Manila Standard - 2017 November 10 - Friday

ASIAN BRAIN DRAIN DUE TO GLOBALIZATION—RODY

By John Paolo Bencitio DA NANG, Vietnam—President Rodrigo Duterte called on the business community on Thursday to promote inclusive growth among those who do not feel the benefits of free trade and globalization at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit here.

While remaining firm in his support of free trade and inclusive growth, Duterte insisted that the businesses should continue to provide opportunities to those at the “bottom of the pyramid.”

“Apec needs the cooperation of

the business community to address the pessimism and suspicion of those who do not feel the benefits of free trade and globalization. As leaders in our respective fields, we must ensure that globalization does not lead to wealth generation, but equitable wealth distribution as well,” said Duterte, who spoke before the region’s top business leaders during the Apec CEO Summit.

He said “remedial measures” should also be made, as globalization “to a certain extent has really damaged poor economies.”

Asked on his thoughts on protectionist measures by some Apec coun-

tries, Duterte cited China among those who have benefitted from free trade, while America has suffered when businesses opted to move to other countries with lower taxes.

“America was the first victim of globalization. And that is why Trump is trying to rule them back and set America first,” he said.

Globalization has been bad for the Philippines, too, he said, leading to a brain drain.

“The best of our young minds, Filipinos, the summa cum laude, the valedictorians upon graduation, they go somewhere else, most of them in America,” Duterte said.

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INCLUSIVE GROWTH. President Rodrigo Duterte pushes Thursday for inclusive growth in the global trade arena, asking developed economies and big business to share their experience and knowledge with their less developed counterparts. In a speech before business leaders in Da Nang, Vietnam, Duterte stressed that globalization must not only lead to wealth generation but also equitable wealth distribution. AFP

2 US solons denounce drug war

By John Paolo Bencito and Bill Casas DA NANG, Vietnam—Two members of the US Congress are calling on US President Donald Trump to use his upcoming meeting with President Rodrigo Duterte to condemn the reported extrajudicial killings associated with the bloody war on drugs.

In a letter, Congressmen Randy Hultgren (R-Illinois) and James P. McGovern (D-Massachusetts), co-chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission asked Trump to “impress upon President Duterte the United States’ profound concern” over the drug war killings.

“Human rights are fundamental. Every Next page

VOL. XXXI • NO. 269 • 3 SECTIONS 16 PAGES • P18 • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 • www.manilastandard.net • editorial@manilastandard.net

IS urban attacks feared Think tank warns of ‘retaliatory bombings’ RADICAL INDOCTRINATION. Lisa Sidney

Jones, director of the Institute of Policy Analysis and conflict, speaking on the ANC news channel, says ideology and radical indoctrination have taken root in southern Philippines

18 mayors, Vietnamese ‘poachers’ governor freed soon, Duterte vows lose powers By John Paolo over police Bencito A GOVERNOR and 18 mayors were stripped of their supervision and control over the police for their alleged involvement in the illegal drug trade.

A resolution signed by National Police Commission chairman and Interior and Local Government officer-in-charge Catalino Cuy stripped Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Antonio Cerilles of his power over the police.

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DA NANG, Vietnam—President Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday vowed to release all Vietnamese fishermen who were caught poaching

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“I think it’s possible the back to their home territovarious components of the ries... I also think there is a IS alliance actually dispersed chance we’ll see retaliatory

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“Ideology and radical indoctrination have actually taken root in the southern Philippines. It wasn’t just the alliance that went across traditional clan lines, traditional religious lines. But also there was a strong ideological element. I think that’s one thing the Philippines wants to watch out for,” she Next page said.

By Maricel V. Cruz and Bill Casas

school year.

Aquino said this was confirmed to him by the Commission on Higher Education.

This means those who

in Philippine waters during his bilateral meeting with Vietnamese President Trần Đại Quang here.

Speaking to reporters, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said the Philippines

bombings in some of the urban centers in the Philippines, maybe including Manila,” said Lisa Sidney Jones, director of the Institute of Policy Analysis and Conflict.

Speaking on the ANC news channel, Jones also urged the government to extract information from suspected financiers of the Marawi seige who were arrested.

Solon eyes zero backlog in ‘Yolanda’ housing THE chairperson of the House of Representatives’ committee on housing and urban development has urged the National Housing Authority to aim for zero backlog in housing units intended for families affected by Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”

Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez, chairperson of the House of Representatives committee on housing, issued this after over 190,000 housing units were reported due for completion by next year for the families of “Yolanda” survivors who suffer the wrath of the strong typhoon in 2013.

“Next year, the fifth anniversary of ‘‘Yolanda’’

Free tuition starts in 112 SUCs SENATOR Paolo Benigno Aquino IV on Thursday said tuition and miscellaneous fees would no longer be collected in 112 state universities and colleges starting second semester of this

A

THINK TANK that focuses on conflict in Indonesia and the Philippines warned Thursday that pro-Islamic State terrorists may bomb several cities, including Manila, in the aftermath of their defeat in Marawi City.

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‘YOLANDA’ MEMORIAL. Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie Kittilstvedt-Romualdez and City Administrator Irene Chu Wednesday night lead the sundown memorial at Balyuan Park in Magsaysay Boulevard in Tacloban City where they and Taclobanons released at least 1,000 sky lanterns to honor the first responders and casualties of Super Typhoon ‘Yolanda.’ Ver Noveno

Riding MRT? Pray and trust train works TRANSPORTATION Secretary Arthur Tugade on Thursday sought prayers and trust from the public as the government took over the maintenance of the MRT 3 train system from its contractor.

His department on Monday

terminated its maintenance contract with Busan Universal Rail or BURI, which it has blamed for the system’s frequent breakdowns.

“Help us, give us your trust and prayers because the MRT’s problems are wide-

spread and deep,” Tugade said.

“Don’t expect miracles, but we will do everything we can.”

Tugade said technical experts from other rail systems Next page

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15 soldiers wounded in battle vs Reds DUPAX DEL SUR, Nueva Vizcaya—A distress call received by the Veterans Regional Hospital Thursday afternoon indicated between 10 and 15 soldiers were wounded in an encounter with guerrillas of the New People’s Army.

The report suggested the clash took place in Barangay Sanguit here, a mountainous village near the boundary of Nueva Vizcaya and Nueva Ecija.

According to a source based at the VRH who asked not to be named, a request was received that “wounded soldiers will be airlifted” there.

“So far, no helicopter has landed here at the hospital.

We heard pilots can’t land at the site of the clash due to bad weather,” an emergency response volunteer on standby told Manila Standard.

Sources here said the military operation started on Wednesday.

There were no other details immediately available.

Abe Almirol

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She added that Marawi should be rehabilitated quickly and its people consulted on every step so radical elements would not take advantage of the situation.

Also on Thursday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana acknowledged that the recent Marawi siege showed that the country’s capabilities to deal with terrorism were “woefully inadequate.”

“For the longest time I think the AFP had been in denial mode,” he said.

But he said defense officials have been coordinating with their counterparts in the Middle East who are fighting the IS, which has ordered its fighters to return home to the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and even Singapore.

“We are very anxious to find out if they find their way back home,” Lorenzana said.

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Speaking on the valuable lessons as the outgoing chairman of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Duterte challenged businesses to open the opportunity for micro, small, and medium enterprises, which have been on the lower end of the global supply chain.

“As CEOs of big business, you are in a unique

Ecija drug center likened to mall

By Macon Ramos-Araneta and John Paolo Bencito

T

WO allies of President Rodrigo Duterte have expressed apprehension over the alleged “miscalculation” in the building of the 10,000-bed treatment and rehabilitation center in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, but another presidential ally believes it can be used as a “mega-drug enforcement academy.”

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto and Senator Cynthia Villar said the P1.5-billion Fort Bonifacio rehabilitation facility was too big to house drug dependents.

He said something must be wrong if the facility had 10,000 beds but only 400

were occupying it.

Recto likened TRC to a mall.

“In my opinion, if only 400 patients are there, it’s not being used properly,” he said.

But in Da Nang, Vietnam, Malacañang on Thursday welcomed the suggestion of

Senator Vicente Sotto III to convert the drug rehabilitation and treatment center inside Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija into a drug enforcement academy.

“We welcome the suggestion of Senator Vicente Sotto III on the mega drug rehabilitation and treatment center

in Fort Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija, Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement.

Chinese billionaire and philanthropist Huang Rulun had earlier donated the 10,000-bed facility for the recovery and treatment of drug addicts in the country.

Villar believes it is better for the facility to be used for other purposes because it is too big.

“They’re not denying that it’s too big, and yet it was donated so they did not have any choice. They also said that it will be used for some other purposes, because it’s really difficult for 10,000 patients to

'It's time China, Asean agree on sea code' Chair, he would be asking Chinese President Xi Jinping during his scheduled bilateral talks on Saturday to finally clarify on their true motives on the hotly-contested waters.

“I am not criticizing China, but I am telling them that it is high time for a code of conduct,” the President said after meeting with the Filipino community here.

“I will urge them that we hurry up,” he added.

Duterte said that continued activities in the disputed waters greatly unnerved all

countries with overlapping claims in the region.

A working code of conduct, Duterte said, will work out the possible flash points to prevent the breakout of hostilities in the region.

“China should have realized they have militarized the area. ..what are the things that we would know and we can avoid the missiles that will follow us,” he said.

Duterte said should these threats continue unresolved, other claimant countries, such as Taiwan, might con-

tinue with their plans to militarize their controlled areas in the disputed waters.

Should nothing be done, Duterte says will only change the geography of the region, he warned.

There is a proposed bilateral meeting between Duterte and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday, his last activity before he returns to the country to welcome world leaders for the 31st Association of South East Asian Nations Summit to be hosted by Manila.

government should afford their citizens the protection and due process of the law.

The Philippines is a valuable ally of the United States and major recipient of US aid,” the solons told Trump in a letter dated Nov. 2.

“For these reasons, it is paramount that human rights violations not be the consequences of the Philippines’ war on drugs. It is the obligation of the United States to advocate for and defend those human rights as set forth in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” they added.

Trump and Duterte, best known for their vitriolic rhetoric, will be meeting for the first time today (Nov. 10) to participate in the 2017 AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation summit held here.

Malacañang, however,

said that they “will not comment on an internal US government matter.”

Instead, Palace spokesman Harry Roque flaunted how President Duterte and President Trump shared “warm rapport,” adding that both “can have candid and productive discussions on matters of shared interest.”

“We reiterate that our adherence to the rule of law remains as firm as ever, as is our commitment to the protection of human rights. The government is investigating allegations of so-called extrajudicial killings, including homicide cases with drugrelated motives,” Roque said the Philippines is working to ensure “that due process and the rule of law prevails despite the Philippines’ significant drug problem.”

In the same letter, both members of the US Congress raised concerns over the “strong evidence” link-

ing the Philippine National Police in the killings of 7,000 alleged drug dealers and users without charges or trial, since the Philippine government launched its campaign against illicit drugs.

“According to the Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 2016 by the Department of State, there has been a significant increase in the number of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights referred to the recent increase as an ‘appalling epidemic.’”

“At a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing earlier this year, we were distressed to learn that police have killed 7,000 alleged drug dealers and users without charges or trial since the Philippine government launched its campaign against illicit drugs,” they added.

Before leaving the country on Wednesday, Duterte had

already issued a warning for Trump to “lay off” any talk on how the country deals with alleged human rights violations that has haunted him since the start of his presidency.

“We are meeting there, we meet as sovereigns. But I will not go there as a subservient lackey of anyone. Including what you would like to hear from me, but which you cannot ask maybe or later on about human rights,” Duterte said.

Cutting off a reporter from speaking, Duterte said: “You want to ask a question? I’ll give you an answer. Lay off, that’s not your business--that is my business. I take care of my country, and I will nurture my country to health.”

“The Philippines is a sovereign state, I will not allow anybody to impose anything on my country. I will listen to you, but if it’s not for the best of interest for my country, I will ignore you.”

position to effect change.

To the extent that you can, involve as many MSMEs in your own supply chains,” Duterte said.

“You can involve as many MSMEs in your own country and retail operations.

Through this, you do not only integrate them in the way you do business, you also unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of our peoples,” he added.

To unleash the full potential of globalization, Duterte said that governments and

businesses should create an inclusive environment where everyone has the opportunity for growth.

This can be achieved through the promotion of competition, complementation, cooperation among businesses, Duterte said.

“Diversity will always pull us in separate directions, but regional integration anchored on open and free trade will allow us to maximize the opportunities presented by global trends like cross-border flows and

digital developments,” he added.

He also called on Asean member-economies to “act as one.”

“If Europe can do it with its union and America is starting to revive its industries, why can’t we, the Asean, do it,” the President added.

Asean and its six FTA partners are now currently working on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, or RCEP, to deepen integration in the

larger Asia-Pacific region.

Seven of the 10 Asean economies are involved in Apec and continue to tend to the collective interests of fellow Asean 10 members Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

For the first time, Vietnam as chairman of APEC and the Philippines as chairman of Asean, will hold the first ever Apec- Asean Informal Dialogue on Friday, Nov. 10, which would try to reinforce a thriving transpacific exchange, Duterte said.

By John Paolo Bencito DA NANG, Vietnam—It’s high time the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations press China to agree with a working Code of Conduct on the South China Sea, President Rodrigo Duterte said Thursday amid concerns by competing countries on the continued Chinese militarization in the disputed waters.

Speaking to reporters here, Duterte said that as Asean

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stay there,” Villar said.

Sotto, who served as chairman of the Dangerous Drugs Board, said part of the TRC could be used by the government as a training facility like the International Law Enforcement Academy in Bangkok for law enforcers involved in the fight against illegal drugs.

He said the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and other agencies like the Bureau of Customs, Immigration, the Philippine National Police and the National Bureau of Investigation could also avail themselves of the drug interdiction training program there.

UST law dean: I’m no frat’s big brother UNIVERSITY of Santo Tomas Faculty of Civil Law dean Nilo Divina on Thursday denied speculation he was the “big brother” of the Aegis Juris fraternity whose members have been implicated in the hazing death of Horacio “Atio” Castillo III. “I did not know that someone is being referred to as big brother until this incident,” Divina said in a text message.

“I categorically deny that I am the big brother being referred to.”

Divina’s name cropped up after Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of one of the three Senate committees looking into Castillo’s death, said Monday most of the senators believed that the big brother being referred to was Divina.

Divina made his statement even as Atio’s parents asked the Justice Department to indict Divina and 32 other officers and members of the Aegis Juris fra-

ternity for violation of the Anti-Hazing Law, murder and several other criminal offenses, in connection with the fatal hazing of law student Atio on Sept. 17.

In their separate consolidated reply-affidavits submitted before the prosecutors, Atio’s parents—Castillo Jr. and his wife Carmina—said Atio’s death was due to the severe injuries he sustained during his initiation and not because of his supposed pre-existing heart condition as claimed by the respondents.

Lacson, chairman of the Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee, said his colleagues arrived at the conclusion that Divina was the most prominent and appeared to be the “most influential” Aegis Juris member.

Divina is not only a law dean but also the founder and managing partner of DivinaLaw, one of the country’s fastest-growing law firms. Rey E. Requejo

18 mayors,..

Norte Mayor Ferdinand Aguinaldo; Ronda, Cebu Mayor Mariano Blanco; Santo Niño, South Cotabato Mayor Pablo Matinong Jr.; Sapang Dalaga, Misamis Occidental Mayor Donjie Animas; Sinacaban, Misamis Oriental Mayor Crisinciano Mahilac; and Subic, Zambales Mayor Jefferson Khonghun; Earlier, the Napolcom had issued a similar resolution against Lemery, Batangas Mayor Eulalio Alilio; Teresa, Rizal Mayor Raul Palino; Tanauan, Batangas Mayor Antonio Halili; Rodriguez, Rizal Mayor Cecilio Hernandez; and San Pablo Mayor Loreto Amante.

The resolutions said that validation by intelligence agencies had shown the mayors were engaged in illegal drug activity, which was a valid ground for stripping them of their power over the police.

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Also stripped of their police powers were Angeles, Pampanga Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan; Banga, South Cotabato Mayor Albert Palencia; Bataraza, Palawan Mayor Abraham Ibba; Calamba, Misamis Occidental Mayor Ezel Villanueva; Camiling, Tarlac Mayor Erlon Agustin; Concepcion , Misamis Occidental Mayor Juanidy Viña; Concepcion, Tarlac Mayor Andres Lacson; El Nido, Palawan Mayor Niever Cabunalda-Rosento; Libungan, North Cotabato Mayor Christopher Cuan; Lopez Jaena, Misamis Occidental Mayor Michael Gutierrez; Midsalip, Zamboanga del Sur Mayor Leonida Angcap; Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental Mayor Jason Almonte; Pasuquin, Ilocos

Free... would enrol during the second semester this academic year would no longer have to pay any tuition fees.

Republic Act 10931 or the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act was supposed to be implemented starting school year 2018 to 2019.

There was no immediate comment from CHED. Aquino said his staff would check whether SUCs would be complying with the law.

House appropriations committee chairman Karlo Nograles earlier said at least P40 billion would be alloted to fund RA 10931 next year.

The law provides free education to students in SUCs, local universities and colleges and Tesda-run vocational schools.

Aside from tuition fees, the government will shoulder miscellaneous and all other mandatory fees.

Scholarship grants meanwhile will be made available to students of both public and private college and universities.

runs the length of Epifanio delos Santos Avenue and ferries about half-a-million commuters daily.

Tugade and Public Works Secretary Mark Villar on Thursday also inspected the extension of the North Luzon Expressway to Caloocan City that is under construction, and which is expected to ease Metro Manila’s traffic.

The P10.5-billion NLEX-

Harbor Link will provide access to the north expressway without passing through Edsa or the Balintawak toll plaza, according to the Department of Public Works and Highways.

A big-ticket project in the “Build Build Build” infrastructure plan of the Duterte administration, the highway expected to be operational by March 2018, Villar said.

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should be observed with all homeless victims being made to experience the comforts of having their own homes,” Benitez said.

Meanwhile, Leyte Rep. Yedda Marie KittilstvedtRomualdez on Wednesday night led the sundown memorial in Tacloban City where she and Taclobanons released at least 1,000 sky lanterns

to honor the first responders and casualties of Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”

“Tonight [Wednesday], we pay tribute and salute the selflessness of all volunteers and organizations that took part and contributed in the recovery and rehabilitation efforts of the communities affected by the typhoon,” Romualdez told the crowd at the Sangyawan grounds of the Balyuan Center facing Cancabato Bay near Tacloban City Hall during the

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would be trying to effect their release “before the end of the month.”

Last Aug. 8, 10 Vietnamese fishermen were arrested for alleged poaching in Philippine waters after the Philippine Navy sighted a fishing vessel which had no Automatic Identification System signature.

Also to be released were the five

4th anniversary of Yolanda.

“The overwhelming support that came our way, gave us comfort and hope amidst the wrath of devastation,” Romualdez said.

“We celebrate the strength and resilience of our people, of our phenomenal capacity to survive that could prove to be an inspiration to our fellow Filipinos, many of which live amidst challenges caused by disasters and conflict,” Romualdez added.

In her speech, Romual-

surviving crew members of a fishing boat caught some 34 nautical miles from the town of Bolinao in Pangasinan last Sept. 23.

The President also extended his deepest condolences to the families of the abducted Vietnamese seafarers, who were killed before getting abducted from the bulker Giang Hai. Tran, meanwhile, vowed to provide 200 metric tons of rice as part of humanitarian efforts to rebuild war-torn Marawi City.

dez asked prayers for “Yolanda” victims, stressing they should not be forgotten as their deaths raised awareness on disaster management and prevention not only in the country, but in the entire world.

At the same time, poor farmers and fisherfolks from Eastern Visayas lamented Wednesday their situation they said was far from the state of recovery and rehabilitation.

“Contrary to the government’s claim that Yolanda

Both leaders also agreed to resolve the ongoing sea row in the West Philippine Sea, in accordance with the UN Convention on the law of the Sea. “They look forward to progress of Asean mechanisms on code of conduct for South China Sea,” Roque added.

Meanwhile, during Duterte’s meeting with Peter O’Neill, Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Duterte vowed Philippine assistance on its effort to plant rice and help in achieving food security.

disaster victims in Eastern Visayas will benefit from the Asean integration and Asean free trade area, real recovery and rehabilitation will remain distant as long as landlessness and feudal conditions exist.

EV is an agricultural and coastal region. Land-use conversion and declaring shores as no-dwelling zones only favors local and foreign business interests,” said Antonio Flores, secretary-general of KMP.

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and some consultants were helping his department maintain MRT’s trains.

He said the government was open to employing BURI’S rank-and-file employees, but not its management that he had fired.

The 13-station MRT 3

He also recommended to President Rodrigo Duterte to seek the assistance of guest instructors from the China Police Academy, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Australian police to make the Nueva Ecija facility a “world-class training facility.”

He also said PDEA could oversee it because it could also be used as an extension of the PDEA academy.

The TRC hogged the headlines after Duterte asked PDEA Director Dionisio Santiago to resign when he said the Chief Executive was perhaps ill-advised over the building of the facility.

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

‘Criminal case vs PNoy will set bad precedent’

MARCHING ON. Women activists march towards the US Embassy in Manila to protest Donald Trump`s trade and warmongering militarist agenda which they said he brings to the region in the East Asean Summit.

Norman Cruz

By Macon Araneta SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV has warned the filing of criminal charges against former President Benigno Aquino III in connection with the Mamasapano incident can set a “bad precedent” in case of any failed missions by the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the future.

“It will set a bad precedent because the commander-in-chief can be charged in case of failed mission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines [AFP] and Philippine Nwtional Police [PNP],” he said.

“That should not be the case.”

However, Trillanes said the Ombudsman’s filing of graft and usurpation charges against Aquino before the Sandiganbayan proved wrong President Rodrigo Duterte in accusing Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales of partiality.

Morales is an appointee of Aquino.

“It shows the objectivity of the Ombudsman, that it’s not taking side regardless of the outcome [of their investigation],” said Trillanes.

“Right or wrong, they do not choose, contrary to what Mr. Duterte has been saying. If he was being investigated, biased, but since this came out, this was an indication of objectivity,” noted Trillanes.

The opposition senator also said Aquino should not be the one charged. Instead, he said it should be former Philippine National Police-Special Action Force director Getulio Napeñas who was responsible for the ill-fated encounter in Mamasapano, Maguindanao in 2015.

The bloody encounter between MILF snd BIFF fighters and government forces resulted to the deaths of 44 police commandos.

Typhoon ‘Salome‘ moves west to Quezon, Marinduque TROPICAL depression “Salome” continued to move west northwestward while approaching Southern Quezon and Marinduque provinces.

As of yesterday 5 p.m., the center of “Salome” was estimated at 65 kilometers southwest of Pili, Camarines Sur packing maximum sustained winds of up to 55 kms per hour near the center and gustiness of up to 90kph.

It was forecast to move west northwest at 25 kph.

Tropical cyclone warning Signal no. 1 was raised over Metro Manila, Rizal, Bataan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, including Ticao and Burias Islands, Romblon, Marinduque, Quezon, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Oriental Mindoro and Occidental Mindoro.

“Salome” is forecast to exit the Philippine area of responsibility by Saturday morning.

According to weather forecaster Nikos Peñaranda, the country will have a generally fair weather during the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit. Rio N. Araja

Faeldon seeks dismissal of raps over P6.4-b shabu

By Rey E. Requejo

F

ORMER Bureau of Customs Commissioner Nicanor Faeldon sought for the dismissal of the criminal complaint filed by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency against him and other Customs officials before the Department of Justice in connection with the P6.4 billion worth of shabu shipment which he said was based on hearsay and fabrication of an alleged lackey of Senator Panfilo Lacson.

In a joint memorandum, Faeldon and his corespondent fiancé, lawyer Jelina Maree Magsuci, urged the DoJ’s

investigating panel to drop the charges against them, impugning the probative value of the testimony of PDEA agent

Norman Balquiedra, who filed the complaint before the DoJ and accused them of conspiracy for the smuggling of the 604 kilos of illegal drugs.

Faeldon and Magsuci described Balquiedra as another “Odong Mahusay” of Lacson.

“In August 2003, a certain Udong Mahusay surfaced and gave highly-damaging information, reduced in an affidavit no less, against [former] First Gentleman Mike Arroyo,” Faeldon said, in his memorandum.

“The Philippine Senate and the media were taken for a ride, for a few months later, Mahusay made an about-face and recanted his affidavit.

He thereafter charged his “handler” Senator Panfilo Lacson, of coercing him to execute his affidavit against

FG Arroyo,” the former BOC chief added.

According to Faeldon, Senator Lacson is the patron of ex-PDEA officer Wilkins Villanueva, the former head of PDEA’s National Capital Region Police Office, where this Balquiedra was formerly assigned.

“It was also Senator Lacson who actively lobbied for Villanueva to be transferred to the very juicy position of BoC CIIS [Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service] director,” he alleged.

Former CIIS director, former Marine Col. Neil Anthony Estrella, is also named as a respondent in the PDEA complaint.

The PDEA complaint stemmed from the discovery of 604 kilograms of methamphetamine

hydrochloride, or “shabu,” found on May 26 during a raid of a warehouse of Hongfei Logistics in Valenzuela City.

The shabu shipment managed to enter the country through the BoC after being declared as kitchenware, footwear and moldings.

During the Senate inquiry over the shabu shipment, Lacson and Faeldon have exchanged accusations of committing graft and corruption.

Under the PDEA complaint filed before the DOJ, Faeldon and corespondents were accused of conspiracy to import illegal drugs and protecting or coddling of drug traffickers in violation of Republic Act 9165, the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Women’s groups seek maternity leave pay hike WOMEN rights advocates on Thursday urged the House of Representatives to pass legislation seeking an increase of the maternity paid leave period from 60 days to 120 days.

At a news conference in Quezon City, Reyanne Librado of Akbayan Women said with a vote of 22-0, the Senate passed Senate Bill 1305 or the Expanded Maternity Leave Act of 2017, while the version of Congress is still pending.

She expressed disappointment over the failure of the lower chamber to

act on the Expanded Maternity Leave bill, saying the Philippines has been left behind by the other Asian nations, such as the maternity paid leave of Singapore’s 112 days and Indonesia’s 90 days.

Under the measure, all female workers, regardless of civil status or legitimacy of her child, shall be granted 120 days maternity leave with pay and an option to extend it for another 30 days without pay.

Single mothers shall also be granted a total of 150 days maternity leave with pay.

Under the existing law, an expectant mother is given only 60 days of paid leave.

“We called on the lawmakers in Congress to take up the issue of the expanded maternal leave. We will welcome any complaints to be raised since that would signal that our concern is being talked about,” Librado told the Manila Standard.

“The bill, if passed in Congress, would be the best Christmas gift for the Filipino people,” she said.

She said Convention 183 of the International Labor

Organization is prescribing a minimum of 98 days of maternity leave.

Citing the statement of Senator Risa Hontiveros, she said the last increase for the number of the maternity paid leave was 25 years ago.

According to Librado, not only those from both the government and private sector of employment stand to benefit from the bill, if passed.

“Even those in the informal sector will benefit for as long as they are self-employed voluntary members of the Social Security System or Philippine Health

Insurance Corp.,” she said.

Librado was joined by Nice Coronacion of Sentro ng Progresibong Manggagawang Pilipino, Judy Miranda of Nagkaisa-Women, Annie Geron of the Public Services Labor Independent Confederation, Tess Borgonios of the Building and Wood Workers International, Rosey Calibo of the Sanofi Aventis Employees Union, Shirley Yorong of the IndustriALL Women’s Committee and female employees of the Philip Morris Fortune Tobacco Labor Union. Rio N. Araja

Late CJ Corona’s family lauds dismissal of tax evasion case THE family of the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona has lauded the decision of the Court of Tax Appeals to dismiss the tax evasion case filed against Corona’s daughter Carla in 2012.

According to Corona’s son Francis, Carla’s lawyers Carlos Villaruz and Rean Balisi of the Esguerra and Blanco Law Offices texted “to tell us that Ate’s [big sister] cases in the CTA have been dismissed!”

“These cases were filed in 2012 by the Bureau of Internal Revenue under [then commissioner] Kim Henares during the Aquino administration, obviously as political harassment against [then] Chief Justice Renato

Corona,” his emailed statement read.

The BIR filed cases against Carla, who worked as a licensed physical therapist in the United States before she got married, and who invested her savings wisely, and her husband Jojo, a doctor here in the Philippines, Francis said.

“They have legitimate, tax-paid income, and have nothing to do with politics. I could never understand how the Aquino administration could file cases against innocent, law-abiding citizens like them,” he said.

“Aquino and his cohorts’ game is to file cases left and right, without any evidence or iota of truth,” Corona added. Rio N. Araja

HANDLER’S COURSE. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency conducts a K9-Unit basic handler’s course with 22 participants from the agency and its counterparts from the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, Philippine National Police-Police Regional OfficeCordillera and Philippine Marines. Photo shows K9 dogs showing off their skills in sniffing illegal drugs in different places, including an attache case, during the graduation ceremony of the PDEA K9 Basic Handlers Course Class 2017-03 held at the PDEA National Headquarters in Quezon City. Manny Palmero

Sedition charges filed vs Trillanes

By Rio N. Araja FORMER Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras, along with three of his other fellow lawyers, on Thursday accused Senator Antonio Trillanes IV of inciting sedition and rebellion for encouraging the military to kill President Rodrigo Duterte.

Manuel Luna, Eligio Mallari and Nasser Marohomsalic joined Paras in a plan to file criminal charges against Trillanes because of his pronouncement.

Paras claimed the senator was accusing the President of amassing illgotten wealth worth P2 billion.

In a privilege speech on Oct. 3, Trillanes said the soldiers might use all of their bullets of an M-60 machine gun on Duterte.

Paras said they will discuss where to file the case.

“Definitely, we will file in two to three days [from now],” he added.

On the other hand, Mallari said Trillanes’ statement was not a “mere symbolism.”

“It is not symbolism.

If you do such thing, it is inciting to sedition and you’re calling on the people to act against the President,” he said.

Trillanes, however, said Paras and his co-lawyers’ plan to file sedition raps against him are “absurd” but still “welcome.”

“No matter how absurd these cases may seem, I actually welcome them because, as part of my legal defense, I would be able to prove my claim on Duterte’s ill-gotten wealth,” Trillanes said in a statement.

Asean states to promote migrant, workers’ rights

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan and Bill Casas THE leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is set to sign the bloc’s Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers, a landmark document that further seeks to strengthen social protection, access to justice, humane and fair treatment, and access to health services for migrant workers of Southeast Asia.

The Foreign Affairs said the signing will happen during the 31st Asean Summit and Related Summits on Nov. 10 to 14, 2017, which will be attended by leaders from 20 countries from Asean member states, Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Russia, United States, Canada, European Union, and the United Nations secretary-general.

“These meetings will review and take a look at the future direction of cooperation within these mechanisms,” the DFA said.

The Asean Consensus on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers dubbed as the Asean Consensus, brought regional cooperation to greater heights in building a peoplecentered, people oriented community, since the signing of the Asean Declaration on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Migrant Workers in 2007.

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Opinion

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

EDITORIAL

MRT mess

T

HE Department of Transportation finally terminated its contract with Busan Universal Railways Inc. for the maintenance of the Metro Railway Transit 3 (MRT 3) system that runs along Edsa. The agency cited Busan’s failure to put reliable and efficient trains in operation and the company’s inability to implement a feasible procurement plan for spare parts.

But will the government, which made a mess in running the rail transit before, do a better job this time? The MRT 3 appears to suf-

Adelle Chua, Editor

fer from design flaws that may require an overhaul as claimed by the maintenance contractor. Will the DOTr look into the funda-

mental problem of the transportation system, or will it just name a new contractor without delving into the issues pointed out by Busan?

DoTr Secretary Arthur Tugade knows fully well that the the MRT 3 problem cannot be solved by merely changing contractors.

He has to find longterm solutions to the rail system that serves thousands of commuters daily. Without a skilled maintenance operator, the MRT 3

service has deteriorated further in less than week since Tugade’s department fired Busan. The long queues formed by commuters in every station have stretched and more rail cars were unavailable.

Few perhaps will question Tugade’s intentions in ending Busan’s contract. “It cannot be overemphasized that what is at stake here is the welfare and interest of the riding public... This office could not just sit back

and wait while watching Buri trifle and flirt with the lives of the commuting public, with its substandard performance,” says Tugade.

Did the Transportation chief, however, listen to the side of the contractor? Busan has long argued that the MRT 3 glitches were more reasonably due to design flaws than mainly maintenance issues. The contractor noted that through the years, the deterioration

of the rails and passenger loading above the intended usage only worsened the system’s condition and resulted in more glitches. It repeatedly reminded the DOTr about the need to replace the rail to address the system’s overload.

The service interruptions and derailments may not be a result of poor maintenance, but rather by system and the design flaws and conditions of the MRT 3. But is the government listening?

Stop banning plastic bags, please

By Adam Minter

The ambivalence of acceptance PENSEES FR. RANHILIO CALLANGAN AQUINO WHEN the time came for my parents to retire from public service, I was warned that, for some time, they would go through the throes of depression. And they did—although in different ways, my father, characteristically less expressive about how he truly felt. But it certainly is a difficult time: moving from the center of things, playing lead and active roles to taking a place at the periphery, reduced to a mere spectator.

It has to do with one’s sense of worth and self-respect, one’s confidence in one’s capabilities, the feeling of importance and of being able to make a difference. A priest, one sagely mentor once warned me, is prone to three failings: in

his youth, de mulieribus… the lure of the flesh and the demands of concupiscence; in midlife, de pecunia…the temptation to make one’s pile and the concern with fortune and future; at the twilight of priestly life, de honoribus…the high one gets with titles, privileges and the prostrations of the lowly in one’s mighty presence. Indeed, as the possibilities of life diminish with the onset of dusk, one clings as tenaciously as one can to the honors and titles that lend one the assurance, no matter how fleeting, that one still counts!

As it is with old age, so it is with bereavement, with separation, with loss, with disappointment. No matter the therapist or the therapy, the counselor or the counseling technique, the goal will be one and the same: acceptance. It is only with acceptance that healing can come. But acceptance is fun-

damentally ambivalent: for An old man who, once in while, on the one hand, it is a while, mimics the antics the first step to recovery, it is of the young can be hilarialso resigning oneself to the ous, entertaining even. But when he dresses as a millennial, acts like he is a spring chicken and struts around displaying his fading colors It will allow and wilting wares, he becomes pathetic and deplorme to crawl out able. He is the sorry sight of of the dark hole a stubborn denial in the face of ineluctable fact! I am not of despondency, saying that the old should cherish the do nothing about keeping themselves as spritely, as beautiful lively, as vivacious as they memories and can be. Being old is not pick up the about being losyang…it is being about measured but pieces. sincere in speech, thoughtful but not pedantic, ready with advice, but neither pontificating nor judgmenirreparable, the unrecover- tal. One particular German able, the departure and the professor I had while doing loss. Recovery demands a my theology studies will capitulation to what cannot for all time be my ideal of be undone, the projection of an elderly person: his daily possibility involves the ac- route took him from his ceptance of facticity. room to the chapel, to the

classroom for his daily lectures, to the recreation room for television and beer with his confreres, and then back to his room for study and writing…and he did produce volumes of notes for his students, many points of which have shaped they way I think in theology till now! By contrast an old person who squanders the remaining resources of life and possessions in silly pursuits is just that—silly!

Amoris Laetitia is a an example of pastoral acceptance: It accepts the hard and deplorable fact that many Catholics find themselves in “difficult and problematic” situations. By this phraseology, the Pope refers to married persons who have since separated from their spouses and are now in unions with other partners with whom they have children. The ambivalence of “acceptance” that the Pope exhorts is what in-

spires many Catholics, irks and vexes a few. The latter are afraid that the Pope is compromising on traditional theological doctrine on the indissolubility and unity of marriage. The former believe—I with them— that the Pope is merely being what he has been called to be, a pastor, and asking pastors to be the same. There is, in fact, ambivalence here, but it need not be deleterious: one accepts the fact that the situation is “difficult,” that it is not as neat as the legitimate v. illegitimate categorizations of law, or the sacramental v. adulterous disjunctions of theologians and of canonists. Life has many shades of grey and is seldom clearly white, or clearly black! And I read the Pope as exhorting the Church to be accepting of those who err so that it can nudge them away from their weaknesses to f ind new

IN AFRICA, the plastic shopping bag is an endangered species. Last week, tiny Benin became the latest African country to restrict the import, production and even use of such bags. It’s not messing around, either. Following in the steps of Rwanda (where plastic bag importers are publicly shamed) and Kenya (where bags users can be subject to four years in jail), Benin plans to fine bag importers as much as $87,000.

That may well reduce the supply of plastic bags. But it ignores the larger problem. Plastic bags are just the most tangible symptoms of Africa’s inability to collect and dispose of its surging volumes of garbage. It’s a looming crisis that worsens every major environmental challenge facing the continent, including climate change, habitat destruction and a lack of clean water. Solving it will require much more than a crackdown on bags.

By weight and volume, plastic bags make up a very small percentage of the world’s waste. But in Africa, their visual impact is outsized. On a recent trip to Cotonou, Benin’s capital, I saw them clogging drains and sewers, stuck in fences, scattered across beaches, and littered all over the dirt roads of the city’s famed Dantokpa market. Similar scenes can be found across the continent, where plastic bags have become synonymous with the small-scale commerce that’s driving Africa’s economic growth.

In an ideal world, those bags would be dropped in trash cans, collected by garbage trucks, and disposed of in landfills, incinerators, or recycling plants. But in sub-Saharan Africa, only 46 percent of urban garbage is collected on average. Cotonou has no modern, environmentally sound landfills, and struggles to find contractors to pick up any trash at all. In the absence

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Opinion

THE big problem with artificial intelligence right now isn’t that it’s taking over; it’s that it’s being entrusted with serious tasks with real-world consequences before it works properly. It’s the equivalent of letting selfdriving cars operate in a city without lane markings.

A viral post published on Medium on Monday by artist James Bridle is the latest case in point. Bridle took a deep dive into a below-theradar industry: Children’s content on YouTube. Anyone who has ever given an iPad to a small kid knows the kind of thing children find on YouTube before they’re able to type: Toy unboxing and nursery rhyme videos, official and pirated cartoons featuring popular characters like Peppa Pig. It’s up to parents, of course, if they are okay with their child getting engrossed in these (we took the iPad away from our four-yearold daughter because we noticed consuming the content made her reluctant to learn to read and irritable when the tablet wasn’t within reach). But the stuff Bridle found was arguably worse than what I’d seen before my wife and I made the decision.

These are videos cheaply thrown together from 3D animation libraries or even algorithmically produced, with names that are collections of tags (“Finger Family Song Nursery Rhymes Animation Education Learning Video”). A parent launches the initial search for educational videos and leaves a kid who can’t even read yet with the YouTube search results, which include weird, sometimes violent, often disturbing clips, which, of course, include ads—that’s the point of running a commercial YouTube account. Factories that produce this kind of thing aim to put together as many clips as possible and make sure they surface in the maximum possible number of searches. Then they harvest the ad revenue as kids “surf” and parents are happy that they’re quiet.

Bridle wrote: What we’re talking about is very young children, effectively from birth, being deliberately targeted with content which will traumatize and disturb them, via networks which are extremely vulnerable to exactly this form of abuse.

It’s not about trolls, but about a kind of violence inherent in the combination of digital systems and capitalist incentives. It’s down to that level of the metal.

This, I think, is my point: The system is complicit in the abuse.

That, of course, is not just about children’s videos. The Macedonian fake news industry wouldn’t have been possible without Google’s programmatic advertising technology and Facebook’s propensity to tolerate fake accounts. The former is the basis of the business model —both for Google and for the fake news producers— and the latter ensured distribution and ad impressions.

Both Google and Facebook —whose estimate that up to 3 percent of accounts are fake and up to 10 percent of its accounts are duplicates can’t be independently verified—are, in Bridle’s logic, complicit. I suspect that logic is correct: Both companies depend on selling enormous audiences to advertisers, and their platforms are designed for that goal more or less regardless of how it’s attained.

But even if one gives these companies the benefit of the doubt, they are guilty of overreliance on poor technology.

Both the creators of disturbing kids’ videos and fake news writers game the

platforms. The tag-filled names of the videos are designed to exploit YouTube’s search algorithms, and that clearly works since the channels that run the content keep proliferating.

The catchy headlines of the fake stories continue fooling Facebook’s supposedly sophisticated clickbait detection algorithms. During the recent congressional hearing on Russian meddling in the 2016 election, the platforms’ representatives were asked about fake accounts but couldn’t come up with any convincing answers about their efforts to purge them.

At least the tech platforms are beginning to recognize that, in order not to be gamed as easily and as often as today, they need more human eyes and human hands. But the hype they spurred by boasting about their intelligent algorithms has acquired a life of its own. I wouldn’t be surprised if a company testing autonomous vehicles took seriously a recent paper by a group of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University scientists describing something called the Moral Machine. The idea is to automate the ethical decisions that a human driver makes on the fly, even the toughest ones such as whether to hit a wall and kill the car’s passengers, including a young girl, or run over an athlete and his dog crossing the street on a red light.

The researchers used a website to ask people about moral choices. The next step is to aggregate the data and have an AI-based algorithm figure out a decision that corresponding to the crowdsourced wisdom.

“The implementation of our algorithm on the Moral Machine dataset has yielded a system which, arguably, can make credible decisions on ethical dilemmas in the autonomous vehicle domain (when all other options have failed),” the researchers wrote. “But this paper is clearly not the end-all solution.”

Guess which parts of this sentence a tech company would throw away if it decided to implement the algorithm. My bet is on “arguably” and “clearly not the end-all solution.”

It has been easy for tech firms to say their algorithmic solutions work because they’ve gotten a free pass on this in the name of progress. Only rarely do alarm bells ring—as in an example Bridle used in his post: A T-shirt maker selling through Amazon automated the creation of slogans and ended up offering shirts that read, “Stay Calm and Hit Her.” That story is from 2013.

Algorithms may have improved, but it’ll be a long time before they can perform tasks that require human judgment without some human figuring out how to game them. These algorithms belong in the lab, where academics apply all the necessary caveats and exercise reasonable doubt about their results.

Unleashing them on the human world the way platforms do is molding children’s minds and aggravating political divisions.

As Europe’s competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager put it in a speech at the Web Summit conference in Lisbon on Monday, “We have to take our democracy back. We cannot leave it neither to Facebook, nor Snapchat, nor anyone else. We have to take democracy back and renew it because society is about people, not technology.”

A step back to assert human control—even if it cuts into the tech companies wide profit margins—is overdue indeed.

Bloomberg

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Salceda’s beautiful mind

Social media has failed its self-driving test

By Leonid Bershidsky

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ JOEY Sarte Salceda, 56, has always demonstrated a beautiful mind—salutatorian in elementary school, valedictorian in high school seminary, BS management engineering, cum laude, at Ateneo; and MBA, with distinction at the Asian Institute of Management.

Tall, lean and lanky, he used that brain to become the best analyst for several years in Asia. Like a sage, he could figure the real value of listed companies and invest or divest accordingly. The job made him rich and enabled him personal satisfaction.

Then public service beckoned. He became congressman for nine years, cabinet member for one year, governor of Albay for nine years, and back as congressman of the province’s second district.

Joey is one of the best minds of his generation of political leaders and economic thinkers. He is one reason why Filipinos should be optimistic that life will be good, if not, better during the balance of the 21st century. “Joey’s thinking and planning are not just for today’s generation; they are good for 10 generations,”

says one analyst. “He put the Philippines on the global equities map,” says the CEO of a major fund.

With his genes and gravitas as a whiz kid and a public servant, Salceda should be running for president.

Becoming president, however, is not planned. It is destiny.

Back in Congress as a senior congressman and vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Joey helped produced the nuts and bolts of what is now TRAIN—Tax Reform for Acceleration and INclusion.

A defining program of the Duterte administration, TRAIN is a masterpiece on how the government can prod the rich (individuals and corporatins) to pay more tax on their income.

Citizens who don’t pay anything must pay taxes.

Taxpayers who pay more taxes than they should will pay less. The government then shall marshall the new revenues to help the poor by building more schools, more hospitals and clinics, and more infra. And those who really are too poor to help themselves, the government will simply give them cash, monthly. While doing that, the government will modernize the economy, cut red tape, cut corruption, and do many other decent things expected of

good governments.

Otherwise known as the Comprehensive TRAIN has passed the House of Representatives. It passed the Senate but in some mangled form. Instead of raising P160 billion in its first year, TRAIN will probably raise only P60 billion in additional tax revenues.

TRAIN consolidated Salceda’s House Bill 4688 and Quirino Rep. Dakila Carlo Chua’s HB 4774.

As its congressman for more than 10 years and governor for nine years, Joey did five great things for Albay: 1. Climate change. He climate change-proofed his beloved Albay province. As co-chair of the UN Green Climate Fund, he helped raise $10 billion for climate change adaptation and mitigation in poor countries.

2. Infra. He has modernized Albay—and Bicol’s—infrastructure.

A P4.7-billion airport with a 2.4-km runway will finally be completed. The major tourism areas are being linked by new, concrete roads. Bicol, as a region, has a single infra and tourism development, unified by a common purpose and a common vision.

Four major constituencies—Guinobatan, Camalig, Daraga and Legaspi— are being developed into a massive eco townships,

Guicadale, at a cost of P4.6 billion, with 28 road projects extending for 194 kms. The rate of return is awesome for the developers – 23.65 percent.

3. Tourism. He has developed Albay as the Philippines’ hottest tourism destination today.

More than 800,000 visit Albay yearly or more than 2,200 daily, up from a measly 8,700 a year in 2006 before he became governor.

The hub of Bicol, Albay is unique in having truly indigenous food—gata, Bicol Express (laing), sili, camote, pili (the province is the Philippines’ biggest producer, with 3,000 hectares, up from 1,200 ha. in 2007). Albay has 21 major festivals a year; five of them last for a month.

4. Human capital. He has vastly improved Albay’s human capital.

More than, 88,800 were sent free to college, funded by a P750 million loan from the Land Bank and P600 million or 20 percent of Albay’s annual budget.

Albay today graduates 177,000 a year from college, up from just 34,000 in 2007.

Albay itself has improved its National Achievement Test ranking, from 177th to 19th nationwide.

Today, in Manila, you cannot find maids from Albay; young Bicolanos would rather go home,

borrow from Salceda P5,000 per semester and go to the highly rated Bicol University, under a nondiscriminatory study now, pay later plan.

5. Visioning. He has contributed substantially to improving the quality of local governance, in reshaping the Filipino attitude towards disasters and climate change, and in modernizing the national economy and preparing, not only his home province, but the Philippines as a better place for future generations of Filipinos.

Salceda wants to wipe out poverty totally in Albay in 10 years and reduce poverty incidence in the entire Bicol region to just 10 percent (the national average is 25 percent of families).

Bicolanos will have longer life span—74 in 10 years, up from 68.76 years average today. In seven years, Albay’s population increased by just 66,580 people, from 1.2 million to 1.26 million, amazing considering that the province literally was before a multiplication table.

Over the long pull, Salceda will make Albay a California in 30 years—in terms of per capita income, with bustling agriculture and teeming with green energy. biznewsasia@gmail.com

New technology should neither be feared nor trusted HOW should we think about new and future technologies? The two main stances seem to be extreme optimism and extreme pessimism.

A better approach would be careful planning and management.

Optimists like to point out that technology has been the greatest force for human welfare in the history of the species. They’re right.

Before the Industrial Revolution, societies like the Roman Empire in the 1st century A.D. or Sung China in 1000 A.D. were as rich as people could get. But after fossil fuels, steam engines, electricity and other modern technologies arrived, prosperity in advanced countries rose far beyond anything that had been imaginable before:

sity economist Max Roser, has chronicled this happy trend. Global extreme poverty—the number of people living on less than $1.90 per day in international dollars—has declined rapidly since the end of World War II. This has led to dramatic improvements in health. For example, child mortality has plunged.

The drop in poverty has been worldwide—India and sub-Saharan Africa have not missed out.

This amazing, unprecedented increase in human welfare would not be possible without technology.

Fossil fuels, nuclear power, and renewables like hydropower provide amounts of energy that our ancestors could never get from muscle power and wood burning. Modern medicine, construction techniques,

The numbers don’t even begin to tell the story. The reality of the poverty that our ancestors experienced—rampant malnourishment, disease, food shortages, lack of sanitation and poor housing conditions—is practically incomprehensible to us now.

For a long time, it looked like the rich colonial powers were hoarding the prosperity of modernity for themselves. But the bounties of modern technology have been spreading rapidly to the developed world. The website Our World in Data, started by Oxford Univer-

agricultural methods, and transportation have created a world where sickness, starvation, and exposure to the elements are rapidly going from common daily realities to rare afflictions. Given the choice, almost no one anywhere would opt to go back to the way people lived in 1817.

So the optimists are right about technology’s promise. But the pessimists also make important points.

Technology doesn’t just give people the ability to do more things. It also produces side effects that economists call externalities. Two of the

By Noah Smith

Stop...

From A4

of formal collection and

disposal, dangerous informal dumps have proliferated.

Such dumps provide a breeding ground for disease, contribute to contaminated groundwater, and emit potent greenhouse gases that worsen climate change.

Banning plastic bags won’t solve any of these problems. In fact, it could arguably worsen things.

Studies dating back to 2006

have consistently shown that single-use plastic bags have a smaller impact on climate change than reusable paper or cloth bags. Those facts are unlikely to change the minds of people determined to eradicate plastic bags, especially politicians who see such bans as a cost-free way to show their commitment to the environment.

But the energy devoted to those well-intentioned efforts would be better spent on programs to ensure that Africans have access to a modern waste-management

The ambivalence...

From A4

strength in the life of the Church.

Acceptance does not have to mean approval. I can accept the death of a loved one without having to give my approval to it. But it is my acceptance that will allow me to crawl out of the dark hole of despondency, cherish the beautiful memories

biggest are war and pollution.

Nuclear stockpiles are way down from three decades ago, but there are still more than 15,000 nuclear weapons in the world today, and the number of countries with access to these weapons is proliferating. Future weapons, like genetically engineered viruses, could be even more destructive and far easier to manufacture. As recent terror attacks have shown with automobiles and firearms, putting cheap destructive power in the hands of the public will inevitably lead to some number of nihilistic, destructive outbursts. The weapons of the future will surely be even cheaper and more powerful.

Meanwhile, climate change looms as a threat to global prosperity.

Though renewable energy is increasing quickly, fossil fuels are still the human race’s main energy source, and global carbon emissions remain at very high levels. If more is not done to transition away from fossil fuels, the unprecedented burst of affluence that began in the 19th century might not outlive the 21st.

There are other reasons to be a techno-pessimist. New technologies often have unintended consequences—cellphones enrich our lives in many ways, but they can also exacerbate depression and anxiety. New media technologies flood us with useful information, but they can also sow social chaos and discord. Widely used chemicals can increase cancer rates. Often, these negative effects aren’t enough to cancel out a new invention’s benefits, but it’s hard to know. Technology is an inherently dangerous thing, because it’s hard to do a rigorous cost-benefit analysis until the tech has actually become widely used.

So there are arguments on both sides. But it seems clear that optimism and pessimism both make

system where bags could be disposed of properly. Currently, Africa generates only about 5 percent of the world’s solid waste. But that figure is growing fast, and by midcentury its trash production is likely to rival high-income regions like the US, Europe and China.

African governments will have to take the lead in addressing this problem, but they can’t do it alone. It’s not unusual for cities in the developing world to spend fully half their budgets on garbage collection and disposal.

the mistake of being too passive.

Neither cheering nor bemoaning the emergence of new technologies does much to improve outcomes.

Optimists tend to overlook the fact that the technological successes of the past required a lot of social engineering before their benefits became widely shared. Countries like Maoist China and North Korea implemented perverse economic systems that withheld the bounty of modern technology from most of their citizens.

And poor countries didn’t really begin to beat poverty until decades after colonialism ended.

Pessimists, meanwhile, often assume that new technologies can be stopped in their tracks by act of popular will. They probably can’t.

Even the most impoverished, repressive regimes of the 20th century adopted new technologies, and often suffered their worst consequences. Scientific research and invention, meanwhile, can be forbidden in one country or another, but probably not at the global level: Someone, somewhere, will study even the scariest ideas.

A better approach, then, is technology management. We should be as realistic as we can about each innovation’s potential benefits and dangers. And instead of thinking about how to suppress new technologies, we should think about how to regulate them and channel them toward broad social benefit.

Emerging technologies like genetic engineering and artificial intelligence are at our doorstep, and there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. But letting them develop haphazardly entails large risks. Instead, government and industry need to be funding proactive efforts to bring them into widespread, wellregulated use. In the end, technology is what we choose to make of it.

Bloomberg

Wealthy countries and global institutions should find it in their self-interest to help out.

As the world looks for ways to reduce carbon emissions, for instance, an effort focused on developing-world landfills—which are huge emitters of methane—would provide a lot of bang for the buck. Plants that convert trash and waste gases into energy would be a promising investment opportunity, while Africa’s emerging technology sector could be tapped to develop energyefficient waste-collection

and pick up the pieces. One may have serious reservations about another person’s sexual preferences or orientations. I fact, one may vehemently disagree, but that should not mean the rejection of the person. In my life as a teacher, I have had to deal repeatedly with really dense students for whom learning is virtually asking for the moon.

And it took me time to learn how to accept them, without having to resign myself to stupidity and to reconcile myself with mediocrity. But it was only

routes.

None of this will be easy.

Building a modern wastemanagement system is as complicated as building a road network. And garbage collection lacks the cachet of higher-profile environmental issues, such as climate change or endangered species. But Africa’s garbage crisis worsens those problems, and will only get more urgent. Plasticbag bans, for all of their symbolic power, are little more than a distraction from a far harder and more important project. Bloomberg

when I accepted them that I caught a glimpse of the beauty, the uniqueness, the treasure that lay hidden in that which, on the surface, could only vex me.

Such is the ambivalence, but necessity and fecundity, of acceptance. rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@outlook.com

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 mst.daydesk@gmail.com

Crimes down 8% in last 10 months C

RIME has fallen by eight percent in the last 10 months, with nearly eight out of 10 cases considered as petty crimes, the Philippine National Police reported Thursday.

Chief Supt. Dionardo Carlos, the PNP spokesman, said the dip in crime incidents was due to their efforts to wage “intelligence-driven” operations against organized crime groups and street gangs.

Based on the Crime Information Reporting and Analysis System of the PNP Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management, the total volume of

crimes dropped by 8.44 percent, Carlos said.

Only 452,204 incidents were recorded from January to October this year, down from 493,912 incidents from the same 10-month period last year. The data also revealed a 20.56-percent drop in Index Crime cases during the same period, the PNP spokesman said.

Of the total crime volume,

79.08 percent or 357,639 incidents were non-index crime cases, while 94,565 incidents or 20.91 percent were index crimes, he added.

Crime volumes fell in all regions except Southern Luzon (Calabarzon) and Northern Mindanao, where slight increases in non-index crimes were noted, Carlos noted.

Across the country, all regions posted marked declines in the index crime cases of murder, physical injury, robbery, theft, rape, carnapping and cattle-rustling, the PNP DIDM data showed.

Theft cases made up 32.44 per-

cent of all recorded index crimes, while physical injury comprised 28.44 percent and robbery 14.75 percent of the cases, Carlos said.

Corresponding decreases were seen among murder and physical injury cases during the period, he added.

DIDM chief Director Augusto Marquez Jr. said index crimes are violation of special laws and other less serious criminal offenses.

“Non-index crime cases are not accurate indicators of the overall prevailing crime situation, rather, it reflects the effectiveness of police operations in the enforcement of special laws,

statutes and local ordinances,” Marquez said in a statement.

The PNP recorded 139,292 cases of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property, mostly arising from road and industrial accidents, or 38.95 percent of non-index cases, he added. An additional 65,838 cases of reckless imprudence resulting in physical injury made up 18.41 percent of the total.

Another 25.51 percent of nonindex crime cases were 91,235 incidents of violation of Special Laws such as Republic Act 9262 (violence against women and children), 19,593 cases; RA

7610 (child abuse), 14,592; RA 9165 (illegal drugs), 36,347; RA 10591 (illegal firearms), 4,838; PD 705 (illegal logging), 1,338; RA 4136 (traffic codes), 4,569; RA 9344 (Juvenile Welfare Act), 1,092; and RA 9287 (illegal gambling), 9,430.

Also included among the non-index crime cases reported in January to October were 56,020 incidents or 15.66 percent of other less serious criminal offenses such as acts of lasciviousness, alarm and scandal, direct assault, estafa, threats, malicious mischief, and unjust vexation. Francisco Tuyay

‘Chinese pushing PH into corner over WPS’

By Maricel V. Cruz

NIGHT LIGHT. Workers prepare one of five giant lanterns at the SMX grounds in Pasay City that will be lighted during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit starting Friday. Norman Cruz

BoC seizes P300m in fake soaps, seasonings

By Vito Barcelo THE Bureau of Customs

on Thursday confiscated more than P300 million worth of fake products, including branded cigarettes, food seasoning, and soaps, in Barangay Masambong, Quezon City.

The fake goods were found in three warehouses in Masambong owned by Erlinda Chua, who was arrested by government agents for failure to show documents that the products were legitimately produced.

Customs Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said the raid was prompted by a tip from a private company, which reported the illegal distribution of fake products carrying its brands.

The confiscated fake products include Ajinomoto, Magic Sarap, Ginisa Mix and Sinigang seasonings, branded bath soaps and cigarettes, Lapeña said.

“These goods did not undergo quality control.

Consumers should be more careful in buying fake goods. It may be bad for the health,” the BoC chief said.

Only last week, Customs seized fake iPhone and Samsung phones worth P2 billion found at a warehouse on Dasmariñas Street in Binondo, Manila.

Tolentino claims poll anomaly in 2016 senatorial race

By Rio N. Araja THE camp of former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino, who placed 13th in the May 2016 senatorial race, on Thursday said they have “discovered another anomaly” during a vote recount at the Senate Electoral Tribunal in

Quezon City in connection with his poll protest against detained Senator Leila de Lima.

In a statement, Sara Mawis, one of Tolentino’s lawyers, said most of the 10 ballot boxes from Pagbilao, Quezon for the 2016 senatorial elections contained ballots used during the 2013 elections.

“We are at loss on how to approach

this controversy but it really showed irregularities as per revision as shown by the said 2013 ballots,” she said.

According to Mawis, the incident was the second time that they discovered such irregularity.

During the initial recount, ballot boxes from Calbayog, Samar also contained 2013 election ballots, she said.

In October 2016, Tolentino filed an election protest before SET to unseat De Lima, who ran under the ruling administration party of then President Benigno Aquino III. The senator led Tolentino by 1.3million votes.

The former MMDA chief claimed he was cheated through electronic transmission.

Lagman: Politics hindering full implementation of RH Law

By Macon Ramos-Araneta CEBU CITY—Politics, which has been hindering the full implementation of the Reproductive Health Law despite being signed into law in 2012, will also determine its survival, said Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman here Thursday.

“There is politics in the full and faithful implementation of the Reproductive Health Law and family planning; there is politics in sourcing adequate funding for RH and

family planning, and there is politics in the ultimate survival of this overridingly important statute,” Lagman said.

“Whether it will be repealed, diluted or denied adequate appropriation is a question of politics,” he added during the 2nd National Family Planning Conference here.

“Politics, with its most benign influence as well as its most obstructionist aspect, could either elevate or debase the law’s enforcement,” Lagman told RH and family plan-

ning experts and advocates who participated in the conference.

Over 1,500 RH advocates came to support the call for the full implementation of Republic Act 10354 or the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law and President Duterte’s Executive Order 12 which calls for attaining and sustaining “Zero Unmet Need for Modern Family Planning.”

Population Commission Executive Director Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III said the targets they have set

under EO12 must be met “to gain the largest economic and health benefits from the RH law.” He said the time to implement it “is now, and not in the next few years.”

Benjamin de Leon, President of The Forum for Family Planning and Development, said the “tremendous success” of the conference sent a message to those who are “hell bent” in delaying the implementation of family planning programs, thereby putting women’s lives in danger every day.

Customs chief warns vs unscrupulous solicitation

NEW ROAD. Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, and MPIC President and CEO Jose Ma. Lim (from left) inspect the North Luzon Expressway Harbor Link Segment 10, an elevated expressway linking MacArthur Highway to the tollway, during its launching Friday at Samson Road in Caloocan City. Manny Palmero

CUSTOMS Commissioner Isidro Lapeña on Thursday warned the public against unscrupulous persons who are soliciting money using his name for charity projects through a certain Atty. Vasquez.

Lapeña clarified that he does not allow any members of his staff to ask for cash donations.

The bureau received reports from concerned Customs brokers that a certain Atty.

Vasquez, claiming to be the chief of staff of Lapeña, called and sent them messages, asking brokers and importers to give money or donations for supposed charity purposes or fundraising efforts allegedly initiated by the Customs chief.

Lapeña said there is no Atty. Vasquez connected to his office, and the alleged charity project is a complete fraud, adding that he does not and will not ask financial favors from anyone.

“I never authorized or ordered anyone from my office to solicit money on my behalf. I am also not involved in any fundraising activity as reportedly claimed by Vasquez,” said Lapeña.

Vasquez was supposedly selling raffle tickets worth P15,000 as a church donation, and soliciting money for a BoC charity project in Zambales, even mentioning the name of Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle as project partner. Vito Barcelo

A PARTY-LIST lawmaker on Thursday denounced the latest activities of China in the West Philippine Sea. “I have received this information early on in connection to the Chinese incursions in Sandy Cay last August,” Magdalo PartyList Rep. Gary Alejano said in a statement.

He believed that China “has no acceptable basis” to react negatively to the Philippines’ plan of construction work in the sand bars of Pag-asa Island.

“The Philippines did not violate the Declaration of Conduct,” Alejano said.

The lawmaker said the planned construction in Sandy Cay was not a new occupation by the Philippines.

“In fact, the sand bars have traditionally been under effective control of the Philippine troops. Further, the sand bars are subject to regular patrols and visitations by the Philippine troops and our own fishermen,” Alejano said.

Just a “minute reaction” from China and the Philippines would immediately halt its actions, he noted.

“Meanwhile, Chinese forces, military and coast guard, are illegally entering our Exclusive Economic Zone, yet our DFA [Department of Foreign Affairs] Secretary and the President [Rodrigo Duterte] could only respond that we assume good faith in their actions,” Alejano pointed out.

‘Trolls’ of women in media hit

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan THE International Association of Women in Radio and Television has lambasted the “online trolls” supporting the government of President Rodrigo Duterte for attacking, threatening and harassing Filipino women journalists in the country.

IAWRT, a global organization of women journalists, also called on the chairman of Association of the Southeast Asian Nations to uphold press freedom and protect women journalists in the region.

“Today, Filipino women journalists are subjected to threats and harassment by online trolls supporting the Duterte government,” the group stated in its statement during the opening of the 37th Biennial Conference in Quezon City on Thursday.

“We are calling on the Asean heads of state to uphold press freedom and stop the attacks on our colleagues,” IAWRT president Gunilla Ivarsson said.

Manila

Standard

TODAY

Folayang defense is top S+A ABS-CBN attraction ABS-CBN S+A presents one rocking Friday for all sports fans in a loaded schedule headlined by the second title defense of ONE World Lightweight Champion and Filipino MMA superstar Eduard “Landslide” Folayang against ONE World Featherweight titlist Martin “The Situ Asian” Nguyen, airing live at 8:30 p.m.

The mega fight card dubbed “Legends of the World” by Asia’s biggest promotions outfit, ONE Championship, will be giving Pinoy MMA fans a massive treat from the Mall of Asia Arena.

Apart from Folayang, other Filipinos are partaking in the event such as Danny Kingad, who is shooting for the ONE Flyweight belt of Brazilian Adriano Moraes in the biggest fight of his career.

Kevin “The Silencer” Belingon will be suiting up against South Korean Kevin Chung, while Joshua “The Passion” Pacio faces compatriot Roy Doliguez.

Team Lakay’s lone female representative in the fight card, Gina “Conviction” Iniong, looks for her thirdstraight win in the ONE Championship cage against Indonesia’s Priscilla Gaol.

Before the festivities fire off at the MoA Arena, football aficionados get first dibs as S+A airs the 1st leg playoff match between Northern Ireland and Switzerland in the European Qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup live at 3:30 a.m.

Following it is the telecast featuring the first leg of the playoffs between the booters from Croatia and Greece at 5:30 a.m.

When the clock strikes 9 a.m., it’s time for die-hard hoops fans to join in on the fun as the NBA on ABSCBN presents an explosive match between LeBron James’ Cavaliers against the Houston Rockets and their superstar guard James Harden, airing live from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. It will have a same-day replay at 12 noon and on primetime at 6 p.m., serving as an appetizer for the “ONE: Legends of the World” fight card.

However, that’s not all as local basketball also takes center stage in the afternoon with the start of the NCAA Finals between the Lyceum Philippines University Pirates and the San Beda College Red Lions live at 3:30 p.m. on S+A and S+A HD, as well as via livestreaming on sports.abs-cbn.com. The Pirates, who reached the Final Four and the Finals for the first time since joining the league in Season 87, look to keep their unbeaten streak alive against the defending champions, who have yet to defeat Lyceum this season.

Sports

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 sports_mstandard@yahoo.com

Top youth athletes in spotlight

D

UMAGUETE—The Philippine Sports Commission’s last major multi-sport competition for the year, the Batang Pinoy Visayas regionals, unfolds on Friday at the Lamberto Macias Sports and Cultural Center here. p.m. at the facility, graced

by PSC Chairman Butch Ramirez, Sen. Miguel Zubiri, the author of the law making arnis the national sport, and Dumaguete

Close to 2,500 participants from all over the Visayas will see action in the sportfest to be ushered in by opening ceremonies at 4

City Mayor Felipe Antonio “Ipe” Remollo.

Events on tap are athletics, archery, arnis, badminton,baseball, boxing, basketball, chess, dancesport, karatedo, lawn tennis, sepak takraw, pencak silat, swimming, softball, table tennis, taekwondo, table tennis and volleyball in this weeklong competition at this scenic seaport city.

Dumaguete is the hometown of youthful Malaysia

Southeast Asian Games silver medalist Nicole Tagle, 15, who became the first Filipino athlete to qualify for the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The Batang Pinoy Games is one of the PSC’s grassroots sports development programs that has been cited by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in promoting sports as part of a country’s national policy.

The Games were the brainchild of the late PSC Chairman Butch Tuason, who launched the program in 2000 and became one of the government sports agency’s projects in scouting young sports talent at a in the countryside.

Chairman Ramirez, who was then a commissioner, was the overall coordinator of the second edition of the Batang Pinoy National Games held in 2001 at the Santa Cruz Sports Complex

in the Laguna provincial capital.

The Visayas regionals follows the highly successful Luzon regionals held in Vigan, Ilocos Sur two weeks ago.

The Mindanao regionals, which was supposed to be the kick-off leg of the meet, did not push through because of the armed conflict in Marawi City last May, although the Batang Pinoy finals will likely be held sometime early next year.

Thai hangs on to 1-stroke lead

ANTIPOLO—Wannasiri Sirisampant withstood Chihiro Ikeda’s two-eagle feat at the back and held on to a one-stroke lead with a gutsy 72 even as Cyna Rodriguez made her move with a 69 in the second round of the ICTSI Forest Hills Ladies Challenge here yesterday.

Sirisampant, 26, blew a fourstroke lead at the turn on a triplebogey mishap on No. 11 and Ikeda’s hot backside charge but regained control with a clutch birdie on No. 15 coupled with the latter’s late double-bogey as the Thai ace pooled a 34-38 and a 142 heading to the final 18 holes of the P750,000 championship sponsored by ICTSI. Ikeda actually fought back from four down with an eagle-2 on No. 10 off a solid drive and a wedge shot from 50 yards then bounced back from a doublebogey on the next with another eagle from eight feet on the par-5 14th to take charge at two-under overall.

But she dropped off the pace just as quickly with a double-

Wannasiri Sirisampant reacts after hitting her drive on No. 2

bogey No. 17 on an errant hybrid approach shot although she birdied the 18th from six feet to card a 36-35 and stayed just behind Sirisampant at 143.

“I’m still trying to adjust my swing, especially off the tee.

With the help of coach Bong (Lopez), I hope to minimize my mistakes tomorrow (today),” said Ikeda, chasing her second title after snapping a long spell with a victory at Orchard last year.

But if there’s one player who could spoil the Sirisampant-Ikeda final round shootout for the top P150,000 purse, it could be Rodriguez.

The former three-time Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit winner recalled her fierce form at the back and produced the tournament-best three-under 69, moving from six down to within three shots at 145 for solo third.

Rodriguez, also a former LPGA Tour campaigner, strung up a pair of back-to-back birdies from Nos. 11 and 14 but missed moving closer to Sirisampant with a bogey on the final hole.

PRUride PH registration under way FOLLOWING the success of PRUride to London 2016, Pru Life UK will bring back PRUride PH 2018, which is set to gather the strongest and most competitive cyclists in the country on Jan. 11 to 14 at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone in Zambales, and on Jan. 21 at McKinley West, Taguig.

Pru Life UK conducted the first installment of the cycling festival in November 2016 in Taguig to celebrate the Company’s 20th anniversary and highlight its commitment to promote responsible and safe cycling.

However, PRUride PH 2018 is geared to be bigger and more ambitious than

the first installment. An expected number of 5,000 cyclists will participate in a line-up of 36 racing activities over the two-weekend festivities. On top of the cash prizes for the winners, six participants will be awarded with an all-expense-paid trip to London.

Likewise, as a Union Cycliste Internationale-accredited (class B) event, PRUride PH 2018 will feature the prestigious Philippine Road Bike Championships, which will be a platform for athletes aspiring to be in the national cycling team to show off their competence. It will also take UCI license holders and elite professionals – both local and regional teams and

individuals from South East Asia – to a 100-mile (160-kilometer) course, leading them to the historic peak of Mount Samat in the town of Pilar, Province of Bataan.

The event also welcomes the participation of amateur and age-group cyclists.

Among the events lined up for them are the Individual Time Trial, Amateur Time Trial, and the 100-kilometer Gran Fondo – all to be held in Subic, and a repeat of the 2016 Criterium races in Taguig. Families and kids of all ages will also enjoy the bike community days in both locations.

And similar to Prudential RideLondon – the largest cycling festival in the world

hosted annually by Pru Life UK’s parent company, British financial services giant Prudential plc – PRUride PH 2018 will also bring in the exciting Brompton Challenge along with its three events which will bring delight not only to the riders but also to the spectators: the Beer Lap Challenge, the Slowest Lap Challenge, and the Brompton Criterium, wherein participants will be wearing a formal top – barong tagalog, Filipiniana, or suit with bow tie.

Register now by logging on to www.prulifeuk.com.ph.

All participants of the event will get a PRUride PH 2018 jersey and all finishers will be entitled to a finisher medal.

Participants of the PRUride enjoy their participation.

New Era College remains unbeaten in women’s cage tourney NEW Era College did not need to sweat for a fourth straight win-- a walkover one against St. Mary’s College to stay unbeaten in Group C, but Quezon City Academy blasted Miriam College to remain clean in Group D of the 18-Under Developmental Division in the 30th Women’s Basketball League, organized by the Best Center at the Xavier School gym.

The New Era cagebelles thus swept Group C to move into the semifinals, while QCA, which dropped Miriam to its second loss in as many matches, is also assured of advancing into the next round.

Highway Hills Integrated Academy claimed its second win in the games at the expense of Philippine Cultural College (0-

3), 50-23, to also put a foot in the semifinals in the other Group C match of this tournament sponsored by Milo and backed by Chris Sports, Rain or Shine and SKLZ. Group A winners were School of Holy Spirit (2-1) over Colegio San AgustinMakati (0-2), 46-25; and St. Scholastica’s Academy-Ma r i k i na (2-0) over Immaculate

Conception Academy (1-1), 42-25.

Assumption College (1-0) defeated Raises Academy (1-1), 24-12, in Group B. The 13-Under Division saw Chiang Kai Shek College (2-0) clubbing De La SalleZobel (0-2), 50-31; and St. Paul College drubbing Miriam, 51-40.

Lone game winners in their divisions were University of PerpetuManila

Court of TaxAppeals absolves NLEX’s Taulava

THE Court of Tax Appeals has absolved Philippine Basketball Association star Paul Asi Taulava, now an NLEX cager, in a P9.55-million tax evasion case filed by the Bureau of Internal Revenue in 2013.

In a decision on Nov. 3, the court said BIR failed to prove Taulava’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt and that the government was not able to show proof that they had informed him of his tax deficiencies.

The BIR accused Taulava of failure to pay his 2004 tax deficiencies worth P3.2 million and value-added tax deficiencies of P1 million, plus interest and surcharges worth P4.042 million and P1.3 million, respectively.

The prosecution said the PBA player was served notices at his home in Quezon City, and the PBA, but Taulava said he was never informed by the bureau, and that his former

manager was the one who informed him about his tax deficiencies in 2010.

“Consequently, the absence of competent proof that the FLD (formal letter of demand) was duly transmitted to the taxpayer and that he was informed of the subject tax assessments, gives rise to the conclusion that the accused is under no obligation to pay for the subject taxes,” the decision read. Rio Araja.

Lastimosa’s Road Warriors extend streak to 5

FIVE games and counting, Jojo Lastimosa and his NLEX-SCTEX Road Warriors have remained unbeaten in the Marikina City Basketball League.

The Road Warriors added Philippine Army to their list of victims following a one-sided 103-88 win just recently at the Marikina Sports Center.

Using their balanced production an-

chored on Cameroonian import Ola Adeogun and ex-pros Dexter Apinan and Byron Villarias, the Road Warriors posted their fifth win in as many games to stay on top of the standings.

Adeogun had another double-double performance of 17 points and 13 rebounds as he proved to be unstoppable inside for NLEX-SCTEX coached by Lastimosa.

Apinan and Villarias, who saw action for the Road Warriors in the PBA, also provided the needed firepower.

A forward who played for the Adamson Falcons, Apinan had 16 markers while Villarias, cousin of second overall rookie pick Kiefer Ravena, chipped in 13, the same output produced by Arvin Vitug and Mark Pangilinan.

Standard

TODAY

al Help System-Dalta (1-1) over Miriam College (0-2), 58-29, in Group A of the 18-U Competitive Division; Polytechnic University of the Philippines (2-0) over Taguig City University (0-2), 71-30, in Group A of the 25-Under; and Philippine Women’s University (2-0) over St. Paul College-Quezon City (0-2), in Group B, also of the 25-Under Division.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

Sports

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

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017

Warriors frustrate Wolves; Celtics on a roll

OAKLAND—Klay Thompson tallied a game high 28 points as the Golden State Warriors cooled off the redhot Minnesota Timberwolves 125-101 Wednesday for their fifth-straight victory.

The defending league champion Warriors continued their domination over Minnesota in a battle between the two NBA division leaders. Golden State has now beaten the Timberwolves in 18 of their past 21 contests.

The Timberwolves were riding a winning streak of their own having won five straight and were sitting atop the Northwest Division heading into Wednesday’s matchup in front 19,500 fans at Oracle Arena.

Golden State relied on their depth and a third quarter 44-26 surge to beat Minnesota and improve to 9-3 on the season.

Stephen Curry delivered 22 points and eight assists for the Pacific Divisionleading Warriors who were without all-star forward Kevin Durant because of a left thigh contusion.

The Timberwolves were shooting 48.6 percent from the field during their winning streak, but the Warriors’ defense forced a series of poorly timed shots that led to Minnesota hitting just 41.3 percent for the night.

Meanwhile, the injuryriddled Boston Celtics won their 10th straight game by cruising to a 107-96 win Wednesday over the Los Angeles Lakers in a matchup between two of the NBA’s most storied franchises.

Australia’s Aron Baynes scored a career high 21 points during the game which saw the Celtics compile a 21 point first-half lead before the Lakers closed the gap in the third.

But Los Angeles allowed the Celtics to pull away again in the fourth when it mattered most.

The 30-year-old Baynes, who was born in New Zealand but grew up in Cairns, Australia, also grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists in front of a crowd of 18,600 at the Boston Garden.

“We have such great creators on this team,” said Baynes, a member of the Australian national team. “I just found myself in the right position. I was just trying to make the right play, and I’m trying to finish as best I could. AFP

FOILED. Katerina Pilepic of Generika is rejected by Iriga’s Karen Levina and Tamara Kmezic in the Chooks To Go-Philippine Superliga Grand Prix Thursday at the Filoil Flying V Centre. Roman Prospero

PSC pact with US academy to boost grassroots sports

E

FFORTS to strengthen the country’s national grassroots sports development program just got another big lift as the United States Sports Academy recently signed an agreement with the Philippine Sports Commission.

The agreement was signed in Davao City, with the Academy set to work with government agencies and other organizations, endorsed by the PSC. Sports officials said this will contribute a great deal to the national sports development program.

“When we came to the Philippine Sports Commission, we launched the Philippine Sports Institute with the hope of establishing and

strengthening elite sports and grassroots sports programs,” said Ramirez.

The sports chief discussed PSC’s recent deal after signing an agreement with Academy President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. T.J. Rosandich.

The pact is known as the Sports Protocol of Cooperation, which will also include the involvement of the Philippine Sports Institute, now deeply involved

meaningful indeed.”

Meanwhile, the Philippine Teen Bagsik of the Muay Thai Association of the Philippines brought home six gold medals, one silver and two bronze medals from 1st World Martial Arts Mastership in Jincheon, South Korea.

The Filipino gold medalists, who made the country proud in the international event for young fighters aged 17 years old below, are Lian Benito (girls’ 16-17 years old, 48kgs), Mariah Trenyce Co (girls’ 14-15 years old, 48kgs), Rudzma Abubakar (girls’ 16-17 years old, 48kgs), Islay Erika Bomogao (girls’ 16-17 years old, 45kgs), Ghen-Yan Berdon (girls’ 15-16 years old,

48kgs) and Bryan Siglos (boys’ 16-17 years old, 63.5 kgs).

Kristian Narca bagged the silver in the boys’ 16-17 years old, 48kgs category, while Rosemarie Recto (girls’ 16-17 years old, 48kgs) and Felix Cantores (boys’ 16-17 years old, 60kgs) won bronze medals.

They arrived Tuesday night and proceeded to the PSC Youth and SDGs Workshop at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City to demonstrate their skills before youth guests from Southeast Asian neighbors.

Then, they gamely answered questions from members of the PSC-POC Media Group during the FB Live Sports Chat. Peter Atencio

Past champions seek glory in RWM Masters golf

By Peter Atencio

Baby Tams begin title campaign FAR EASTERN UniversityDiliman opens its back-toback title bid against De La Salle-Zobel tomorrow in the UAAP Season 80 juniors basketball tournament at the Filoil Flying V Centre.

The Baby Tamaraws and the Junior Archers play in the third of a heavy fourgame bill at 2 p.m.

In other games, Goldwyn Monteverde will make his coaching debut for National University against University of the East at 10 a.m., Ateneo and Adamson University collide at 12 noon, while University of Santo Tomas and UP Integrated School take the floor at 4 p.m.

The rematch of last year’s finals between the Baby Tamaraws and the Bullpups is set on Dec. 3 at the Blue Eagle Gym. The rest of the first round matches will be played at the San Juan arena.

in talent-identification of potential athletes in the provinces.

“The signing of this protocol is of particular significance to the United States Sports Academy as we have had a long history with the Philippines,” Rosandich said.

He added that USSA began teaching international certification programs in sports management and sports coaching in the Philippines in the early 1980s.

“Having taught sports education programs to over 65 countries, this partnership with the Philippines is a continuation of our mission,” added Rosandich in a statement. “So to return today for this program is

China’s Liang Wen-Chong: Happy to be back

CHINA’s Liang Wen-Chong leads four past champions who have returned to seek glory and honor in the 2017 Resorts World Masters Golf at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club in Carmona, Cavite.

“I’m really happy to be back for the Resorts World Manila Masters because this event holds many fond memories for me,” said Liang before the start of the competition.

Liang will seek the crown with three other champions – Mardan Mamat (2014), Natipong Srithong (2015) and S.S.P. Chawrasia (2016).

The 39-year-old Liang, who is the highest-ranked golfer from China, is best

known for his victory in the first edition.

“That win in 2013 was special as Manila holds a special place in my heart. This event has played an integral role in transforming tourism in the country and has changed the golfing landscape here,” added Liang.

His win came from a playoff triumph over Thailand’s Prom Meesawat at the first play-off hole.

After that, Liang made his victory more significant when he decided to donate half of his total winnings to victims of Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in that same year.

On the other hand, Mardan took a commanding six-shot win in 2014, while Natipong, who just became a pro two years ago, bucked many

challenges by winning the 2015 edition Back then, Mardan earned his fourth Asian Tour success and second in the Philippines. Since then, Mardan has won his fifth Asian Tour title in Bangladesh in 2015.

Filipino legend Frankie Minoza will be among the locals in the roster with 2011 Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Juvic Pagunsan, one-time winner Miguel Tabuena and Antonio Lascuna.

RWM executive Jeff Evora, who is the Senior Director for Gaming Marketing said that with their involvement, the tournament remains as the most lucrative Asian Tour even in the Philippines.

“And that’s after having the richest purse of $1 million,” said Evora.

Alaska Aces fortify brain trust

By Jeric Lopez ALASKA is dead serious in turning its fortunes around in the Philippine Basketball Association.

And it started with hiring some renowned names in PBA history as the Aces look to boost their brain trust.

First, Alaska hired PBA champion coach Eric Altamirano, its longtime team captain and recently retired Toni Dela Cruz and Danny Ildefonso as assistant coaches.

The trio will help head coach Alex Compton in the sidelines for the Aces.

As if that’s not enough, Alaska also tapped legendary import Sean Chamber as its consultant.

Altamirano and Dela Cruz will be taking over the spots left by then assistants Louie Alas and Topex Robinson, who transferred to Phoenix, and join Jeff Cariaso.

Ildefonso was brought in to be a big man coach for the Aces’ frontliners.

Chambers, who led Alaska to multiple championships in the 90s as its resident import, is set to arrive next week to help the team regain its glory days as well.

Meanwhile, Meralco acquired Nico Salva through a trade with Kia. The Bolts sent their 2018 second-round pick away in exchange.

Folayang tries to keep belt wrapped around his waist

By Jospher de Leon ONE Lightweight World Champion Eduard Folayang will try to keep his belt wrapped around his waist as he takes on Martin “The Situ-Asian” Nguyen in the ONE: Legends of the World at 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena starting at 7 p.m. today.

Going by the nickname “Landslide,” Folayang knows his foe won’t be a pushover, but he said he’s up to the challenge.

“It is going to be tough, but I have my people to support me. I want to make everyone proud. I want to show the fans that Filipino athletes are world-class,” said the Team Lakay top fighter.

“Representing the Philippines and showcasing my skills is an

honor for me. Filipinos are truly world-class. We have the ability to hang with the best, no matter what the field. That is why I accepted this challenge in front of me. Join me as I continue my journey this coming Friday. Winning this bout is my top priority, to keep this belt on my shoulder,” Folayang added.

That will be easier said than done, though, especially against the ONE featherweight world champion.

Nguyen won his title by defeating a tough foe like Marat “Cobra” Gafurov in August, but now he is moving up a weight class and looking to acquire a second world title.

“I like Eduard [Folayang]. I said to myself I did not want to compete against someone I like and take away their glory, but opportuni-

ties like this do not come around too often. And, if I refused to do this, someone else was going to compete against him and take his glory. So it is strictly business,” said the 28-year-old VietnameseAustralian.

Nguyen added that fighting a certified MMA star in Folayang is a dream come true.

“Following my title win, I took a one-month vacation. But in my mind, I really wanted to compete.

I was so eager to return to the cage once more before the conclusion of 2017. My wish came true in the form of this dream match against Eduard Folayang,” said Nguyen.

“Eduard’s striking is pretty legit.

A bit wild, but it works for him. Everyone who gets tagged by Eduard, they walk into every single one of

his strikes and put pressure on him.

But Eduard is the counter striker, and everyone who comes forward gets hit with a spinning attack, a big right hand, or big kicks,” Nguyen explained.

He added: “You have to keep moving against someone like Eduard. If you do not move, then you are a standing punching bag. With my style, I am always moving. If I am going backwards, sideways, or forward, I want to make it hard for him to hit me, and I want to make every bit of my wrestling count.”

Folayang’s Lakay teammate Danny Kingad will shoot for the ONE Flyweight title when he faces Brazil’s Adriano Moraes, while Kevin Belingon, also of Lakay, takes on Kevin Chung of South Korea in the one of the main undercards.

Eduard Folayang (left), shown with his championship belt, squares off with Martin Nguyen today in a slam-bang clash at the MOA Arena.

China Bank posts P5.7-b net income B2

Business

Ray S. Eñano, Editor Roderick T. dela Cruz, Assistant Editor business@manilastandard.net extrastory2000@gmail.com FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017

Meralco rates rise by P0.3436/kWh M

By Alena Mae Flores

ANILA Electric Co. will increase electricity rates this month by P0.3436 per kilowatt-hour for a typical residential household, bringing the overall rate to P9.6272 per kWh from last month’s P9.2836 per kWh.

OUTSTANDING LEADER. FWD Life Insurance Corp. Philippines president and chief executive officer Peter Grimes (center) is recognized as one of the “Outstanding Leaders in Asia” by the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards.

Grimes received the honor at the awarding ceremonies held on October 26, 2017 at Intercontinental Hotel, Singapore.

Grimes is shown with Shanggari Balakrishnan (left) , chief executive officer of the MORS Group, organizer of the ACES Awards; and Andrew Bryant, jury of the ACES Awards.

Bloomberry’s profit jumps 275% to P5.96b

By Jenniffer B. Austria BLOOMBERRY Resorts Corp., the owner and operator of Solaire Resorts & Casino, expects 2017 to be a banner year for the company after registering a 275-percent increase in net income in the first nine months of the year to P5.96 billion.

Bloomberry said ninemonth gross gaming revenues rose 23 percent to P34.57 billion year-onyear, driven by record VIP volume, mass table drop and electronic gaming machine coin-in.

Jeju Sun Hotel & Casino, the company’s hotel busi-

ness in South Korea, also contributed to the growth with gross gaming revenues surging 122 percent and contributing P324 million.

“We continue to grow across all sectors, and hope to see this uptrend continue until the end of the year. Our top line and bottom lines are positive and, despite some minor hiccups, I am confident that 2017 will be a banner year,” Bloomberry chairman and chief executive Enrique Razon Jr. said.

Despite increased competition, Solaire’s VIP gross gaming revenues rose 23 percent to P16.743 billion while mass table

drop increased 22 percent gross gaming revenues to P27.08 billion. Its EGM of P11.64 billion, an incoin-in climbed 31 percent crease of 18 percent. to P136.688 billion.

Manila Standard Non-gaming revenues TODAY rose 44 percent to P2.46 billion, driven mainly by new shows in the Theatre, the opening of The Shoppes as well as improved hotel occupancy in both the Bay and Sky Towers at Solaire.

The average hotel occupancy stood at 90.9 percent, up 6.7 percentage points from the 84.2 percent yearon-year.

Bloomberry booked a net income of P1.9 billion in the third quarter, up 31 percent a year ago, on consolidated

PLDT’s net income climbs 38% to P21.9b PLDT Inc., the biggest telecommunications company, said Thursday nine-month net income surged 38 percent to P21.9 billion, boosted by the gains from the sale of assets.

Excluding gains from the sale of shares in Beacon Electric (P6.9 billion) and SPi technologies (P1.4 billion), recurring core net income climbed five percent to P17.4 billion, or in line with the full year guidance of P22 billion.

Consolidated service revenue fell four percent in the

first nine months of the year to P107.3 billion.

PLDT Home and Enterprise continue to set the pace for service revenues, posting double-digit growth rates in the first three quarters of the year.

Home revenues rose 12 percent to P24.3 billion, while enterprise revenues increased 11 percent to P25.3 billion.

The group’s wireless individual business, meanwhile, posted P44.2 billion in service revenues, down 14 percent from the same period

IN BRIEF Quezon transmission line up

last year.

PLDT chairman and chief executive Manuel Pangilinan said in a press briefing while there would be slight improvement in the cellular business, the company would rely mainly on the growth of its fixed line business and cost containment next year.

“PLDT for 2018 will rely mainly on fixed line for growth because we wan to keep pushing the envelope in term of our advantage in the fixed line business,” Pangilinan said.

Jenniffer B. Austria

6,780 trillion rupiah ($507.1 billion).

Darwin G. Amojelar

Uber study sees fewer cars

THE Energy Regulatory Commission has allowed Energy World Power Operations Philippines Inc. to develop a point-to-point transmission facility to connect its 650-megawatt combined cycle gas plant in Pagbilao, Quezon to the power grid.

The ERC approved the application of EWPOPI, a wholly-owned unit of Energy World Corp., to develop the P694-million transmission facility that will link its power plant to the New Pagbilao Station of National Grid Corp. of the Philippines.

“The proposed connection scheme is consistent with the provisions of the PGC (Philippine Grid Code) and should comply with the requirements related to the connection point,” the regulator said in a ruling.

Pending the completion of the New Pagbilao Substation, EWPOPI’s facility will be linked through an interim connection by cutting in along the Naga-Tayagas 500 kV line.

EWPOPI is building a 650-megawatt, combined cycle gas-fired power plant and liquefied natural gas hub terminal. Alena Mae S. Flores

CAR ownership will go down in the future once ridesharing becomes the major transport mode in the metropolis, according to a study commissioned by Uber.

Ride-sharing is a transportation mode seen to maximize the utilization of a private vehicle while minimizing the impact on traffic congestion.

“Ride-sharing can work and has been working for us at Uber. About 71 percent of people in Metro Manila consider ride-sharing an alternative to owning cars. This may reduce about 66 percent of cars on the road,” said Uber Philippine general manager Laurence Cua in a briefing Thursday.

The figure is equivalent to some 4.9 million liters of unconsumed gasoline and could save the planet about 11,300 metric tons worth of carbon footprints.

Metro Manila’s population stands at 12.88 million as of 2015 based on census survey 2015. Othel V. Campos

Indonesia woos PH companies

THE Monetary Board, the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, kept the benchmark interest rates steady on account mainly of a manageable inflation environment.

Bangko Sentral Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said on Thursday the interest rates of 3.5 percent for overnight lending, 3 percent for overnight borrowing, and 2.5 percent for overnight deposit facility were left unchanged. The reserve requirement ratios were also maintained.

“The Monetary Board’s decision is based on its assessment that the outlook for the inflation environment remains manageable. While inflation has trended higher (at 3.5 percent in October) due mainly to higher utility rates and fuel prices, latest forecasts continue to show the future inflation path staying within the government’s 2 to 4 percent target range for 2018 to 2019,” Espenilla said. Julito G. Rada

JAKARTA, Indonesia—The Indonesian government is inviting Philippine conglomerates to invest amid a financing gap to provide adequate infrastructure.

“We are welcoming investors from both domestic as well as international, of course the Philippines.

We would like to invite more Philippine investors to invest in geothermal,” State Minister for National Development Planning Bambang Permadi Soemantri Brodjonegoro said.

“What we know in Indonesia you are quite advanced in geothermal in terms of infrastructure. We hope some private sectors from the Philippines will be participating,” he added.

The Ministry of National Development Planning of Indonesia said the country’s infrastructure funding requirement between 2015 and 2019 was estimated at

MB keeps benchmark rates

The rate increase will translate into P68.72 for a typical residential household consuming 200 kWh a month.

“The November rate increase is mainly due to the P0.1925 per kWh increase in generation charge,” Meralco said in a statement.

Meralco’s overall generation charge increased in November by P0.1925 per kWh to P4.9080 per kWh from P4.7155 per kWh in October mainly due to higher WESM charges and the depreciation of the peso against the US dollar.

Charges from the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market increased by P0.4810 per kWh. “Despite the reduction in Luzon power demand this month, spot market prices increased due to tighter supply conditions,” the power retailer said.

Meralco purchased 15 percent of its power requirements from the WESM last month.

Cost of power from Independent Power Producers and Power Supply Agreements also registered increases due to the weakening of the peso against the US dollar.

B1

The currency depreciation has a much larger impact on independent producers because around 97 percent of IPP costs are dollar-denominated.

The cost of power from Meralco’s IPPs rose by P0.2868 per kWh due to lower average plant dispatch following the scheduled outage of San Lorenzo Module 50 for the entire supply month.

Despite higher fuel prices, Meralco said the increase in cost of PSAs was tempered to P0.0076 per kWh due to the improvement in average plant dispatch.

Meralco secured 41 percent of its power requirements from its IPPs and 44 percent from its PSAs last month.

The transmission charge of residential customers increased P0.0860 per kWh due to higher NGCP ancillary service charges. Consequently, taxes and other charges also went up by P0.0651 per kWh this month.

Meralco’s distribution, supply, and metering charges, meanwhile, have remained unchanged for 28 months, after the registered reductions in July 2015.

Meralco reiterated it does not earn from the pass-through charges, such as the generation and transmission charges.

Payment for the generation charge goes to the power suppliers, while that of the transmission charge goes to the NGCP. Taxes and other public policy charges like the feed in tariff -allowance are collected by government.

As the electricity rate increases this month, Meralco, which has over six million customers, advised customers to continue practicing energy efficiency initiatives to help manage their power consumption.

B2

Business

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 extrastory2000@gmail.com

Stocks rise slightly; Meralco climbs

T

HE stock market rose slightly Thursday near its record high Monday as stocks start to consolidate above the 8,500-point level.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained 11.33 points, or 0.1 percent, to 8,519.82 on a value turnover of P9.3 billion.

The benchmark index closed at a record high of 8,523.07 Monday. Losers beat gainers, 114 to 89, with 37 issues unchanged.

Manila Electric Co., the biggest retailer of electricity, added 0.5 percent to P297, while Bloomberry Resorts Corp., which operates Solaire Resorts & Casino on a reclaimed land in Manila Bay, advanced 3 percent to P10.80.

Bloomberry expects 2017 to be a banner year after registering a 275-percent increase in net income in the first nine months of the year to P5.96 billion.

Sm Prime Holdings Inc., the largest integrated property company, climbed 1.2 percent to P37.97, while Globe Telecom Inc.,

the second-biggest telecommunications firm, rose 1.5 percent to P2,050.

Japanese stocks, meanwhile, ended the day in the red as it suffered a sharp reverse in afternoon trade after hitting fresh 26-year highs, with most other Asian markets also falling.

The Nikkei had plowed two percent higher in the first session, supported by broad optimism in the global economy and healthy corporate results that have helped fuel a run across global equities.

However, analysts said investors had decided the rally was running a little too hot— Tokyo has piled on more than 20 percent since early September—and turned sellers in the afternoon.

The index closed down 0.2 percent, having fallen as much as 1.7 percent at one point in afternoon trade.

Seoul also ended down, losing 0.1 percent, Singapore shed the same amount in the afternoon, while Wellington, Taipei, Bangkok and Jakarta were all lower.

However, Shanghai closed 0.4 percent

higher while Hong Kong was 0.8 percent up, with traders cheering forecast-beating inflation figures from China that provided fresh hopes the huge economy is stabilizing.

Sydney was up 0.6 percent.

The dollar also suffered an afternoon retreat after holding up against its major peers.

Dealers were keeping tabs on Trump’s tax plans as Senate and House Republicans remain at odds over some issues including when cuts should be introduced and the target for the national deficit increase.

“We are seeing parts of the package jettisoned already and overnight House Speaker Paul Ryan seemed to offer an olive branch to the Senate’s version of the plan which appears to call for a delay in the implementation phase,” McKenna said.

However, Shane Chanel, equities and derivatives adviser at ASR Wealth Advisers, cautioned: “I fear that in a desperate bid to have this pushed through, there could be risks that the policy changes (are) watered down further as a compromise for this (being) implemented immediately. With AFP

EastWest’s nine-month profit jumped to P3.75b

By Julito G. Rada EAST West Banking Corp., the banking unit of the Filinvest Group, registered a net income of P3.75 billion in the first nine months of 2017, up 60 percent year-on-year, on the strength of core businesses.

The bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Thursday the January-to-September performance kept the 60-percent expansion in the first half of 2017, adding it was on track to meet the net income guidance of P4.8 billion for the whole year.

MANILA STANDARD BUSINESS DAILY STOCKS REVIEW THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2017

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

FINANCIALS 4.63 44,000 59.8 53,270 99.4 1,763,350 3.84 60,000 145 1,317,620 2.2 3,908,000 33.5 246,400 15.76 8,600 32.2 2,554,000 0.69 1,000 1.69 41,000 0.63 1,373,000 95.1 2,384,660 0.82 99,000 12.18 21,900 58.05 1,548,200 241 400 87.05 10 55.2 272,460 260 206,900 1,930 5 87.1 62,250 1.27 29,000

204,560 3,162,107 175,858,504 230,940 192,050,504 8,341,930 8,258,735 136,248 82,550,400 690 69,410 869,580 226,690,201 79,210 266,742 90,554,852 97,400 870.5 15,041,284.50 53,916,592 9,650 5,420,271 36,830

1,081,724 26,524,788 39,744,125 -7,840 5,027,500 -41,454,600 43,967,338 31,450 -16,729,260 -8,146,725 10,350,034 -171,563 -

41.3 12.16 0.72 1.33 18.7 0.216 4.18 15.46 165.3 44.95 18 65.8 1.88 5.63 11.3 10.12 14.86 12 7.25 5.69 18.46 61.4 25.25 11.9 21.05 1.9 251.6 62 4.03 3 30.05 18.68 17.92 295.6 0.2 10.1 2.5 6.49 10.1 7.4 9.4 1.64 11.8 61.5 6.47 505 4.96 1.92 4.86 2.19 12.92 4.87 0.14 1.17 135 3.16 2.15 0.9

INDUSTRIAL 42.4 1,281,200 12.4 1,600,200 0.73 751,000 1.35 1,878,000 19.42 26,700 0.219 1,310,000 4.2 13,925,000 15.5 1,585,000 165.3 170 45 564,300 18.78 44,300 65.8 800 1.9 77,000 5.85 155,300 11.3 12,500 10.14 4,181,600 14.88 1,359,000 12.56 3,466,400 7.29 485,700 5.73 18,647,300 18.5 2,021,500 62 102,200 25.95 6,957,800 12.1 79,100 21.8 5,111,700 2.03 9,480,000 253 1,231,040 63 520 4.03 417,000 3.09 23,000 30.55 428,800 18.78 437,300 18.12 5,076,500 297 3,537,320 0.202 1,390,000 10.58 54,700 2.68 472,000 6.6 179,100 10.2 2,893,100 7.42 63,900 9.4 53,900 1.64 2,266,000 11.96 876,200 61.5 296,460 6.5 156,000 510 87,700 5.01 182,100 1.92 10,000 4.92 69,500 2.19 591,000 13.08 642,200 5.09 254,000 0.144 870,000 1.17 142,000 137.2 2,558,910 3.16 12,000 2.15 12,607,000 0.9 105,000

54,109,075 19,722,182 544,000 2,523,740 502,716 285,240 59,389,010 24,582,998 28,101 25,526,025 826,458 52,675 146,080 892,490 141,250 42,453,574 17 20,223,318 42,075,862 3,537,702 106,753,413 37,396,840 6,316,880 188,715,855 951,624 111,301,575 18,884,410 310,708,150 32,350 1,683,540 69,710 13,000,715 8,205,680 91,925,878 1,059,999,602 278,090 563,716 1,253,350 1,176,407 29,579,100 475,095 506,802 3,730,890 10,489,184 18,446,669.50 1,013,870 44,821,765 911,968 19,260 342,709 1,322,280 8,353,010 1,277,700 122,190 166,450 352,050,785 37,920 27,309,470 94,500

-6,330,455 -600,140 94,080 60,480.00 10,099,840 17,510,592 63,260 -15,170 ,350,156.0002 3,842,648 -26,595,034 2,843,027 -69,121,035 458,700.00 -585,409.50 -7,184,280 -12,649,105 537,780 102,946,194 -4,030 -7,480,210 617,708 46,567,082 56,436,208 -319,730 16,661,266 -499,202 1,645,530 -2,392,200 -549,290 19,530 -4,697,050 237,904 7,105,872 14,050 -1,502,784 23,860 -

0.33 74 15.8 1.07 7 0.455 0.46 1,095 8.37 15.56 7.85 0.192 1,210 7.7 77 0.79 5.9 17.7 0.385 6.94 0.05 1.32 2.07 117 2.58 990 1.52 297.8 0.25 0.186 0.203

0.315 73.05 15.56 0.99 6.9 0.43 0.44 1,062 8.09 15.22 7.7 0.19 1,199 7.69 75 0.72 5.79 17.3 0.385 6.84 0.048 1.25 2.07 115 2.58 972 1.32 286 0.245 0.185 0.202

HOLDING FIRMS 0.32 1,960,000 73.9 746,630 15.58 5,753,800 1.07 269,000 6.9 40,800 0.43 18,050,000 0.44 1,800,000 1,070 411,895 8.2 2,331,700 15.5 8,223,700 7.7 496,300 0.19 500,000 1,203 172,670 7.69 106,700 76.95 1,066,460 0.74 5,763,000 5.8 993,100 17.4 1,101,700 0.385 50,000 6.85 25,873,100 0.048 23,590,000 1.27 1,221,000 2.07 140,000 117 765,850 2.58 20,000 980 337,290 1.49 2,632,000 297.8 2,080 0.245 430,000 0.185 650,000 0.202 700,000

637,250 55,170,515.50 89,718,470 273,240 281,774 7,921,350 810,850 442,778,535 19,157,993 126,719,276 3,862,395 95,330 207,790,260 820,578 81,867,966.50 4,322,940 5,807,478 19,165,032 19,250 177,330,940 1,141,100 1,551,390 289,800 88,889,553 51,600 329,965,495 3,801,870 611,286 107,350 120,270 141,760

-3,250 5,608,373.50 -6,380,600 -3,450 -198,700 -22,818,135 -886,099 -19,893,140 -2,085,889 30,783,610 1,233,904.50 2,722,676 7,594,976 -31,588,503 2,450 28,503,791 -107,544,540 35,290 -100,000 -5,550 -

5.42 1.03 2.5 0.98 45 3.88 5.04 5.45 0.52 1.2 1.25 0.204 0.485 39 0.69 1.97 1.56 0.87 5.85 0.325 0.385

5.3 0.99 2.45 0.95 44.3 3.82 4.86 5.36 0.51 1.2 1.22 0.201 0.465 38 0.67 1.92 1.52 0.81 5.65 0.315 0.375

3,232,142 7,015,590 100,650 2,892,780 263,919,960 2,425,080 5,663,210 665,118 3,937,210 580,800 1,469,360 790,310 615,350 32,246,010 17,257,050 22,014,570 10,347,150 1,639,170 232,680,103 14,859,400 808,300

1,625,395 62,150 25,333,265 273,440 -14,640 524,136 -968,920 106,900 -8,935,660 -13,653,650 9,304,270 -44,660 -55,414,166 -520,150 121,250

NAME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

AG FINANCE ASIA UNITED BANK PH ISLANDS BDO LEASING BDO UNIBANK BRIGHT KINDLE CHINABANK COL FINANCIAL EAST WEST BANK FIRST ABACUS IREMIT MEDCO HLDG METROBANK NTL REINSURANCE PB BANK PHIL NATL BANK PHIL STOCK EXCH PSBANK RCBC SECURITY BANK SUN LIFE UNION BANK VANTAGE

4.67 58.5 99.65 3.86 146 1.96 33.5 15.94 31.75 0.69 1.7 0.64 96 0.79 12.18 58.6 245 87.05 55 259.4 1,930 86.55 1.27

4.79 59.85 100 3.86 146.9 2.25 33.55 15.94 32.9 0.69 1.7 0.65 96 0.82 12.18 58.7 245 87.05 56.5 263 1,930 87.15 1.27

4.63 58.5 98.7 3.84 144.1 1.9 33.5 15.76 31.75 0.69 1.69 0.63 94.25 0.79 12.18 58.05 241 87.05 54 259 1,930 86.55 1.27

ABOITIZ POWER AGRINURTURE ALLIANCE SELECT ALSONS CONS ASIABEST GROUP BASIC ENERGY CEMEX HLDG CENTURY FOOD CHEMPHIL CIRTEK HLDG CNTRL AZUCARERA CONCEPCION CROWN ASIA DAVINCI CAPITAL DEL MONTE DNL INDUS EAGLE CEMENT EEI CORP EMPERADOR ENERGY DEVT FIRST GEN FIRST PHIL HLDG GINEBRA HOLCIM INTEGRATED MICR IONICS JOLLIBEE LIBERTY FLOUR LMG CHEMICALS MABUHAY VINYL 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 AND CO ROXAS HLDG SFA SEMICON SHAKEYS PIZZA SPC POWER SWIFT FOODS TKC METALS UNIV ROBINA VICTORIAS VITARICH VULCAN INDL

41.8 12.24 0.73 1.36 19.68 0.219 4.34 15.52 165.3 45 19.36 65.85 1.88 5.73 11.3 10.2 14.92 12.2 7.3 5.7 18.7 61.45 28.05 12.1 21.65 1.9 252 62 4.08 3.01 30.55 18.86 17.94 295.6 0.201 10.12 2.75 6.55 10.22 7.79 9.5 1.65 11.88 62.05 6.48 515 5.05 1.95 5.04 2.28 13.02 4.98 0.14 1.17 139.9 3.16 2.15 0.9

42.5 12.42 0.73 1.37 19.68 0.219 4.34 15.54 165.3 45.6 20 65.85 1.9 5.85 11.3 10.2 14.92 12.8 7.3 5.78 18.7 62.9 29.7 12.1 22.15 2.07 253 63 4.08 3.09 30.7 19 18.28 303.6 0.202 10.6 2.75 6.69 10.3 7.79 9.5 1.67 12.04 62.6 6.51 520.5 5.05 1.95 5.04 2.28 13.08 5.09 0.145 1.18 140.2 3.16 2.18 0.9

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

0.33 73.9 15.8 1.04 7 0.435 0.45 1,062 8.37 15.5 7.8 0.192 1,205 7.7 75.65 0.79 5.82 17.4 0.385 6.9 0.05 1.32 2.07 115.7 2.58 972.5 1.4 295 0.25 0.185 0.203

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

5.36 1.01 2.45 0.96 44.45 3.84 5.04 5.42 0.51 1.2 1.24 0.201 0.47 38.2 0.67 1.94 1.55 0.81 5.84 0.325 0.38

VOLUME

OPEN

HIGH

LOW

CLOSE

VOLUME

VALUE

NET FOREIGN BUYING/(SELLING), PHP

PHIL REALTY PRIMEX CORP ROBINSONS LAND ROCKWELL SM PRIME HLDG STA LUCIA LAND STARMALLS SUNTRUST HOME VISTA LAND

0.5 7.2 25.2 1.81 37.5 1.01 6.84 0.85 6.13

0.51 7.41 25.45 1.83 38.25 1.02 7.22 0.87 6.21

0.48 7.08 24.65 1.81 37.4 1.01 6.84 0.83 6.13

0.485 7.3 24.65 1.82 37.95 1.02 7.22 0.87 6.21

11,199,000 8,765,500 686,800 297,000 6,551,700 651,000 2,700 122,000 1,442,700

5,510,900 63,477,183 17,099,685 540,920 248,968,920 660,580 18,696 105,180 8,897,713

5,365 -4,746,611 1,053,045 21,720 -1,526,135 4,112,812

2GO GROUP ABS CBN ACESITE HOTEL APC GROUP APOLLO GLOBAL BLOOMBERRY BOULEVARD HLDG CEBU AIR CENTRO ESCOLAR CHELSEA DFNN INC FAR EASTERN U 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 PAL HLDG PHIL SEVEN CORP PHILWEB PLDT PREMIUM LEISURE PRMIERE HORIZON PUREGOLD ROBINSONS RTL SBS PHIL CORP SSI GROUP STI HLDG TRAVELLERS WATERFRONT WILCON DEPOT

19.06 38.6 1.51 0.5 0.047 10.7 0.066 104 8.8 9.38 7.08 1,000 2,030 6 18.2 12 3.55 2.61 102.5 12 8.36 0.151 1.36 3.17 15.5 4.12 1.26 23.8 0.55 2.74 7 3.91 15.4 2.6 5 190 8.49 1,705 1.37 0.38 51 94.95 6.18 3.47 1.73 3.81 0.97 8.11

19.06 38.7 1.59 0.51 0.048 10.92 0.067 105 9 9.94 7.57 1,000 2,060 6 18.2 12 3.9 2.71 104 12 8.36 0.151 1.37 3.29 15.9 4.23 1.42 24.5 0.55 2.91 7.05 3.91 17 2.6 5.15 205 8.5 1,755 1.39 0.38 51.65 95.15 6.19 3.56 1.77 3.9 0.98 8.35

18.44 37.95 1.5 0.5 0.046 10.7 0.066 104 8.8 9.36 7.06 1,000 2,020 5.97 18 11 3.19 2.55 101.8 12 8.3 0.15 1.36 3.07 15.4 4.03 1.26 23 0.55 2.74 6.82 3.82 15.4 2.46 5 190 8.1 1,700 1.36 0.335 50.85 93.6 6.05 3.42 1.61 3.81 0.95 8.04

SERVICES 18.7 38 1.5 0.5 0.047 10.8 0.067 104.8 9 9.57 7.5 1,000 2,050 5.97 18 11 3.25 2.61 102.4 12 8.33 0.15 1.36 3.26 15.4 4.06 1.29 23.9 0.55 2.9 6.9 3.9 17 2.5 5.15 205 8.18 1,715 1.36 0.355 50.9 94 6.05 3.56 1.75 3.85 0.95 8.3

182,400 101,200 557,000 2,505,000 117,700,000 20,958,200 5,750,000 55,870 120,000 3,720,800 12,100 60 83,190 324,000 32,200 1,100 38,348,000 52,000 894,640 400 419,800 2,980,000 273,000 70,000 6,500 1,476,000 6,980,000 5,169,100 5,000 220,000 2,778,600 3,241,000 2,700 4,028,000 37,800 2,980 702,000 112,605 4,484,000 6,680,000 1,751,770 771,090 81,100 1,331,000 31,064,000 502,000 10,228,000 3,727,100

3,416,868 3,855,615 838,550 1,256,820 5,516,000 225,945,156 380,910 5,852,547 1,056,200 36,031,942 86,387 60,000 169,098,540 1,937,378 580,890 13,100 135,012,140 135,840 91,735,348 4,800 3,506,322 448,160 371,710 220,190 101,288 6,002,470 9,341,810 123,578,850 2,750 628,660 19,223,712 12,591,860 42,966 10,113,820 193,479 587,770 5,725,493 194,518,515 6,124,580 2,349,050 89,293,335.50 72,813,199 494,566 4,667,760 52,649,630 1,923,890 9,797,460 30,434,166

9,350 252,830 102,000 -29,400 69,160,574 3,064,081 -44,000 -13,014 -24,278,670 2,114,880 -21,425,738 45,300 433,360 155,300 618,390 -55,260 732,813 -4,679,030 95,000 -47,963 7,261,195 -543,860 -52,400 28,369,415.50 2,986,552 1,249,580 1,764,750 626,430 6,740 5,008,462

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

0.0024 1.71 5.1 13.56 1.8 1.82 1.65 0.375 8.15 3.05 0.26 0.16 0.165 0.01 0.011 2.03 7.16 1.83 0.485 1.01 0.012 0.014 0.011 2.26 7.74 9.07 41.35 0.0075

0.0024 1.71 5.1 14.88 1.85 1.82 1.65 0.38 8.3 3.05 0.26 0.16 0.165 0.011 0.011 2.03 7.16 1.83 0.5 1.02 0.012 0.014 0.012 2.26 7.74 9.3 41.4 0.0075

0.0024 1.67 5 13.5 1.8 1.82 1.59 0.375 7.98 2.83 0.25 0.158 0.161 0.01 0.011 2 7 1.71 0.485 0.99 0.012 0.013 0.011 2.26 7.6 8.8 38.5 0.0075

MINING & OIL 0.0024 518,000,000 1.7 13,189,000 5.01 212,000 14.88 10,800 1.85 18,000 1.82 3,000 1.62 5,911,000 0.38 180,000 8.1 47,200 2.85 60,406,000 0.255 470,000 0.158 18,190,000 0.161 3,500,000 0.01 56,200,000 0.011 200,000 2.03 539,000 7.07 4,093,800 1.83 667,000 0.5 120,000 1.01 425,000 0.012 900,000 0.013 12,800,000 0.012 6,600,000 2.26 13,000 7.62 129,100 8.99 5,732,000 38.5 10,116,500 0.0075 7,000,000

1,243,200 22,289,830 1,068,889 146,364 32,830 5,460 9,550,080 68,250 378,594 174,965,460 117,950 2,882,750 567,170 564,900 2,200 1,089,000 28,831,254 1,169,620 59,250 425,740 10,800 166,500 72,700 29,380 985,912 51,805,918 398,105,655 52,500

4,800 1,593,200 -12,542 -21,290 -68,934,760 -81,000 38,600.00 7,115,158 -42,810 -45,732 2,838,423 -197,607,325 -

ABS HLDG PDR ALCO PREF B DD PREF FGEN PREF G GMA HLDG PDR GTCAP PREF A GTCAP PREF B LR PREF MWIDE PREF PCOR PREF 2B PNX PREF 3A SMC PREF 2B SMC PREF 2C SMC PREF 2D SMC PREF 2F SMC PREF 2H SMC PREF 2I

38.1 107.3 105.4 118.5 5.63 1,010 1,030 1.06 110 1,140 105.9 76 81.3 76.45 80.15 78.5 79.65

38.1 107.3 105.4 118.5 5.63 1,035 1,030 1.08 110 1,140 105.9 76 81.3 76.5 80.5 78.5 79.75

37.5 107.3 104.2 118.5 5.52 1,010 1,030 1.06 105 1,140 105.9 75.45 81.3 76.45 80 78.35 79.65

PREFERRED 37.5 223,000 107.3 47,000 104.3 93,500 118.5 1,000 5.58 1,774,200 1,035 1,150 1,030 3,105 1.08 211,000 105 19,700 1,140 5 105.9 8,010 75.75 2,790 81.3 200 76.45 17,940 80.5 127,750 78.35 18,400 79.7 45,350

8,420,865 5,043,100 9,817,504 118,500 9,901,983 1,180,250 3,198,150 227,740 2,075,930 5,700 848,259 210,800 16,260 1,372,265 10,236,625 1,442,581 3,614,453

-594,570 -9,639,699 -

LR WARRANT

2.53

2.54

2.4

WARRANTS 2.4 380,000

931,970

-

ITALPINAS PHILAB HLDG XURPAS

9.72 3.4 5.02

13.98 3.89 5.05

9.72 3.36 5

SME 13.36 3.38 5.01

186,097,371 1,210,810 3,883,661

30,062,756 928,159

FIRST METRO ETF

128.6

129.1

128.6

460,974

11,619

NAME

MS

PROPERTY 5.39 0.99 2.5 0.96 44.4 3.87 4.87 5.45 0.51 1.2 1.22 0.202 0.48 38 0.67 1.93 1.52 0.85 5.69 0.315 0.375

600,000 7,015,000 41,000 3,032,000 5,925,200 630,000 1,151,000 122,300 7,712,000 484,000 1,192,000 3,920,000 1,300,000 844,800 25,582,000 11,335,000 6,749,000 1,976,000 40,768,700 46,550,000 2,140,000

TRADING SUMMARY

SHARES

FINANCIAL

16,549,564

INDUSTRIAL

124,680,614

HOLDING FIRMS

116,516,020

PROPERTY

203,118,331

SERVICES

294,838,780

MINING & OIL

729,994,397

GRAND TOTAL

1,501,825,528

15,003,300 344,000 775,000

EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 129.1 3,580

VALUE 2,086.71 (down) 9.86 925,653,790.52 FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL 10,994.15 (down) 19.91 2,844,931,430.007 HOLDING FIRMS 8,707.47 (up) 55.81 1,944,829,194.74 PROPERTY 4,037.43 (up) 12.52 SERVICES 1,700.86 (up) 4.29 1,129,060,755.07 MINING & OIL 12,537.47 (down) 645.47 1,562,467,683.00 PSEI 8,519.82 (up) 11.33 725,847,731.281 All Shares Index 4,979.82 (up) 8.79 9,324,451,620.86 Gainers: 89; Losers: 114; Unchanged: 37; Total: 240

“We are happy to note that our higher income is mainly due to improving productivity and lower loan loss provisions. These two items more than offset the much lower trading revenues and the substantial increase in taxes even as our NPL loan loss coverage significantly improved,” bank president Jesus Roberto Reyes said in a statement.

The bank maintained its industry-leading net interest margin of 7.8 percent.

Recurring earnings grew 24 percent to P18.0 billion as net interest income and feebased income, excluding trading gains rose 22 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Total non-interest income increased 5 percent yearon-year, tempered by the 70-percent dip in profits from securities trading. Net revenues reached P18.4 billion, 17 percent higher yearon-year.

Operating expenses stood at P9.9 billion, and increased at a slightly slower pace of 16 percent.

Total assets grew 17 percent to P314.9 billion driven by the growth in the bank’s loan portfolio. Total loans increased 18 percent to P216.3 billion. Consumer loans, which expanded 29 percent, accounted for 72 percent of total loans.

Total deposits rose 19 percent to P257.1 billion, while low-cost deposits grew 23 percent.

China Bank posts P5.7-b net income CHINA Banking Corp., the eighth-largest lender in terms of assets, said consolidated net income in the first nine months rose 17 percent to P5.68 billion year-on-year due to the strong growth of core and fee-based businesses.

The bank said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the strong performance in the first three quarters translated into a consolidated return on equity of 10.41 percent and a consolidated return on assets of 1.16 percent, with the parent bank posting a ROE of 11.41 percent and ROA of 1.32 percent.

“China Bank continues to deliver positive results on the back of strong growth in our core banking businesses,” said bank president William Whang, who assumed his post this month.

He said the better-thanexpected results reflected the fruits of the bank’s strategic initiatives since it began the expansion phase 10 years ago with the Manila Bank acquisition “Our distribution network has grown almost four times from only 148 branches in 2007 to 569 branches as of September 2017, of which 158 are from China Bank Savings. The savings bank subsidiary has turned around to full profitability in 2016 and is in a better position to significantly contribute to the growth in customer base and revenues,” he said.

China Bank Capital, meanwhile, remained a major player in the capital markets, with China Bank Securities completing its full-service capability highlighted by its first initial public offering for Eagle Cement.

Data showed that the consolidated net income of P2.09 billion in the third quarter was 32 percent higher over the same quarter last year.

Julito G. Rada

extrastory2000@gmail.com CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10-, 2017 Cesar Barrioquinto, Editor

World

Manila

Standard

TODAY

B3

Trump trip divides US war veterans D

ANANG―When President Donald Trump lands in Danang, once a key US wartime air base, he’ll receive a mixed welcome from American veterans who fought on Vietnamese soil but now call the coastal city home.

Trump’s fans among Danang’s community of war vets are keenly awaiting an “America First” clarion call by a man they are proud to have as president when he addresses the APEC summit of world

leaders on Friday.

Others are strikingly less enthusiastic.

Former marine David E. Clark, 68, is convinced “Trump the chump”, as he dubs him, will drive the United States into ruin.

“He’s going to start a war, there will be a recession, he’ll triple the national debt,” Clark said, poring over meticulouslykept notes about the previous presidents’ economic records.

“It will be the greatest depression the United States has ever seen.”

Clark left Danang in 1969 an angry young man after 13 months as a combat engineer, vowing to never return to the country he once thought of as “the asshole of the world”.

French robbers targeting wealthy Chinese tourists PARIS―Leon Chen looks frazzled as he shepherds a group of Chinese tourists through the Galeries Lafayette department store in Paris, past stands stacked with luxury bags, perfume, jewelry and caviar.

As a guide, he knows all too well that cash-flush visitors lugging bags of valuables are easy prey for muggers and pickpockets.

“It’s happened many times.

The last two groups I had were robbed in this store,” he said, recounting how unseen predators made off with bags momentarily left on the floor by their owners.

“I tell them Paris is dangerous and to hide their money inside their clothes. I try to be more careful everywhere. What more can I do?” he asked.

While all tourists are potential prey for thieves, the big-spending Chinese, who have a reputation for carrying wads of cash with them, have emerged as a prime target.

Last week, a group of around 40 Chinese tourists were gassed and robbed outside their hotel near the capital’s Orly Airport― the latest in a series of attacks that have dented France’s image among Asian travelers.

In a statement on Saturday the Chinese embassy in France noted “several large-scale violent robberies” involving Chinese tourists recently in the country and urged them to exercise caution.

Jean-Francois Zhou, head of the Paris-based Ansel travel agency, said France used to be associated with “the good life and gallantry”.

“That image has been tarnished. Everyone now is aware of the security risks,” he said.

The most recent robbery, in the low-income suburb of Fresnes, fits a pattern of attacks at cheaper hotels in outlying neighborhoods where some tour operators put up less affluent visitors.

In August 2016, a group of assailants also used teargas to hold up a group of tourists outside their hotel in a gritty neighborhood near Charles de Gaulle airport to the north of the city.

A receptionist at a three-star hotel in the high-rise northeastern suburb of Le Blanc-Mesnil told AFP that her place of work― which also regularly receives Chinese groups―had been targeted repeatedly.

“They used to come in groups of five or six, on scooters, and rob handbags and cash from tourists in the parking lot,” she said, asking to remain anonymous because she was not allowed to speak to the media.

The hotel responded by closing off an entrance close to the road that served as a quick getaway route and instructing staff to call for a police car to be present each time a Chinese group arrives.

“But it’s still happening today,” the receptionist said, adding that the hotel had been targeted twice in the past six months by robbers posing as police officers.

The hotel’s management did not respond to a request for comment.

China was the world’s biggest outbound tourism market in 2016 in spending terms, ahead of the United States.

Paris is the favorite European destination of the Chinese but France lost some of its luster in 2015 and 2016, with three largescale terror attacks dealing a severe blow to its carefree image.N AFP

Even music awards poke fun at compulsive twitter Trump NEW YORK―Two top country music stars jabbed US President Donald Trump for his itchy Twitter finger at an awards show Wednesday after organizers unsuccessfully tried to keep politics out.

The Country Music Association had earlier warned journalists covering its annual gala in Nashville not to focus on politics, although it quickly revised its guidelines after a backlash.

Opening the nationally televised show, co-host Carrie Underwood teasingly said that the 2017 awards were a “politics-free zone.”

She and co-host Brad Paisley promptly went into a rendition of Underwood’s song of jealousy “Because He Cheats,” turning it into “Because He Tweets” with an eye on the social medialoving president.

Paisley joked that Trump was sitting on

a “gold-plated White House toilet seat” tweeting about football players, political rivals and “covfefe,” Trump’s infamous typo that became a neologism of sorts for his rhetorical style.

“It’s fun to watch it / That’s for sure / Until ‘Little Rocket Man’ starts a nuclear war / And then maybe next time he’ll think before he tweets,” Paisley sang, using Trump’s insult for North Korean strongman Kim Jong-Un. Yet the barbs on Trump were more light-hearted than biting, a contrast to major events in the pop music and film worlds in which the president has become a loathed figure.

Country traditionally has been the favorite music of conservative white Americans and the Country Music Association had especially urged journalists not to ask about

gun control in the wake of the latest mass shootings.

The awards gala switched to a reverential tone to pay tribute to the 58 people killed on October 1 when a local man opened fire on a Las Vegas country music festival from his hotel in the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history.

Underwood, surrounded by candles and her eyes moistening, sang the American gospel hymn “Softly and Tenderly” as a screen flashed portraits of victims of the massacre, as well as country music stars who died in the past year.

The Country Music Association Awards, one of two major prizes in the industry, for the second straight year gave its top prize of Entertainer of the Year to 55-year-old mega-star Garth Brooks. AFP

Now, in a twist of history, he lives in the coastal city a stone’s throw from Marble Mountain, where he was posted, during a bloody, bitter war that ended in 1975.

Today, the 68-yearold recovering alcoholic is married to a Vietnamese woman and doing some charity work with Vietnamese victims of the war.

He says he knew he wanted to move to Vietnam soon after his first trip back in 2007, in an effort to “make amends” with

the people he once considered an enemy.

The city he now calls home looks nothing like it did nearly 40 years ago as Vietnam’s economy surges and its people embrace consumerism―much of it American-tinged.

Budweiser is on offer in the fast-growing city’s many bars, and five-star resorts dot the coast where the first American marines landed in 1965 to fight communist-backed Viet Cong soldiers from the north.

On the outskirts of the city, the US launched phase two of a dioxin clean-up campaign last year, an area where millions of liters of the toxic defoliant Agent Orange were stored.

Not all vets share Clark’s acerbic views on the president.

He knows one fellow vet back in the US planning to travel to Danang hoping to catch a glimpse of Trump.

Former marine Chas Lehmann is equally happy to see Trump in Danang, a

city he’s lived in since 2012.

“He’s got backbone, he’s not a wimp, and he’s not obligated to [political] parties,” said Lehmann, who arrived in 1965 as a

Padrigal St., Karuhatan, Valenzuela City Telefax No. 294-4625 Email addressvmc_bac@yahoo.com

1.

The VMC now invites sealed Bids from eligible Bidders for the procurement of the abovecaptioned package. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II, entitled “Instructions to Bidders”.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a nondiscretionary “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” and is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or corporations 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 Republic Act No. 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

4.

Only Bids from Bidders who passed the eligibility check will be opened. The process for the eligibility check is described in Section II of the Bidding Documents entitled, “ITB”.

The Bidder with the Lowest Calculated Bid (LCB) shall advance to the post-qualification stage in order to finally determine the responsiveness of the bid submission to the technical and financial requirements of the project. The contract shall then be awarded to the Lowest Calculated And Responsive Bidder (LCRB) who was determined as such during the post-qualification procedure.

5.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the VMC and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 9:00am-11:00am and 2:00pm-4:00pm (Monday to Friday) starting November 18, 2017.

6.

The VMC will hold a Pre-bid Conference for this bidding activity on November 21, 2017, 1:00pm at the Valenzuela Medical Center, Padrigal St., Karuhatan, Valenzuela City. Only those who have purchased the bidding documents shall be allowed to participate in the Pre-Bid Conference. Those who have not purchased the bidding documents may act as observers and submit written queries, subject to the guidelines as stated in the IRR of RA 9184.

7.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee in the amount as follows: P1 - P1,000,000.00 – P1,000.00; P1,000,001.00-P5,000,000.00 – P5,000.00 P5,000,001.00-P10,000,000.00 – P10,000.00.

P10,000,001.00-P20,000,000.00 – P15,000.00;

DESCRIPTION LOT 1 Bay City Properties Two (2) parcels of land purchased by Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) from the Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA): a. An area of 3,733 square meters (more or less) covered by Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 0102014000775 under PAGCOR’s name and a Deed of Absolute Sale dated 19 February 2013; and b. An area of 156,626 square meters (more or less) covered by a Deed of Absolute Sale dated August 16, 2017.

Central Business Park I – Islands B & C of the Bay City, Parañaque City 160,359 square meters (more or less) Php 37,233,130,000.00 (VAT Exclusive, Zero Rated) TCT No. 010-2014000775 registered under the name of PAGCOR with an area of 3,733 square meters more or less; and TCT No. 010-2014003181 registered under the name of PRA with an area of 156,626 square meters more or less The Properties are subject of a long-term lease initially in favor of Bloomberry Resorts & Hotels Inc. who built and operate the Solaire Resort & Casino thereon. However, the leasehold rights were later assigned to Sureste Properties Inc. (“Lessee”). The lease is up to July 11, 2033 and is extendible for another term under certain conditions. The Lessee has a right to match the highest complying bid for the Properties. The Lessee has mortgaged its leasehold rights over the Properties. In the same vein, the title and rights over the buildings, structures and other improvements thereon were likewise mortgaged to various lenders.

Location Total Land Area Floor Price Land Title No/s.

Property Use and Encumbrances

I. GENERAL CONDITIONS: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

Disposal of the Real Properties for auction/sale will be on “AS IS – WHERE IS” and on “CASH” basis. The bidder further acknowledges that he has been given every opportunity to investigate, inspect and verify the REAL PROPERTY offered to ascertain the actual conditions thereof as well as the status of the title/tax declaration. Bidder accepts PAGCOR’s disclaimer of any warranty, implied or otherwise, that the assets conform precisely to the description available in the invitation to Bid. Further, the bidder, knowing the risks and assuming the consequences of eviction, accepts PAGCOR’s absolute waiver of warranty therefrom.

Prospective bidders must be Filipino citizens or otherwise authorized by law to acquire real property in the Philippines. In case of a corporation or partnership, 60% of its capital must be owned by Filipino citizens.

Officers and employees of PAGCOR and their relatives within the 4th degree of consanguinity and affinity shall be ineligible to bid.

No bid below the floor price shall be accepted.

Bid shall strictly be in Philippine Currency.

TCT No. 010-2014003181 is covered by a Deed of Absolute Sale between Public Estates Authority (PEA), presently known as Philippine Reclamation Authority (PRA), and PAGCOR. The land title is still under the name of the PEA, now the PRA. Expenses for the transfer of title from PRA to the winning bidder shall be for the account of the winning bidder.

PAGCOR shall thereafter deliver to the winning bidder TCT No. 010-2014003181 with the covering Deed of Absolute Sale between PAGCOR and PRA, and TCT No. 010-2014000775 free from all liens and encumbrances except the Contract of Lease (and its addenda) executed between PAGCOR and Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, Inc. (formerly Bloomberry Investments Holdings, Inc.) and the Deed of Assignment between Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, Inc. and Sureste Properties, Inc. It is expressly understood and agreed that the property shall be used exclusively for the purpose for which it was intended, i.e. that it serves as an integral part of the PAGCOR Entertainment City Project and is to be utilized for the purpose of developing and maintaining thereon a world-class integrated resort in accordance with the plans approved by lessee and PAGCOR. The winning bidder cannot use the property in any manner and for any purpose not consistent with PAGCOR’s Entertainment City Project and must conform to applicable zoning regulations and restrictions.

Furthermore, it is understood that the ownership of the property does not confer to the winning bidder the right to operate gaming facilities and business. A casino license or license to operate gaming operations is NOT part of the sale of the Property. Hence, the winning bidder of the Property shall neither have right nor authority to operate a casino or any other gaming operation. This paragraph shall be inapplicable should the Lessee be declared the highest bidder or is able to match the bona fide offer of the highest bidder.

7.

Real Property Tax, including arrears, penalties and charges, if any, shall be for the account of the winning bidder.

8.

All applicable taxes including capital gains tax, transfer costs, registration fees, documentary stamps taxes and other expenses incidental to the sale and transfer of the assets shall be for the account of the winning bidder who shall be responsible in causing the transfer/issuance of certificates of title under its name.

9.

The lease contract between PAGCOR and the Lessee shall be registered and annotated on the title of the subject property. The lease contract shall be binding on the winning bidder. As such, the Lessee’s security of tenure shall be respected and guaranteed.

10.

Where a re-survey or re-location of the land applied for is necessary, all expenses therefore including the preparation of plans and other papers shall be defrayed by the winning bidder.

11.

PRE-BID CONFERENCE DATE : November 22, 2017 TIME : 2:00 p.m.

VENUE: 5th Floor Meeting Room C, PAGCOR Corporate Office AG New World Manila Bay Hotel and Casino 1558 M. H. Del Pilar corner Pedro Gil Streets Malate, Manila INSPECTION OF PROPERTIES Inspection shall commence on November 9, 2017 and every Friday thereafter until the morning of November 27, 2017.

12.1 12.2 Inspection on other days apart from the schedules specified above may be arranged with the BACD Secretariat.

12.3 Kindly coordinate with the following Secretariat for inspection schedules: Shalee Nacino: Tel. No. (02) 521-15-42 loc. 258

12.

13.

BIDDING REQUIREMENTS: 13.1

Inside a sealed envelope 13.1.1 13.1.2 13.1.3 13.1.4 13.1.5 13.1.6 13.1.7 13.1.8 13.1.9 13.1.10

13.2

13.3

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

Articles of Incorporation / Partnership for corporation/s or partnerships, and proof of citizenship for individuals.

Latest General Information Sheet, if applicable Financial Statements, 2016; Income Tax Return, 2016; If with Representative, Special Power of Attorney (SPA) or Secretary’s Certificate.

Terms of Reference and Bid Bulletin (if any) with all pages signed by the bidder or the authorized representative; Sworn Statement that each of the documents submitted in satisfaction of the bidding requirements is an authentic copy of the original, complete, and all statements and information provided therein are true and correct; and Photo copy of any government issued ID of the bidder or the authorized representative.

Duly accomplished Bid Form Bid Bond - equivalent to 10% of the floor price in the form of Manager’s Check issued by any Universal or Commercial Bank payable to “Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation”.

The following details shall be written in the envelope: Upper left hand corner: Name of Bidder Address Contact Number Fax Number Center: BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE FOR DISPOSAL (BACD) PHILIPPINE AMUSEMENT AND GAMING CORPORATION PAGCOR Corporate Office AG New World Manila Bay Hotel and Casino 1588 M.H. Del Pilar Street cor. Pedro Gil Streets Malate, Manila.

Name of Property: Bay City Properties ITB Number: BACD17-001 Bottom: Do not open before 2:00 P.M., November 27, 2017.

Bid Documents shall be available at Room 202 Engineering Room (c/o Ms. Shalee Nacino) 2nd Floor, PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila (10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.) upon payment of a non-refundable Bidding Fee of P75,000.00.

BID BOND 14.1 Failure to post a bidder’s bond shall constitute a ground to reject the bid.

14.2 The bidder’s bond shall be forfeited in favor of PAGCOR in the event of any of the following: 14.2.1 Withdrawal by any bidder of his/her bid during the conduct of the auction, i.e. from 2:00 P.M., November 27, 2017 up to the time the highest and second highest bid has been declared; 14.2.2 Withdrawal by bidder of his bid after the same has been declared the highest bid; and 14.2.3 Refusal of the highest bidder to accept the award/contract for any reason after it has been awarded to him.

14.3 Bid bonds of bidder/s, except that of the highest bidder, shall be returned to them as soon as the highest and second highest bid has been declared or at a reasonable time thereafter and the waiver to file the Motion for Reconsideration/ Protest has been signed by the respective bidder.

SUBMISSION OF BIDDING REQUIREMENTS 15.1 The Invitation to Bid shall form part of the Terms of Reference.

15.2 Submission and opening of bids shall be on November 27, 2017, 2:00 p.m. at Meeting Room C, 5th Floor, PAGCOR Corporate Office, AG New World Manila Bay Hotel and Casino, 1558 M. H. Del Pilar corner Pedro Gil Streets, Malate, Manila.

15.3 Bidder / authorized representative shall be present during the auction.

15.4 Bidders shall address and submit their sealed envelopes to: BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE FOR DISPOSAL (BACD) PHILIPPINE AMUSEMENT AND GAMING CORPORATION PAGCOR Corporate Office AG New World Manila Bay Hotel and Casino \ 1588 M.H. Del Pilar Street cor. Pedro Gil Sts. Malate, Manila.

15.5 No bids shall be accepted after the scheduled opening date and time.

AWARDING 16.1 At least Two (2) bidders must submit a bid tender for the properties to be auctioned. If there is only one offeror then there shall be a failure of bidding.

16.2 The bidder who offers the highest bid (the Bona Fide Offer resulting from the successful bidding process) shall be declared as the highest bidder subject to the provisions specified in item 16.3 16.3 After the declaration of the highest bidder, the Lessee, in case it did not participate in the auction, shall be notified in writing of the bona fide offer and shall be given five (5) working days from receipt thereof to exercise its option to match the offer.

16.4 The highest bidder, in case he/she is not the Lessee, shall be notified in writing in the event the Lessee exercises its right to match the bona fide offer.

16.5 Post qualification of the highest bidder or the Lessees, as the case may be, shall be conducted to verify the documents submitted and to clear the bid bond.

16.6 Awarding to the winning bidder shall be subject to the approval of PAGCOR Board of Directors.

16.7 Notice of Award shall be issued after the Board has granted approval.

16.8 In the event of a failed public bidding, PAGCOR shall conduct a second public bidding. If there is twice failure of public bidding, PAGCOR may resort to Negotiated Sale consistent with applicable laws, rules and regulations.

PAYMENT 17.1 Bid bond shall be considered as partial payment and the difference between the bid bond and the highest bid price shall be paid in the form of manager’s check from any Universal or Commercial Bank.

17.2 The remaining balance of the bid price shall be paid in full at PAGCOR’s Finance and Treasury Department (FTD) Cashier within five (5) calendar days (inclusive of 3 working days clearing of manager’s check) from the receipt of the Notice of Award.

17.3 Failure of full payment within the prescribed five (5) calendar days or withdrawal by the winning bidder of his bid offer/price may mean forfeiture of his 10% bidder’s bond in favor of PAGCOR to be applied as liquidated damages.

PAGCOR reserves the right to disqualify any and/or all prospective bidder/bidders if found that they have submitted falsified documents and/or information, and the right to accept or reject any or all bids, to annul the bidding process, to waive any defects of formalities found therein and to accept such bid or a part thereof as may be deemed most advantageous to PAGCOR without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

PAGCOR reserves the right to change any of the rules as it sees fit. Revised Terms of Reference will be issued whenever applicable.

PAGCOR further reserves the right to amend the Terms of Reference any time prior to the submission of the sealed bids. If the amendments are of a nature that will affect the bids, PAGCOR will entertain request to reschedule the bidding.

PAGCOR reserves the right to reject any and/or all bids, or declare a failure of bidding, or not award the contract, if there is prima facie evidence of collusion between relevant public officers or employees of the agency or between the Corporate Disposal Committee or between the BAC for Disposal and any of the bidders, or if collusions is between or among the bidders, or between a bidder and a third party, including any act which restricts, suppresses or nullifies competition, or if the BAC for Disposal is found to have failed to follow the prescribed bidding procedures, or for any justifiable and reasonable ground where the award of the contract shall not redound to the benefit of the government. .All documents submitted by the bidders are presumed to be legally in order, that the person signing and executing said documents is authorized to do so and that the signatures appearing thereon are authentic and not forged. Any material defect or misrepresentation on the documents which will invalidate or render unenforceable the bids submitted shall cause the rejection of the bid and the forfeiture of any amount tendered to PAGCOR. All communications as regards the conduct of public auction shall be addressed to:

(MS-NOV. 9,10,11 2017)

Bids and Awards Committee for Disposal (BACD) Thru the Secretariat: Ms. Shalee Nacino (Tel. No. (02) 521-15-42 loc. 258) 2nd Floor, General Services and Engineering Department (GSED) PAGCOR House, 1330 Roxas Blvd., Ermita, Manila ATTY. HERNANDO C. APIGO,(SGD) CHAIRMAN, CORPORATE DISPOSAL COMMITTEE

InvItatIon to BId Procurement of varIouS medIcaL, dentaL and LaB0ratorY eQuIPment cY 2017 (re-BId) PuBLIc BIddInG no. vmc-2017-028 The Valenzuela Medical Center (VMC), through the General Appropriations Act/Income CY 2017, intends to apply the sum of Philippine Currency: Ten Million Eight Hundred Ninety Five Thousand, Five Hundred Sixty Three Pesos and 67/100 Only (PhP 10,895,563.67) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments for the Procurement of varIouS medIcaL, dentaL and LaB0ratorY eQuIPment cY 2017 (reBId) under PB No. VMC-2017-028. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) is inviting offers to buy through sealed bid in the auction/bidding of Two (2) parcels of land located at Central Business Park I – Islands B & C of the Bay City, Parañaque City under ITB No. BACD17-001.

Item No. Item Name Item

t i m e s ―i n clu d i n g once reportedly for bone spurs.

Neither of the Danang-based veterans would be drawn on Trump’s draft dodge.

AFP

Republic of the Phillippines Department of Health National Capital Regional Office VALENZUELA MEDICAL CENTER BIDS AND AWARD COMMITTEE

A Sure Bet for Progress in Gaming, Entertainment and Nation Building InvItatIon to BId throuGh SeaLed BId In the auctIon/BIddInG of two (2) ParceLS of Land Located at centraL BuSIneSS Park I – ISLandS B & c of the BaY cItY, ParanaQue cItY under ItB no. Bacd17-001

serviceman and spent 18 months in the conflict.

The billionaire businessman has come under fire for deferring the Vietnam draft five

The method of payment will be in cash, manager’s check, bank guarantee or surety bond. The Bidding Documents shall be received personally by the prospective bidder or his authorized representative. 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 non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

8. Bids and eligibility requirements must be delivered to the address below on or before December 04, 2017, 1:00pm, at the VMC BAC Secretariats’ Office.

9. Bid Opening and Eligibility Check will be on December 04, 2017, 1:00pm. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late submission of bids will not be entertained. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in the prescribed form, amount and validity period 10. The Valenzuela Medical Center 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, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: BAC Secretariats’ Office, Valenzuela Medical Center, Annex Building, 2nd Floor, Padrigal St., Valenzuela City Telefax No. 294-4625 (SGD) JOSEPH T. NOCOM, MD, FPOA Chairperson Bids and Awards Committee

(MS-NOV. 10, 2017)

Republic of the Philippines Province of Bataan City of Balanga BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE OFFICE InvItatIon to BId no. Infra -109-2017 In response to the first advertisement for Design and Construction of Bataan District Jail Facility (Phase I) Sunrise Compound Barangay Doña, Orani, Bataan, one (1) eligible bidder purchased & submitted bidding documents but failed to comply bidding requirements which was opened last October 20, 2017 at 1:30 p.m.; Under Section 35, of RA 9184, the BAC shall declare failure of bidding when no bidder complied all bidding requirements. The BAC members resolved to declare Failure of Bidding and recommended to Re-bid the above-mentioned project subject to the approval of the Provincial Governor.

In view of the failure of the first bidding, the Provincial Government of Bataan advertised again the Invitation to Bid for the Design and Construction of Bataan District Jail Facility (Phase I) Sunrise Compound Barangay Doña, Orani, Bataan in the Provincial Government of Bataan Website, in the Philgeps and in a conspicuous place at the premises within the Provincial Government of Bataan continuously for seven (7) days; 109

The Provincial Government of Bataan, through the General Fund intends to apply the below listed project w/ corresponding Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected a bid opening.

Name of Project Approved Budget of the Contract (ABC) 1. Design and Construction of Bataan District Jail Facility (Phase I) =P=96,000,000.00 Sunrise Compound Barangay Doña, Orani, Bataan The Provincial Government of Bataan now invites bids for the above listed Projects.

Completion of works is required within 240 Calendar Days. Bidders should have completed, at least one (1) contract that is similar to the contract to be bid. 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 nondiscretionary pass/fail criterion as specified in the 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Bidding is open to all interested bidders, whether local or foreign, subject to the conditions for eligibility provided in the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from Office of Bataan Bids & Awards Committeeand inspect the Bidding Documents from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the same office.

Bid documents will be available only to eligible bidders upon payment of a nonrefundable amount of using standard rates approved by GPPB as stated on their Resolution No. 04-2012 listed below.

Approved Budget for the Contract 500,000 and below More than 500,000 up to 1 Million More than 1 Million up to 5 Million More than 5 Million up to 10 Million More than 10 Million up to 50 Million More than 50 Million up to 500 Million More than 500 Million

Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents (in Philippine Peso) 500.00 1,000.00 5,000.00 10,000.00 25,000.00 50,000.00 75,000.00

The Provincial Government of Bataan will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on November 15, 2017 at 10:00 A.M at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan.

Bids must be delivered on or before November 28, 2017 at 1:30 P.M. at Provincial BAC Office, PEO Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataan. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated on IRR of RA 9184 or Bid Securing Declaration in standard form.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend opening of Bids at Bataan BAC Office. Late bids shall not be accepted.

In case of the above dates is declared a special Non-Working Holidays, it will automatically reset on the next working days.

Other necessary information deemed relevant by the Provincial Government of Bataan Activities 1. Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to Bid 2. Eligibility Check 3. Issuance and availability of Bidding Documents 4. Request for Clarification 5. Opening of Bids

Schedule November 8 – 14, 2017 Refer to date of Opening of Bids November 8 – 28, 2017 November 17, 2017 November 28, 2017

The Provincial Government of Bataan 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, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please refer to: Ms. Aileen C. Sagun Provincial BAC / PEO Bataan Provincial BAC / PEO Office, Capitol Compound, Balanga City, Bataanp 047-237-9316 bac@bataan.gov.ph (MS-NOV. 10, 2017)

(SGD) ENRICO T. YUZON BAC Chairman

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

LGUs

Jimbo Owen Gulle, Editor editor.lgustandard@gmail.com

B4

friday, november 10, 2017

LocaL government units

Makati padlocks ‘habal’ operator

By Joel E. Zurbano

GROUNDBREAKING. To support the farming community around its mine areas, Taganito Mining Corp., a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp., is funding a P5-million rice processing complex for the Claver Red Mountain Agriculture Cooperative or Cremaco in Claver, Surigao del Norte. The project is funded under TMC’s Corporate Social Responsibility program in partnership with the Municipal Agriculture Office of Claver. At the groundbreaking ceremony for the complex, holding the ceremonial capsule is TMC VP for Ops, engineer Aloysius Diaz (right) with Cremaco chairman Joel Oinal. Also in the photo (from left) are Claver Councilor Francisco Jatulan, chairman of the municipal council’s Committee on Agriculture; Barangay Daywan Kagawad Bonifacio Larase; engineer Carlos S. Quirequire of the Municipal Agriculture Office; TMC Community Relations Manager Ronald Asignacion; TMC Mine Manager engineer Artemio Valeroso; and Barangay Chairman Rito I. Placencia.

QC eyes P19-b budget

By Rio N. Araja

T

HE Quezon City government needs at least a P19-billion budget for 2018, or P2 billion more than its 2017 appropriation. in an interview, city administrator aldrin Cuña said the administration of Mayor Herbert Bautista has proposed an increase in next year’s budget “because we are looking forward to

the lifting of a temporary restraining order issued by the Supreme Court.”

Cuña was referring to the directive of the Supreme Court en banc in april against QC Ordinance no. 2556 of

2016, stopping the implementation of the fair market value of lands and basic unit construction costs for building and other structures.

“The city government is just awaiting the resolution of the high court after we and the Office of the Solicitor General submitted a memorandum [in reply to the TRO],” he told the Manila Standard.

“We just raised that we have followed the procedural requirements,” Cuña added.

The case stemmed from a petition of the alliance of Quezon City Homeowners association inc. (aQCHi) against the Office of the City Mayor, assessor’s Office and Treasury Office, describing the city government’s new tax rates as “unjust and excessive.”

The high court directed the respondents to comment on the petition within 10 days from notice. “i understand our reply is already submitted for reso-

4 years after, Tacloban remembers ‘Yolanda’

By Robbie Pangilinan TaClOBan City completed three days of memorial activities on Thursday as it remembered the thousands of its residents who perished amid the widespread destruction brought about by super typhoon “Yolanda” when it struck four years ago.

“We wanted the memorial to be meaningful and

heartfelt,” said Mayor Cristina Gonzales-Romualdez, whose husband alfred was mayor when “Yolanda” struck in november 2013.

The commemoration started off with thanksgiving Masses and wreath-laying ceremonies in Tacloban and Palo, leyte on Tuesday, nov. 7. a landmark was highlighted at the site of the MV Eva Jocelyn—a ship that washed ashore at

the anibong community in Tacloban during the height of the super-storm, crushing several shanty houses and killing their residents in the process.

The city government has converted MV Eva Jocelyn into a tourist destination. “it is now the anibong Memorial landmark that will serve as a reminder to future generations how the city recovered from the ru-

ins,” said City administrator lawyer irene Chiu.

Wednesday, nov. 8, started with a commemorative early morning walk from the Tacloban City Hall to the city convention center, followed by two thanksgiving Masses at the astrodome and the Holy Cross Memorial mass grave in Barangay Basper, officiated by Palo archbishop John Du.

3 Davao City Hall workers test positive for drugs

By F. Pearl A. Gajunera DaVaO CiTY—Three employees of the City Government have tested positive for illegal drugs following a mandatory random drug test last October.

Michael Denton aportadera, City anti-Drug abuse Council action Of-

ficer, said the three workers were among the 1,127 government employees who took the drug test. He did not name the employees.

“We did the confirmatory test to the three employees, and it turned out that they are really positive of illegal drugs,” he said.

Under the Civil Ser-

vice law, anyone who tests positive for drugs will be terminated from government service. aportadera said it is important to ensure that all the city hall employees are clear from illegal drugs, since they are carrying the name of the city government whether they are a

plantilla employee or a joborder worker.

“Mayor Sara [Duterte] is very much keen with a clean lifestyle, especially for the city hall employees, since we are the frontliners in serving the people, and as a government employee we should also follow the rules of law,” he said.

lution,” Cuña said, adding they are confident of the lifting of the TRO. “We got an information that the registration of aQCHi with the Securities and Exchange Commission has been revoked. it has no corporate personality to file a petition,” he added. according to the city administrator, 43.37 percent of next year’s budget, or an estimated P8.2 billion, shall go to social services; 33.32 percent (P6.33 billion) to

general services; and 17.27 percent (P3.28 billion) to economic services. legislative services for the vice mayor’s office and city council would only eat up 6.03 percent (P1.14 billion), Cuna said.

“Councilors are lawmakers. They cannot execute projects,” he added.

Cuna, the 37-member city council, and city department heads worked overtime to pursue the deliberation of the 2018 budget proposal.

MakaTi City government personnel on Thursday padlocked the office of a firm engaged in a “habal-habal” motorcycle transport service for operating without a business permit.

The office of angkas Training Center at natividad Building along Chino Roces avenue was shackled by enforcers of the city’s Business Permit and license Office after BPlO chief Maribert Pagente issued an Order of Desistance/Closure against the firm.

The closure came after BPlO inspectors, in coordination with representatives from the land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board, land Transformation Office and Police-Highway Patrol Group, inspected the establishment and found out it was operating without permits from the city government.

“The owner failed to present a valid Business Permit when our men, accompanied by other government officials visited and inspected the place,” an official of the city’s information and Community Relation Division said. iCRD officials said the closure of the establishment arose from a request made by the lTFRB to the Office of Mayor abigail Binay to aid in apprehending the establishment, which was reportedly involved in many traffic accidents.

In BrIef estrada leads lighting of christmas lanterns Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada led city officials in officially welcoming the Christmas season with the symbolic lighting of hundreds of Christmas lanterns along Roxas Boulevard on Wednesday night.

Estrada formally switched on 200 lanterns along the center island and both lanes of Roxas Boulevard from P. Burgos Street to Vito Cruz—part of the 1,300 lanterns to be raised along major thoroughfares, parks, and city government buildings and properties across the city.

“This year has been good to us, to our beloved city. Four years after you installed me as your city mayor, we, and i mean we—all of us—have succeeded in saving our city from its deep financial turmoil,” Estrada said during the lighting ceremony held at Baywalk.

“These Christmas lanterns, with its glistening lights, symbolize our undying commitment to continuously work for the progress of our city and realize our dream of restoring the City of Manila’s old beauty and long-lost glory,” he added. Bill Casas

trike drivers’ strike to support mayor TanaUan CiTY—Tricycle operators and drivers here will go on strike on Friday in support of Mayor antonio C. Halili, who has also declared a suspension of classes in all levels in this city on nov. 10.

Halili is under fire for his alleged links to the illegal drug trade, leading the national Police Commission to strip the mayor of his control over the local police along with several other local government officials on President Rodrigo Duterte’s list of so-called “narco-politicians.”

Halili has denied the charges and has gained the support of the local tricycle owners and drivers association, who questioned why the napolcom did not take the side of the Tanauan police on the issue. ironically, Halili is known for pioneering a “walk of shame” for suspected drug users and drug dealers in the city. The mayor claims the drug allegations are part of political harassment by his opponents. Roy Tomandao

By Viviana riccelli

I

aRRIVED in Siquijor after a very long time, after an attentive search, after many years of travelling and after asking myself where is the place I would like to spend the rest of my life.

all the world was open to me, and I was thinking about directions…

West, South, north, but then came to my mind the kindness and the generosity of the Filipinos, which I know in Italy and whom I met around the world in my lifetime journey.

The people of the Philippines, the wilderness of its forest, the beauty of its nature, the mystery of its sea, the curiosity about its culture and traditions piqued my interest!

Eventually, the Philippines became the choice! I knew then that the Philippines would become a place of inspiration to my art and has become my much beloved home.

The following step was to understand where in the Philippines. More then 7,000 islands, very different people, and rich cultures, Manila in the Philippines is so similar to Rome for the ferment of humanity living there, for the cultural dynamism and attention for cultural heritage. But, at that point, a sort of blind instinct drove me to the Visayas and then straight to Siquijor.

When I first arrived in Siquijor and I was approaching its coast, its colors touched my heart: green, blue, turquoise, red and yellow like the hot sun. I felt immediately that this was my place.

In Siquijor, as in Dumaguete, in Manila, in Iloilo, in Bacolod, and all the other places I have been, I have developed very strong and valuable friendships.

The deep fascination with the places I discover, visit and live in, never stops.

If I am sad or worrying about something, I just go out in the streets to have a walk and see how welcoming is the people I meet, how positive they always are, no matter how difficult their lives.

I have learned the wisdom of the sea from the fishermen and from the healers of the mountains.

The visions and diary of this journey treads troughs into my art work.

Life culture and media

Isah V. Red, Editor Bernadette Lunas, Writer isahred@gmail.com fRIday, noVemBeR 10, 2017

c1

On living in Siquijor

Transmigration

by Viviana Riccelli

Elia Locardi

leads first landscape photo shoot at Sheridan Towers

Dulaang Filipino's production of 'Oedipus'

Filipino theater wins in Belarus festival

The sunset shot by professional photographer Win Magsino during Fujifilm's Cityscape Live Shoot held at DMCI Homes' Sheridan Towers DMCI Homes’ Sheridan Towers partnered recently with Fujifilm Philippines for a special landscape photography workshop led by world-renowned travel photographer and Fujifilm global ambassador Elia Locardi.

Dubbed as Cityscape live Shoot, the workshop is Fujifilm’s first landscape photo shoot held recently at the roof deck of Sheridan Towers, a picture-perfect venue for the workshop as it offers mesmerizing view of its surroundings.

Conveniently located at a strategic spot in Pasig City, the roof deck of the 41-level DMCI Homes property provides captivating view of the BgC, Ortigas, Makati City skyline as well as the awe-inspiring sight of the laguna lake, Mount Banahaw, Mount Makiling and Pasig River. Sheridan Towers also offers a splendid view of sunrise and sunset.

The event started with a short talk and valuable tips from locardi, who expressed appreciation to Sheridan Towers, most especially on the roof deck amenity, saying, “This rooftop is made for people.

It was made to enjoy the view.”

Coming to Manila for the first time, locardi, known for travelling places in search for the best shot of the area, observes that a lot of rooftops or decks are not particularly made for people to view

the area surrounding it. He also admired the building’s engineering, offering a 360-degree view, complete with seating areas that are meant for residents to actually enjoy the sight “There isn’t really much attention given to creating a space where people can enjoy. a lot of rooftops in cities are just made to hold signs, billboards, or different things like that. It (Sheridan Towers’ rood deck) has an adequate railing, there’s not any glass in the way, so it’s an unobstructed view,” the american travel photographer said before some 30 workshop participants including hobbyists, enthusiasts and professional photographers.

The weather was initially a challenge, but once the live Shoot commenced, the sunset offered a perfect blue hour shot, much to the delight of both participants and ambassadors. With the view offered by Sheridan Towers, photos from the workshop came out splendid.

Some of Fujifilm’s roster of professional photographers also graced the event including Fujifilm Influencer for landscape Win Magsino, who agreed that the place was perfect for the event. He admired the property’s views, saying, “as a photographer, this is something I would look for in a property,” while also approving of the property’s accessibil-

ity to every major part of the city. Other Fujifilm ambassadors in the event are X-Photographers Jan Gonzales, Niko Villegas, and Rommel Bundalian, as well as photographers Ricky Ladia, G-nie Arambulo and Nicco Valenzuela.

The event was also joined by some of DMCI Homes’ employees and resident who were also into landscape photography.

DMCI Homes Flair Towers resident and one of the event participants, Joshua Cu, stated that DMCI Homes communities give him a lot of photographic options and chance to practice his hobby without leaving the comforts of his home.

“It [My community] does get me inspired to do more photography and to take more beautiful shots,” he says. Cu favors DMCI Homes’ efforts of giving residents and shutterbugs like him more chances to hone his skills in photography with the community photo contests like ‘Capture’.

Sheridan Towers has recently turned over units to homeowners a year earlier than expected. located along Sheridan Street, the property is one of DMCI Homes’ proud developments in Pasig City that is accessible to major CBDs and places of interest. With DMCI Homes’ quality engineering, the property is seamless.

‘Art 2 Art’ celebrates words and music

ARt 2 ARt, recently honored with a citation from the Catholic Mass Media awards in the Best Educational Program category, celebrates words and music in its episodes this month.

Produced by the Manila Broadcasting Company and hosted by “Ballerina ng Bayan” Lisa Macuja, Art 2 Art airs every Sunday, 3:30 to 4 p.m., on radio via DZRH (666 khz on the aM band), on cable television via RHTV (Ch. 129 on Skycable in Metro Manila, Ch. 18 on Cignal TV and Ch. 3 on Cablelink)

and online livestreaming at http://dzrhnewstelevision. tv. The show may also be viewed through the Facebook account DZRH news Television.

On nov. 12, baritone Andrew Fernando discusses the mission of the Klassical Music Foundation of which he is artistic director. Krissan Manikan Tan and Stephanie Aguilar discuss their experience as KMF scholars and also perform a classical number.

On nov.19, bookologist, bookseller and book marketing expert Gwenn Galvez shares insights

on literacy and trends in digital publishing and online book selling. galvez represents Primetrade asia, organizer of the annual Manila International Book Fair.

On nov. 26, classical guitarist and composer Aaron Aguila relates his musical journey, including training under guitar masters, winning in competitions and releasing his own album soon. He cites the advantage of using social media to help establish a music career.

Dulaang Filipino (DF), the resident theater company of De la Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DlS-CSB), made the Philippines proud when its production of Oedipus by Sophocles won major prizes at the recent Teatralny Koufar International Student and Youth Theatre Festival in Minsk, Belarus.

The play was performed in our national language, before a nonFilipino speaking audience.

The awards included Best Performance by amateur Theatre, Special Jury Prize for the Best Physical and Sound Solution, and Best actress for Gracielle So. Ezra Ulanday was nominated for Best Supporting actress.

Dulaang Filipino was the only group from asia to be invited to the festival, in addition to companies from Belarus, Bulgaria, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Tunisia, and the united Kingdom.

“In order for the audience to relate in whatever language they’re speaking, I elevated the importance and use of the chorus, which is one of the conventions of a greek play,” said Director Riki Benedicto.

So, who performed the role of antigone, said the Best actress award was important for her. “I got to bring something home to the people I love, especially my mother. She was my first mentor, and I know how much this award means to her. This experience will always be a constant reminder for me to keep going. Theater has been there with me ever since, and I will continue as long as I live.”

The Dulaang Filipino members who participated in the festival included Jason Dawis, Nigel Lim, Beatrice Molina, Paulito Parohinog, Ian Santos, Marvin Sigue, Kiara Vicente and Jade Abendan from the Office of Culture and arts stage production operations team.

Oedipus, first presented in 2014, is a one-hour reduction of Sophocles’ Theban trilogy, consisting of Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone, in Filipino translations by Rolando Tinio and Onofre Pagsanjan. The production has been performed at the uP Theater Council’s Curtain Call Play Festival in 2014 and at the Mont-laurier International Theatre Festival in Quebec, Canada in 2015.

It recently won the International university of la Rioja award (unIR) for Best International Show in the IV Premios Escenamateur Juan Mayorga de las artes Escénicas.

Benedicto announced that the company has already received invitations to stage Oedipus next year in the united Kingdom, Poland, georgia, and lithuania.

The Teatralny Koufar, considered to be one of the most influential youth theater forums in Eastern Europe, is the only international student theater festival in Belarus. Organized by the Belarussian State university, it aims to serve as a transnational platform that unites talented and active young people from around the world.

Since the event was first held 13 years ago, theater groups from more than 60 countries have joined the festival.

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017 Isah V. Red, Editor • Nickie Wang, Writer

Marvin Agustin The actor is a Kapuso again.

He is set to star in an upcoming GMA TV series entitled Santa Santita, which will be headlined

by Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali. But didn’t we just see him two weeks ago in MMK? So, why the sudden loyalty shift? As much we would want to answer the question, we would just want share what we overheard a few days ago. A showbiz insider said: he’s returning to GMA because ABSCBN failed to help him in his attempt to re-launch his career.

Thor: Ragnarok Apart from being busy anticipating the Halloween, moviegoers were also excited to see Marvel Studios’ latest big screen offering. Thor: Ragnarok conquered the Philippine box-office for the Oct. 25 – 29 period, raking in a whopping P201 million. It also made history earning almost P 4 0 million on its first day, the biggest opening day for any film commercially screened in local cinemas this year.

Obviously, after watching a series of crappy Tagalog films in past months (since they didn’t have much of a choice) local moviegoers finally have a movie worth their hard-earned money.

Kim Chiu She trended on Twitter with her guest appearance in TV Patrol as a Showbiz Patroler, now she’s all over social media again after her movie The Ghost Bride made a killing at the local tills. Kim Chiu’s movie made a decent P15-million first day gross amid the tough competition with big Hollywood releases. It only goes to show that although her TV series isn’t doing well, the Chinita actress still has a number of fans willing to fork money out of their pockets just to see her on the big screen.

Anne Curtis and Erwa Heussaff If South Korea had a wedding of the century with Song Joong Ki and Song Hye Kyo exchanging “I dos,” Philippines has its own local version.

Anne Curtis and Erwan Heusaff are giving their fans a “Songsong” wedding feel based on the recent photos that the couple posted on their social media accounts. We haven’t seen any couple that tied the knot this year receiving the same kind of attention. No, not even the “It Girls” who got hitched early this year.

Kakai Bautista She would have been briefed on what topic she and Vice Ganda were going to discuss during her guesting in the popular talk show. She should have just declined to discuss about her past relationships with Ahron Villena and Thai actor Mario Maurer.

Instead of people understanding her situation, or whatever we may call it, they though she just looked pathetic and her trying to be comedic wasn’t funny at all. It seems that she hasn’t moved on contrary to her claim.

Jake Zyrus It’s true that no one could hurt you if you embraced your shortcoming and weaknesses. But fans insist that Jake Zyrus’s “new appearance” is something that is hard to love. We totally agree that Jake should be proud of the way he looks right now since that’s what he wanted all along. But to expect that people would buy “the new package” is a different story. He’s in a business where appearance still matters a lot. How can you patronize a midget singer whose voice is similar to a boy going through puberty?

ABS-CBN programs, content honored at the 39th CMMA THE Kapamilya network picked up 12 honors, including Best Drama Series Program and Best News Commentary, at the 39th Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA).

The now defunct but top-rater afternoon family drama The Greatest Love was named Best Drama

Series Program.

Meanwhile Failon Ngayon sa DZMM with Ted Failon was hailed as Best News Commentary.

Other Kapamilya winning programs included Home Sweetie Home (Best Comedy Program), ASAP (Best Entertainment Show), Oyayi The cast of the now defunct but top-rater afternoon family drama, "The Greatest Love"

(Best Children and Youth Program), and Pluma (Best Religious Program).

ABS-CBN songs, music videos, and station ID were also honored, including “Ikaw ang Sunshine Ko” (Best Secular Song), ABS-CBN Palawan Christmas Station ID 2016 (Best Station ID), “Together

We Thrive” by Piolo Pascual (Best Music Video and Best Inspirational Song), and Halalan Prayer (Best TV AD-Public Service).

Since 1978, the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) has honored media programs and other content that spread genuine Christian values.

College DJs enjoy crash course in spinning

International DJ Byte in a recent spinning class in a university in Manila

ON SEPT. 30, student DJs from colleges across Metro Manila had the chance to learn from international DJ, DJ Byte, at the Red Bull 3Style University Workshop at Z Hostel, in Poblacion, Makati City.

Red Bull 3Style University is a one-day workshop that allows budding student DJs the chance to learn from internationally renowned and successful DJs. For many DJs, it’s the chance to give back to the community and share their knowledge to the next generation.

The workshop began with an open discussion where DJ Byte talked about his beginnings as an aspiring DJ in his native Chile to winning the Red Bull 3Style World Championship in Tokyo, in 2015.

“I became a DJ after I saw one guy using cassettes to mix music, I thought it was magic. I started with a little company, and played parties for my school”, DJ Byte reminisced. “After

some time, I learned I had special skills and I started to push myself to another level. I was going to give everything I had to music and in 2015, at Red Bull 3Style, the music said to me, ‘Okay, you gave enough.

It is time to give back.’.”

Two finalists from this year’s Red Bull 3Style competition were also in attendance, allowing him to share the tips that enabled him to become the World Champion in 2015.

“The 2015 3Style set took me one year to build. I spent six months writing ideas and four months developing them. It was a sacrifice and I was going to take it seriously”, said DJ Byte. “I realized that if I wanted to win the competition, I had to bring something new and I needed to build from the bottom. I did what no one else did before and it took me one year to break barriers and discover my tricks.

Never forget that music is an art-form.”

This led him into a brief discussion on how student DJs can build their own brand while remaining true to their artistic vision.

“Be different and things are going to start to happen” DJ Byte added. “People are looking at videos, watching the latest routines, and we wonder, ‘What do these DJs watch?’. These guys don’t watch any videos; they practice for themselves. They try to bring something new to the culture and that is one of the hardest points of your career.”

A 3Style showcase was later held later in the evening at Pura Vida, Makati, with DJ Byte. DJ Roy de Borja (2015 3Style 2nd Runner Up), and 2017 3Style finalist, DJ Kouta Kutsuma (2015 3Style Finalist).

Along with DJs Hedspin and Carlo Atendido, DJ BYTE were the judges at the Red Bull 3Style National Finals at Valkyrie at the Palace, in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

Motoring

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017

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Innova Touring Sport unleashed

T

OYOTA introduces a new variant of its MPV—the Innova Touring Sport. Since its launch in 2005, the locallymanufactured Innova continues to be the “Best Selling MPV in the Philippines”.

True to its name, the Innova keeps up with the ever-changing preferences of customers while continuously promoting practicality and functionality with modern design.

Hyundai is mobility partner for ASEAN Summit HYUNDAI is one with ASEAN for growth and prosperity for all. Hyundai, Official Mobility Partner of ASEAN 50 and the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) 2017, held the official turnover of 50 H350 luxury vans which will be used to transport delegates to the two global sum-

mits slated to take place in Manila this next week.

At the turnover ceremony held at the Hyundai Philippines Entrance Hall of the National Museum of Natural History were (L-R) from Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) Asia & Pacific Regional Headquar-

ters, Deputy General Manager JoonmoAhn and General Manager for Commercial Vehicles Seong-Gi Kang; from Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc. (HARI) Chairman Emeritus Richard L. Lee; ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Philippines Chairman Jose Maria Concepcion

III; ASEAN National Organizing Council (NOC) Chairman Ambassador Marciano Paynor, Jr.; HARI President and CEO Ma. Fe Perez- Agudo and Chairman Edward S. Go; ABAC Chair Adviser Josephine Romero; and HARI Vice Chairman Conrad G. Marty.

In an effort to amplify Innova’s strong and robust image, the Touring Sport aims to intensify its persona as a vehicle that is perfect for any adventure.

Its exterior design highlights a sporty figure with its 16-inch matte black alloy wheel, smoked headlamp, chrome front grille, and fender molding with FR & RR diffusers near its bumper. The Touring Sport will definitely show off a more youthful vibe as it appears on the road.

Along with the refreshing sporty features of this new variant, the Innova Touring Sport also comes standard with the following features: Toyota’s anti-theft system, reverse sensors, and door ajar warning which emphasizes the functionality of the Touring Sport.

The new MPV comes in four (4) exciting shades, Thermalyte, Red Mica Metallic, Blue Mica Metallic, and Freedom White that embodies the Innova Touring Sport as a luxurious yet sporty vehicle that is perfect for any adventure.

FASTLANE Black Rhino takes SEMA by storm!

BLACK Rhino Wheels took SEMA 2017 by storm by coming out with the latest design wheels plus a slew of customized trucks and SUV’s. Named after the tough and mighty Black Rhino from South Africa and an icon of the African bush, all Black Rhino truck and SUV wheels are fabricated from proprietary aluminum alloys that combine light weight with exceptional endurance. They are manufactured in perhaps the most advanced wheel-making facility in the world using the most cutting edge production methodologies. They are engineered to thrive in demanding environments with heavy loads typical to lifted, customized trucks and off highway uses.

One of the crowd favorites is a Jeep Wrangler equipped with Black Rhino’s Armory wheels. Armory is the brutal weapon of choice when your vehicle must absolutely be victorious in the next dangerous off road operation. Straight from a battlezone, this wheel is the right weapon of choice with its bolted face - a dramatic statement of power that is perfect for the regiment of adventure minded tuners. We set our sights to offer one of the most unique off road wheels from Black Rhino down to its unique center cap. This tactical style affirmatively radars an indestructible quality of explosiveproof looks to a whole new caliber.

Black Rhino’s mission was to cover the best range of stock and lifted off highway vehicles, Armory off road rims are available in 17x9.5, 18x9.5, 20x9.5 and 20x12 sizes. Offsets range from -44 to 0mm and five, six and 8-lug bolt patterns, including a 8/180 pattern for newer GMC and Chevrolet trucks.

These truck rims sport huge lips to provide safe bead seating for oversized tires.

In the country, Black Rhino wheels are exclusively distributed by Wheel Gallery in San Juan City. Those who want to level up their game can visit the showroom or get them in dealers nationwide or text 0917-880-1111or log on to www.conceptonewheels.com

Vision Petron opens Fuel Creativity Exhibit at Bencab Museum ON ITS 17th year, Vision Petron, the multi-awarded national student art competition of oil industry leader Petron Corporation, opened its Fuel Creativity Exhibit at the Bencab Museum in Baguio, last October 14, 2017. The month-long exhibit is a retrospective painting exhibition featuring selected works of Vision Petron National Student Art Competition grand prize winners over the years.

Originally conceptualized as an art competition to inspire young artists from all over the country, Vision Petron has evolved to become a venue for expression, even on social issues such as the environment, and now includes photography, T-shirt design, video-making, and most recently, music.

Vision Petron’s Fuel Creativity Exhibit showcases the best works of budding Filipino artists from the turn of the millennium, when the competition was first introduced, and reflects the changing

themes that embody the best of Filipino values, culture, and heritage.

Benedicto Cabrera, or Bencab as he is more popularly known, is a National Artist for the Visual Arts, and a staunch presence as a member of the

Vision Petron board of judges. Himself a multiawarded winner of many art competitions as a struggling young artist, Bencab serves as a role model for the thousands of talented Filipino youth who submit their entries in the various Vision Petron competition categories.

At the opening of the Vision Petron Fuel Creativity Exhibit, Bencab remarked, “The collection highlights the artists’ emerging styles, individual methods of self-expression, and search for identity.”

For the 2017 Vision Petron competition, the theme was Tuklas Kagalingan: Rediscovering Filipino Ingenuity. Entries focused on one of our unique strengths as a people, the ingenuity of the Filipino that captures the spirit of innovation and creativity, rooted in our natural resources. Judging was recently completed, and winners will be announced soon.

Every year, Vision Petron wins recognitions, and now has over 150 awards. The Vision Petron Folio, a magazine for youth on Philippine art and culture, has been inducted into the Anvil Hall of Fame for consistently earning the Gold Anvil year after year. Vision Petron also recently bagged four International Association of Business Communications (IABC) awards, including two Awards of Excellence, at the 15th Philippine Quill Awards.

The Vision Petron Fuel Creativity exhibit will run from October 14 to November 26, 2017, at the Indigo Gallery of the Bencab Museum on Km. 6 Asin Road, Tuba, Metro Baguio. For more information, please call (074) 442 7165 or email bencabartfoundation@gmail.com. You may also visit www.visionpetron.com to know more about the national student art competition.

RAMON L. TOMELDAN Edi tor DIN O DIREC TO III A ss t . Edi tor

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2017

Motoring

Boxer Power!

Text and photo by Dino Ray V. Directo III

I

n a show of force and dominance in the performance motor oil market, Motul Ph, in cooperation with Motor Image Pilipinas and Subaru Alabang, staged a daylong car show at the Greenhills Shopping center over the weekend.

“This show is an appreciation to our loyal patrons for their continued support to Motul oil and lubricants. It is also meant to highlight Motul and Subaru’s partnership when it comes to performance and innovation,” states Carlos Gono, Managing Partner of Autoplus, the exclusive distributors of Motul in the domestic market.

Organized by Blanco Marketing, the event drew a multitude of fans of Subaru and were amazed by the Impreza WRX Sti’s on display in various states of tune and customization. All seven generations of the Impreza WRX Sti were represented. “We are happy with the turnout and support of the car clubs in Metro Manila and in the surrounding provinces. On display were 50 Impreza Sti’s; six Nissan GTR’s, two Miata’s, a custom Toyota Land Cruiser, six Royal Enfield motorbikes and two Moto Guzzi’s. Motor Image came in full force as they had their own display tent at the venue with five Subaru variants on display,” explains Noreen Blanco of Blanco Marketing. “This show will benefit Barangay Greenhills and we thank them for allowing us to stage our show in this commercial district,” adds Blanco.

Luis Gono beams proudly with his 320bhp Subaru Impreza WRX STi

Notable Subaru’s on display was the 320 horsepower Impreza Sti of Luis Gono, which was equipped with carbon fiber body panels and accessories, and an engine customized by Pacho Blanco of Autoplus. “ My Sti is equipped with a Precision 58 turbine and APR front mount inter-

cooler, shod with TE37 Volk Rays Engineering wheels wrapped in Zestino performance tires,” says the young Gono, who made motorsports history as the first Toyota Vios Cup Champion. There were also a dose of old school Impreza’s in mint condition and the Sti GRB of Mark Anton David won the

Best GRB/STi with his customized Impreza Sti hatchback.

A crowd favorite was the display area of the Manila GTR Club which had on display the Ph drag racing record holder 1,400 bhp GTR of racer Jonathan Tiu and the white 500bhp customized GTR of Wes Tsai. “ I have tried and tested

all brands of oil and only Motul 300V can withstand the max out tuning and maximize the output of my engine. Motul was crucial in my winning the championship and achieving the fastest drag car record in the country,” adds Tiu. Plans are in the pipelline to stage another car show in the com-

ing months. “We are thankful to God for the successful staging of this BoxerFest” event, and we are preparing for the next event, God willing,” says Banco. The show is part of Barangay Greenhills program Hot Wheels in Greenhills, to promote the area as an alternative venue for car related shows.

Mellow 94.7 forges partnership with Aftermarket giants FEW radio stations in Metro Manila stand the test of time and in this day of instant gratification, some may feel that radio has run its course. As the iPod generation has given way to the music streaming generation, ra-

dio has managed to stay in the mainstream.

On February 2018, Mellow 94.7 will be turning 45, this was announced at Salvatore Cuomo in BGC last October 25th where they launched their campaign

“Road to 45” by forging a partnership with Isuzu Philippines Corporation (IPC).

To add some energy and generate publicity, Mellow 94.7 formed a partnership with the country’s best known brands in the domes-

The two MU-X’s SUV’s were customized by big names in the domestic aftermarket industry

tic aftermarket industry. With the two MU-X’s provided by Isuzu, the public can easily spot these two hulking behemoths with the Desert Tan foil wrap custom exterior done by Foilacar with a big Mellow 94.7 and Isuzu MU-X Blue Power logos.

To make the two Isuzu SUV’s stand out, the aftermarket partners of Mellow 94.7 did their magic and customized the rigs with performance and accessories provided by Overland Ph, Blade Auto Center, CTEK, PIAA, Blaupunkt, Black Rhino Philppines, Nitto Tires and Deestone Tires. To maximize the marketing campaign on Mellow’s 45th Anniversary, the MU-X project of the popular radio show “Wake Up Show”

have lined up a lot of awesome activities like stick-ons, prize give-aways, photo contests and many more, for loyal listeners who “spot” the “Mellow mu-X’s” every week leading up to their 45th Anniversary celebration.

“IPC has found a partner with Mellow 94.7 as we have a lot of things in common, having endured the test of time despite socio-economic changes and stiff competition. Today, we will start this new partnership as our newest product offering, the Isuzu mu-X equipped with Blue Power engine rides with Mellow 94.7 on their Road to 45. I am confident that our new mu-X will best represent the kind of cool, comfortable and relaxing ride that will go perfectly well with the sound of

Mellow 94.7.” said Hajime Koso, President, IPC The Mellow mu-X’s are both uniquely equipped, the 4x2 variant is set up for urban terrain and the 4x4 variant is ready to go off-road. These vehicles show that Mellow 94.7 is ready for what lies ahead and with dependable SUV’s like the Isuzu mu-X with their Euro 4 compliant Blue Power engines, set up by the country’s aftermarket giants, Mellow 94.7 is ready to hit the road to 45.

Listen online to Mellow 94.7 at www.mellow947.fm, and be part of the Mellow mu-X on social media www.facebook. com/mellow947.fm, twitter - @ mellow947, instagram - @mellow947fm