late 1990s at almost 10 percent, driving revenue each year of US$323 billion.

Thousands of the world’s top scientists and space experts are attending the week-long International Astronautical Congress in Adelaide. AFP

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Sports

A7

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Golf cast tries to stop Mondilla L

IPA City, Batangas—The Philippine Golf Tour winds up its 2017 season with the ICTSI Players Championship beginning Tuesday here, with focus on Clyde Mondilla and a slew of local players out to foil the virtual Order of Merit champion and improve on their respective OOM rankings at the Summit Point Golf Club.

Mondilla, winner of three tournaments this year, including the ICTSI Rivera Classic of the PGT Asia Tour two weeks ago, slugs it out with Zanieboy Gialon and Jhonnel Ababa in the 7:30 a.m. flight on No. 1, relieved of the pressure of gutting it out in the final PGT leg for a first OOM crown.

With three of the country’s leading players in the OOM Top 4 list out for this week’s

P3 million event sponsored

by ICTSI, Mondilla is a cinch for the coveted individual title with P2,606,409 in earnings with the fifthrunning Ababa and No. 6 Gialon too far behind with winnings of P1,585,345 and P1,223,572, respectively.

But the Del Monte ace has vowed to go all the way in this event, which stakes P550,000 prize to the winner, in a bid to boost his confidence for

the PGTA circuit which resumes in November with two $100,000 tournaments.

That also goes with the rest of the elite 75-player field, ensuring a spirited battle for top honors at the par-72 Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed layout which features replicas of 18 renowned golf holes in the world.

“Clyde has the edge on long courses because of his power. But at Summit Point, we’re pretty even off the tee, so I think it will boil down to who putts well in the end,” said Gialon, seeking a follow-up to his runaway victory at ICTSI Calatagan last June.

Tony Lascuña, Miguel Tabuena and Angelo Que, the next three players behind Mondilla in the OOM ranking, will not be around

this week with Lascuna and Tabuena competing in the Taiwan Masters and Que vying in the Japan PGA Tour.

Jay Bayron, winner here in 2015 and No. 9 in the OOM, is also tipped to contend for the crown as he sets out with No. 8 Michael Bibat and recent PGTA ICTSI Splendido leg winner and No. 7 Rene Menor at 7:10 a.m., also on the first hole while Arnold Villacencio also hopes to relive his memories on the course where he scored his breakthrough win in 2014.

Villacencio will start at 7:40 a.m. in the company of Omar Dungca and young gun Keanu Jahns, also on No. 1.

Others expected to crowd Mondilla and the fancied bets are Mhark Fernando, Jobim Carlos, Rufino Bayron, Jes-

sie Balasabas, Justin Quiban, Orlan Sumcad, Ira Alido, Jun Bernis, Marvin Dumandan, Elmer Salvador, Ferdie Aunzo and Mars Pucay.

Also out to spoil the locals’ title drive in the event organized by Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. and backed by Custom Clubmakers, Meralco, Champion, Summit Mineral Water, K&G Golf Apparel, BDO, Sharp, KZG, PLDT and M.Y. Shokai Technology, Inc. are a host of foreign aces, led by Americans Elliot Hume and Lexus Keoninh, Koreans Hwang Myung Chal, Kim Jun Sik, Park Jun Sung and Lee Hyeon Tae, Australians Nathan Park and Ian Tonumaipe’a, Japanese Seiji Yanagisawa and Dutch Guido Van der Valk.

Gialon

Cavaliers, Magis crush opponents UNTV Cup two-time champion teams AFP Cavaliers and Judiciary Magis proved their caliber during Sunday’s double-header at the Pasig City Sports Center.

Season 4 finals Most Valuable Player Boyet Bautista and Rookie Romeo Almerol led the AFP Cavaliers past the GSIS Furies, 103-95.

For Coach Sonny Manucat, preparation with a goal in mind is everything.

“Talagang nag-prepare kami. Sabi ko, first impression for the other teams na champion team tayo. And we all agree na we’re on the same page again, na goal namin semifinals, then finals again,” Coach Manucat said.

GSIS coach Myk Saguitguit admitted they faced a big challenge, with only nine out of his 17 members able to play for the Furies.

“Maraming hindi naka-

Desiderio is UAAP’s top cager FOLLOWING a career performance, all Paul Desiderio could say was, “Naglaro lang ako.”

UP’s main man was never one for talking and just lets his game speak for him.

His statement was loud and clear last Saturday as he fired a career-best 30 points on top of six rebounds and five assists to lead the Fighting Maroons to a big win over defending champion La Salle.

Scoring the most points by a player from Diliman since 2003, while proving that the State University is serious in its contention, Desiderio was hands down the UAAP Press Corps Player of the Week from Sept. 18 to 24.

Even after besting teammate Jun Manzo, Ben Mbala of La Salle, Thirdy Ravena of Ateneo, and Papi Sarr of Adamson for the weekly citation, the 20-year-old was at a loss for words.

“Wala akong masabi.

Nagpapasalamat lang ako sa mga teammates ko kasi tulong-tulong kami para manalo,” he said.

Indeed, UP head coach Bo Perasol said Desiderio’s “excellent performance” was also made possible by the other guys. “His teammates are his unsung heroes. They pass the ball to him, they rebound for him, they set screens for him, they do the little things for him,” he shared.

Desiderio started the season slow, averaging 13 points on 26.3 percent shooting, but busted out with 28 points to shoot the Maroons over UE a week ago. “Medyo gigil pa ako first two games, pero ngayon, okay na. Nag-relax na ako,” he said.

Games Wednesday (Pasig City Sports Center) 2 p.m. PDEA Drug Busters vs.

NHA Builders 3:30 p.m. DOJ Justice Boosters vs.

DA Food Masters 5 p.m. PNP Responders vs. DOH Health Achievers

punta ngayong game na ito pero maganda ang nakita kong result even though we lost this game. Nakita ko mas maganda ang gelling nila ngayon compared to the last season,” Coach Saguiguit said.

Meanwhile, the Judiciary Magis toppled the Ombudsman Graft Busters by a 39-point advantage, 115-76.

Season 5 MVP Chester “The Elevator” Tolomia, who made 20 points and 6 rebounds and Julius Rabino who scored 19 points and grabbed two boards, were hailed as the Best Players of the Game.

AFP Cavaliers’ Wilfredo Casulla tries to score against a triple-team put up by the GSIS Furies during the elimination round of UNTV Cup Season 6 at the Pasig City Sports Center.

Japan police plan for attack TOKYO—Japanese police in riot gear practiced for a chemical weapons attack Monday in an anti-terror drill aimed at tightening security for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Anti-terrorist forces rushed to a Tokyo rugby venue in a scenario where terrorists had planted a bomb in a nearby building and released the lethal nerve gas sarin inside the stadium.

Local media said about 1,000 people, including bomb disposal experts, took part in the drill, which was also designed to protect venues for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

A bag supposedly containing an explosive device was removed with a robotic arm, while special forces trained to deal with biological and chemical agents disposed of the sarin gas before decontaminating the endangered area.

Japan is rapidly developing advanced crime-prevention systems to guard against attacks at the Tokyo Olympics, such as hitech gates that can detect tiny explosive particles in a matter of seconds.

The Japanese government and Olympic organisers have also promised to cooperate with overseas law enforcement to tighten borders before the 2020 Games.

Local police are strengthening security at soft targets such as including sports venues, schools and shopping malls to ensure the Tokyo Olympics and the Rugby World Cup a year earlier are hosted safely. AFP

Pirates face Generals, try to keep slate spotless Wave of protests LYCEUM of the Philippines University hopes to keep its spotless record against Emilio Aguinaldo College in the NCAA seniors’ basketball tournament today at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

Tip off is at 4 p.m.

The Pirates are a legitimate title contender, having won their first 13 games to secure their first-ever Final Four appearance since joining the the league six years ago.

LPU is also assured of the twiceto-beat semis incentive.

The Pirates had a tough time with the Generals in the first round, as they overcame the ejection of coach Topex Robinson to

Games today: (Filoil Flying V Centre) 2 p.m. – SSC-R vs CSJL (Srs) 4 p.m. – LPU vs EAC (Srs)

escape with a 97-93 victory.

A victory will put LPU four wins of claiming an outright passage to the championship round with a tremendous thrice-to-beat incentive.

With a 6-7 mark, EAC trails Jose Rizal University and Letran, which is playing San Sebastian in the 2 p.m. curtain raiser, by a full game in the race for the last Final Four berth.

Coach Ariel Sison is hoping that the Generals will give the Pirates everything to handle just

like in their first meeting.

The Knights have won their last two games to join the Bombers in third spot at 7-6, as they brace for a tough duel with the Stags, who at 6-6 are eyeing to dislodge their long-time rivals at No. 4.

San Sebastian scored a 73-61 victory over College of Saint Benilde last Thursday to boost its semifinal hopes.

Meanwhile, San Beda College swept the men’s and juniors’ crowns, while Arellano University won its second straight women’s championship in the NCAA badminton tournament.

The Red Smashers unseated Letran, 2-1, in the men’s finale

and in the juniors’ tie, 2-0, while the Lady Chiefs bested Lyceum of the Philippines University, 2-1, in the women’s clash at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.

James Choo hacked out a 21-15, 21-11 victory over Jeffrey Orsolino in the deciding singles to seal the championship for San Beda.

It was a come-from-behind win for the Red Smashers, as the Knights actually took the first singles, with Marvin Sabarne beating Jovan Cruz, 21-14, 21-12, before Jade Carillo and Haniel Cagampan leveled the tie with a 21-15, 23-21 win over Neptali Pineda and Joma Martinez in doubles play.

Inter-school taekwondo tourney lures 1,500 jins AROUND 1,500 athletes will vie for honors in the 2017 SMART/MVP Sports Foundation National InterSchool Taekwondo Championships scheduled on Sept. 30-Oct. 1 at the Rizal Memorial coliseum.

Representing schools and universities affiliated with the Philippine Taekwondo Association, the male and female participants in kyorugi (sparring) will be categorized into novice and advance groups in seniors, juniors, cadet and grade school division. Poomsae competition among colored and blackbelt students will also be conducted in individual, pair and team events.

Poomsae or forms is performed by following a systematic time of movement in consecutive sequences against an imaginary opponent or multiple rivals.

The movements use hands and feet and interconnected techniques like blocking, punching, thrusting and kicking.

Constant poomsae training helps improve flexibility and control in breathing, bal-

ance, power, eye focus and mental discipline.

Among the schools and universities that will vie in the two-day tournament are Ateneo de Manila, University of Santo Tomas, St. Paul (Pasig), Diliman Preparatory School, Mary Hill School, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Montessori Integrated School, De La Salle University, University of the East, National University, Philippine Science High School, School of Holy Spirit, University of the Philippines Diliman, De La Salle University Araneta, Pamantasang Lungsod ng Valenzuela and schools from the Visayas and Mindanao regions.

Competition in the event supported by Smart Communications Inc., Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, PLDT and Milo will start at 9 a.m. on both days.

Martial arts enthusiasts and sports aficionados, especially children who are interested to learn the sport, are invited to watch the tournament.

Pauline Louise Lopez (right), shown delivering an axe kick against her opponent, is one of the favored competitors in the upcoming event.

Chicago Bulls, Wade part ways CHICAGO—Dwyane Wade and the Chicago Bulls have agreed to part ways after the veteran point guards’ first season with his hometown team, the US media reported on Sunday night.

The 35-year-old Wade has reached a buyout agreement with the Bulls, according to American broadcaster ESPN. Wade, who has been hit by a series of injuries the past few seasons, was slated to make $23.8 million with the Bulls in 2017-18.

Once he clears waivers, he can listen to offers from other teams.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs and his former Miami Heat team could all make a pitch for Wade. The Cavaliers are believed to be the frontrunners.

Wade, who grew up on Chicago’s south side, averaged 18.3 points and 3.8 assists in 60 games for the Bulls last season. It was his lowest point totals since his 2003 rookie season. AFP

grip NFL as Trump urges fan boycott

LOS ANGELES—A wave of protests swept across the National Football League on Sunday as President Donald Trump escalated his feud with players who kneel during the US national anthem to draw attention to racial injustice.

Trump ignited a firestorm of criticism after comments on Friday in which he described NFL players who chose to take a knee through renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner” as “sons of bitches” who should be fired.

The US leader doubled down on those remarks in an early morning tweet, urging fans to boycott the NFL as long as the protests continued.

“If NFL fans refuse to go to games until players stop disrespecting our Flag & Country, you will see change take place fast. Fire or suspend!” Trump wrote.

Yet players throughout America’s most popular sport took a defiant stance just hours later, kneeling, linking arms or raising clenched fists during the anthem.

More than 150 players could be seen kneeling or sitting in the 14 games that took place Sunday, easily the largest such demonstration since former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick first began protesting in 2016.

One of the biggest protests took place in the nation’s capital, where almost the entire lineup of the Oakland Raiders team sat on their bench ahead of their game with the Washington Redskins.

A day of demonstrations began at the London game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens at Wembley Stadium, where a large number of players from both teams knelt.

In Nashville, neither the Seattle Seahawks nor the Tennessee Titans took to the field to observe the national anthem. AFP

LOTTO RESULTS 6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

P0 M+ P0 M

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

A8

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

Sports

Meralco Bolts import Allen Durham (right) powers to the hoop against Blackwater Elite center John Paul Erram. The Bolts will gun for a seat in the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup Semifinals when the battle the Elite tonight.

Meralco, Hotshots chase seat in semis

By Jeric Lopez

T

HE quarterfinals are set to roll as top seed Meralco and fourth seed Star look to enter the semifinals of the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.

lift the Bolts.

They are looking to get back to the finals, a place where they were last season, and they have a shot at taking a step closer to that goal should they beat the Elite.

Clearly the underdog, Blackwater, with a healthy line-up and the scoring prowess of import Henry Walker, is looking to make things interesting and is hopeful to force a sudden death through a huge upset.

The clash between the Hotshots and the Road Warriors is expected to be a tight encounter with both

teams presenting balance firepower.

After slumping midway in the elimination round, Star picked itself up just in time to salvage a place in the top four.

The Hotshots are riding a two-game winning streak and incidentally, their last one was claimed at the expense of NLEX, 101-93, last Sunday in a game that determined the No. 4 seed.

Now, the Road Warriors, who were in the top four the entire tournament until their meltdown against the Hotshots, need to pull off

two straight to advance.

Meralco posted a 10778 rout over Blackwater in the elimination round.

Baser Amer scored 20 points, while Durham added 18 points and 21 rebounds for the Bolts.

Then Blackwater import Trevis Thompson led all scorers with 25 points but it hardly helped the Elite.

The Bolts may not have as easy a time against the Elite in their next game because Blackwater will be reinforced by Walker who is a big improvement over the lightweight Thompson.

A heavy favorite, the Bolts aim on advancing when they collide with No. 8 Blackwater at 4:15 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City today.

Following that, the No. 4 Hotshots are looking to do exactly the same when they take on No. 5 NLEX at 7 p.m.

Meralco and Star are

equipped with twice-tobeat incentives after finishing in the top four.

The Bolts have been playing consistent solid basketball throughout the tournament, ending up as the top seed.

Reigning Best Import Allen Durham has been spectacular as his allaround play continue to

Velasco identifies deserving athletes

Brady saves New England Patriots

By Peter Atencio MARIYA Takahashi, who topped the women’s under 70 kg judo event, in the recent 2017 Southeast Asian Games, has been added to a long list of athletes the Philippine Sports Commission is considering to support until the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

In her debut in the Games, the 16-year-old Fil-Japanese judoka overcame defending champion Surattana Thongsri of Thailand, winning by ippon in 48 seconds.

Because of this, National Training Director Marc Edward Velasco, has put her in the last of national athletes that he will be closely monitoring.

Velasco believes that Takahashi can be among the initial five athletes that should have the full support of the agency till the Olympiad.

“It’s still a long list of athletes that I’m looking at,” said Velasco, who was tasked by PSC chairman William Ramirez to monitor athletes PSC can help prepare for the Olympics.

So far, the agency is planning to trim its list of priority athletes to 25.

PSC chairman William “Butch” Ramirez said it’s not up to the PSC to choose the national athletes it will support till the next Olympics.

LOS ANGELES—Tom Brady conjured a last-gasp Houdini act to save the New England Patriots in a thrilling win over the Houston Texans on Sunday as the Atlanta Falcons preserved their unbeaten record.

With events off the field dominating a dramatic day that saw widespread player protests, Brady once again laid on a masterclass to throw for five touchdowns in a 36-33 victory at Gillette Stadium.

The crowning moment of a 378-yard passing display by the 40-year-old Brady came with the Patriots trailing 2833 with just over two minutes remaining.

An eight-play 75-yard drive ended with Brady hitting receiver Brandin Cooks with a 25-yard pass into the end zone for the game-winning score.

The nerve-jangling finale capped an extraordinary

game which had seen sections of the Patriots crowd boo several of the team’s own players after they opted to kneel during the playing of the national anthem before kick-off.

Brady had stood with his arms interlocked in solidarity with his teammates during the solemn anthem rendition.

It was just one of several large protests by players across the league on Sunday following remarks by US President Donald Trump.

Trump had enraged NFL stars and team owners on Friday by describing players who protest during the anthem as “sons of bitches” who should be fired.

Around 130 players across the league took a knee on Sunday during the anthem, easily the largest mass demonstration of its kind since former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick

Amit advances to 10-ball semis ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan—Rubilen Amit advanced to the semifinal round following her 7-1 win over Iran’s Parisa Mangli in the quarterfinal of the women’s 10-Ball Pool singles in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (AIMAG) Monday at the Ashgabat Olympic Complex here.

Amit, who hails from Mandaue City, Cebu, quickly grabbed a 5-0 advantage, before Mangli won the sixth rack off an error by Amit.

That was, however, the only game Mangli won as Amit took the next two racks to win the race-to-seven encounter, and secure a spot in the semifinal where she will meet Taiwan’s Wei Tzu-Chien.

Wei edged Lim Yunmi of South Korea, 7-2, in the quarterfinal. The semifinal is scheduled in the afternoon.

The other semifinal match will pit China’s Chen Siming and Taiwan’s Chou Chieh-Yu. Amit, the 10-Ball World Championship winner in 2009 and 2013, actually assured herself of a bronze medal with her win, which matched her podium finish during the 2013 AIMAG in

Incheon, South Korea.

“Hopefully maka-pasok sa finals, sa gold medal game para madagdagan yung collection ng Philippine Team ng ginto galing sa billiards. But it’s not going to be easy,” said Amit.

“Magaling din talaga yung Korean na makakaharap natin sa semifinals.

Kung makaka-lusot, magagaling din yung nasa kabilang bracket. So sana makuha natin,” added Amit.

The win of Amit, 35, came a day after Warren Kiamco and Johann Chua fell to China’s LV Haotian and Liu Haitao, 9-4, in the men’s 9-Ball Pool Scotch doubles semifinal Sunday night.

Kiamco and Chua claimed the bronze medal.

With the latest medal from Kiamco and Chua, the country now has a medal haul of two gold medals courtesy of Jiu-Jitsu fighters Margarita “Meggie” Ochoa and Annie Ramirez, 10 silvers and 11 bronze medals.

Kickboxer Robin Catalan lost to Hamza Abughazleh of Jordan, 2-0, in the quarterfinals of the men’s low kick -51kg despite leading in the first two rounds of their three-round encounter.

Gozum helps Mapua Red Robins fly high FORMER Batang Gilas standout Will Gozum showed why he is one of the players to watch in the ongoing 93rd National Collegiate Athletic Association junior basketball tournament.

The 6’4” Gozum has become one of the top performing hoopsters of the defending champion Mapua Red Robins.

His averages of 13 points and 9.5 rebounds has put him just behind the team’s top guns, Jeff Sapinit and Clint Escamis. Skipper Warren Bonifacio and Carl Lacap are also among the players who are doing well for the Red Robins.

Last Friday, the 18-year-old Gozum helped win the game for the Red Robins. He scored on a layup from the inside the paint off Carl Lacap’s assist in the last 17 seconds.

His basket lifted the Red Robins to an 81-76 overtime win over the Letran Squires at the Arena in San Juan.

The Red Robins moved into the solo lead with their 11-2 win-loss record ahead of the La Salle Greenhills Greenies, who have a 10-3 card. The Red Robins and the Greenies are set to meet on Thursday.

On the other hand, the 8-5 record of the Squires put them in a share of third with San Beda Red Cubs.

The Greenies dropped to second after absorbing a 6771 upset at the hands of the San Sebastian Staglets.

The Staglets climbed to a share of third with the Red Cubs because of their latest victory.

“Bumawi lang. Bad ang shooting ko,” said the 6’4” Gozum, who made 10 points and dominated the boards with 21 rebounds.

Gozum’s shot gave the Red Robins a much-needed four-point cushion in the remaining time.

The Red Robins, led by Lacap with 21 points, are now a win away from claiming the first slot in the Final Four semifinals. Peter Atencio

began the protests in 2016.

“We felt like President Trump’s speech was an assault on our most cherished right – freedom of speech,” Denver star Von Miller explained after kneeling before his team’s game against Buffalo.

The Patriots win helped New England move to 2-1 in the AFC East, putting them level with the Buffalo Bills who lead on points difference. The Bills pulled off an upset win over the unbeaten Denver Broncos, winning 2616. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor threw for two touchdowns and 213 yards to spark the Bills.

But it was an unhappy afternoon for Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian, who failed to throw for any touchdowns and was twice picked off for costly interceptions.

Denver were one of seven previously unbeaten teams to Tom Brady of the New England Patriots reacts after heated action during their game taste defeat in early games on against the Houston Texans 36-33 at Gillette Stadium on September 24, 2017 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. AFP Sunday. AFP

Federer leads Team Europe over Team World

Roger Federer holds up Laver Cup trophy as Team Europe teammates celebrate on September 24, 2017 in O2 Arena, in Prague. AFP

PRAGUE—World number two Roger Federer handed Team Europe the maiden Laver Cup title after beating Team World’s Nick Kyrgios in a super tie-break thriller in Prague on Sunday.

Federer, this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, won 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 11/9 to give Team Europe an unbeatable 15-9 lead.

But the 36-year-old Swiss legend struggled against the 20th-ranked, 22-year-old Australian and his flawless serve, losing the first set on

a single break.

When he finally broke Kyrgios halfway through set two, he yelled “Come on!” in relief, only to lose his serve again in the next game.

But Federer capitalized on the system of the tournament he had founded—forcing Kyrgios into longer exchanges, he edged him in the secondset tie-break, then came back from 8-5 down in the decisive super tie-break.

“I kind of felt good going into the breaker,” Federer said.

“It was a nail-biter at the

end but for me personally it was a dream scenario.”

“It was an incredible journey really, it was way better than I ever thought it would be,” he added about the tournament.

“It felt like winning some of the biggest matches in my life. It was like a fairy tale.”

Kyrgios said the loss “just hurt.”

“I gave everything I had and I came short.”

The start of the clash saw the controversial Kyrgios briefly kneel on the court in a gesture which sparked specu-

lation that he was joining the ongoing protest against US President Donald Trump.

But Kyrgios explained this was his trademark gesture to “remember the two most important people that have passed away”—a reference to his late grandmother and grandfather.

Team Europe, the oddson favorites with five of the world’s top seven players, entered Sunday with a 9-3 lead which narrowed as Jack Sock and John Isner beat Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic in the opening doubles rubber. AFP

Filsyn’s property lures SM, PLDT, two others B3

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

B1

UCPB welcomes sale plan

By Julito G. Rada

IN BRIEF

U

NITED Coconut Planters Bank said Monday the Supreme Court’s lifting of a temporary restraining order against its privatization will be beneficial to the bank and its clients.

CEB says terminal fee merged CEBU Pacific, the biggest budget airline in the country, has integrated the domestic passenger service charge, more commonly known as the terminal fee, into the cost of its tickets for all domestic flights operating out of airports managed by the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.

The airline said the integration of the terminal fee across all booking systems of Cebu Pacific took effect on September 15, 2017.

Passengers who confirmed bookings and flights from domestic airports managed by CAAP starting September 15, 2017 on Cebu Pacific—either though the ticket offices, through the website or mobile app, already included the terminal fee.

CAAP-managed airports include all domestic terminals across the Philippines, except for the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, the MactanCebu International Airport, the Clark International Airport and the Godofredo P. Ramos Airport in Caticlan (Boracay).

Depending on the airport, CAAP terminal fees range from P50 to P200.

MISSION TO RUSSIA. The Philippines concludes a trade and investment scoping mission in Russia where a Filipino delegation promoted trade and investment opportunities to Russian importers and buyers of food products, government representatives and Russian businessmen. Leading the delegation is Trade Undersecretary Rowel Barba (fifth from right), with Ambassador to Russia Carlos Sorreta (sixth from left), Philippine Economic Zone Authority director-general Charito Plaza (fifth from left), Philippine-Russian Business Assembly Inc. chairman Armi Lopez Garcia (seventh from right) and Cagayan Economic Zone Authority administrator Raul Lambino (sixth from right). With them are other officials from the Trade and Agriculture departments, Philippines-Russia Business Council and the Mindanao Banana Farmers & Exporters Association.

ING Bank says higher spending to back GDP

By Julito G. Rada

Meralco supports new power line

MANILA Electric Co. has asked the Energy Regulatory Commission to allow the construction of the New Teresa-Tagbac 115 kV that will support the power requirements of the new plant of Solid Cement Corp.

Meralco said Solid offered to initially bear the P138.37 million cost of the construction of the line in order to meet the project timeline.

Meralco said it received an application from Solid to expand its existing 26.5 MVA plant with an additional 36.9 MVA load or a total aggregate load of 63.4 MW to supply the growing demand for cement.

The New Teresa 115 kV-34.5 kv substation currently serves the power requirements of the towns of Morong, Baras, Tanay and Pililla in Rizal province.

The substation has an existing 83 MWA power transformer with a registered normal peak load of 49.62 MVA, or a loading equivalent of 60 percent in the regulatory year 2017. Alena Mae S. Flores

PhilJets buys another helicopter

THE PhilJets Group announced the arrival of a new Bell 407GX Helicopter as an addition to its fast-growing fleet.

Bell 407GX Helicopter is the eighth aircraft owned and operated by the boutique business aviation group.

“We are eager to start the operations of the first Bell Helicopter of our fleet. At the moment, we are in the process of finalizing the preparation for the operational launch. We have invested in training and have added very experienced pilots and technicians that have a strong knowledge of this new type of helicopter,” said head of sales and marketing Geoffroy Cahen.

The new acquisition is the only Bell 407GX Helicopter currently available for charter in the Philippines.

The aviation group owns and operate 4 Airbus H130s, 1 Airbus AS350B2 and 2 business jets— the Cessna Citation XLS+ and the Bombardier Challenger 350.

“Most of our helicopters have forward-facing seat configuration, which are proven to be ideal for tours and sightseeing flights,” said company air charter sales head Choy Elciario.

Othel V. Campos

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monday, September 25, 2017

F OREIGN E XCHANGE R ATE Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

50.8560

Japan

Yen

0.008916

0.4534

UK

Pound

1.349200

68.6149

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128049

6.5121

Switzerland

Franc

1.031034

52.4343

Canada

Dollar

0.810833

41.2357

Singapore

Dollar

0.742005

37.7354

Australia

Dollar

0.795000

40.4305

Bahrain

Dinar

2.651465

134.8429 13.5616

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266667

Brunei

Dollar

0.739262

37.5959

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000075

0.0038

Thailand

Baht

0.030211

1.5364

UAE

Dirham

0.272294

13.8478

Euro

Euro

1.190100

60.5237

Korea

Won

0.000883

0.0449

China

Yuan

0.151768

7.7183

India

Rupee

0.015434

0.7849

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.238322

12.1201

New Zealand

Dollar

0.729500

37.0995

Taiwan

Dollar

0.033152

1.6860 Source: PDS Bridge

A STRONG fiscal performance is needed to at least keep the gross domestic product growth at around 6.5 percent in the third quarter, ING Bank Manila senior economist Joey Cuyegkeng said Monday.

Cuyegkeng said in a report the August numbers did not disappoint but the growth in fiscal spending was “milder than we expected.” “... August headline and core spending were both up 14 percent year-on-year from 10 percent and 6 percent in 2016, respectively.

July-August average headline and core spending growth rates were both at 12 percent, faster than the pace in 2016 [which was 7

percent for headline spending and 11 percent for core spending],” he said.

Cuyegkeng had expected a close to 20 percent yearon-year growth in August spending, adding the lower-than-anticipated performance might have to do with some accounting and booking delays.

“The improvement should help overall economic growth to remain close to 6.5 percent in the third quarter despite manufacturing growth indicators posting some moderation,” he said.

He also said the August’s fiscal surplus might have something to do with not just improvement in collections but also with one-off revenue gains likely to be related to tax settlement inflows.

“The result of the strong revenue collections was a fiscal surplus of P29 billion, which is more or less in line with the previous year’s outcome. The eight-month fiscal balance is P176.2-billion deficit, worse than the eight-month 2016 deficit of P138.4 billion. The higher deficit is likely a reflection of better utilization of the programmed spending,” he said.

The Bureau of the Treasury said the government posted a P28.8-billion fiscal surplus in August 2017, driven by faster year-onyear growth in expenditures of 14 percent alongside revenue expansion of 10 percent.

The surplus, however, was slower by 12 percent compared with the surplus of P32.6 billion in the same

period last year.

This brought fiscal deficit in the first eight months to P176.2 billion, up 27 percent from the P138.4-billion gap in the same period last year.

Total revenues in August amounted to P230.4 billion, up 10 percent from the collections recorded a year earlier. Year-to-date, collections rose 8 percent from last year’s to P1.601 trillion, with tax revenues making up 91 percent of the total collections.

Collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue reflected strong year-on-year growth at 9 percent to reach P171.7 billion for the month.

Year-to-date growth is also at 9 percent, with collections as of August amounting to P1.157 trillion.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said over the weekend the government would soon resume the bank’s privatization through a recapitalization program and sale of the government’s majority stake in the bank.

“This will definitely redound to the benefit of UCPB and its clients as this will strengthen the bank’s capital and generate more resources to improve its competitive position in the market,” the bank said in a statement.

“We will be coordinating closely with the DoF for their next steps, and will provide updates to all our stakeholders as we do so. We would like to assure our clients that it is business as usual for the bank while we go through each phase of this much-awaited recapitalization program, and that they can look forward to a better and stronger UCPB,” it said.

Dominguez said the government was not keen on giving additional support to UCPB once its capital program expired on Dec. 31, 2018.

“We are not inclined to have it [extended]... I told them we are not planning to extend it, so that gives us our own internal deadline...

It must be either sold or not sold,” Dominguez said.

Dominguez said the government was privatizing all its assets and speeding up the process. Among these assets are UCPB, state-run Philippine Amusement and

San Miguel interested in $1-b AES power plants

ICTSI bags two Papua

port deals

By Alena Mae S. Flores CONGLOMERATE San Miguel Corp. expressed interest in the power assets of American company AES Corp. in the Philippines worth $1 billion, a top executive said Monday.

“Yes, [we are interested in] Masinloc…We are joining,” San Miguel president Ramon Ang said, referring to Masinloc coal-fired power plant.

San Miguel is one of the country’s most aggressive players in the power industry. The company along with 15 to 20 local and foreign groups were looking at the sale of AES assets which would likely be completed this year.

Industry players said the transaction was expected to cost $1 billion. AES is selling a 51-percent stake in Masinloc Power Partners Co. Ltd., which owns the 630-megawatt Masinloc coal-fired power plant in Zambales province and the 335-MW expansion of the facility due for completion in 2019.

AES sold its 45-percent interest in Masin-AES Pte. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary, to Electricity Generating Public Co. Ltd. of Thailand for $453 million in September 2014.

The sale included indirect stakes in the 630-MW Masinloc coal plant, expansion of the existing Masinloc facility and approximately 60 MW of potential energy storage projects in advanced development.

BEST INVESTMENT BANK. First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, is awarded the Best Investment Bank and M&A House at the 11th Annual Best Financial Institution Awards by Alpha Southeast Asia. During the award covered period, First Metro raised P400 billion in debt issuances for both the government and private institutions, and over P25 billion in the equities market. Shown during the awarding ceremony are (from left) First Metro assistant vice president Ruby Jane Isla and vice president Abigail Magpayo, Alpha Southeast Asia publisher and chief executive Siddiq Bazarwala and First Metro president Rabboni Francis Arjonillo.

Tugade defends undersecretary vs MRT3 service provider

By Darwin G. Amojelar TRANSPORTATION Secretary Arthur Tugade said Monday he is supporting an undersecretary’s decision to withhold payment to Busan Universal Rails Inc., the maintenance provider of Metro Rail Transit Line 3.

“The decision to withhold payment to BURI is not a decision of Undersecretary [Cesar] Chavez alone. It is the decision of the department as a whole. I support the actions of Undersecretary Chavez in handling the issues confronting the rail sector of DOTr. His actions were in accordance with my instructions,” Tugade said in a statement.

Gaming Corp. and the controversial Mile Long property in Makati City.

A number of commercial banks expressed interest to acquire UCPB when news of its privatization broke out.

UCPB was placed under the supervision of the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporation in March 2016.

The Supreme Court issued the TRO on June 30, 2016, setting aside Executive Orders 179 and 180 signed by President Benigno Aquino III in March 2015. The Aquino directives ordered the UCPB privatization and the reconveyance to the government of about P74.3 billion in coco levy funds.

The SC issued the TRO in response to a petition filed by the Confederation of Coconut Farmers’ Organizations of the Philippines Inc., which alleged the privatization would deny the coconut farmers of their right over the coco levy funds.

UCPB was originally under the supervision of the Presidential Commission on Good Government when the agency was still litigating cases involving the bank. Aquino approved the privatization of UCPB following the Supreme Court’s Jan. 24, 2012 ruling that effectively made the bank a GOCC. Proceeds from the UCPB sale under Executive Order No. 179 would be used by the government for the benefit of the coconut farmers.

The DOTr said BURI was insisting on claiming a total of P59 million in withheld payments from the agency covering the period September 2016 to November 2016.

Tugade said if he had it his way, he should be included in the graft case filed by Busan Universal against Chavez, as the decision to withhold BURI’s payment was made with his approval and consent.

“Undersecretary Chavez always consults his plans and actions with me. His decisions were made with my consent, approval and confirmation. So, I should also be included in the graft case filed against him,” Tugade said.

“Besides, all his actions are in

accordance with the contract, equity, decency and law. All these are aboveboard and have gone through rigorous review and due process,” he said.

The transportation chief said withholding the payment to BURI took into account “the good of the country and the welfare of the riding public.”

BURI officials filed a graft case against Chavez before the Ombudsman after the DOTr undersecretary withheld the payment for the logical vehicle unit for MRT Line 3 worth P4 million.

The LVU is a part of the automatic train protection or the onboard signaling system.

Chavez said he decided to tem-

porarily hold payment of the LVU as he waited for BURI to furnish him with the certificate of origin and factory inspection report attached to the LVU billing.

BURI acquired the LVU from Diamond Pearl, owned by the family of Marlo dela Cruz, while the manufacturer of MRT3’s original signaling system came from Bombadier, Chavez said.

He said this was a requirement of Commission of Audit to make sure that the spare parts for the coaches were not taken from other train coaches.

Chavez said he was merely ensuring that government funds were spent judiciously on projects and acquisitions.

PORT operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. said Monday it signed a 25-year contract to operate two international ports in Papua New Guinea.

ICTSI, a company led by businessman Enrique Razon Jr., said in a disclosure to the stock exchange subsidiaries Motukea International Terminal Limited and South Pacific International Container Terminal Limited signed the terminal operating agreements with state-owned enterprise PNG Ports Corporation Limited for the operation, management and development of two international ports in Motukea and Lae. “The agreements and other related contracts will take effect after all the parties have complied with agreed conditions precedent,” ICTSI said.

ICTSI said MITL would provide and deploy cranes, berth and yard equipment for the Port of Motukea.

Newly developed and situated near Port Moresby, Port of Motukea is envisioned to service all port and shipping activities previously done at Port Moresby.

SPICTL shall provide and deploy cranes, berth and yard equipment at the Port of Lae. The port is the largest container handling facility in PNG. Lae, capital of Morobe Province, is PNG’s second largest city.

Darwin G. Amojelar

B2

Business

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Market falls; Apex, PXP advance Singson named CEO S TOCKS fell Monday, tracking other Asian markets on persistent North Korea concerns following a weekend of tense exchanges with US President Donald Trump.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, shed 36 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 8,244.73, as four of the six major sectors declined.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also dropped 15 points, or 0.3 percent, to settle at 4,862.65, on a value turnover of P6.8 billion. Losers outnumbered gainers, 156 to 65, while 36 issues were unchanged.

Six of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led by Apex Mining Company Inc. which surged 28.7 percent to P2.20 and PXP Energy Corp. which jumped 27.9 percent

to P9.91. Robinsons Retails Holdings Inc. went up 4.6 percent to P95.20.

Energy Development Corp. slid 15.1 percent to P6, while Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. fell 6.7 percent to P18.28. Filinvest Land Inc. tumbled 6.1 percent to P2.02.

Meanwhile, Japanese stocks rallied on a weaker yen Monday as traders bet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will call a snap election. Other Asian markets traded lower on North Korea concerns.

Abe is expected to announce a vote for next month in which most see him as likely to cruise to victory, with the main opposition in disarray and his popularity boosted by his handling of the ongoing Korean crisis.

Adding to the positive tone in Tokyo was a report in the Yomiuri newspaper saying the premier is also considering a multibillion-dollar stimulus for the stuttering economy.

The prospect of more cash being pumped into financial markets weighed on the yen, providing a boost to exporters in Tokyo trade.

The dollar rose back around the mid-112 yen region, having fallen at the end of last week below 112 yen, while the Nikkei ended 0.5 percent higher.

“The yen is in a favorable range for Japanese stocks,” Toshikazu Horiuchi, a broker at IwaiCosmo Securities, told AFP. “Market players are paying attention to the election, hoping for campaign pledges to boost the economy.”

However, most other regional markets were unable to track Tokyo’s lead following another weekend stand-off between Washington and Pyongyang.

After North Korea’s threat last week to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific, Trump and Kim Jong-Un’s regime traded fresh barbs.

With the North warning of a missile attack on the US and Trump tweeting its leaders “won’t be around much longer!”, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “we could drop into a very unpredictable nosedive”. With AFP, Bloomberg

of Meralco PowerGen

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE board of Manila Electric Co. on Monday appointed former Public Works and Highways secretary Rogelio Singson as president and chief executive officer of Meralco PowerGen Corp., the power generation arm of Meralco effective Oct. 1.

Singson will concurrently serve as a senior vice president of Meralco.

Singson is currently the president and chief executive of Light Rail Manila Corp. It is not clear whether Singson will retain his position in LMRC.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 4.81 234,000 59.8 5,080 101.1 1,395,700 3.9 3,000 129.4 754,750 2.82 21,856,000 35.6 162,600 9.03 100 16 200 31.15 338,000 9 5,200 1.66 7,000 945 10 0.7 3,230,000 88.5 1,511,560 0.85 1,383,000 13 101,400 25 2,000 60.15 31,870 241 3,030 120 3,570 48.55 75,200 252.4 377,960 1,825 5 86.55 84,830 1.3 45,000

1,152,480 303,772 140,716,630 12,090 97,629,429 63,499,420 5,821,490 903 3,210 10,539,285 44,080 11,620 9,450 2,249,010 133,758,481 1,151,680 1,324,200 50,000 1,917,438.50 728,230 418,485 3,648,385 95,972,122 9,125 7,341,578 58,930

238,013 -44,345,806 -6,462,569 3,007,520 -1,083,845 -2,582,105 29,670.00 24,885,277 142,800 -875,892 238,590 2,983,925 14,385,156 -6,587,241.50 -

41.15 9.05 0.79 1.39 20.7 0.229 116 5.67 16.96 37.05 19 64 76 1.92 6 11.38 10.12 15.02 14.16 7.13 5.4 1.79 18.3 67.15 13.96 12.8 17.5 1.8 242 56 4.95 3.2 23.35 30.9 19 16.7 276.8 0.227 12.26 2.9 6.74 10.1 6.85 9.91 1.77 12.36 68 6.5 310 4.3 4.38 2.76 13.2 4.5 0.142 1.2 151.1 3.75 2.09 0.98

INDUSTRIAL 41.8 510,100 9.18 2,786,400 0.79 1,013,000 1.4 1,025,000 21.55 13,300 0.229 2,120,000 116 1,480 5.68 3,437,000 16.98 1,739,900 38 452,200 19.16 14,600 64.05 6,956,160 76 2,570 1.93 306,000 6.48 1,151,100 11.38 6,200 10.12 5,996,400 15.1 1,674,800 14.16 764,600 7.13 722,300 6 63,106,000 1.79 3,000 18.5 1,351,100 67.15 215,940 14 5,900 12.82 72,800 18.28 8,166,200 1.8 1,220,000 245 198,410 60.15 7,200 5.1 4,323,000 3.4 24,000 23.4 4,300 31 388,000 19.24 924,800 16.76 1,721,700 276.8 232,830 0.229 880,000 13.1 72,700 2.99 184,000 6.74 117,100 10.1 2,149,900 6.9 90,200 9.91 9,500 1.79 1,180,000 12.5 1,480,700 68.5 146,750 6.53 71,900 311 6,530 4.3 18,000 4.38 48,000 2.78 1,018,000 13.32 750,000 4.53 109,000 0.142 200,000 1.21 37,000 152.6 390,890 3.75 3,000 2.1 9,567,000 0.98 23,000

21,306,590 25,630,560 800,310 1,432,570 278,650 490,250 173,162 19,553,917 29,585,784 17,132,185 282,210 452,148,790 195,425 590,680 7,291,769 71,012 61,036,040 25,245,342 10,884,704 5,167,563 366,140,284 5,370 24,904,674 14,565,467 82,608 936,168 149,042,554 2,239,710 48,341,746 431,575.50 21,953,220 80,090 100,590 12,038,590 17,779,674 29,096,788(19 64,687,130 201,080 910,446 541,480 794,533 21,825,424 628,119 94,369 2,107,250 18,503,940 10,029,164 471,699 2,024,600 77,400 210,240 2,861,140 10,024,566 490,560 28,460 44,560 59,429,497 11,250 20,333,110 22,540

9,714,005 9,944,179 43,430 -3,649,512 -2,496,052 -363,280 360,940,265.50 540,791 40,430,322 19,315,070 -615,808 -80,842 67,457,407 -2,480,292 -1,118,937 -63,760 -26,061,182 152,130 -14,153,746 23,800 -8,713,370 6,230,538 ,021,528.0003) 4,731,270 8,820 -8,899,994 84,530 -1,534,084 6,004,541 109,555 -1,122,500 -14,000 -3,243,634 -27,127,326 1,058,290 -

0.345 73.25 16.66 1.07 6.97 0.325 0.345 955 8.4 15.76 7.75 5.5 5.04 0.201 1,180 7.89 75.75 4.9 5.04 0.88 6.6 17.24 0.405 6.89 3.2 0.048 1.2 2.04 2.69 97.4 2.63 860 1.43 288 0.275 0.194 0.217

HOLDING FIRMS 0.355 1,890,000 74 781,250 16.8 8,025,000 1.07 121,000 6.97 7,200 0.34 4,350,000 0.35 1,360,000 960 167,290 8.42 1,291,000 15.8 6,255,100 7.75 148,300 5.5 6,000 5.04 300 0.201 130,000 1,195 19,630 7.89 800 79 711,700 5 29,700 5.04 800 0.89 549,000 6.6 455,600 17.28 1,493,600 0.405 80,000 6.95 7,785,900 3.2 12,000 0.049 11,000,000 1.5 4,641,000 2.06 194,000 2.7 6,000 98 124,600 2.63 119,000 878 179,000 1.44 1,126,000 292.6 4,340 0.275 1,320,000 0.194 1,370,000 0.217 210,000

656,450 57,689,599 135,155,008 130,110 50,184 1,465,050 472,500 160,579,520 10,923,245 98,867,076 1,153,777 33,000 1,512 26,330 23,450,425 6,317 55,533,381 148,059 4,032 486,520 3,029,835 25,829,632 32,400 53,974,158 38,450 548,800 6,851,390 397,410 16,150 12,169,193 313,010 155,559,185 1,627,970 1,264,344 363,000 267,780 45,890

-20,793,267 -20,404,040 48,789,220 4,996,051 -19,580,114 -404,930 990,880 -6,063,010 -1,175,267 -1,132,778 4,050 27,867,553 -40,040 958,870.50 85,537,365 -423,042 -

368,486 34,993,550 980,047 3,103,370 2,891,610 405,548,470 6,293,080 53,791,577 101,206 6,854,790 1,484,000 473,110 17,274,120 468,550 8,573,625 1,324,160 180,910 121,803,200 18,491,780 264,020 104,145,187

-78,853 373,110 182,607.00 -122,814,285 273,300 4,712,175 504,200 -1,500 2,309,500 465,645 -66,132,810 -7,705,350 25,020,042

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

AG FINANCE ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO LEASING BDO UNIBANK BRIGHT KINDLE CHINABANK CITYSTATE BANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK FILIPINO FUND IREMIT MANULIFE MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PBCOM PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PHILTRUST RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK VANTAGE

4.8 59.85 101.6 4.1 129.3 2.8 35.9 9.03 16.1 31.55 8.9 1.66 945 0.71 89 0.86 13 25 60.2 241 120 48.9 254.6 1,825 86.5 1.31

5.1 59.85 101.6 4.1 129.5 3.07 35.9 9.03 16.1 31.55 9 1.66 945 0.72 89 0.87 13.06 25 60.25 241 120 48.9 256 1,825 86.55 1.31

4.8 59.25 100.2 3.9 128.9 2.75 35.5 9.03 16 31 8.4 1.66 945 0.69 88 0.82 13 25 60.15 240 114 48.3 251 1,825 86.5 1.3

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY BOGO MEDELLIN CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CONCRETE A CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR ENERGY DEVT EUROMED FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL MACAY HLDG MANILA WATER MAXS GROUP MEGAWIDE MERALCO MG HLDG PANASONIC PEPSI COLA PETROENERGY PETRON PHIL H2O PHINMA PHINMA ENERGY PHX PETROLEUM PILIPINAS SHELL PRYCE CORP PUREFOODS RFM CORP ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VULCAN INDL

41.6 9.3 0.8 1.42 21.6 0.234 127 5.72 17.1 37.95 19.5 65 76 1.93 6.15 11.54 10.2 15.16 14.4 7.18 5.4 1.79 18.8 67.55 13.96 12.92 19.6 1.88 244.8 59.95 4.95 3.2 23.35 31.05 19.8 17.04 279.8 0.227 12.5 2.93 6.75 10.26 7.04 9.98 1.79 12.44 68.5 6.7 310 4.3 4.38 2.86 13.5 4.5 0.145 1.2 154 3.75 2.19 0.98

42 9.3 0.8 1.42 21.8 0.234 127 5.72 17.1 38.15 19.6 65.9 76.5 1.95 6.55 11.54 10.2 15.16 14.4 7.23 6.3 1.79 18.8 67.8 14.4 13.12 19.7 1.88 245 60.15 5.21 3.44 23.4 31.3 19.8 17.08 280 0.232 13.42 3 6.88 10.26 7.04 9.98 1.8 12.7 68.55 6.8 311 4.3 4.38 2.87 13.5 4.53 0.145 1.23 154 3.75 2.19 0.98

ABACORE CAPITAL ABOITIZ EQUITY ALLIANCE GLOBAL ANGLO PHIL HLDG ANSCOR ATN HLDG A ATN HLDG B AYALA CORP COSCO CAPITAL DMCI HLDG FILINVEST DEV FJ PRINCE A FJ PRINCE B FORUM PACIFIC GT CAPITAL HOUSE OF INV JG SUMMIT JOLLIVILLE HLDG KEPPEL HLDG A LODESTAR LOPEZ HLDG LT GROUP MABUHAY HLDG METRO PAC INV MJC INVESTMENTS PACIFICA PRIME MEDIA PRIME ORION REPUBLIC GLASS SAN MIGUEL CORP SEAFRONT RES SM INVESTMENTS SOLID GROUP TOP FRONTIER UNIOIL HLDG WELLEX INDUS ZEUS HLDG

0.36 73.3 16.82 1.11 6.97 0.335 0.345 963 8.5 15.9 7.9 5.5 5.04 0.203 1,201 7.9 77 5.19 5.04 0.89 6.85 17.3 0.405 6.94 3.21 0.052 1.2 2.05 2.69 98 2.64 864.5 1.45 292.2 0.275 0.197 0.219

0.36 74 17.18 1.11 6.97 0.345 0.355 963 8.5 15.9 7.9 5.5 5.04 0.203 1,202 7.9 79 5.19 5.04 0.9 6.85 17.36 0.405 6.98 3.21 0.052 1.56 2.06 2.7 98 2.64 878 1.47 293 0.275 0.197 0.219

8990 HLDG A BROWN ANCHOR LAND ARANETA PROP ARTHALAND CORP AYALA LAND BELLE CORP CEB LANDMASTERS CEBU HLDG CENTURY PROP CITY AND LAND CITYLAND DEVT CROWN EQUITIES CYBER BAY DOUBLEDRAGON EMPIRE EAST EVER GOTESCO FILINVEST LAND GLOBAL ESTATE IRC PROP MEGAWORLD

5.3 1.2 9.79 2.5 1.08 45.05 3.82 5.3 5.48 0.52 1.37 1.5 0.25 0.49 42.95 0.68 0.147 2.15 1.55 0.92 5.3

5.3 1.2 11 2.56 1.09 45.05 3.85 5.5 5.48 0.52 1.37 1.53 0.26 0.49 43.8 0.7 0.148 2.18 1.56 0.93 5.3

5.15 1.1 9.06 2.48 1.04 44.25 3.76 5.3 5.38 0.51 1.31 1.48 0.242 0.485 42 0.68 0.147 2.02 1.49 0.91 5.23

VOLUME

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

MRC ALLIED PHIL ESTATES PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SHANG PROP SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.345 0.53 0.49 6.18 26.1 1.78 3.15 34.85 1.05 0.89 6.45

0.345 0.53 0.495 6.18 26.2 1.78 3.24 35 1.06 0.89 6.45

0.33 0.495 0.48 6 25.6 1.78 3.15 34.7 1.03 0.86 6.22

0.335 0.495 0.48 6.01 26 1.78 3.15 34.8 1.04 0.86 6.3

94,760,000 12,148,000 4,000,000 2,018,500 1,906,900 277,000 198,000 6,039,500 3,777,000 189,000 5,017,400

31,714,950 6,161,155 1,935,100 12,207,940 49,502,125 493,060 624,730 210,261,860 3,946,800 162,610 31,719,032

-2,371,750 1,772,182 13,685,840 41,050 -92,824,950 -13,650 5,774,412

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL ASIAN TERMINALS BERJAYA BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR CHELSEA DFNN INC GLOBE TELECOM GMA NETWORK GOLDEN HAVEN GRAND PLAZA 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 MELCO RESORTS METRO RETAIL MLA BRDCASTING NOW CORP PACIFIC ONLINE PAL HLDG PAXYS 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

21.15 40.7 1.65 0.6 0.039 11 5.11 10.5 0.071 111.6 9.15 10.24 7.55 2,050 6.07 16.5 13.32 2.63 2.97 107.6 12 8.43 0.165 1.31 3.1 16.16 4.69 1.39 15.44 0.55 2.4 8.21 4.36 18.8 2.5 11.1 5.12 2.99 170 9.48 1,680 1.61 0.4 52.5 91.1 5.87 4.68 1.53 2.08 3.9 1.36 8.92

21.15 40.7 1.86 0.6 0.04 11.18 5.11 10.62 0.073 111.6 9.15 10.36 7.55 2,078 6.1 16.98 13.32 2.63 2.97 107.8 12 8.43 0.166 1.32 3.21 16.2 4.85 1.39 15.46 0.55 2.46 8.35 4.38 18.8 2.5 11.14 5.18 3.1 173 9.48 1,680 1.61 0.41 52.5 96 6.05 4.7 1.54 2.1 3.98 1.36 8.98

20.3 40.55 1.63 0.57 0.038 11 5.11 10.22 0.071 110.2 9.08 10.04 7.27 2,034 6.06 16.1 13.32 2.5 2.93 102 12 8.3 0.156 1.3 3.04 16.1 4.5 1.31 14.58 0.55 2.4 7.69 4.2 18.22 2.43 11.1 5.12 2.99 165 9.21 1,654 1.59 0.395 51 91.1 5.87 4.48 1.5 1.83 3.9 1.22 8.9

SERVICES 20.6 40.6 1.78 0.58 0.04 11.18 5.11 10.32 0.073 111.2 9.08 10.04 7.3 2,078 6.07 16.2 13.32 2.6 2.94 103 12 8.3 0.159 1.32 3.18 16.18 4.54 1.33 14.66 0.55 2.46 7.76 4.23 18.7 2.44 11.14 5.17 3.1 168 9.35 1,654 1.59 0.395 51 95.2 5.9 4.52 1.52 2.1 3.95 1.22 8.93

150,400 32,500 2,095,000 1,484,000 11,600,000 1,100 14,500 17,226,300 26,240,000 93,960 21,000 3,952,600 111,400 15,765 352,500 64,400 300 3,673,000 92,000 1,539,610 3,200 252,000 22,410,000 1,434,000 215,000 34,800 2,155,000 3,327,000 4,473,100 212,000 70,000 7,041,200 1,497,000 600 1,574,000 9,000 2,900 42,000 8,480 748,100 42,210 2,397,000 1,030,000 1,483,120 1,069,010 27,700 2,150,000 12,500,000 37,000 3,909,000 59,276,000 1,862,100

3,098,895 1,319,635 3,692,720 863,730 452,400 12,244 74,095 178,581,648 1,879,990 10,441,342 191,162 40,097,376 814,105 32,532,430 2,138,408 1,049,606 3,996 9,299,590 271,530 159,670,757 38,400 2,121,200 3,579,370 1,874,520 660,570 563,256 9,891,860 4,444,900 66,466,868 116,600 171,080 55,609,533 6,360,510 11,182 3,858,400 100,154 14,958 128,450 1,433,630 6,961,638 70,154,410 3,830,000 410,600 76,261,367 ( 101,536,066 163,229 9,828,860 19,008,850 75,100 15,386,820 74,789,910 16,628,932

66,290 -29,291,236 1,958,161 294,310 -707,370 -1,298,050 324,000 -5,210 -69,518,028 4,740 447,250 -627,566 -1,653,098 -38,300 -63,440 -1,545 -95,500 -636,080 62,615 -33,665,860 -474,920 21,744,913.5) -45,957,372 381,100 -338,000 793,640 569,530 1,995,138

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

0.0026 1.73 4.9 14.42 1.56 0.38 9 2.64 0.27 0.181 0.01 2.02 7.15 1.76 0.51 1.05 0.013 0.014 0.012 2.47 8.8 8.2 47 0.0082

0.0026 2.21 5 17.5 1.65 0.39 9 2.66 0.27 0.184 0.011 2.02 7.31 1.77 0.53 1.08 0.013 0.014 0.012 2.5 8.82 9.95 47 0.0082

0.0025 1.73 4.84 14.42 1.54 0.38 8.7 2.63 0.26 0.18 0.01 1.98 6.96 1.72 0.51 1.03 0.012 0.012 0.012 2.46 8.59 7.82 45.3 0.0078

MINING & OIL 0.0026 240,000,000 2.2 154,462,000 4.85 164,000 17.5 63,400 1.61 14,929,000 0.39 120,000 8.96 74,200 2.65 7,338,000 0.27 760,000 0.18 10,210,000 0.01 150,500,000 1.98 625,000 6.97 8,252,100 1.77 111,000 0.53 23,000 1.04 727,000 0.012 55,300,000 0.012 17,000,000 0.012 42,300,000 2.47 24,000 8.64 925,300 9.91 48,610,100 45.6 2,769,300 0.0078 6,000,000

615,800 311,739,260 797,340 1,013,420 23,924,790 46,200 661,399 19,435,180 202,350 1,847,180 1,505,200 1,245,060 58,500,364 195,100 11,750 758,060 663,800 236,600 507,600 59,250 8,011,567 447,272,153 12 126,168,085 47,300

52,000 -27,601,340 29,150 1,990,970 26,500 -15,298,000 49,920 -474,544 ,042,070.9996 -13,090,580 -

ABS HLDG PDR AC PREF B2 DD PREF FGEN PREF F GLO PREF P GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2A PF PREF 2 PNX PREF 3A PNX PREF 3B SFI PREF SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2G SMC PREF 2H

40.55 525 105.3 108 525 5.8 1,025 1,028 1.06 110 1,065 1,016 106.5 112.8 1.95 76.4 80.2 81 78.9 78

40.7 525 105.3 108 525 5.8 1,025 1,028 1.06 110 1,065 1,016 106.5 112.9 1.96 76.4 80.2 81 78.9 79

40.55 525 105.3 105 525 5.78 1,025 1,028 1.05 110 1,065 1,015 106.5 112.8 1.95 74.5 79.4 81 78.9 78

PREFERRED 40.6 137,400 525 100 105.3 10,080 105 4,110 525 1,040 5.78 196,500 1,025 45 1,028 500 1.05 55,000 110 180,190 1,065 2,860 1,015 2,600 106.5 90 112.9 44,000 1.96 3,000 74.5 70,050 80.1 293,100 81 40,030 78.9 50 78.5 50,510

5,579,960 1 52,500 1,061,424 431,930 546,000 1,136,170 46,125 514,000 58,210 19,820,900 3,045,900 2,641,300 9,585 4,967,592 5,870 5,225,020 23,415,290 3,242,430 3,945 3,986,285

,274,855.0003 -904,970 101,600 -4,401,645 -

LR WARRANT

2.81

2.81

2.71

WARRANTS 2.72 642,000

1,765,660

-41,400

PHILAB HLDG ITALPINAS XURPAS

4.75 4.45 5.75

4.94 4.45 5.75

4.7 4.17 5.64

4.88 4.17 5.65

261,460 2,576,540 14,429,911

196,690 1,928,727

FIRST METRO ETF

125.3

125.3

124.6

1,035,764

-99,680

USD DMPL A1

10.9

10.9

10.9

6,540

-

MS

PROPERTY 5.16 1.12 9.86 2.51 1.05 44.5 3.78 5.4 5.38 0.51 1.35 1.48 0.244 0.485 42.05 0.68 0.147 2.02 1.49 0.91 5.26

71,100 30,416,000 100,400 1,228,000 2,730,000 9,110,700 1,656,000 9,949,200 18,800 13,358,000 1,107,000 315,000 69,490,000 960,000 203,400 1,947,000 1,230,000 58,570,000 12,269,000 287,000 19,836,300

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

32,946,949

INDUSTRIAL

133,473,012

HOLDING FIRMS

56,951,321

PROPERTY

389,535,675

SERVICES

211,141,287

MINING & OIL

765,776,186

GRAND TOTAL

1,593,045,090

SME

55,000 608,000 2,548,400

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 124.6 8,300 10.9

DDS

600

VALUE 1,979.95 (down) -7.22 713,216,755.69 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 11,178.69 (down)-221.11 1,677,017,847.47 HOLDING FIRMS 8,320.19 (up) 61.02 883,343,327.066 PROPERTY 3,911.49(down) -41.18 1,702.19 (down) -19.45 1,319,226,321.505 SERVICES MINING & OIL 14,205.61 (up) 70.36 1,113,672,988.96 PSEI 8,244.73 (down) -36.54 1,031,456,156.715 All Shares Index 4,862.65 (down) -15.74 6,756,241,656.41 Gainers: 65; Losers: 156; Unchanged: 36; Total: 257

Meralco is building up to 3,000 megawatts of power generation capacity under Meralco PowerGen. Singson will replace Oscar Reyes as president of Meralco PowerGen. “Mr. Singson can now focus on the projects of Mgen,” Meralco senior vice president and head of corporate communications Al Panlilio said.

Meralco is the country’s biggest power distributor with over six million customers in its franchise area.

Meralco PowerGen plans build additional capacities to secure future power requirements aside from owning a stake in Global Business Power Corp.

Meralco PowerGen owns the majority of Atimonan One Energy Inc., the project company of the 1,200-megawatt ultra supercritical coal plant in Atimonan, Quezon.

The project is waiting the approval of the Energy Regulatory Commission for its power supply agreement with Meralco.

The company also owns a stake in San Buenaventura Power Ltd. Co., which is constructing the 455-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Mauban, Quezon, one of the first state-of-the-art super-critical coal-fired power plants up for completion in 2019.

Meralco PowerGen owns a stake in Redondo Peninsula Energy’s 600-MW coal plant in Subic, Zambales which is also awaiting approval for its power supply agreement with Meralco.

Toyota financing hits P58.7b

By Julito G. Rada TOYOTA Financial Services Philippines Corp., a part of Toyota’s network of sales finance companies, said total assets jumped 30 percent to P58.7 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2017 from P45.3 billion a year ago.

Toyota said in a statement this included a P15.6-billion increase in loan receivables for the period.

Gross income grew 25.5 percent to P4.2 billion from P3.3 billion in the same period last year. Net interest income rose 28 percent to P2.3 billion from P1.8 billion.

“At present, TFSPH has over 90,000 customers and over P50 billion earning assets as we continue to be the No.1 leasing company in the country,” TFSPH president Atsushi Murakami said during the company’s anniversary celebration.

“With the increasing market share and growth of TFSPH these past years, we are geared to accelerate towards more achievements and milestones,” said Murakami.

TFSPH expanded its nationwide presence with new business centers in San Fernando, Pampanga and Cebu City. The expansion will carry on with business centers set to open in Davao and South Luzon in the fourth quarter of 2017.

TFSPH is a part of Toyota’s network of sales finance companies under Toyota Financial Services Corp. that operates in over 36 countries worldwide. TFSPH is the 25th sales finance company established by TFSC and is mandated to support Toyota sales in the Philippines in line with the global objectives of Toyota Motor Corp. Japan.

Business

Manila

Standard

TODAY

THERE are three principal ways in which the government of a highincome-inequality country can redistribute income. One is to skew the income tax rate structure in favor of the low-income groups, even exempting the poorest from income taxation altogether. Another way is to subsidize the prices of goods and services that figure prominently in the consumption pattern of the poor.

The third—and only direct—way is to give cash outright to the lowincome groups.

This country’s government has tried two of these three ways. In the past it has at one time or another subsidized the price of fuel and basic food items such as rice. Through the 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) the government has made monthly CCT (conditional cash transfers) of P1,400 to families determined by the local government units (LGUs) to be very poor. It is about to try the third means, to wit, the discriminatory use of the Tax Code’s income tax rate structure. A Duterte-administered-sponsored bill seeking to amend the Tax Code has been approved by the House of Representatives and now awaits Senate consideration.

That an urgent need exists for the government to take effective steps toward significantly reducing income inequality in this country is indicated by the self-rated-poverty survey conducted by SWS (Social Weather Stations) in September 2016. The survey found that approximately four out of every 10 – 42 percent of Filipino families, equivalent to around 9.4 million families – rated themselves poor. Of that total number, 71 percent – equivalent to 6.7 families – rated themselves food-poor.

The Duterte administration’s bill bears the picturesque acronym TRAIN (Tax Reform and Inclusion).

Upon the approval of TRAIN as currently structured, an individual with an annual income of P250,000 or less will receive a tax reduction of P47,500 (present tax liability of P50,000 as against a TRAIN li-

ability of P2,500) and an individual with an annual income of between P250,000 and P500,000 will receive a tax reduction of P62,500 (present tax liability of P95,000 as against a TRAIN liability of P32,500). According to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), 83 percent of all 2013 individual taxpayers belonged to the P250,000-and-below tax bracket.

But the impact of these tax reliefs on income inequality will be blunted by the reduction of the rates that the individual annual incomes between P500,000 and P5 million—the five succeeding tax brackets—will undergo every year until the 25 percent level is reached. It will also be blunted by TRAIN’s take-backwith-the-right-hand-what-you-givewith-the-left-hand strategy. With simultaneous excise tax measures, the Department of Finance expects to convert the P139 billion worth of foregone income tax revenue into a net revenue gain of P220 billion.

Considering that excise taxes have a relatively greater negative impact on low-income consumers, the income-inequality reduction effect of TRAIN is likely to be much less than projected.

Apart from their costliness, the principal argument against subsidy programs is the difficulty that attends their administration. When abuse and corruption come into the picture—and this is the case in most developing countries—subsidy programs become very heavy burdens on national treasuries. Creditors, especially international institutions, tend to have a bias against subsidy programs.

Although there is some validity to the assertion that it encourages laziness, the 4Ps program is, in the end, the most effective approach to income-inequality reduction. True, politics inevitably manages to get into the picture, but the program’s P1,400 monthly per-family grant reaches the poorest of the poor families.

Whatever the approach adopted and the means chosen, the inequality of incomes in this country must be reduced. Income-inequality reduction must be undertaken not only because it is the right thing to do but also because economic development demands it.

By Jenniffer B. Austria

L

ISTED dormant company Filsyn Corp. said Monday four large companies, including three developers and PLDT Inc., expressed interest in developing its 30-hectare property in Sta. Rosa, Laguna into a telecom park.

Filysn, a former textile company known as Filipinas Synthetic Fiber Corp., in a disclosure to the stock exchange, identified the four groups that offered possible partnerships as SM Investments Corp., Filinvest Land Inc., Century Properties Group Inc. and PLDT Inc. “For this development plan, the company will consider entering into an appropriate agreements with these corporations,” Filsyn said.

Filsyn said it wanted the development of the Sta. Rosa property to be patterned after Taipei’s Far Easter Telecom Park which primarily caters to all IT-related

Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

NATIONAL TOBACCO ADMINISTRATION

Scout Reyes Street, corner Panay Avenue, Quezon City Tel No. (02) 374-3987 Fax. No. (02) 374-2505

Scout Reyes Street, corner Panay Avenue, Quezon City Tel No. (02) 374-3987 Fax. No. (02) 374-2505

InvItatIon to BId

Supply and delIvery of fertIlIzer requIrementS for IfoIgap – toBaCCo, (tCgS), Cy 2017-18 (pB 2017-07) The NATIONAL TOBACCO ADMINISTRATION (NTA), through the 2017 Corporate Operating Budget intends to apply the sum of PhP 51,679,710.00 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the project: “Supply and Delivery of Fertilizer Requirements for IFOIGAP – Tobacco (TCGS), CY 2017-18’’, broken down by lots, Lot 1 – PhP2,968,820.00; Lot 2 – PhP5,159,380.00; Lot 3 – PhP12,639,070.00; Lot 4 – PhP11,228,900.00, Lot 5 – PhP8,482,520.00, and Lot 6 – PhP11,201,020.00. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

1.

The NTA now invites bids for the supply and delivery of fertilizer requirements for IFOIGAP - Tobacco. Delivery of the Goods is required for a period of twelve (12) days. Bidders should have completed, within a period of five (5) years, from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

2.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

3.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NTA and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders beginning on September 26, 2017 to October 16, 2017, from the address below; and upon payment of the bidding fees for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the following amount, to wit:

7.

Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before 16 October 2017. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NTA and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders beginning on September 26, 2017 to October 16, 2017, from the address below; and upon payment of the bidding fees for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the following amount, to wit: Lot 1 Lot 3 Lot 5

: : :

PhP1,000.00; PhP5,000.00 PhP5,000.00, and

Lot 2 Lot 4 Lot 6

: PhP5,000.00; : PhP5,000.00; : PhP5,000.00

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that Bidders shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that Bidders shall pay the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

The NTA will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 03 October 2017, at 2:00 p.m., at 3rd Floor, Training Room, NTA Building, cor. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City., which shall be open to prospective bidders.

The NTA now invites bids for the supply and delivery of fungicide / insecticide requirements for IFOIGAP - Tobacco. Delivery of the Goods is required for a period of seven (7) days. Bidders should have completed, within a period of five (5) years, from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

4.

Lot 2 : PhP10,000.00; Lot 4 : PhP25,000.00; Lot 6 : PhP25,000.00

6.

Brief Description Location

(ii) Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the IRR of RA 9184.

(ii) Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the IRR of RA 9184.

PhP5,000.00; PhP25,000.00 PhP10,000.00, and

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting all interested bidders in its forthcoming re-bidding for the Procurement of Canteen Concessionaire under ITB No. PB17004OLO-09.

The NATIONAL TOBACCO ADMINISTRATION (NTA), through the 2017 Corporate Operating Budget intends to apply the sum of PhP11,406,696.00 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the project: “Supply and Delivery of Fungicide/ Insecticide Requirements for IFOIGAP – Tobacco (TCGS), CY 2017-18’’, broken down by lots, Lot 1 – PhP800,553.00; Lot 2 – PhP1,700,583.00; Lot 3 – PhP2,586,402.00; Lot 4 – PhP2,174,283.00, Lot 5 – PhP1,695,846.00, and Lot 6 – PhP2,449,029.00. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

(i)

(i) Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

Lot 1 : Lot 3 : Lot 5:

InvItatIon to BId for the proCurement of Canteen ConCeSSIonaIre under ITB No. pB17-004olo-09

InvItatIon to BId Supply and delIvery of fungICIde/ InSeCtICIde requIrementS for IfoIgap – toBaCCo, (tCgS), Cy 2017-18 (pB 2017-06)

4.

6.

The NTA will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on 03 October 2017, at 10:00 a.m., at the 3rd Floor, Training Room, NTA Building, cor. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City., which shall be open to prospective bidders.

7.

Bids must be duly received by the BAC Secretariat at the address below on or before 16 October 2017. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on 16 October 2017, at 11:00 a.m., at the 3 Floor, Training Room, NTA Building, cor. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted. rd

Bid opening shall be on 16 October 2017, at 2:00 p.m., at 3rd Floor, Training Room, NTA Building, cor. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

The NTA reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

8.

The NTA reserves the right to reject any and all bids, declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

9.

For further information, please refer to:

9.

For further information, please refer to:

CRISTINA C. LOPEZ, DBA National Tobacco Administration Cors. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City Tel No. 372 3188; cclnta@yahoo.com Fax No. 373 2095 Website Address:nta.da.gov.ph

CRISTINA C. LOPEZ, DBA National Tobacco Administration Cors. Scout Reyes Street and Panay Avenue, Quezon City Tel No. 372 3188; cclnta@yahoo.com Fax No. 373 2095 Website Address:nta.da.gov.ph

SIGNED CRISTINA C. LOPEZ, DBA Chairperson, NTA-BAC

SIGNED CRISTINA C. LOPEZ, DBA Chairperson, NTA-BAC

(MS-SEPT. 26, 2017)

duce the par value of its shares from P5 to P2.50 per share, convert a portion of common shares into preferred shares, issue preferred shares to creditor and a implement debt-to-equity conversion plan.

Trading of Filsyn shares were suspended in the last 15 years. The company was previously engaged in textile manufacturing.

Filsyn, according to the Philippine Stock Exchange website, was originally organized in 1968 as Filipinas Synthetic Fiber Corp. to promote and support the polyester fiber and yarn requirements of the Philippines’ textile industry.

The company changed to its present name in 1987 to reflect its wider range of activities. It has investments in Island King Aquaventure Corp., an aquaculture company, and SRTC Development Corp., a real estate firm.

The company in December 2009 offered its property in Sta. Rosa as dacion in payment of the entire obligation to one of its creditors. The offer was accepted in November 2010, but as of April 8, 2016, the parties have not yet formally executed the dacion en pago arrangement.

PSBANK AWARDS.

NATIONAL TOBACCO ADMINISTRATION

3.

businesses in information and communication technology, digital content, cloud computing, green technology and intelligent technology.

SM Investments conveyed a plan to acquire 10 hectares of the property, with the remaining 20 hectares to be developed through joint ventures, according to Filsyn.

FLI proposed to implement the project through a 50:50 joint venture partnership with total investment amounting to P30 billion.

Filsyn said CPG, meanwhile, proposed to develop the property at a cost of $500 million to $600 million. It said CPG also planned to invite PLDT, which is looking to build new headquarters south of Metro Manila.

Filsyn said PLDT on its own expressed interest in discussing the feasibility of developing the project in case the planned joint venture development pushed through.

Filsyn said aside from developing the Sta. Rosa property, it was set to implement a financial restructuring plan to address the existing capital deficiency.

Under the plan, the company will re-

Philippine Savings Bank, the thrift bank arm of the Metrobank Group, is the only Philippine bank recognized at the recently held Customer Experience Asia Excellence Awards for its exceptional customer experience strategy.

The awards ceremony, organized by the International Quality and Productivity Center, was held in Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on Sept.

12, 2017. PSBank senior vice president and marketing group head Emmanuel Tuazon (right) and first vice president and customer experience group head Mary Jane Valero (middle) receive the awards. The bank bagged third place (Bronze Award) for both the Customer Experience and Best Customer Experience team categories for the second straight year.

It also received an Honorable Mention for the Best Social Media Strategy category.

Republic of the Philippines DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

2.

B3

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Filsyn’s property lures SM, PLDT, two others

The taxation approach to reducing income inequality

1.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Procurement of Canteen Concessionaire Casino Filipino Olongapo, #580 Rizal Avenue, East Tapinac, Olongapo City Contract Duration For a period of three (3) years commencing from the date of receipt by the winning supplier of the Notice to Proceed.

Approved Budget for the The annual ABC is in the amount of Ten Million Eight Hundred Seven Contract Thousand Eight Hundred Forty Pesos (PhP 10,807,840.00), VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction or a total ABC in the amount of Thirty-Two Million Four Hundred Twenty-Three Thousand Five Hundred Twenty Pesos (PhP 32,423,520.00) for a period of three (3) years, VAT Exclusive, Zero-Rated Transaction.

Source of Funds: Corporate Budget for CY 2017 Bidders should have completed, within the last three (3) years before the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criterion as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183.

PAGCOR will hold a Pre-Bid Conference, which shall be open to prospective bidders.

All particulars relative to Pre-Bid Conference, Detailed Evaluation of Bids, Post-Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. The schedule of bidding activities is listed, as follows: Activities 1. Issuance of the Bidding Documents 2. Pre-Bid Conference 3. Deadline for the Submission and Receipt of Bids 4. Opening and Preliminary Examination of Bids

Date, Time and Venue September 26, 2017 (Tue) to October 18, 2017 (Wed) October 3, 2017 (Tue), 2:00 p.m., Branch Conference Room, Casino Filipino Olongapo, #580 Rizal Avenue, East Tapinac, Olongapo City October 18, 2017 (Wed), 11:00 a.m., Branch Conference Room, Casino Filipino Olongapo, #580 Rizal Avenue, East Tapinac, Olongapo City October 18, 2017 (Wed), 11:00 a.m. onwards, Branch Conference Room, Casino Filipino Olongapo, #580 Rizal Avenue, East Tapinac, Olongapo City

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the Procurement Section (PS), acting as the BAC Secretariat, of PAGCOR and/or inspect the Bidding Documents at Procurement Office, Casino Filipino Olongapo, #580 Rizal Avenue, East Tapinac, Olongapo City during office hours of PAGCOR from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders upon payment of the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by the GPPB, in the amount of Twenty-Five Thousand Pesos (PhP25,000.00).

Prospective bidders may also download the Bidding Documents free of charge from the following websites: www.pagcor.ph and www.philgeps.gov.ph and may be allowed to submit bids provided that bidders shall pay the applicable fee of the Bidding Documents not later than the deadline for the submission and receipt of bids.

Prospective bidders should present to PAGCOR’s PAGCOR’s Finance Section located at the Casino Filipino Olongapo, #580 Rizal Avenue, East Tapinac, Olongapo City either the Payment Slip which may be secured from PS or a copy of this ITB in effecting payment for the Bidding Documents.

Bidders shall bear all costs associated with the preparation and submission of his bid, and PAGCOR will in no case be responsible or liable for those costs, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the bidding process.

Bidders should note that PAGCOR will accept bids only from those that have paid the applicable fee for the Bidding Documents.

All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the venue of the bid opening. Late bids shall not be accepted.

PAGCOR assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

In accordance with Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) Circular 06-2005 - Tie-Breaking Method, the Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) shall use a non-discretionary and non-discriminatory measure based on sheer luck or chance, which is “DRAW LOTS,” in the event that two (2) or more bidders have been post-qualified and determined as the bidder having the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid (LCRB) to determine the final bidder having the LCRB, based on the following procedures: a) b)

In alphabetical order, the bidders shall pick one rolled paper.

The lucky bidder who would pick the paper with a “CONGRATULATIONS” remark shall be declared as the final bidder having the LCRB and recommended for award of the contract.

PAGCOR reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award in accordance with Section 41 of RA 9184 and its IRR, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

Please address all communications to the Branch Bids and Awards Committee thru PS Office, Casino Filipino Olongapo, #580 Rizal Avenue, East Tapinac, Olongapo City, Tel No.: (047) 223-4565 to 66 local 4335.

(MS-SEPT. 26, 2017)

(sgd)NANCY C. ORCULLO Chairperson Branch Bids and awards committee (BBac) casino Filipino-olongapo

(MS-SEPT. 26, 2017)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Salceda: Free tuition starting ‘18 now certain

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor jimbo.gulle@gmail.com mslocalgov@gmail.com

B4

tuesday, september 26, 2017

LGUs Local government units

‘KUDONG’ IN TACURONG. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office general manager Alexander F. Balutan (right) received a plaque of appreciation from Mayor Lina Montilla of Tacurong City during the city’s Salakudong Festival on Sept. 18. Balutan, wearing a native hat called ‘kudong,’ was the event’s guest of honor and speaker. Balutan also led the opening of a PCSO branch office in Tacurong, Sultan Kudarat province, the 59th in the agency’s nationwide network of branches.

LEGAZPI CITY—Free tuition and miscellaneous fees in state universities and colleges and Tesda-accredited technical vocational schools is no longer just a dream, says Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda.

“It’s now for real!” Salceda said after the House Committee on Appropriations, where he is senior vice chairman, has finally sourced out and allotted some P41 billion for the program in the 2018 national budget.

This now assures funding for the implementation next year of the celebrated Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act or Republic Act 10931, which President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed into law earlier this year, the congressman said.

This was despite doubts on the government’s capacity to finance the program, Salceda noted. The measure did not specify its fund sources, but the President advised the House to ensure funding for it, he added.

Salceda, principal author of RA 10931 in the House, and Davao City Rep. Karlo Nograles separately announced the good news in Legazpi City and Manila, respectively, and confirmed that P41 billion to P51 billion is set for the education budget next year.

“Free SUCs is real. No tuition and miscellaneous expenses. Admission is the only requirement,” Salceda posted on his social media account, followed by “No tuition in community colleges is real” and “Free techvoc in Tesda/LGU-run TVET is real.”

At the state-run Bicol University in Albay’s second district, which Salceda represents, some 28,000 students stand to benefit from the measure with a subsidy of about P480 million per year.

QC opens 3 new govt buildings

By Rio N. Araja

Q

UEZON City Mayor Herbert Bautista on Monday led the formal opening of three new buildings at the City Hall complex dedicated to law enforcement and public safety.

Following yesterday’s flag-raising ceremony, Bautista and Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte spearheaded the ribbon-cutting to signify the opening of the Na-

tional Government Agencies building, Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office building, and Department of Public Order and Safety Building, all

In Brief Bayombong funds Grade 1 pupils’ fees BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya—At least 1,032 Grade 1 schoolers in this town received funding assistance from the local government as part of Mayor Ralph Lantion’s program for quality education.

Lantion said the assistance, sourced through the mayor’s executive budget, is designed to unburden the poor parents of schoolers in paying their children’s miscellaneous fees from various elementary schools in this town.

Although the size of the fund was not specified, “this is part of our development program to uplift the quality of education. Payment of miscellaneous fees is still a burden, especially for our poor sectors,” he said.

Lantion said the funds given by the LGU cover Red Cross Insurance, Boy Scout and Girl Scout club membership, among others.

He also said 1,000 high school students have benefited this year through the LGU’s scholarship program.

“Hopefully next year, we will level up the school assistance program for Grade 2 and beyond,” Lantion said.

The mayor said that by next year, the LGU’s Special Education Program, amounting to P9 million, will be maximized to help more poor students in the municipality. Ben Moses Ebreo

located along the Kalayaan Avenue side of the City Hall compound.

“We hope to better serve the public by providing a facility that will both provide comfort and convenience to the public and to our colleagues in government who provide the frontline service,” the mayor said.

The four-story NGA Building houses the field office of the Department of the Interior and Local Gov-

ernment, clearance issuance sections of the National Bureau of Investigation and the Quezon City Police District, and the Bureau of Fire Protection.

Chief Insp. Rodel Maritana, head of the QCPD’s clearance section, said their area is located at the second floor of the NGA Building and can accommodate 200 applicants at a time.

“We have a new system in place, unlike before. An appli-

cant does not have to go back.

The clearance can be released in (just) 15 minutes,” he added.

“We also have new computers that were purchased by Mayor Herbert.”

The NBI clearance section on the ground floor will have a 170-seat waiting area with 20 windows attending to applicants.

The BFP office on the third floor will attend to applications for fire safety inspection clearances.

to monitor 243 high-definition surveillance cameras placed in strategic areas within the city.

The building is also rated to withstand an earthquake of up to magnitude 8, and can switch to renewable energy in case of a power failure.

Under Bautista’s administration, the city government has invested P300 million in the vital sector since 2010.

Robotics medals for Taguig students Investigation into Quinta

By Joel E. Zurbano Taguig City Mayor Laarni Cayetano on Monday commended a group of young students from public schools in the city who won two awards during the 2017 FIRA Roboworld Cup held in Taiwan last month.

The students—Madelle Diez, Philip Leonard Diez, John David Golenia, Pierre Alan Romir Pioquid, and Aron Sean Michael Pioquid, all of Sen. Renato Compañero Cayetano Memorial Science and Technology High School; and Samuel Tabernero of Eddie T. Reyes Integrated School—brought home gold and silver awards

from the Cliffhanger and Mission Impossible categories, respectively.

“Rest assured that the local government will never get tired of assisting our Taguigeño students so in return, I’m asking you kids to continue to dream big and think big for our beloved city of Taguig,” said Cayetano.

The event, held at the National Kaohsiung First University of Science and Technology in Kaohsiung, Taiwan from Aug. 23 to 27, was the first international robotics contest the students ever joined.

The team took part in the “sumobot-like” competition called the Cliffhanger

category, where they were tasked to build a robot that had to knock out its opponent out of the Dohyo or Cliffhanger ring without touching the obstacle placed at the center.

In the Mission Impossible category, the team was given three hours to build and program an 8.5 by 11.0 inches robot with the use of limited materials such as Styrofoam, popsicle sticks, BBQ sticks, glue stick, microcontrollers, DC motors, paper cups, distance and ultrasonic sensors.

The robot should then be able to float while following a line path placed underwater, and finally hook a treasure chest placed at the other side.

NPA killed in clash in Batangas City CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna—A New People’s Army rebel was killed on Sunday when government forces encountered an NPA camp at Mt. Banoy in Barangay Talumpok Silangan in Batangas City, the Calabarzon regional police office said.

In a report to Calabarzon police Chief Supt. Ma. O Aplasca, Batangas Provincial Police Director Senior Supt. Randy Peralta said joint elements of the 730th Combat Group of the Philippine Air Force and Batangas Police Provincial Public Safety Company discovered the communist rebels’ camp while conducting security operations at Mt. Banoy at around 8:50 a.m. on Sunday.

A 40-minute firefight ensued, leaving the stillunidentified NPA rebel dead with no casualties on the government side. An M16 Rifle and bandolier with ammunition was recovered at the scene, and the troops noted strings were tied around the perimeter of the rebel camp, believed to be used for detonating improvised explosives.

Hundreds of families from nearby Barangay Talahib were evacuated to Barangays Masagitsit and Banalo in Lobo and Batangas City proper following the operations, the local Department of Social Welfare and Development office said.

Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., commander of the Philippine Army’s 202nd Brigade, directed the troops to pursue the remaining NPAs. Maj. Gen. Rhoderick Parayno, commander of the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division based in the region, said the rebels were monitored “through the cooperation of the civilians leading to a strong intelligence buildup.” Roy Tomandao

The Disaster Risk Reduction management building houses the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Radio Communications Service, a fire station, and the headquarters of the Quezon City Ready Reserve Brigade of the Philippine Army.

It also houses the Emergency Operations Center, one of the most modern command and control centers in the country, designed

NOT TOYS. UBTECH Robotics, known globally as a leader in artificial intelligence and humanoid robotics, on Sunday introduced the Alpha 1 Pro interactive consumer robot to the Philippines during the World of Consumer Electronics Expo 2017 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. In photo (from left) are Banbros marketing manager Kristine Mapula, Banbros Commercial president Michael Bangayan, UBTECH Robotics Humanoid Robot marketing specialist Anne Zhu, and UBTECH product manager Jessel Fesarit. Manny Palmero

Market ‘mafia’ ordered

By Bill Casas

Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada has ordered an investigation into the reported “mafia-style” operation of individuals allegedly monopolizing the operation of the newly modernized Quinta Market in Quiapo.

While saying such rumors are “preposterous,” Estrada said he still wanted to get to the bottom of it to address the concerns raised by several vendors applying for registration at the recently reopened public market.

“True or not, we have to look into those allegations. I will never allow anyone or any group to run our Quinta Market for their own personal benefit. There will be no special favors here,” he said.

Estrada designated Market Administration Office chief Annie Balboa to lead the investigation.

During a recent public hearing at the City Hall led by the Committee on Market, Hawkers, and Slaughterhouses chaired

by Councilor Joel Par, several vendors and stallholders complained that some of their colleagues were given more than one stall at Quinta in viola-

tion of the city’s Market Code.

There were reports that only 26 families managed to take control of 146 stalls, when the law mandates that only one stall should be given per family or vendor. The 26 families were not even residents of Manila, the vendors complained.

In a memorandum, Balboa tasked Quinta Market supervisor Marjorie Yebra to coordinate with the market developer, Marketlife Management and Leasing Corp., to verify these allegations.

“We can’t say yet if this so-called ‘mafia’ at the Quinta Market is true.

The mayor ordered an investigation,” Balboa said.

Estrada, she stressed, would never allow this kind of scheme, since his priority is to accommodate as many vendors or stallholders as they can in the city’s renovated public markets.

These allegations came from the so-called United Vendors Alliance led by Jerome Pagunson, which has been raising issues against the city government and Quinta Market, according to the 289-member Quinta Market Vendors Association Cooperative Development.

Manila emergency units on standby for transport strike Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada on Monday placed the city’s emergency units on standby to assist commuters who would be stranded by the two-day mass transport strike of jeepney drivers and operators.

As early as dawn, the

Manila District Traffic Enforcement Unit of the Manila Police District as well as the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office have been monitoring the situation closely, according to Estrada.

The strike was organized

by transport group Stop and Go Transport Coalition in protest of the government’s plan to phase out old passenger jeepneys.

“We have units on standby. If the situation requires it, we have available vehicles to ferry stranded com-

muters and we have sufficient police and traffic personnel on the ground,” Estrada said.

Based on the contingency plans MDTEU has prepared, the trucks will be fielded along España Avenue to ferry stranded

commuters up to Welcome Rotonda, and along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard from V. Mapa to Plaza Avelino, the MDTEU chief said.

MDRRMO, meanwhile, has also readied its two amphibious trucks for immediate deployment. Bill Casas

T

HE beguiling city of Baybay in Leyte is emerging as Eastern Visayas’s hub for faith, farm and eco-tourism—three new sectors of the industry the Department of Tourism (DoT) is developing because of their growing markets.

Dubbed “The City of Beauty, Serenity and Discovery,” it may not be the usual recreational sightseeing journey for travel bugs, but its unique blend of rural allure and comforts of urban living might make this destination a part of their list.

Proclaimed a component city of Leyte in 2007, Baybay has been quietly making a name as a destination because of the unique confluence of these three tourism sectors.

In a recent visit, Undersecretary Silvino Tejada who handles the newly created faith, farm and eco-tourism portfolio, pledged the support of the DoT to the city’s blossoming tourism industry.

Faith Tourism

Baybay is the home to the Diocesan Shrine of San Antonio de Padua, which draws hordes of pilgrims to venerate the century-old image of the saint believed to be miraculous.

Located in the coastal barangay of Pomponan, Catholic faithfuls from all over the country pay tribute to the saint every 13th day of the month, in an act of devotion, which starts the day before. A traditional religious dance called sirong is performed during the saint’s patronal feast on June 13, which incidentally falls two days before Baybay’s cityhood day.

The church, visited by over 300,000 devotees a year, constantly ranks as the top cultural attraction in Region 8. This number is part of the more than 647,045 day visitors who swing by Baybay annually, the highest in the region based on data from DoT-8.

Another religious attraction is the Baybay parish church, an example of a baroque structure built in 1852 by Spanish friar Vicente Cronado who started its construction and continued by Maestro Proceso.

The town became a parish on Sept. 8, 1835 with the invocation of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception as patron.

Gutted by fire in 1866, except for the Holy Cross Chapel, the church was completed in 1870 after renowned sculptor and painter Capitan Mateo Espinoso applied the finishing touches to lend magnificence to the house of worship.

The church is in the heart of the “heritage lane” because of the well-preserved Spanish and American-era ancestral houses, which will transport visitors back in time as they visit these living museums.

The parish celebrates its patronal feast on Dec. 27 while the city government has incepted the Binaybayon Festival to showcase the city’s rich cultural heritage.

Farm Tourism

Baybay has been showcasing its agriculture potentials, long before Republic Act 10816 (Farm Tourism Development Act 2016) was signed into law.

Thanks to the presence of the Visayas State University (VSU), which is in the forefront of agricultural education and research and development, this sprawling

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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Life TRAVEL AND LEISURE

BLOOMING MOUNTAIN. Baybay, Leyte’s 16,000 Blossoms Park’s LED lights adorn and illuminate the Lintaon Peak, the highest point in the city. (Photo by Rodel Balierbarre)

A CONFLUENCE

of farm, faith and eco-tourism

San Antonio de Padua Church

school has been quietly sowing the seeds of farm tourism for decades in this part of the archipelago with its vast gardens, demo farms and fertile plots.

Sandwiched between the undulating Pangasugan mountain ranges and the scenic Camotes Sea, this resort university is 1,479 hectares composed mostly of greeneries, and houses the National Abaca Research Center, National Coconut Research Center-Visayas, and the Philippine Root Crops Research and Training Center, and regional centers of agencies on agriculture and environment.

Bakwitan River

This expansive campus is conducive to learning for its back-to-nature atmosphere and greeneries, which will bring out the proverbial green thumb in every student or visitor.

Baybay also boasts its 13,820-hectare coconut plantation, the biggest in Eastern Visayas, luring big agro-industries, SC Global Coco Products, Inc. and SC Global Food Products, Inc. the world’s largest producer of organic coconut oil.

The city is also host to Ching Bee Trading Corp. (CBT), the world’s biggest traders of abaca fiber, and Special-

ty Pulp Manufacturing, Inc. (SPMI), Asia’s biggest abaca pulp mill.

These factories form the core of a specialized industrial tourism circuit for bench-marking of best practices and technologies.

Eco-Tourism

Baybay has the longest coastline in Leyte, where it coined its name, which literally means “beach”. And it goes without saying that among its top tourist drawers is its cozy coast dissected by rivers and streams emanating from the

Pangasugan ranges, which has some remarkable flora and fauna.

The wind-swept Lintaon Peak, the city’s highest point, affords guests a commanding view of the city, Camotes sea and islands across the channel. As part of its 10th cityhood day, Baybay recently opened the 16,000 Blossoms Park adorned by 16,000 LED lights that illuminate the mountain at night.

The park is composed of white and red roses embedded in the grassy meadow forming the phrase “I Love Baybay”.

According to Mayor Carmen Cari, the park is part of the city’s tourism development plan, which will transform the area into the Lintaon Ecotourism Zone that will have an information center, view deck, pavilion, picnic areas, and other tourist facilities.

A tall image of the city’s patron saint Immaculate Conception will also be erected to make it a pilgrimage site to supplement the San Antonio de Padua Shrine nearby.

She said the project will be endorsed to the Regional Development Council (RDC) to make the site a regional attraction to boost its tourism potentials.

For a consummate experience, the more adventurous can explore the nearby Lintaon Cave, scale Mt. Pangasugan, and dip into the rejuvenating waters of Bakwitan River and Falls.

Asia’s small but charming giant (Conclusion)

By Nickie Wang Stronger ties

More than their weather (Taiwan is as humid as the Philippines and both countries share the same struggle being visited by the same typhoons during the rainy season) and culture, both countries have a significant bilateral relationship. For one, the Philippines is the 10th biggest trade partner and the eighth biggest export market to Taiwan.

In terms of tourism, the number of Taiwanese visiting the Philippines in the first five months of 2017 rose 20 percent from the previous year, making Taiwan the Philippines’ 5th largest source of overseas visitors, according

to the latest data from the Department of Tourism. On the other hand, in 2016, 170,000 Filipinos visited Taiwan, up from the 130,000 in 2015 according to Mr. Lin. In these respects, and as part of 2016 Southbound policy announced by Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-Wen, which aims to strengthen the Taiwanese economy and its relations with the memberstates of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asia, Australia, and New Zealand, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) and Taiwan Association Inc., are holding the Taiwan Expo in Manila on Sept. 29 to Oct. 1 at the SMX Convention Center.

According to Taiwan Association Inc. president Allan Lin and its honorary president Seimo Huang, the expo

will be a significant platform to promote “mutual beneficial partnership” between the two countries.

Eight themed pavilions will be on display to train the spotlight on industries covering agriculture and fisheries, tourism, technology, education, and green energy.

“We want to encourage more Filipinos to visit Taiwan. We want to underscore our similarities as neighbors and what Filipinos can enjoy in our country apart from finding job opportunities.

We may be a small as a nation but you’ll see that Taiwan is big in so many ways,” Lin concluded.

McDonald’s Masbate City branch

Standing tall at more than 1400 feet, Taipei 101 is not just a landmark but also a symbol of modern and progressive Taiwan

TOURISM PHOTO

McDonald’s opens 651st store in Masbate

A visit to Taiwan would be complete without a stop at night markets. Taipei in particular, is home to massive food halls and shopping districts popular to locals and tourists alike.

LEADING fast food chain McDonald’s recently opened its 651st branch in Masbate City, capital of Masbate Province, the country’s “rodeo capital” because of its vast cattle ranches.

According to Vice Governor Kaye Revil, who initiated the invitation to Golden Arches Development Corp. to invest, the entry of the popular

franchise attests to the growing local economy of the province.

In photo at the branch’s opening are McDonald’s branch managers Elvis Julius Castillo, Azur Barruga, Vange Rosales of the Office of Vice Governor Revil, mascot Ronald McDonald, Marvin Manlapaz, Romavil Paulino, and Mary Moreto.

Life

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TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 isahred@gmail.com

OASIS

MERCURY RISING

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BY BOB ZOZOBRADO

N MY mind, the name “Ascot“ evokes the epitome of luxury, elegance to the max, fashion at its best. I remember having been so fascinated by Ascot Gavotte, one of the songs from My Fair Lady, performed by a group of extremely refined spectators of the Royal Ascot Races, calmly expressing their excitement at the event in a stiff, expressionless and snooty manner.

The Royal Ascot Races is a very fashionable annual British horse racing event west of London, and attended by members of the Royal Family. Many people go there to see and be seen, to display their respective versions of high fashion. Ladies look forward to this event, to show off their large, unique, out-of-this- world hats created by London’s most creative milliners.

The men also go there looking dapper with their “ascot,” a neckband with wide pointed wings, traditionally made of pale grey patterned silk and named after this prestigious event.

So, when Ascott Makati opened in 2007, I knew right away that, even with a double “T” in its name, luxury and elegance will be the hotel’s main draw. Being right in the middle of the ever-busy Makati Commercial Center, it’s like an oasis of luxury in the middle of the concrete jungle! I see it every time I go to Glorietta Mall and am awed by its imposing façade, but I never had the chance to check out its facilities and services.

Not too long ago, I finally decided to spend a long weekend staycation in the hotel and, just as I expected, I found myself luxuriating it its well-appointed facilities. I didn’t even have to worry about my car as the hotel offers guests their own free parking inside Glorietta, separate from the public parking area, and fully secured by a fence and a guard.

The cavernous hotel lobby is impressive because it veers away from the usual layout of having that long, impersonal Reception counter which guests have to contend with, while waiting for their room assignments. At Ascott Makati, they have individual desks, each of which provides a very comfortable Gregorian-style chair where the guest can be seated comfortably, while being attended to by a gracious Reception Executive.

of luxury

The cavernous and elegant hotel lobby

When I walked into my one-bedroom view of Makati’s towering steel-clad skysuite, I was greeted by a spacious living scrapers juxtaposed with the peacefulroom, which was right next to the dining looking cumulus clouds in the sky. The area with an elegant dining table, which scene was certainly an antidote to stress. in turn was in front of the big, wellThe layout of the unit and its faciliequipped ties made me kitchen, with want to just all the applistay inside, YOUR TUESDAY CHUCKLE ances needed laze around, to cook up a watch TV, eat Do you remember the tingling feeling hearty meal. and enjoy to when you made the decision to get I was almost the fullest the married? That was common sense leaving tempted to room’s luxuriyour body! call up my ous accouterfriends immediately and host a party with overflowing drinks and mouth-watering canapés. But, I had to remind myself that I was there to enjoy a stress-free, lazy and very relaxing long weekend.

Looking out from my king-sized bed in the Master’s bedroom made me feel like I was watching an IMax movie because the bed faced squarely the panoramic window, which offered a very refreshing

The Certified Guest Service Property plaque

ments. I did that on the first day. But, on the second day, I ventured to make use of the hotel’s location, being right next to everything, and that’s when I realized why guests prefer it so they can do as much in the shortest time possible.

Glorietta Mall is a few steps from the hotel. I spent the day by, first, attending Mass in the Mall, then shopping, having a sumptuous lunch, buying some groceries, having my haircut, and watching a movie…all these done in air-conditioned comfort, in just one building. I even had enough time to go back to my hotel room either to deposit my shopping bags or to freshen up.

No wonder it has a high occupancy all year-round. Everybody loves its luxurious facilities, gracious service and the convenience of being in the center of everything. I guess I can sum up my staycation experience by borrowing the lyrics to “Ascot Gavotte:” Every duke and earl and peer is here Everyone who should be here is here!

What a smashing, positively dashing Spectacle: The Ascott Makati.

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

American hospitality specialist recognizes Philippine institute THE American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI), a global partner for professional hospitality certifications, has recently designated The School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management (SHRIM) of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) as a Certified Guest Service Property (CGSP).

The recognition is given to a property or organization whose guest service contact employees have passed the Certified Guest Service Professional examination being administered

by AHLEI. A total of 28 of SHRIM’s faculty and staff recently received Certified Guest Service Professional designation from the American institution.

Dean Angelo Lacson of SHRIM said that the conferment of CGSP status was fortuitous since the grant specifies that all guest service contact employees of a property should have received Certified Guest Service Professional status, which is recognized worldwide to be the

highest acknowledgment of awardingwinning guest service for employees in the lodging industry.

Founded in 1953, the AHLEI provides working hospitality professionals with education and training to meet the needs of the industry through a variety of hospitality solutions, including online learning, professional certification, and resources for workforce agencies, high schools, and colleges.

The designation is valid for a year from awarding, and the plaque of certification issued to the awardee may be prominently displayed within its premises to recognize its commitment to providing exceptional guest service.

Other industry qualifications that Benilde associates have earned through the years include the Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) Certification, a recognition for effective postsecondary instruction, and the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Award, a globally-recognized standard for wine and spirit knowledge.

The imposing façade of Ascott Makati at the Glorietta Mall

The attractive living room of my one-bedroom suite

New GM for Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay FIVE-STAR Crimson Hotels & Resorts appointed Laurent Bourgeois general manager of Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay.

In his new role, Laurent will be responsible for all hotel and resort operations comprising 192 rooms: presidential suite, 22 villas with private pools, 72 one-bedroom suites, 97 deluxe rooms, Saffron all-day dining restaurant, Mosaic Latin American Steakhouse, pool bar, grand ballroom, events pavilion, meeting room, Crimzone Kids Entertainment, three swimming pools, fitness center and the famed Azure Beach Club and Aum Spa. Laurent brings a wealth of experience having spent more than 20 years working in luxury hospitality. He gained considerable expertise during a distinguished international career working in Japan, China, Belgium, Singapore, Hong kong, India, Qatar, and UAE. Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay is the third Crimson property under the management of Chroma Hospitality, Inc. following Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan and Crimson Hotel Filinvest City Manila.

Chroma Hospitality Country Manager James Montenegro says, “We are thrilled to have Laurent Bourgeois join

Laurent Bourgeois is the General Manager of Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay

the team. We are confident that with his extensive experience in hotel operations he will contribute significantly to the success of the much anticipated Crimson Resort and Spa in Boracay.”

Laurent shares, “I am very happy about being back in the Philippines, having spent some of my childhood

years here from when I was eight to 14 years old. I remember my first holiday in Boracay Island in 1981—it was the first time my father taught me how to fly a kite. The wind was fantastic!

I also went fishing with a family and their son my age.”

He adds, “What excites me about Crimson Resort & Spa Boracay is how much it looks and feels like the Boracay I first experienced, way back in 1981— without the chaos, without the crowds, without the loud parties. Crimson Boracay is tucked away in the island’s most exclusive location called Station Zero—its secluded and pristine white sand beach and crystal clear waters really take me back to that memorable first holiday on the island with my family. It’s almost as if I went back in time and rediscovered the lost magic of Boracay. We can’t wait to share this piece of paradise with our guests when we open later this year.”

Chroma Hospitality, Inc. owned by Filinvest Hospitality Corporation, is the management company behind Crimson Resort & Spa Mactan, Crimson Hotel Filinvest City Manila, Quest Hotel & Conference Center Cebu City, and Quest Hotel & Conference Center Clark Pampanga.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

Metro Magazine’s muse for big fashion issue

From left: DPWH's Atty. Karen Olivia Jimeno and Mark Villar, GMA Network Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon, GMAKF Board of Trustees Member Atty. Anna Teresa M. Gozon, and GMAKF EVP and COO Ms. Rikki Escudero-Catibog

DPWH assists Kapuso Foundation in bridge construction project

G

the typhoon-damaged hanging bridges in Buhi, Camarines Sur and provide a safe passageway for children to get to school and for resident to have easier access to the highway going to Iriga City. The DPWH has committed assistance to GMAKF in ensuring the stability and safety of the bridges that will be constructed.

Present during the MOU signing on Aug.t 10 at the GMA Network Center were GMA Network Chairman and CEO Felipe L. Gozon, DPWH Secretary Mark Villar, GMAKF Executive Vice President and COO Rikki Escudero-Catibog, DPWH Undersecretary for The project, “Kapuso Tulay Legal and Priority Projects para sa Kaunlaran” will replace Atty. Karen Olivia Jimeno,

MA Kapuso Foundation, Inc. (GMAKF) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for GMAKF’s first bridge construction project in Camarines Sur.

and GMAKF Board of Trustees Member Atty. Anna Teresa M. Gozon.

Escudero-Catibog shared that the project was the idea of GMAKF’s Founder and Ambassador Mel C. Tiangco, who always dreamed of building bridges in poor communities.

“When Tita Mel and I saw the footage of small children doing a tight wire act just to get to school, we knew we had to move and raise funds for the construction of the bridge. We are deeply grateful to the DPWH for joining hands with us and helping make our first ever steel hanging bridge project a solid reality,” said Escudero-Catibog.

Atty.

Gozon, moreover,

believes that this cooperation with the DPWH will truly help local children in pursuing their studies. “Malaki ang maitutulong ng DPWH upang masigurong maayos ang pagkakagawa at tama ang gagamiting materyales para sa unang tulay ng Kapuso Foundation,” Atty. Gozon said.

On the other hand, Secretary Villar expressed gratitude on behalf of the Department.

“Nagpapasalamat po ako sa GMA dahil malaking bagay talaga ang nagiging tulong ng private sector sa mga pangangailangan ng ating mga kababayan,” he said.

GMAKF intends to complete the project in October.

Digitally re-mastered films in QCinema 2017 THE Quezon City International Film Festival (QCinema) pays homage to films from a bygone era by dedicating a special section for restored cinematic gems.

QCinema’s “Digitally Remastered Series” will feature a total of six classic films. Three are international films while the other half were given a second life by the ABS-CBN Film Restoration.

The film festival will run on Oct. 19 to 28, in Quezon City.

All About My Mother is a 1999 Spanish film by written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar.

The story follows Manuela (Cecilia Roth), a bereaved woman whose son died in a car accident. While grieving, Manuela traveled to look for Lola, the transvestite father of her son.

In 2000, it was named “Best Foreign Language Film” by the Academy Awards and Golden Globes and “Best Film not in

the English Language” by the BAFTA Awards.

Director Michelangelo Antonioni toyed with intrigue and beauty in Blow Up where photographer Thomas (David Hemmings) takes pictures of fashion models. But one day, when he snapped pictures of a beautiful woman in a park, he also captured a murder scene.

The British-Italian film won the “Palme d’Or” at Cannes Film Festival in 1967 and “Best Foreign Film” by French Syndicate of Cinema Critics in 1968.

Mike Nichol’s risqué 1967 film The Graduate features the post-college adventures of Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman). Fresh out of school, Braddock returns to his parents’ house while still deciding what to do with his life. But while he muses, he strikes a romance with a bored housewife and finds love in her daughter.

In 1968, the film took home

various awards such as “Best Director” award from the Academy Awards as well as “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” from Golden Globes.

The 1981 film High School Scandal by the late Gil Portes is about two senior high girls, Roselle (Gina Alajar) and Lynne (Sandy Andolong).

Roselle is on a quest to find a lover but ends up frustrated after being dumped by her prom date. She found solace in the arms of a longtime admirer who later impregnated her.

Before graduating, Lynne finds out that Roselle died due to the complication of failed abortion carried out by a quack doctor.

Another 1981 film, Karma by Danny Zialcita, revolves around Sarah (Vilma Santos) whose wedding day was postponed due to a delayed flight. Adding to the stress is a traumatic event involving Eric (Ronaldo Valdez), a regular guest at the

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Tuesday, September 26, 2017

ACROSS 1 Exchange pleasantries 5 Pinnacles 10 Racket 14 Corker 15 This too — pass 16 Ocean flier 17 Culture dish goo 18 Sun, in combos 19 Israel’s Golda 20 Pessimistic 22 “It’s Only Make Believe” singer 24 Vacation plus 26 Tatum or Ryan 27 Do a salon job 30 “Diana” singer 32 Maria Conchita — 34 Tell an untruth 35 Freeway access 39 Big green parrot 40 High voices 43 Merry, to Mimi 44 Many millennia 46 Crunch targets 47 Happens again 49 Upscale sport 51 Hunt illegally 52 Thrashed 55 Place setting item 59 Rub against 61 Determination 65 Drench

66 Earth, to Pierre 68 Comic-strip dog 69 Nobelist Desmond — 70 Similar 71 Landlord’s fee 72 Dance move 73 Does in a dragon 74 Mr. Arnaz DOWN 1 Outfitted 2 Sci-fi award 3 — — unto itself 4 Excites (2 wds.)

5 Pale 6 Not play fair 7 Mediterranean island 8 Wallach or Lilly 9 ATM feature 10 Graduate course 11 Knossos site 12 Ekberg or Loos 13 Ms. Streep 21 Explode 23 Stir-fry need 25 Claw or talon 27 Bar of soap 28 Butter substitute 29 Provide at interest 31 “Faint heart — won ...”

33 Word of mouth 34 Many oz.

36 Water, in Baja 37 Squeezed fruit residue 38 Word of contempt 41 Poet’s black 42 Cuttlefish pigment 45 Talk louder (2 wds.)

48 Harmony 50 Like some socks 52 Persists

53 Roughly 54 Dilapidated car 56 Posh hotel lobbies 57 Cheerful 58 Trouser parts 60 Theta preceders 62 — fixe 63 Pie pans 64 Big Foot kin 67 Bracket type

hotel where she stays.

Tatlong Taóng Walang Diyos (Three Godless Years) is a 1976 period film directed by Mario O’Hara on the events three characters go through spanning the years 1942 to 1944. Rosario (Nora Aunor) is a young schoolteacher engaged to Crispin (Bembol Roco) who had to leave to serve in the army during the Japanese occupation. In his absence, a Japanese-Filipino officer named Masugi (Christopher De León) assaulted Rosario.

Thereafter, a series of unfortunate events prompts Rosario to make decisions that will alter her life forever.

QCinema is open to holding block screenings for school organizations, embassies, and private groups that want to mount events or fund-raising projects.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook. com/QuezonCityFilmFest/.

METRO Magazine takes Erich Gonzales to a journey unlike any other—a journey inwards to selfdiscovery, and a journey outwards to New York, the city that never sleeps where the actress is out to find and reinvent herself as her story becomes the heart of the Big Fashion Issue this September.

To complement Erich’s personal and stylistic adventure, Metro also goes all out in its quest to find the most coveted pieces of the Fall/Winter season, featuring some of our favorite runway leaders such as Coach, Tommy Hilfiger, Kate Spade, Tory Burch, Michael Kors and more. Selections include a broad range from apparel, accessories, cosmetics, and eyewear, with a playful approach to signature American influences, like modern cowboy, denim on denim, gym classic gal, or the rebel dressing that’s a cross between punk and disco goodness at CBGBs and Studio 54.

Further reinforcing the American mood is the fourth of July editorial special, featuring a vibrant mix of luxury and highstreet fashion.

The issue also features interviews with Gwen Stefani, and beauty empire heiress Aerin Lauder.

It’s not all international spotlights, though. Metro also salutes the local fashion and beauty personalities that have made waves in the global scene. One of

the most notable features being Asia’s Next Top Model Cycle 5 winner, Maureen Wroblewitz, as she recounts her journey to the Top Model title and her dreams for a bright future ahead.

In addition, Metro pays homage to the Professional Models Association of the Philippines (PMAP) as they celebrate their 30th anniversary in a personal account of how they dedicated their efforts into shaping the local modeling industry.

Then to top it all, enjoy an indepth guide from makeup artist RB Chanco and her muse, 2017 Binibining Pilipinas Universe Rachel Peters, as they highlight the season’s most exciting beauty trends.

Check out all these and more in Metro September 2017, available in bookstores and newsstands for P150.

Isah V. Red, Editor Nickie Wang, Writer isahred@gmail.com TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

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BEHIND THE SCENES. Rapper Abra with "Respeto" crew filming on the street of Pandacan, Manila

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ESPETO is the hip-hop movie that everyone’s talking about. The movie stars the country’s two of the biggest rap artists, Abra and Loonie. And for the first time in Fliptop rap battle history, you see them pitted against each other, banging rhymes and punches.

The film also features MC Rappers Mike Swift, Apekz, Abbaddon, J Skeelz, Mike Kosa and M-Zhayt. It also introduces promising female rap artist Luxuria.

The film is about 17-year old Hendrix (Abra) who dreams of being a famous rap artist. He forms an unlikely friendship with Doc (Dido de la

Paz), an old poet-activist who is still not over his martial law past.

Respeto was cited “for its infectious, propulsive energy, its highly convincing cast of characters and very effective ensemble acting, its breathtaking, nearly epic sweep of the underside of Manila, its expert application of the resources of cinema to depict a teenager’s drive to rise above poverty and violence, its cogent melding of contemporary rap and traditional oral literature, and its sheer humanity and coruscating poetry.”

Respeto, directed by Alberto Monteras II and produced by Arkeofilms and Dogzilla, is the breakout success of the recently concluded Cinemalaya in August. After bagging seven awards, including Best Picture, NETPAC Prize and Audience Choice, it has enjoyed rave reviews and enough buzz to carry on to a nationwide release.

Tuesday last week, it was screened at Cine Adarna in the UP campus as the university’s commemoration of the declaration of Martial Law 45 years ago.

MALL goers at CityMall AnabuImus Cavite got a special treat during the grand opening of its cinemas, managed by ABS-CBN, as Joshua Garcia and Julia Barretto graced the screening of their romantic drama film Love You To The Stars And Back.

The popular JoshLia loveteam also performed at a mini-show alongside Star Music artists KZ Tandingan, Kaye Cal, Moira de la Torre, Klarisse De Guzman, and Michael Pangilinan.

This is only the first of Jimmy Belleza, author of "Happiness 365 and 1/4 Days," a book packed with motivational stories

PAGES Bringing happiness ‘365 and ¼ days’ HAPPINESS is a universal aspiration of people regardless of age, sex, nationality, ethnicity, culture, religious belief, status, sexual orientation, educational background, political stance, and stature in society.

People do what they do because they want to be happy. It is a common pursuit, though manifested and expressed in varied ways.

The book Happiness 365 and ¼ Days is packed with motivational stories in the life of Jimmy Belleza who rose from poverty and dismal life conditions and later progressed as an entrepreneur, business consultant and trainer, radio anchor, sought-after public speaker, and as the Philippines’ Happiness Guru.

You will find vivid and meaningful connections on how he conquered his fears and survived life’s challenges.

The take-away for the readers are the Eight (8) HapiNets to put a smile in your life all

year-round and throughout your lifetime.

Nets are known to catch or ensnare fish, birds or insects. They are also used as barriers or mesh.

This book reveals that happiness lies within each person. The source is not from the outside; it is a natural inner feeling. However, it is also innate in us not to be separated from others who can help enrich our being. It is crucial that we capture as much optimism and blessings that we can from the sea of life as perceived by the Happiness Guru.

Once we have harnessed and controlled our inner feelings, then we are able to share that overflowing joy externally. Indeed, as the Latin quote says, “Nemo dat quod non habet”, meaning no one can give what he doesn’t have.

Happiness 365 and ¼ Days, written by Canada-based Filipino writer Lucy Lombos will be released very soon.

MILLENNIALS are almost always online, not only to express themselves and check on their friends but also to pore over interesting reads and tips on how to keep their lives on track.

ABS-CBN addresses the need for loads of engaging and relatable content through NoInk, ABS-CBN Publishing’s multimedia reading app that gives users an enriching experience with digital copies of magazines and books, as well as original entertainment and lifestyle stories. NoInk adds to the network’s growing list of digital platforms as the country’s leading media and entertainment company transitions to become an agile digital company with the biggest online presence among Filipino media companies.

Here are five good reads to inspire the young generation as they prepare for adult life, learn to fall in love, and find their place in the world: 1.

The truth about adulting Becoming a domesticated goddess when you’re used to being a royal utusera can be a huge pain, but it’s an inevitability everyone has to face at one point. When you think your brain will explode from the stress of SSS and PhilHealth applications and getting strenuous medical exams and an NBI clearance, well guess what—it’s only the beginning. https://noink.abs-cbn. com/7-truths-you-need-tohear-when-youre-adulting/ 2.

The migrating challenge Migrating is uprooting your life and planting yourself somewhere else.

A change of scenery is no easy task, especially

many other CityMall cinemas to be managed by ABS-CBN. The Kapamilya Network inked the partnership with community mall developer CityMall Commercial Centers Inc. (CMCCI) last year that allows them to manage the booking and the food and beverage operations of its mini theaters.

This, in turn, will enable mallgoers in more areas to watch Star Cinema movies on the release date.

Aside from the Kapamilya stars, Star Creatives COO Malou Santos

when you’re constantly dealing with anxiety, Pinoypalate cravings, finding new friends, and FOMO fest. https://noink.abs-cbn. com/7-things-a-lipat-pinoygoes-through-abroad/ 3. Experiencing different kinds of love As kids, we were told that true love’s kiss conquers all—but life isn’t a fairytale we once read as children.

The first prince who sweeps you off your feet isn’t necessarily your soulmate.

The angelic girl holding your hand may not be your future wife. In this life, we normally don’t fall in love just once. https://noink.abs-cbn. com/the-4-loves-youllmeet-in-your-lifetime/ 4. Traveling Solo Ridin’ solo, are you? It sure feels liberating to spread your wings and leave your mother bird’s nest, but it’s not always a smooth flight.

You only have yourself to rely on. Chin up, get ready to roll with the punches and discover more of yourself along the way. https://noink.abs-cbn. com/the-joys-of-solo-travel/ 5.

Clearing up career confusion Unless you’re one of the lucky ones who have their mind and heart (and parents) agree on one profession, then you’ve experienced the internal crisis. Apparently, we need to uncover and access our “native genius.” https://noink.abs-cbn. c o m / d o e s - y o u r- o ff i c e recognize-your-nativetalent/ For more helpful tips and fascinating stories, download the ‘NoInk’ app, and follow NoInk on Facebook (facebook.com/ NoInkApp), Instagram and Twitter at @NoInkOfficial.

and Head of creatives and director Olivia Lamasan also graced the grand opening alongside CMCCI Director and Co-chairman Tony Tan Caktiong, CMCCI COO Ferdinand Sia, CMCCI CEO Edgar “Injap” J. Sia II and Imus City Mayor Emmanuel Maliksi.