The Standard - 2015 March 04 - Wednesday

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK VOL. XXIX  NO. 20  3 Sections 32 Pages P18  WEDNESDAY: MARCH 4, 2015  www.manilastandardtoday.com  mst@mstandardtoday.com

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Senate issues subpoena on PNoy’s texts

‘I’m sorry,’ Jolo Revilla tells dad

BLACKOUTS STILL Malacañang admits outages may still happen despite extra powers Next page

Walk in the park. President Benigno Aquino III and the visiting Prince and Grand Master of Malta, Fra’ Matthew Festing, walk down a tree-shaded portion of the grounds of Malacañan Palace on Tuesday. MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

11 FILIPINOS IN FORBES MAGAZINE’S LIST OF BILLIONAIRES

Henry Sy and family

John Gokongwei Jr.

$14.8 billion

$5.8 billion

David Consunji $4.1 billion

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Andrew Tan $4.8 billion

Enrique Razon Jr. $5.8 billion

Tony Tan Caktiong and family $2.7 billion

Lucio and Susan Co $2.3 billion

George Ty and family $4.4 billion

Lucio Tan and family $4.4 billion

Robert Coyiuto Jr. $1.8 billion

Manuel Villar $1.6 billion

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‘Powers won’t stop outages’

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

MALACAÑANG said Tuesday the government had limited options to deal with the expected power shortages this summer because the emergency powers granted to President Benigno Aquino III to deal with the problem would take effect only six months after it was passed into law.

But Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said the Department of Energy was prepared and able to act on any power shortages this year.

“Sa kabila ‘nung delay na naganap ay nagsagawa naman ang DOE ng nararapat na koordinasyon sa pribadong sektor at kumpara doon sa period ng August-Sep-

tember last year. Mataas ‘yung kumpiyansa ng DOE na malalagpasan natin ‘yung kung anumang power supply deficiency ang mararanasan natin sa mga darating na linggo at buwan,” Coloma said.

“Kaya sa pangkalahatan, makikita naman natin na ayon doon sa latest projection ng DOE, nakikita nilang minimal ‘yung maaaring maging shortage o power supply deficiency.”

Coloma made his statement even as Manila Electric Co. on Tuesday warned that while initial studies indicated a blackoutfree summer this year, Luzon’s power supply will hinge on the performance of its power plants.

Meralco chairman Manuel Pangilinan said the interruptible load program will help ease the impact of any power shortages starting this month.

“The latest reading is most likely [no blackouts],” he said, adding that two more power plants will online this month to add to the power supply.

Meanwhile, women activists on Tuesday

slammed the emergency powers granted to President Benigno Aquino III. Joan May Salvador, secretary general of the Gabriela National Alliance of Women, said Aquino did not need special powers to deal with the looming power crisis but instead an emergency exit.

“The people want him out, and now here they [lawmakers] are giving him more power,” Salvador said.

“She called Aquino an abusive leader, citing his lapses that led to the killing of 44 police commandos during an encounter with Muslim rebels.

On Tuesday, the Senate passed on third and final reading a Joint Resolution allowing President Benigno Aquino III to address any potential power shortages during the summer.

But the recent passage of the emergency power might be useless since the implementation should be six months after the lawmakers passed the proposal into law.

Coloma said the decision was not in the hands of the Executive branch, and that

even though there was no emergency powers, the Energy Department was prepared for any eventualities.

“Sa Kabuuan, hindi naman sila umaasa doon sa pagkakariin ng emergency powers dahil wala naman ‘yon sa control ng ehekutibo,” he said.

“What important is, whatever the final version of the joint congressional resolution, the DOE has put in place some steps and has been prepared the public about energy conservation measures.

“The government is not hoping on the passage of the emergency legislation. Our proactive preparation was done even without it,” he added.

Senator Sergio Osmena III, the chairman of the Senate energy committee, and Senator Francis Escudero have said there is no need for emergency powers to deal with the looming power crisis.

The Department of Energy earlier said a reserve supply shortfall of 21 to 31 megawatts might occur this April. With alena Mae S. Flores and Rio n. araja

PNoy’s texts subpoenaed

by Senate investigators

By Macon R. araneta THE Senate has subpoenaed the transcript of text messages between President Benigno Aquino III and resigned police chief Alan Purisima for Jan. 25, the day 44 police commandos died in a covert operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Senator Grace Poe, who chairs the Senate committee on public order, said the subpoena was issued to the president and chief executive of Smart Communications, Napoleon Nazareno, on Feb. 26.

The subpoena, she added, covered SMS conversations under the mobile number registered in Purisima’s name, for the period 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. of Jan. 25.

The record from Smart is aimed at confirming the veracity of the transcript submitted to the panel by Purisima, as requested by Senator Loren Legarda.

The subpoena was issued after the Senate concluded its investigation of the Mamasapano operation after five public hearings and five executive sessions.

Based on Purisima’s text messages, the President was informed of the operation as early as 5:45 a.m. but Aquino replied almost two hours later.

Purisima also updated Aquino about the ongoing fighting between the members of the Special Action Force and the Muslim fighters.

Interviewed over radio dzMM, Senate President Franklin Drilon confirmed that he signed the He said the Senate will use the transcripts from Smart to complete its committee report on the incident.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said he needs the Senate findings, as well as the results of other investigations being conducted, before he can resume his panel’s hearings on the Bangasamoro Basic Law (BBL), the lynchpin in the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Marcos on Tuesday said President Aquino should explain why he broke the chain of command and created a situation that led to the loss of 44 police commandos in Mamasapano.

Inferno in Tondo. Firemen battle a blaze engulfing Gate 1 of the Parola Compound in Tondo, Manila, that left 100 families homeless. Danny PaTa

Congressmen question mad rush to approve BBL

By Macon R. araneta, Maricel V. Cruz and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan LAWMAKERS questioned the rush to pass the controversial Bangsamoro Basic Law with one congressman saying Malacañang was pushing Congress to pass a constitutionally-infirm measure by June 11 just so President Benigno Aquino III could be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

“We are under the impression that the BBL being rushed so that [Aquino] can get recognition for a Nobel Peace Prize. This bill is being rushed so he can mention it as an accomplishment in his last [State of the Nation address],” Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Zarate told The Standard.

Zarate scored his colleagues in the House for succumbing to pressure from the Palace to pass a constitutionally-flawed BBL just to satisfy Aquino’s desire to claim credit for a process that has been ongoing for 18 years.

“Railroading the passage of the BBL is not giving justice to the peace process,” Zarate said, even as he slammed the Aquino administration for making it appear that those questioning the BBL, as submitted by Malacañang, are against peace.

“If you do not support BBL, you are made out to be anti-peace. But If you support the BBL, you are for peace.

This is not the way things should be towards the self-determination of the BBL,” Zarate said.

Zarate made the remarks after House ways and means committee chairman and Marikina Rep. Romero Quimbo said the 18 years of negotiations on the peace pact will be wasted if Congress does not pass the measure by June 11.

“We need to pass the BBL by June, otherwise all discussion will be useless because it will no longer be implemented,” Quimbo said, claiming that that was the reason Senate and House leaders “sealed” an agreement the other day to pass the BBL by June 11.

But Davao City Rep. Karlo Alexei Nograles denied that congressmen are against peace in Mindanao.

“No one is blocking peace in Mindanao. All of us want a Bangsamoro Law that will usher peace in Mindanao but after the Mamasapano incident, we should be careful on the approval of the law,” Nograles added.

“The lawmakers want to discuss it page by page, we have a lot of input and we will vote on the proposal.

Some solons even proposed voting section by section,” Nograles said at a news conference.

Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat agreed with Nograles and said 80 to 90 percent of congressmen are “not in favor of passing the BBL untouched.”

“Even to a word by word [discussion]. In the very first line in the preamble there was already a lengthy discussion,” Lobregat said.

Lobregat also expressed serious concern over said ‘unconstitutional’ provisions in the BBL such as a block grant

that will be automatically appropriated for the proposed Bangsamoro entity and the question on the proper body that shall be given the authority to audit the spending of the new funds for the soonto-be established Bangsamoro entity.

Under the proposed BBL, the Bangsamoro entity is supposed to get an initial funding of about P70 billion in its first year of operation, but Lobregat said that would be illegal and akin to pork barrel or lump-sum funds.

“It is like a lump-sum, [Internal Revenue Allotment], but the IRA of the local government is subjected to [Department of Budget and Management]guidelines... but [this block grant is not] bound by any DBM guidelines,” Lobregat said.

“It will not pass through Congress.

And worse, it will not be subject to DBM rules. You know, I came from the local government and before we approve our budget, we have to follow certain guidelines of the DBM,” said Lobregat, a former Zamboanga mayor.

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Military on alert for BIFF bombings

By Francisco Tuyay and Florante s. solmerin THE military has raised a bomb alert after it foiled two attempts by suspected terrorists to blow up targets in Mindanao, barely three days after an explosion narrowly missed a Catholic Church and an elementary school in Lamitan City.

The spate of bomb attacks comes amid a military offensive against terrorists in Maguindanao, Sulu and Basilan.

In Lamitan City, Army troopers engaged five Abu Sayyaf bandits in a five-minute firefight. The fleeing terrorists left behind am M61 hand grenade and bomb components, said Armed Forces public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Harold Cabunoc.

“We have foiled another bombing attempt. This is the same group that was behind the bombing in Basilan last week,” Cabunoc said.

He was the bomb attacks are aimed at diverting the ongoing military offensive against terrorists in Sulu and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters in Maguindanao.

The second bombing attempt was at Sitio Lotte in Barangay Kayaga , Kabacan town, where a concerned citizen reported seeing a concealed IED beside the Simuay Hardware.

Capt. Jo-Ann Petinglay, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said the bomb was the handiwork of BIFF rebels.

On Sunday, an improvised bomb exploded near Saint Peter Church and the central elementary school in Lamitan at about 9:25 p.m. No casualties were reported.

Capt. Geralfredo Andal said the Lamitan bomb attempt was foiled because the military received prompt intelligence.

Two petitioners. Senator JV Ejercito (right) holds up a document asking the Supreme Court to stop the Mass Railway Transit and the Light Rail Transit from increasing their fees. With him is his co-petitioner Rep. Gustavo Tambunting of Parañaque City. Ey AcAsio

Lawmakers urge court: Stop MRT-LRT fare hike

By Rey E. Requejo

LAWMAKERS led by Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito on Tuesday joined four other groups that have petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the government from imposing higher fares on the Light Rail Transit and Metro Rail Transit lines.

The petitioners also asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporary restraining order to stop the new fares that both lines have been charging since Jan. 4.

Like the previous petitioners, Ejercito’s group argued that the Department of Transportation and Communicationsand the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board violated the constitutional requirements of due process, social justice and public information in approving the fare hike without proper public notice and hearing.

The petitioners said the fare increase runs counter to the rights and welfare of workers, which are protected under the Constitution.

Unlike the previous petitions, the latest included the LTFRB as a respondent for concurring with a board resolution of the Light Railway Authority, which became the basis for the DOTC order to raise fares.

Aside from Ejercito, the other pe-

titioners were Parañaque 2nd District Rep. Gustavo Tambunting and former Cavite congressman Crispin Remulla and several party-list representatives, including Buhay partylist Rep. Lito Atienza.

Four similar petitions were filed earlier by the Bayan Muna party-list group, United Filipino Consumers and Commuters Inc., Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and former Iloilo congressman Augusto Syjuco.

The Supreme Court heard the consolidated petitions on Jan. 13, but deferred ruling on a plea for a temporary restraining order, opting instead to first obtain comments from the DOTC and other respondents.

The base fare was raised on Jan. 4 to P11 for both the LRT and MRT, with an additional P1 charge for ev-

ery kilometer.

Senator Grace Poe, chairman of a public service subcommittee which recently investigated the current condition of the MRT and LRT, on Monday ordered Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya to submit within five days a progress report on committed deliverables to upgrade and rehabilitate the railway system, which have been plagued by repeated system malfunctions despite the fare hikes.

She said commuters have long been aggrieved, and any further delay in the accomplishment of the promised upgrade was unacceptable.

“We must hold accountable all those negligent in carrying out their duties,” Poe said. With Macon Ramos-Araneta

‘I am sorry,’ Jolo tells visiting Bong

By Macon R. Araneta IN between sobs, the young Cavite Vice Gov. Jolo Revilla told his weeping father, Senator Ramon Revilla Jr., “I’m sorry, Papa. I’m sorry.”

Revilla, who embraced his 26-year-old son, replied: “It’s all right, son. You have to be strong.”

The exchange took place at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa City, where the younger Revilla was taken Saturday morning, after he accidentally shot himself in the chest while cleaning his .40 Glock handgun.

The family dismissed speculation that the younger Revilla deliberately shot himself in a fit

of depression over his father’s incarceration on graft and plunder charges.

The Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court trying Revilla’s case, allowed the senator to leave detention for five hours, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday to visit his son, whose condition was said to be deteriorating.

Raymond Fortun, a spokesman for Revilla, said several family members also shed tears when they saw father and son hugging each other.

Fortun said the father and son did not talk about the circumstances of the shooting.

The younger Revilla’s left lung had collapsed and he was in a lot of pain, Fortun said.

Doctors also discovered a problem in his abdomen that would require a CT scan on Wednesday, he added.

Before this, the vice governor’s girlfriend, actress Jodi Sta. Maria, said she noticed that his abdomen was bloated and that he had vomited blood.

Fortun said Revilla’s condition has not improved, and in fact has deteriorated.

In a statement, Senator Revilla said he was thankful to God for Jolo’s life, to the Filipino people who prayed for his son, and the Sandiganbayan for allowing him to visit him.

The senator said he was sad that he could do nothing more to ease his son’s sufferings.

Father and son. Senator Ramon Revilla Jr. comforts his son, Cavite Vice Gov. Jolo

Revilla, at the Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Muntinlupa City, where the young Revilla was taken last Saturday after he supposedly accidentally shot himself in the chest while cleaning a handgun.

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Puerto mayor faces Comelec sanctions

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

THE Commission on Elections is now discussing the possible sanctions against Puerto Princesa Mayor Lucilo Bayron for deliberately snatching and tearing up a Comelec document during a recall petition against him, an official said Tuesday.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said Bayron would not easily get away with what he did during the validation of the signatures in the recall petition filed against him that was being conducted by the Office of the Election Officer.

“The important question here is why did he feel empowered to do that?” Jimenez told reporters.

“Why did he feel he could take an official document and tear it up? That’s more crucial than anything. What we will do about it is

something that the en banc has to decide.”

A recall petition is initiated by voters, and if it’s approved, a recall election follows in which voters can remove an elected official from office through a direct vote before his or her term has ended.

The recall petition against Bayron was initiated by Alroben Goh, a former information officer of Puerto Princesa and an ally of former Mayor Edward Hagedorn.

Jimenez was reacting to Bay-

ron’s actions on Monday when the mayor stormed into the city coliseum where the recall procedures against him were ongoing.

In a video posted on YouTube, Bayron was seen snatching a Comelec document and then tearing it up in the middle of the proceedings.

Jimenez said he did not understand why Bayron did what he did considering that would not change the Comelec’s recall decision against him.

“The document is just a representation of what happened. Why tear it up?” Jimenez said.

“We can just produce another one as long as we don’t change anything in the content. It doesn’t seem to have accomplished anything. It certainly does not stop whatever that order was saying should be done.”

Jimenez said that the findings of the recall had now been submit-

ted to the Comelec’s Office of the Deputy Executive Director for Operations or ODEDO. The ODEDO will be the one making a recommendation to the Comelec en banc before they release the final decision.

Jimenez also refused to discuss further the content of the report submitted to the ODEDO as the department had yet to release a final recommendation to the en banc.

“I cannot go into the details of the actual findings, but we are certainly getting very close to the elections,” Jimenez said.

Under the recall guidelines, the verification of the signatures will be followed by the announcement by the Comelec en banc of the acceptance of the candidates to the position, with Bayron automatically a candidate, and the setting of the date of the recall elections.

IN BRIEF Bullying incidents rampant A RANKING lawmaker has sought an inquiry into the numerous cases of bullying in schools, including those involving teachers and students, to determine if there’s a need to amend Republic Act 10627, otherwise known as the “AntiBullying Act of 2013.”

In filing House Resolution 1920, Pasig Rep. Roman Romulo, chair of the House committee on higher and technical education, sought the inquiry in light of reports that the Department of Education (DepEd) documented more than 1,700 cases of child abuse and bullying in school year 2013-2014 despite the enactment of RA 10627.

Just recently, Romulo said a student committed suicide by jumping from a carpark building after allegedly scolded by his teacher for the academic offense of plagiarism.

Maricel Cruz

World Cup host needs skilled hands

Clemency plea. Convicted drug

smuggler on death row Mary Jane Fiesta Veloso listens to an interpreter at a court in Sleman in central Java during a hearing of judicial review on March 3 2015 after a plea for clemency was rejected by Indonesian President Joko Widodo. Apart from the Filipino, a Frenchman, two Australians and a Brazilian are among a group of foreigners who have lost their appeals for clemency and are facing imminent execution.

AFP

PH sticks to rule of law on sea dispute

By Vito Barcelo THE Philippines’ position to settle the disputes in the West Philippine Sea through peaceful means is proof of its commitment to the Charter of the United Nations, Deputy Permanent Representative Irene Susan Natividad told a UN forum convened by China, with whom the country has locked horns over a contested territory.

Speaking at the Security Council Open Debate on the theme, “Maintaining International Peace and Security: Reflect on History, Reaffirm the Strong Commitment to the Purposes and Principles of the Charter of the United Nations”, Natividad said that the Philippines reaffirmed its strong commitment to promote global peace

and security by resolving conflicts at home and in the region.

Among those who attended the debate was China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

“The Philippines believes that the promotion of global peace primarily starts at home. The international community has witnessed our unwavering commitment and tireless efforts to bring and build peace in Southern Philippines, we are facing an equally challenging task of resolving tensions in our regional seas, Natividad said.

“The Philippines has resorted to the rule of law in trying to resolve these tensions and believes that the core instrument for resolving mari-

time disputes is the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the DFA quoted Natividad as saying.

She said the Philippines has apprised the international community of its position on and developments in the peaceful settlement of disputes in the West Philippine Sea as it is an issue of global concern.

“The Philippines has resorted to arbitration to clarify maritime entitlements and settle maritime disputes peacefully through UNCLOS. Arbitration is fully entrenched in Chapter VI, Article 33 of the UN Charter on the pacific settlement of disputes,” she said.

Natividad also reiterated the Philippines’ strong call for a stop to all reclamation activities in the disput-

ed areas and the acceleration of talks on a legally-binding Code of Conduct in the South China Sea. “Massive reclamation is a direct threat to the Philippines and other claimant States and should be considered a great concern for all States as it threatens the security and overall peace and stability in the region.

Moreover, the massive reclamation that is causing widespread destruction of the region’s biodiversity will also irreparably damage the entire ecological balance in the West Philippine Sea and the South China Sea. Such irreversible damage will have long-term effects on all the peoples across geopolitical boundaries who have depended on the sea for their livelihood for generations,” she said.

QATAR needs 100,000 to 150,000 Filipino skilled and professional workers but not all of them will come from the Philippines, according to the Department of Labor and Employment.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said that Qatar would invest in massive infrastructure development in preparation for its hosting to the FIFA World Cup in 2022, and it needs huge demand for foreign workers.

Baldoz advised Filipino workers to undergo training through the accredited Technical Education and Skills Development Authority training center to obtain sufficient experience before going abroad.

Doha-based Labor Attache Leopoldo de Jesus told Baldoz that among massive projects include transportation, road development and sewerage, and real estate development.

“This growth will be fuelled also by energy sectorrelated projects,” de Jesus said. Qatar is one of the world’s leading producers of natural gas.

Qatar’s hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup places Qatar’s public and private expenditure to hover around US$125 billion and an estimated need for a million overseas workers.

Given Qatar’s huge development projects, it would need 100,000 to 150,000 OFWs if the current labor market share of Filipino workers is sustained,” Baldoz said.

Last year, Baldoz met with Qatari Social Affairs and Labor Minister Mohammad Al Khulaifi to discuss bilateral labor issues between the Philippines and Qatar.

Vito Barcelo

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Recurring problem. Sidewalk vendors and jeepneys are back on the side streets of Divisoria, hampering traffic flow. EY ACASIO

‘Probe bases agency lapses’

By Maricel V. Cruz

AN ADMINISTRATION ally on Tuesday has sought a congressional probe of the alleged mismanagement of the Bases Conversion and Development Authority over Camp John Hay,a former US military rest and recreatin facility.

In filing House Resolution 1936, Rep. Winston Castelo of Quezon City urged the special committees on bases development and national defense to probe, in aid of legislation, the lapses on the part of BCDA which has resulted in breaches in the agreement the agency entered into with Camp John Hay Development Corp.

Castelo, in his resolution, noted that BCDA entered into a memorandum of agreement with CJHDevCo for the latter to lease and develop the Camp John Hay facilities to make it a “leading

eco-tourism destination in Northern Luzon.”

“CJHDevCo embarked on various developments such as the construction of 90 completed projects including, among the most prominent, the Camp John Hay Manor Hotel, Golf Clubhouse, CAP Convention Center, luxury log homes and forest cabins, a new main gate, a filling station of the Eco-Village, and two buildings of the Ayala Technohub,” he said.

Castelo noted that CJHDevCo was able to attract investors and locators to Camp John Hay with 15

existing projects that are being developed.

“However these were delayed due to the slow processing by BCDA of the much needed or required permits and licenses,” Castelo said.

Castelo said BCDA failed to deliver its commitment to create a One-Stop Action Center (OSAC) to expedite the issuance of the licenses and permits needed by CJHDevCo. Earlier, Abakada partylist Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz, a member of the independent minority bloc in the House of Representatives, criticized BCDA president Arnel Casanova for mishandling the development of Camp John Hay. In a privilege speech last week, Dela Cruz said the questionable actions of Casanova had a “deleterious” effect on the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program, which gets 50 percent of

BCDA’s lease revenues under existing laws.

The Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. has earlier ordered the BCDA to return P1.42 billion in rentals paid by CJHDevCo headed by businessman Robert Sobrepeñas for the rescission of its 1996 original lease agreement (OLA) for the property in Baguio City.

“From the time he assumed office in 2010, Mr. Casanova made it a point to make life harder for the Sobrepeña Group even to the point of sacrificing the development of Camp John Hay and the attendant consequences thereof is beyond question. His highly publicized efforts to grind the Sobrepeñas even came to a point where no less than Baguio City Mayor Mauricio Domogan had to intervene at the last minute to ensure the opening of one of the core CJHDeVCo projects, Forest Lodge hotel, at the appointed time,” Dela Cruz said.

‘Sextortion’ cases on the rise—DOJ

By Rey Requejo THE Department of Justice on Tuesday warned Internet users against organized groups engaged in “sextortion,” a type of cybercrime.

In an eight-page advisory, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima reminded the public to protect their personal information so as not to fall prey to this type of cybercrime.

“More internet users are subscribing to social media websites without

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protecting their personal information and allowing online strangers into their network. This (sextortion) type of crime in cyberspace is as real as any real world extortion,” De Lima said.

“Sextortion”, derived from the words “sex” and “extortion”, occurs when an offender tries to extort money from his victim, with the threat of publishing or propagating the victim’s nude photo or video of sexual activity if the money is not paid, de Lima said.

“This advisory is issued to increase

awareness on the growing problem of ‘sextortion’ and to the public on how to avoid being victimized and what to do when the crime happens,” De Lima said.

“It is an emerging issue following the large number of complaints received and results of the enforcement operations conducted by the Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG), and the [DOJ] Office of Cybercrime, in coordination with INTERPOL, against organized crime groups involved in sextortion,” she said.

Sweeten PPP, senator urges

By Macon Araneta SENATOR Juan Edgardo Angara on Tuesday stressed the need to enhance and modernize the PublicPrivate Partnerships since the joint ventures should be tapped to the hilt.

He said that the failure to employ the build-operatetransfer-scheme, which has been in existence since the 90s, is visible in airports and rail systems and even in the building of schools and hospitals.

He said that investment requirements had exceeded the capacities of the government and the public sector has enabled private sector to take part in infrastructure development.

For the past two decades, he said a number of services in utilities, transportation, property development and information technology are provided through contractual arrangements such as BOT, and the government has traditionally been in charge of providing and financing infrastructure.

He said his proposed measure, Senate Bill 2672 or the PPP Act provides for

liberalized regulations and procedures to better address the needs and concerns of PPP investors.

He said this will hasten infrastructure build-up in the country since the bill seeks to promote and authorize public-private partnerships (PPPs) for the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of infrastructure facilities and services.

He said this will have the country to build on its recent economic gains and to ensure the proper investment environment in our country.

The proposed measure provides for the automatic grant of administrative franchise, license or permit in favor of the winning bidder, subject to the compliance with the requirements of the regulator and payment of appropriate taxes and fees.

It also aims to protect public interest by ensuring fair and reasonable pricing, timely delivery of quality infrastructure, goods and services, and by requiring full public disclosure of all PPP transactions.

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‘Fiery’ month spurs safety gab

By Joel E. Zurbano

A SERIES of fire prevention and safety seminars will be conducted in Metro Manila following the spate of fire incidents that struck the National Capital Region, where 615 fires were recorded in the first two months of the year.

Chairman Francis Tolentino of the Metro Manila Development Authority said the free seminars is part of

Lingap sa Barangay, the agency’s community outreach project in densely populated and depressed areas.

The campaign, coinciding with the fire prevention month, also aimed to give Metro Manila residents an

REPUBLIKA NG PILIPINAS

LUNGSOD NG MAKATI

Bids and Awards Committee J.P. Rizal St. corner F. Zobel St., Makati City Tel. No. 870-1000 Fax No. 899-8988 www.makati.gov.ph

INVITATION TO BID NO. 1

Production of Makati Annual Report 2014

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Surpass NCS/EMG/SEP System for the use of Ospital ng Makati

IMPLEMENTING OFFICE

APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT (ABC)

UDD

P2,550,000.00

OSMAK

P2,240,000.00

DEP-ED

P61,916,966.00

DEP-ED

P51,596,400.00

DEP-ED

P25,188,240.00

GSD

P12,793,313.21

ICRD

P6,270,000.00

ICRD

P5,904,000.00

PESO

P2,291,540.00

OM

P3,920,000.00

OM

P7,859,988.00

School Uniforms (Fabric) for Preschool, Elementary and High School students of various schools of Dep-Ed Makati School Uniforms (Labor) for Preschool, Elementary and High School students of various schools of Dep-Ed Makati

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LED TV for the use of various schools of Dep-Ed Makati

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Property Management Services at Makati Friendship Suites for year 2015 Makati Ngayon Newsletter 2015 for the use of Information and Community Relations Department Makati Mirror 2015 for the use of Information and Community Relations Department Various supplies and materials for Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) and Government Internship Program (GIP) 16 units Brand New Patrol Motorcycles (27.6Hp) for the use of Makati City Police Department 18 units Brand New Patrol Motorcycles (71Hp) for the use of Makati City Police Department

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NAME OF PROJECT AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION

update on prevention, safety and quick response during the summer months when fire usually occurs.

“In 2013, we recorded 12, 301 fire incidents and this number increased in 2014 by 40 percent,” said Tolentino.

Fire bureau officials said a total of 615 fire incidents happened in Metro Manila from January to February, killing 18 people and injuring 46 others. They added most of the fires arose mostly from faulty electrical lines, unattended gas lamps and cooking stoves and overheating appliances.

In Manila, two consecutive fires struck the densely populated Parola Compound in Tondo, Manila yesterday and

For fast ad results, please call Advertising Department 521-8507 (DL); 521-8340 (Fax); 521-4887 loc. 303

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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”.

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

A complete set of Bidding Documents will be available one (1) day after posting / publication of the above projects up to Closing Date (before the deadline of the submission of bids),weekdays only from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount stated on the issued order of payment to the City Government of Makati Cashier.

IN BRIEF

Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late ROGELIO E. DUMINDIN was extrajudicially settled among his heirs as per Doc. No. 224; Page No. 45; Book No. VIII, Series of 2015 before Notary Public Atty. Joselyn Bonnie V. Valeros.

Padrigal St., Karuhatan, Valenzuela City Telefax No. 294-4625 vmc_bac@yahoo.com INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BID LABORATORY SUPPLIES CY 2015 (1ST SEMESTER) PUBLIC BIDDING NO. 2015-007 Dated March 23, 2015 1.

Deadline of Submission of Bids shall be on or before March 26, 2015 (02:00 P.M.), at Pio del Pilar Conference Room, 21st floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City.

Opening of Bids shall be on March 26, 2015 (02:00 P.M.), at Pio del Pilar Conference Room, 21st floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City.

7.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the said address. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

The MAKATI CITY GOVERNMENT reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, or to reduce the corresponding ABC and Terms of Reference (TOR), without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

For further information, please visit or contact: BAC SECRETARIAT OFFICE Makati City Government 9th Floor, New Makati City Hall Building F. Zobel Street, Brgy.Poblacion, Makati City Tel. No. 870-1000 loc. 1331; Fax No. 899-8988 website: www.makati.gov.ph

FUNDING SOURCE: The Valenzuela Medical Center (VMC) through INCOME/GAA/GOP intends to apply the amount of Eleven Million Nine Hundred Fifty Five Thousand Seven Hundred Fifty Nine Pesos Only (Php 11,955,759.00), being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) for the provision of public bidding for LABORATORY SUPPLIES . Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at Bid Opening.

2.

The Valenzuela Medical Center now invites sealed Bids from eligible Bidders for laboratory supplies cy 2015 (1st Semester). The description of an eligible Bidder is contained in Section II of the Bidding Documents’ ITB.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary pass/fail criteria as specified in the Implementing Rules and Regulations Parts A (IRR-A) of Republic Act No. 9184 (RA 9184), otherwise known as the Government Procurement Reform Act, and is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws and regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to Republic Act 5183 (RA 5183) and subject to Commonwealth Act 138 (CA 138). Only Bids from bidders who pass the eligibility check will be opened. The process for the eligibility check is described in Section II of the Bidding Documents, ITB. The Bidder with the lowest calculated bid (LCB) shall advance to the postqualification stage in order to finally determine his responsiveness of the bid 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 postqualification procedure.

The BAC will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on March 12, 2015 (02:00 P.M.) at PiodelPilar Conference Room, 21st floor, New Makati City Hall Building, F. Zobel Street, Brgy. Poblacion, Makati City to discuss Eligibility Requirements and the Technical and Financial Components of these projects. However, only those interested Bidders who have purchased the Bidding Documents are allowed to raise and submit queries or clarifications regarding the Bidding Documents.

(MST-MAR. 4, 2015)

EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE

Tolentino

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

The MAKATI CITY GOVERNMENT, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites interested bidders to apply for eligibility and to bid for the above projects, with Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) indicated, inclusive of all taxes, such as, but not limited to, value added tax (VAT), income tax, local taxes and other fiscal levies.

(SGD.) Atty. ELENO M. MENDOZA, JR. Chairman

for us as lives and properties are lost because of carelessness and neglect of people,” he said.

MMDA also urged local government units to grant incentives and benefits to volunteer firemen, whose lives are also at risk in assisting government firemen.

Tolentino said it is high time that the government should also recognize the

hard work and efforts of volunteer fire fighters in combatting fire.

Tolentino suggested the government provides volunteer fire fighters free equipment, fire fighting gears and automatic insurance coverage. He said volunteer firemen might be enrolled in Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and Philhealth.

At least 700 fire volunteers are assisting the Bureau of Fire Prorection for free.

Local government officials should also provide allowance to volunteer fire fighters whenever they respond to fire incidents and the fund would come from their respective peace and order councils, Tolentino said.

(MST-FEB.. 18/25 & MAR. 4, 2015)

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at Bid Opening.

2.

on Monday. Casualties included 2,000 families.

Several people including firemen and volunteers, were also hurt in a series of fires in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City; Antonio, Rivera Street in Manila and Cubao and Araneta Avenue, both in Quezon City over the weekend.

Last month, three fires were recorded in Pasay City, two in Makati City, and another in Malabon City.

Regional Peace and Order Council chairman and Pasay City Mayor Antonino Calixto earlier called on Metro Manila residents to take all necessary measures to prevent the incidence of fire.

“It is indeed a sad time

4.

Interested Bidders may obtain further information from Valenzuela Medical Center and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 9:00AM-4:00PM starting March 4, 2015 to March 23, 2015.

5.

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 of Five Thousand Pesos Only (Php 5,000.00) (1M to 5M) Ten Thousand Pesos Only (Php 10,000.00) (5M to 10M) and Fifteen Thousand Pesos Only (Php15,000.00 10M up) . The method of payment will be in cash. 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 nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

6.

The Valenzuela Medical Center will hold a Pre-Bid Conference open to all interested parties on March 11, 2015, 9:00 AM at BAC Office, 2nd Floor Annex Buulding, Padrigal St., Karuhatan, Valenzuela City which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

7.

Eligibility Check and Bid Opening will be on March 23, 2015. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below.

8.

Bids and eligibility requirements must be delivered to the address below on or before March 23, 2015, 9:00 AM, BAC Office. All bids must be accompanied by a Bid Security in the form of Cash, Manager’s Check or Cashier’s Check Bank Draft or Bank Guarantee of two (2%) percent of the total amount to bid. Late Bids shall not be accepted.

9.

The Valenzuela Medical Center reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid, and to annul the bidding process and reject all Bids at any time prior to the contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected Bidder or Bidders. (sgd) DONA D. SALMOS, RN, MAN BAC Chairperson

(MST-MAR. 4, 2015)

VP opens Binmaley facility BINMALEY—Vice President Jejomar C. Binay inaugurated on Monday the Binmaley Manpower Development Center, an event which coincided with the delivery of the State of the Municipality Address of Mayor Sammy Rosario.

The BMDC, a 400-seater, fully air-conditioned facility, will serve as a venue for seminars, trainings, and symposia among human resources of the town to hone their skills.

“This is not just to satisfy a need, which is important, but this is also to build capabilities for long-term usefulness and growth,” Binay said.

Binay and Rosario also led the groundbreaking of the Binmaley Resettlement Project in Barangay Papagueyan for informal settlers living in danger zones. Johanne R. Macob

Come-ons for Baguio proposed BAGUIO CITY—The Tourism Information and Promotions Board has proposed to the city government the staging of events spread over a 12-month period to spur travel and tourism as well as related businesses.

Domingo Ramon Enerio III, TIPB chief executive officer, said the series of events should serve as follow-through on the annual conduct of the ‘Panagbenga’ or the Baguio flower festival.

“Panagbenga was already able to establish its identity as a must-see festival in the country. The next thing to do for organizers is to work out similar events that would attract tourists year-round,” Enerio said. Dexter A. See

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news

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Scammers cash in on ‘fallen 44’

By Joel E. Zurbano AuThOriTieS cautioned the public against a syndicate soliciting financial help for the victims and survivors of the Mamasapano Massacre last month, where 44 members of the Special Action Force were killed.

“We are warning the public to beware of scam using the SAF 44 asking for donations and individuals who are taking advantage of the situation,” said Metro Manila police director Carmelo Valmoria.

Authorities have discovered that members of a syndicate are using the names of personalities, including Valmoria, to solicit donations supposedly for the aggrieved families.

“They’re taking advantage of the situation. i want to take this opportunity to tell the public they should not believe and avoid these people,” Valmoria said. he warned that syndicates might give would-be do-

nors bank account numbers where they could deposit their cash donation.

Valmoria said the National Capital region Police Office is not soliciting financial support for the families of the SAF commandos. he, however, encouraged donors to extend their help through an account maintained and authorized by the Philippine National Police with the Land Bank of the Philippines. he asked the public to remit their cash donations to the PNP Special Assistance Fund Account 1862-1027-77 or Chief inspector renante Pinuela, of the PNP Directorate for Comptrollership at contact numbers: 0917-2705533 and 0917-857-6062.

The SAF operatives were doing a legitimate police operation in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao on Jan. 25 when they were attacked by suspected members of Bangsamoro islamic Freedom Fighters and Moro islamic Liberation Front.

Unity fund. SAF 44 widows in the Cordilleras receive several checks from civic-minded citizens through the fund-raising drive dubbed as Cordillera Unity Fund which ends on March 7, 2015. DaviD Chan

Malta donates to Yolanda victims • Hands over key to 700 core houses

By Joyce Pangco Pañares

President Benigno Aquino iii received a symbolic key for the 700 core shelters for survivors of super typhoon Yolanda based in samar and Cebu from the sovereign Order of Malta.

Aquino held a bilateral meeting with SOM Prince and Grand Master Fra’ Matthew Festing, who arrived in Manila on Sunday for a seven-day official visit.

“Today’s ceremonial handover of the symbolic key to these houses further illustrates the Order’s generosity towards their fellowmen,” the President said.

“From the humanitarian relief assistance you extended in the aftermath eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, to the 700 new homes you constructed for those who were affected by super typhoon Yolanda in 2013, you have consistently helped us alleviate the suffering of our countrymen in the soonest possible time,” he added.

The Order has donated a total of P145.05 million for the victims of Yolanda, the Bohol and Cebu earthquake, and typhoons Pablo, Sendong, and Ondoy.

“We are very conscious of the terrible series of natural disasters, which had hit this part of the world. We are proud and delighted to have been a source of some hope. recent activities have included post-emergency support, rehabilitation and disaster preparedness. And of course, we all recall the violence with which the haiyan (Yolanda) Typhoon struck the country in 2013 causing many casualties and terrible destruction,” Festing said.

“The relationship between your country and the Order is not one between donor and beneficiary. indeed, we operate together as partners, sharing common objectives for those who suffer and those who are in need. We stand by our commitment to work with your people, accompanying the delivery of goods and the construction of infrastructure, with solidarity and brotherhood, embodied in our shared values,” Festing added.

Aquino also welcomed the decision of Malteser international, the Order’s relief and humanitarian arm, to create an office in Southeast Asia.

“its physical presence in our part of the world will certainly benefit Asian countries by allowing more effective coordination and execution of relief activities, and facilitating our increased cooperation in areas of mutual benefit,” the President said.

Both leaders have expressed their desire to forge a cooperation agreement that would further strengthen 50 years of bilateral ties between the Philippines and Malta.

“The Order of Malta intends to strengthen our collaboration and our relations with the republic of the Philippines in the short term future. We are discussing the possibility of a coop-

eration agreement and indeed the elaboration of what we have been doing here so far,” Festing said.

Aquino also bestowed the Order of Sikatuna, rank of Grand Collar (raja) Award the highest diplomatic merit - to Festing.

The visiting leader, on the other hand, conferred the Order of Merit, Pro Merito Melitensi to the President.

On Thursday, Fra’ Festing and his delegation will proceed to Basey to inspect the 350 core shelters turned over by the SOM. SOM is one of the world’s oldest Catholic religious orders which is also a sovereign entity.

Drug raps vs ex-Cagayan mayor

By Florante S. Solmerin

vegan’s delight. Civil Society groups composed of women, consumerists and proenvironment citizens carry assorted vegestables to dramatize their call for food security during a press briefing held at Sulu Hotel in Quezon City. MannY PaLMERO

The former mayor of Lasam, Cagayan, a former village chairman and three other people were charged before the Prosecutor’s Office in Tuguegarao City for allegedly operating a shabu laboratory that was raided by authorities last week and yielded P1.9 billion worth of the illegal drug.

The raid on February 26 struck on two locations that resulted in the arrest of lawyer Orlino Agatep Sr., 66, former mayor of Lasam; Benjamin Chua, 61, former barangay chairman of Gattaran, Cagayan; and their associates identified as Nelson Mallari, 50, Joey Ancheta alias Jojo, 38, and George Cortez, 55, all residents of Lasam. “[They] are now facing drug charges before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor in Tuguegarao City,” Arturo Cacdac Jr., Philippine Drug enforcement Agency (PDeA) chief, said. he said the charges against the suspects were filed on Feb. 28 for multiple violations of republic Act 9165, or The Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002.

Police and officials including Mayor Marjorie Salazar and her chief of police were mum on the shabu lab. earlier, provincial director Senior Superintendent ronaldo Olay said the raiding team was supervised by regional director Juvenal Azurin and National Capital region director erwin Ogario by virtue of two search warrants against Agatep’s rest house in Barangay Nicolas Agatep and a clandestine laboratory, a warehouse allegedly owned by Agatep and maintained by Chua located in Barangay Newagac Gattaran.

Azurin said that police also seized inside Agatep’s rest house three firearms and several rounds of ammunition. Also confiscated by the police was a Mitsubishi Pajero, with plate number WGV-707.

Meanwhile, 790 liters of liquid shabu placed inside six plastic containers, with an estimated street value of P1.9 billion, voluminous amount of CPeCs, laboratory equipment and apparatus such as cauldrons, compressors, pumps and hydrogen tanks, among others, and waste materials, were confiscated inside the warehouse.

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opinion [ EDI TORI A L ]

Legacy of faiLure IN just a few months, President Benigno Aquino III will be delivering his last State-ofthe-Nation Address.

The yearly speech, mandated by the Constitution, is an opportunity for the chief executive to report the nation’s progress and to inspire the people toward greater achievement through a shared vision.

Being short of tangible results, however, President Aquino has used the yearly address as a way to boast about plans that are passed off as achievements, to play up economic developments not entirely of his doing, to blame somebody else—usually his predecessor—for all that ails the country, and to tar and feather his political opponents.

This President has returned time and again to this well, but this year he may find that it has all but dried up.

After five years in office, it is a pathetic leader indeed who continues to blame his predecessor for his problems, particularly since he has kept her detained since 2011 on charges he still cannot prove in court.

The centerpiece of Mr. Aquino’s envisioned legacy, an agreement to bring peace to Mindanao, lies in tatters as a result of his own mismanagement and incompetence in launching a covert operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao that led to the deaths of 44 police commandos at the hands of the same rebel group with which his administration is talking peace.

As a result of the Mamasapano fiasco, both the Senate and the House had suspended hearings on the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), a lynchpin of the government’s peace agreement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Perhaps eager for something to crow about in his last SONA, the President is now asking Congress to set aside questions about Mamasapano and to resume its hearings and approve the BBL without significant changes by June—one month before his last yearly report.

In his mad rush to have something to show, the President would have Congress shirk its responsibility to thoroughly debate the BBL and to repair any unconstitutional provisions that his negotiators were only too eager to give away at the table.

Even if the President gets his way and his lackeys in Congress railroad the passage of the BBL by June, the move would fool nobody—and the law would certainly be challenged before the Supreme Court, and very likely be overturned.

Nor can the President crow about the infrastructure buildup during his term. To date, only seven of the 93 big-ticket Public-Private Partnership projects have been completed, giving this administration a miserable 7.5 percent completion rate after five years in office. Another 58 of the projects are described as “ongoing” – which, in the parlance of this administration, means they have yet to actually break ground and are still undergoing feasibility and other studies.

In the end, this President will have no great achievements to adorn his final report to the nation, save the ouster and jailing of his political rivals, a vindictive pursuit that so consumed his time and energy in the early years of his term that he had none left for real governance.

DeaD anD burieD LowDowN jojo a. robLes LIkE vermin deserting a sinking ship, a significant number of the members of the palace-aligned party Akbayan are reportedly calling for the withdrawal of the group’s support for President Noynoy Aquino. The members of the left-leaning Akbayan, who have long been accused of being the “house communists” of the Aquino administration, are reportedly displeased by the refusal of Aquino to take responsibility for the Mamasa-

pano massacre and to remedy the errors he made in the planning and execution of the operation.

The most prominent Akbayan leader who has expressed dissatisfaction with Aquino is Rep. Walden Bello, who was recently involved in a much-publicized tiff with palace spokesman Abigail Valte, more known as Lady Gaga. Another top Akbayan official who serves in the Aquino administration is reportedly on the verge of resigning and will purportedly join Bello in denouncing the errors committed by the government in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Of course, a big part of Akbayan remains steadfastly loyal to Aquino, from their positions in and out of

government. The party chairman, Risa Hontiveros, and her close associate, top Aquino political adviser Ronald Llamas, are still working hard to defend the President, even from their own fellow travelers in Akbayan.

On the other hand, there is also talk that Akbayan is only playing it safe by betting on both the proAquinos and anti-Aquinos, the better to position the party whatever the endgame. You may argue about the ideological purity of Akbayan, after all, but you can never question the great survival instincts of the leaders of the party. *** Not content with discontinuing its investigation of the

Not all congressmen are corrupt, stupid or both, but an overwhelming number of them are that way.

Mamasapano massacre, the leadership of the House of Representatives has declared that it will “archive” the records of its sole hearing on the incident, which is House-speak for killing

the probe, sealing the coffin and burying it under a ton of concrete. Deputy Speaker Giogidi Aggabao, the House investigation’s self-appointed undertaker, said this was the decision of the chamber’s leaders because of the “surplusage” of investigations of the bloody Jan. 25 incident, which killed 44 members of the PNP Special Action Force.

Earlier, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte engineered the sudden stalling of the House investigation after a single hearing called by the combined committees on public order and on peace, unity and reconciliation. It is rare for the House leadership to shut down any probe being conducted on the lowly committee level; most of the time, House speakers and their lieuten-

W E D n E s D Ay: M A R c h 4 , 2 0 1 5

opinion adellechua@gmail.com

ADELLE chuA eDiTor

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bacK cHaNNeL aLejaNDro DeL rosario

Having our backs covered

ants allow standing committees to basically conduct any investigation that they see fit, which has led to the much-reviled practice of congressmen using their powers to investigate “in aid of legislation” to bully and shake down officials of the Executive and even private citizens on a regular basis, to further personal and political agendas.

Of course, stopping Congress from investigating the Mamasapano massacre has always been a priority for Malacanang Palace, which has leaned heavily on the leaders of both the House and the

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Senate in order to get the job done. And both Belmonte and his weighty counterpart in the Upper Chamber, Senate President Franklin Drilon, have made no secret of their desire to stop their own colleagues from conducting their separate investigations to please their usual audience of one in the palace, who was in dire danger of being identified as the ultimate culprit by both probes.

I guess we can’t really argue with the numbers in Congress, which favor Belmonte, Aggabao and the rest of the palace-oriented majority – which is similar

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to the domination by Aquino sympathizers in the Senate. To this day, the noisy minority in the House cannot even gather 40 signatures of congressmen opposed to the shutdown, in a chamber of more than 290 members.

Of course, to preclude any actual vote of the entire House on the propriety of unceremoniously ending its probe, Belmonte and his henchmen have decided to adjourn House sessions whenever people like Buhay party-list Rep. Lito Atienza take the floor to demand a headcount Continued on A11

MST Management, Inc. Philip G. Romualdez Arnold C. Liong Former Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno Jocelyn F. Domingo Ron Ryan S. Buguis

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Reclaiming land from the sea is china’s strategy to solidify its land grab of the disputed Spratly island group.

By building a base from reclaimed land using the jutting rocks and reefs, china seeks to project a forward position in its claim of nearly the entire South china Sea while Vietnam, the Philippines and malaysia watched helplessly. in a two- pronged strategic positioning china also put up platforms and a rig in the Paracels to start drilling for oil, gas and minerals in the resource-rich ScS. as if our problems in the West Philippine Sea from chinese encroachment were not enough, Vietnamese and malaysian fishing boats have also been sighted poaching in our waters. Our fisher folk are being crowded out from their livelihood because our navy doesn’t have enough patrol boats to send to the area.

Report of the US deploying surveillance planes in the area is welcome news.

The Sa Poseidon aircraft is the latest and most modern US spy plane. While not specifically deployed to protect the Philippines and other claimants in the ScS, the “eye in the sky” can track the movement of vessels in the area to prevent or record any incident arising from a crowded sea.

There were 180 Sa Poseidon flights over the area since February 1, according to news reports. Primarily, the US wants to ensure free and unimpeded navigation in the South china Sea. The world cannot afford a disruption of maritime traffic of which an estimated $5-trillion worth of commercial cargo pass though the ScS sea lanes.

The US is also training a Special action Force unit in preparation for the asia Pacific economic cooperation meeting.

The armed Forces cannot be too careful against a possible islamic State or al Qaeda terrorist attack during the aPec conference the country is hosting even as the aFP is launching an all-out offensive against the Bangsamoro islamic Freedom Fighters and abu Sayyaf bandits. These two fringe groups could mount bombings in the metropolitan area as a diversionary move to take the heat off them in the intensified military campaign in Sulu. meanwhile, congressional leaders met to thresh out the kinks in the controversial Bangsamoro Basic law it wants to deliver to President aquino for his last State of the nation address in July.

Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte who headed the bicameral group tackling the BBl promised its passage by June 30 this year. congress suspended deliberation of the bill as a result of the fallout from the Fallen 44. The death of 44 members of the PnP Special action Force at the hands of combined elements of the milF-BiFF in mamasapano, maguindanao on January 25 fueled public anger prompting congress to defer action on the BBl. The Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Publisher Rolando G. Jojo Estabillo Publisher A. Robles Editor-in-Chief Jojo A.L.Robles Editor-in-Chief Ramonchito Tomeldan Managing Editor Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Managing Editor Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Associate Editors Chin Wong/RayJoel S. Eñano Associate Editors P. Palacios News Editor Francis Lagniton CityCity Editor Francis Lagniton Editor Arman Armero Senior Deskman Arman Armero Senior Deskman Romel J. Mendez Art Director Leo A. Estonilo Senior Deskman Roberto Cabrera Chief Romel J. Mendez ArtPhotographer Director Roberto Cabrera Chief Photographer

W e d n e s d ay: M a R C H 4 , 2 0 1 5

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OPINION adellechua@gmail.com

The smoking gun TO whom will TO ThE the Moro Islamic POinT Liberation Front submit its invesEmil P. tigative report on juraDO the Mamasapano tragedy?

The answer, of course is obvious. The MILF report must be submitted to the government -- which means to Congress, particularly the Senate, so that it can make an honest, factual report in line with the nation’s pursuit of justice and accountability.

But government peace negotiators Miriam Coronel Ferrer and presidential peace adviser Teresita Deles have other ideas. Santa Banana, they want the MILF report to be submitted to Malaysia. Why? Have Ferrer and Deles now become Malysians?

My gulay, it was bad enough that both have become spokespersons and lawyers of the MILF. Now, they have shown their true affiliations.

No wonder the Moro rebels are so bold in making demands from the Aquino administration to pass the Bagsamoro Basic Law as it is. For this reason alone, Ferrer and Deles should be sacked. ** We all know that Palace spokesmen say the most stupid things. They also habitually lie for the President.

The most stupid thing yet to come out of Malacañang was that analogy given by spokesman Edwin Lacierda on why President Aquino should not apologize for the slaughter of the 44 police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao.

Lacierda argued that the President was just the policymaker, and that he was not involved in operations to neutralize terrorist Marwan and Basit Usman. Oh yeah?

Let me quote what Lacierda said, by way of analogy: “If for instance, a bridge collapses, and the construction worker died as a result of the collapse of the bridge... the President does not involve himself in the building of the bridge or in the operation of neutralizing a terrorist.”

My gulay, if the wives and relatives of the Fallen 44 and the nation at large buy Lacierda’s excuse, they would be as stupid as the Palace spokesman.

We know that from Day One, the President was on top of Oplan Exodus. Why do you think he called for a meeting on January 9 at his residence?

Alas, the President does not believe he can ever commit a mistake. Let’s just live with this, taking comfort in the knowledge that by next year, he will step down. We may eventually see him in jail for all the things he did while in power. There is always a time for reckoning, and President Aquino knows it. ** Fr. Ranhilio Aquino, dean of the San Beda graduate school of law, said that the smoking gun that showed the involvement of President Aquino in the slaughter of the police commandos is the video showing sacked PNPSAF commander Getulio Napeñas briefing government officials a day after the Mamasapano incident.

In that briefing, Napeñas said that President Aquino knew what was happening in the operation and that he agreed that the Armed Forces of the Philippines be informed only on the time Napeñas recommended that they be informed. In other words, the President knew what was happening, and that the video should be included in the report of the Senate. Otherwise, it will be willful omission of necessary evidence.

“In the video, it showed that Napeñas was taking orders from a suspended police chief, and he would not have followed such orders if the President were

Two Traumas shaped aquino TWO traumas shaped the mind and the personality of President Benigno Simeon (BS) Cojuangco Aquino III. The first is the assassination of his father, Benigno S. Aquino Jr., in broad daylight on Aug. 21, 1983 while the charismatic opposition leader was going down the stairs of a China Airlines jet at the Manila International Airport tarmac.

The second is the ambush against the then-young BS Aquino III and his presidential security escorts at an Arlegui street military checkpoint during the bloody August 28, 1987 coup against his mother, Cory Aquino, near the presidential palace, Malacañang.

The young Aquino thought the checkpoint was still held by loyal yellow presidential security guards. He was wrong. In the ensuing gunfight, he was wounded from the left neck down. It is believed his body still carries pieces of bullet parts.

Noynoy Aquino had been out that day and his mother was frantically looking for him and had told him to rush back to the palace which was then under siege from the military rebels of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) of then Lt. Col. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan. About 53 died and 200 were wounded in that coup.

BS Aquino sees both incidents as an assassination attempt – the first, in 1983, on his father and the second, in 1987, on his person.

The lesson he learned from the first assassination is vengeance, that someday, he would deliver the comeuppance against those who killed his father and the mastermind behind it. The gunman, the one who pulled the trigger that delivered the fatal bullet to Ninoy Aquino was identified as a police sergeant, Rogelio Moreno.

The lesson Noynoy learned from the second assassination attempt, in 1987, is that one must trust only very few people. Trust only your loyal military officers. They may be stupid, incompetent, callous or corrupt -- but they are your loyal servants who will take bullets for you. So keep and nurture them.

Support them.

Of Noynoy’s four bodyguards, he claims three were killed at the checkpoint encounter.

The Davide Commission (page 182) reports only one bodyguard killed but adds, “two other people died, and a third one was seriously wounded in the car behind them.”

Only the timely arrival of the group of a young police officer, a certain Alan La Madrid Purisima, saved the day for the young Aquino in that dawn encounter of August 27, 1987.

There is a third lesson Aquino learned from the two incidents – that people are expendable, that they could be killed in pursuit of a higher goal, one not necessarily noble. That is why faced with so many deaths, Aquino can sometimes be unfeeling and completely lacking in empathy.

Fast forward to Jan. 25, 2015. A group of loyal police officers concocts a mission to get two high-

value targets – Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, a Malaysian VirTual bomb expert believed responsible for the Bali bombing of rEaliTy 2002 in which more than 200 died, and his Filipino cohort, TOny Basit Usman, also a notorious lOPEz terrorist bomber, operating in Mindanao.

This is Oplan Exodus. Its mastermind is now police general Purisima. His chief operating officer is police two-star general Getulio Napeñas, the chief of the Philippine National Police’s Special Action Force (SAF). Purisima and Napeñas work for only one boss, President BS Aquino who provides them the inspiration and the wherewithal to undertake a very dangerous mission that took months to plan.

It didn’t matter that on the day (Jan. 9, 2015) the three finalized Oplan Exodus, Purisima was serving the 36th day of his 180-day suspension by the antigraft prosecutor Ombudsman on graft charges. So legally, the disgraced former PNP chief had no personality nor power to supervise Exodus. Still, BS Aquino trusted Purisima 100 percent. After all, he saved BS Aquino’s life, didn’t he, in 1987?

Napeñas handpicks 74 men for the mission – the 38 men of the SAF 84th Company, under Capt. Raymund Train, and the 36 men of the SAF 55th Company, under Police Senior Inspector Ryan Pabalinas. Napeñas actually recruited 392 men for the delicate mission but 318 of them idled themselves for more than 18 hours along the Maharlika Highway of Mamasapano town, in Maguindanao province while the oplan was in progress, 5 kms north of the road.

As it happened, SAF 84 got their man, Marwan, who they claimed they killed but forgot to carry his body.

The second target, 300 meters away from Marwan’s hut, Usman, escaped. A firefight ensued, lasting for more than 12 hours. At the end of the day, as the cliché goes, nine of the 38 of SAF 84th died and 35 of the 36 of the SAF 55th died. Total dead, government side, 44; enemy side, 18. Civilians dead 5. Total toll: 67 dead.

In the Mamasapano massacre, Aquino’s two traumas went into autopilot. When the President met with the widows of Fallen 44 on Feb. 18, 24 days after the incident, one of the widows asked him pointblank for justice for her husband. Aquino’s reply: “My father was also killed, so I know how you feel. We’re all even now.” A policeman killed Noynoy’s dad, remember?

As for the second trauma, well, Purisima and Napeñas are running true to form. They are protective of their commander-in-chief. Aquino, their boss, cannot be blamed. Boss Noynoy gave the instructions – for Napeñas to coordinate with the military in undertaking Exodus, and for Purisima to ask the military for infantry and tank support to provide cover to the retreating embattled SAF men. Napeñas and Purisima did not obey their boss.

So 44 had to die. Here, the third lesson is at work.

How traumatic.

not on top. Recall that Purisima called Napeñas and the PNP-SAF intelligence officer for a meeting with the President at Bahay Pangarap. And how could a suspended police chief give orders unless he had the consent of his superior, who was the President himself?” Fr. Aquino asked.

With all these facts being ventilated now, how in the world can the responsibility and culpability of President Aquino be “yellowwashed?” ** The decision of the Arbitration Tribunal on the decades-old controversy between the Bases Conversion Development Authority and John Sobrepeña’s Camp John Hay Development Corp. did not resolve with finality the controversy. In fact, with both the BCDA and CJHDevco both claiming victory, tension at Camp John Hay has worsened so much so that the Baguio City government had to field policemen to prevent a clash between BCDA

and CJHDevco security guards.

I am told that both contending parties have put up signs that they won with the decision. BCDA claims that it won because the lease agreement between the government and CJHDevco had been rescinded; the decision said CJHDevco must vacate the Camp.

On the other hand, since the Arbitration Board ordered the BCDA to pay CJHDevco P1.42 billion representing damages based on rental payments, CJHDevco has the right to stay on until the payment is made. CJHDevco also wants, per the arbitration board decision, that BCDA’s claim for P3.5 billion in back rentals be erased. This frees CJHDevco from any liabilities. Aside from this, the Baguio Regional Trial Court still has to make the Arbitration Board decision final and executory.

The same RTC has a pending TRO against BCDA from taking over the Camp.

Thus, everybody is at a loss on what to do.

There’s need for a higher office to enter the picture of the controversy since tourism in Baguio these summer months is at risk. If President Aquino cannot, perhaps Tourism Secretary Mon Jimenez should.

That video shows that the President was leading Oplan Exodus from Day One.

W e d n e s d ay: M a R c h 4 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

adelle chua EDITOR

adellechua@gmail.com

A11

The 15 mosT miserable economies in The world

The depressing expectations for Ukraine still aren’t quite as bad as what the embattled nation faced in 2014, when it finished second in the misery index. The 2015 projections, dismal as they are, would make Ukraine bright enough to jump past South Africa and Argentina from last year’s miseryindex readings.

The three countries that will

probably see the most economic misery in 2015 — South Africa, Argentina and Venezuela — haven’t budged much from their 2014 rankings, when they occupied three of the top four spots, the data showed.

At 78.5 percent, the estimated CPI inflation rate in back-to-back, most-miserable Venezuela more than quadruples Ukraine’s inflation rate. The dire shortage of basic goods in Venezuela last week prompted neighboring Trinidad & Tobago to offer a tissue paper-for-oil swap.

Five years after investors popularized the term “PIIGS” to describe a handful of European countries with bloated budget deficits, four of those five countries remain in dire straits, according to their projected misery indexes.

Greece is 5th, Spain is 6th, Portugal is 10th and Italy is 11th in this year’s ranking, though each show about average projected income levels relative to survey peers. (Ireland happily sits further down the chain at No. 16 in the misery ranking and with a much-betterthan-average GDP per capita of $48,787.

The 51 economies in our misery index average GDP per capita of $31,079.)

Enough of the sad news. For the glasshalf-full take, stay tuned for our take on the most consumer-friendly economies in 2015.

Note: Figures reflect the latest research, private forecasts and survey data compiled

by Bloomberg as of Feb. 27. Bloomberg

There’s also the problem of what it does to economic growth as society ages. As workforce growth slows, so does gross domestic product growth. In theory, this can be made up with greater productivity growth. But productivity growth is moving in the wrong direction -- and because older people tend to be more riskaverse as workers and investors, that too may be a natural result of an aging society.

And, of course, there is the question of who will provide the actual hands-on care that people need. here, the usual solution proposed is immigration. There are a couple of problems with that. The first is that everywhere else is undergoing the same demographic transition as we are, so the limitless supply of young foreigners may dry up as aging parents require them to be nearer to home and family capital gets concentrated upon a few people rather than dispersed among many children.

But there’s another problem, which is that old people are often vulnerable. This is why stories of abuses in nursing homes are so common; it is not that the state doesn’t care about the people in its charge, but that “the state” does not actually provide the care -- individual people do, some of whom are badly motivated. And incentives get very tangled when strangers are in charge of caring for frail people who may be experiencing cognitive decline.

People around the world embrace the convenience and freedom of lives without a passel of needy relations who require lots of care. But we ourselves are only here because someone put years of effort into keeping us alive ... and most of us will need someone else to do so at the other end of our lives. The state can do many things. But it cannot produce those people itself. It cannot really substitute for them, either Bloomberg

the PRC shelved the special permit of Dr. Samuel Bernal to practice medicine in the Philippines for unprofessional and dishonorable conduct.

The PRC Board headed by Dr. Miguel Noche found Bernal guilty of medical misconduct when he fraudulently charged $6,000 fee for a clinical analysis supposed to be sent to a laboratory in the US but was actually done at a local hospital. The process known as medical profiling of a patient’s pleural fluid was to determine which medicine had “high or lack clinical response” so that a more effective drug could be prescribed for the late cancerstricken Domingo Disini, a professor who taught labor law at UP, UST, Ateneo and La Salle.

The complaint was filed by the deceased’s brother Attorney Jesus P. Disini and Roy Carlos of the Disini & Disini law office.

Dead... From A8

by michelle Jamrisko, catarina saraiva and andre Fonseca INFLATIoN is a disease that can wreck a society, Milton Friedman, the late Nobel laureate economist, once said. Add rising unemployment to the diagnosis, and his profession ascribes a rather nontechnical term to the debilitating effect on people: misery.

That aff liction this year will be most acute in Venezuela, Argentina, South Africa, Ukraine and Greece — the five most painful economies in which to live and work, according to Bloomberg survey data that make up the so-called misery index for 2015. (It’s a simple equation: unemployment rate + change in the consumer price index = misery.)

In Ukraine’s case, war will exact greater economic casualties.Tension with Russia-backed rebels will prolong joblessness in the eastern-European nation, and inflation won’t offer much relief, the surveys showed. The one-two punch means Ukrainian consumers are set to be the fourth-saddest among 51 economies (including the euro area) based on forecasts for the misery measure.

Adding to the agony is the relatively abysmal income growth that will fail to cushion Ukrainian households against the still-surging prices. At $8,494 gross domestic product per capita this year, Ukraine only edges out the Philippines among the countries surveyed and

measured with the International Monetary Fund’s proxy for resident income.

Unemployment probably will climb to 9.5 percent in Ukraine this year from its 8.9 percent rate as of the third quarter in 2014, the survey data show. Inflation is projected to rise at a 17.5 percent pace in 2015, compared with the 24.9 percent December year-over-year rate.

who will Take care oF all The old people? by megan mcardle ThAT’S the theme of Nicholas Eberstadt’s latest piece on demographics, which I highly recommend to all of you. The core problem of the welfare state is that it relieves people of the need for family to take care of them, but it does not relieve society of the need for caretakers.

In fact, because there’s evidence that more generous social-security systems cause people to reduce their fertility, you can argue that these systems are undercutting the very actuarial basis upon which they depend.

Having our backs...

From A9

SAF commandos were withdrawing from Mamasapano after killing international terrorist Marwan when they were attacked by the rebels.

Given time to revisit the BBL, Congress should fix its flaws despite the MILF demand that it does not want any change in the framework agreement it signed with the government peace panel. The legislators should not work on this bill with the ominous cloud of war hanging over their heads even if that’s the alternative being espoused by those advancing the cause of the MILF. Congress must pass a revised, improved Bangsamoro law that is just, equitable and fair to all Muslims and Christians of Mindanao. It’s the only way to ensure

The effect is what social-security systems are struggling with around the world: As the ratio of workers to retirees declines, it gets harder and harder to raise the tax revenue to cover benefits. Though Americans talk anxiously about the fiscal health of our systems, international pension-reform wonks actually look enviously at our system, which contains fewer of the incentives for earlier retirement that plague many countries.

But our demographic transition is not just a problem of pension math.

enduring peace in this troubled land of promise.

A lopsided BBL in favor of the MILF is not going to sit well with the Christian population in Mindanao. We might see another uprising, this time by Christians when they see themselves marginalized by MILF rule over a wide swath of territory under the BBL being pushed by President Aquino.

The President’s predicament is understandable. Appeasing the Muslims or incurring the wrath of Christians is a choice between a rock and a hard place. Somewhere in between is a compromise acceptable to all parties concerned.

PRC suspends stem cell doctor A well-known Fil-American stem cell doctor was suspended for two years by the Professional Regulation Commission Board of Medicine. In a recent ruling,

of congressmen actually in favor of the stoppage. Our congressmen are nothing if not experts at covering their behinds, and they will not be forced into voting in favor of Belmonte’s scheme to prevent the search for truth.

Archiving the probe, as Aggabao has proposed, will write finis to the investigation and ensure that it is never revived. And the action will confirm, if any proof is still required, that our congressmen are really in league with Malacanang and don’t care one whit about what their constituents actually think.

As I’ve repeatedly said, not all congressmen are corrupt, stupid or both. But because an overwhelming number of them are that way, you really can’t blame people if they conclude that everyone in the Batasan is totally useless, except as a too-willing tool for the presidential palace.

WE DN E S DAY : M A RC H 4 , 2 0 1 5

A12

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Balanced scoring lifts Mavs

Tyreke Evans (1) of the New Orleans Pelicans shoots against the Dallas Mavericks’ Al Jefferson in an NBA game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

The Mavericks won, AFP

DALLAS—The Dallas Mavericks had six players in double figures as they used a balanced scoring attack to snap the New Orleans Pelicans’ five-game winning streak with a 102-93 victory Monday.

Baculi quitting as NU director NATIONAL University’s Junel Baculi is set to quit as the school’s athletic director and return to his old passion.

Baculi expressed his desire to quit through the school’s top executive Nilo Ocampo.

His plans to quit comes following a successful campaign for the school in various events in the ongoing 77th University Athletic Association of the Philippines season.

“He is still representing NU in the UAAP. Pero gusto niyang mag resign,” said Ocampo, who added that Baculi wants to do other things like go back to his old passion, which is coaching.

Ocampo said that the school will have to accept if Baculi formalizes his decision to step down.

Season 77 was a successful one for NU, which won basketball titles in the men’s and the women’s divisions.

NU also did well in the junior basketball tournament and tennis. The School also made the men’s volleyball finals and the women’s volleyball semis.

Peter Atencio

Bulldogs, Eagles clash in volley finals’ Game 1

By Peter Atencio THE National University Bulldogs are tipped to make it against the Ateneo Blue Eagles in Game 1 of the 77th University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s volleyball finals.

NU coach Dante Alinsunurin hopes that the team will sustain its Final Four showing when action begins at 2 p.m. today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Bulldogs enter the fight just days after turning back University of Sto. Tomas Tigers, 25-18, 25-23, 25-23, in their Final Four showdown.

“Kailangang mag-double time kami sa blocking and sa receive,” said Alinsunurin.

The Eagles are considered deadly with the firepower coming from reigning MVP Marck Espejo, Ysay Marasigan and Joshua Villanueva.

The Bulldogs, on the other hand, are getting back into the groove following an alarming three-game losing skid late in the elims behind Peter Torres, Rueben Inaudito, Edwin Tolentino and Berlin Paglinawan.

“Matibay ang NU, they are tall and talented. We need to be prepared physically and mentally,” said Ateneo coach Oliver Almadro after the Blue Eagles eliminated No. 4 Adamson in the semifinals.

Meanwhile, La Salle meets with third-ranked National University as it seeks a seventh consecutive finals’ ap-

Golf presentor. Champion Infinity will

be the presentor of the $75,000 ICTSI Ladies Open, the kickoff leg of this year’s Ladies Philippine Golf Tour and fourth stage of the Taiwan LPGA on March 11 to 13 at Southlinks Golf Club in Las Pinas.

Present during the contract signing are (from left) Carlos Bacani, marketing manager of Peerless Products Manufacturing Corp., Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. general manager Colo Ventosa, PEPMACO vice president for sales and marketing Jasper Tiu; and tournament managers Luigi Tabuena and Cho Minn Thant. The event will feature players from Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, the United States and the Philippines.

pearance in the women’s step-ladder semifinals.

They have a twice-to-beat bonus for finishing second in the double-round eliminations, and La Salle need only to prevail to advance to the championship round.

Meanwhile, sisters Clarice and Christine Patrimonio towed NU as it swept its way to a second straight women’s crown in tennis.

Their singles wins led to a 3-0 shutout of University of Santo Tomas in the UAAP Season 77 lawn tennis tournament over the weekend at the Olivarez Sports Center.

The doubles pair of Hannah Espinosa and Junnelyn Polito also shone for the Lady Bulldogs, who won the best-of-three title series, 2-0.

Monta Ellis and Rajon Rondo combined for 39 points for the Mavericks, who ended a two-game losing skid of their own. Ellis scored 20 and Rondo tallied 19 for Dallas, which shot 48 percent from the field.

Richard Jefferson scored 16 points, Dirk Nowitzki finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, and Amar’e Stoudemire and Devin Harris scored 14 apiece in the win.

All-star centerAnthony Davis missed the game for the Pelicans who were led by Norris Cole’s 19 points.

Meanwhile, the NBA suspended Houston Rockets star forward James Harden for kicking Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James in the groin, the league said Monday.

The NBA slapped leaguescoring leader Harden with a one-game ban for his actions during Saturday’s contest.

The incident took place in the third quarter of Houston’s 105-103 overtime win.

Officials initially assessed Harden with a flagrant foul, but the league upgraded it

to a flagrant No. 2 foul after reviewing the tape of the altercation.

James was not seriously injured and remained in the game.

Harden will be forced to sit out when the Rockets visit Eastern Conference leader Atlanta on Tuesday.

Harden is averaging a league high 27.1 points per game this season.

In Chicago, the Bulls’ scoring leader Jimmy Butler will be sidelined for up to six weeks with a sprained left elbow, the struggling NBA club said Monday.

The team’s announcement that Butler’s MRI exam showed a sprained ulnar ligament and small bone impaction injury adds Butler to an injury list that includes former NBA Most Valuable Player Derrick Rose and forward Taj Gibson, nursing a sore left ankle.

Butler, who has started 55 games for the Bulls, is averaging 20.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.7 steals a game for Chicago in a league-leading 38.9 minutes a game.

Harrington bags his 1st US PGA crown in 7 years PALM BEACH GARDENS (AFP)—Ireland’s Padraig Harrington won his first US PGA title in seven years on Monday, defeating 21-yearold American rookie Daniel Berger in a playoff to capture the storm-hit Honda Classic.

The 43-year-old Dubliner, a three-time major champion who has fallen to 297th in the world rankings, withstood a dramatic morning shootout for the $1.098 million (982,000 euro) top prize at the $6.1 million

tournament.

“The last nine holes I felt like a different person,” Harrington said. “I think I’ve found that mental edge I’ve been lacking the past couple of years. Hopefully this isn’t an isolated win.”

Harrington found the water at the par-3 17th in regulation for a double bogey but sank a tensionpacked 15-foot birdie putt at the par-5 18th hole to force the playoff, matching Berger on six-under 274 over 72 holes.

we dn e s day : M a rc h 4 , 2 0 1 5

A13

sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Centennial III reigns. Crew members of Centennial III skippered by businessman Jude Echauz (fifth from left) are shown after winning the sixth Standard Insurance Subic-to-Boracay Race, the longest sailing race in the Philippines, last Sunday, off Malay, Aklan. TP 52 Davidson-designed Centennial III, with its 16 crew, ruled the IRC Racing Class with a time 27:37:39, while Frank Pong’s Jelik is a close second with 27:45:06. The 40 hour-long race is recognized by the Asian Yachting Grand Prix Circuit, under Marty Rijkuris, meaning the scores will count toward the AY Skipper and Yacht of the Year race. The race to Boracay and the Boracay Cup are two out of the 12 races conducted across Southeast Asia. Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand Hong Kong will host the other events, awarding points to the winners. The regatta is spearheaded by Saturday Afternoon Gentlemen Sailing, Asian Yachting Grand Prix and Philippine Sailing Association, co-presented by PLDT Alpha, in conjunction with Resorts World Manila, Watercraft Venture Corp., The Lighthouse Marina Resort and Seawinds Resorts Boracay.

Talaingod runners vow to hog Palaro spotlight UP in the hinterlands of Davao del Norte lies Talaingod, a second-class municipality of the indigenous Ata-Manobo tribe.

Population: 25,566 as of the 2010 census.

Means of livelihood: Farming.

Sport of young Ata-Manobos: Running.

Come May 3 to 9 when Davao del Norte hosts the 2015 Palarong Pambansa primarily in the capital of Tagum, young runners from Talaingod—known as the Talaingod DavNor Run-

ners—will share centerstage with student-athletes from all of the country’s regions.

The young runners will showcase Davao del Norte’s premium on sports, particularly running, as Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario aims to brand the province as the Kenya of the Philippines—the center of running in the country.

“It started with a vision to

maximize the inherent physical prowess of lumad children who had been traversing the high altitude terrain to and from school,” Del Rosario said.

“Training to run is the lumad children’s daily way of life.”

The Talaingod DavNor Runners, a unique sports development program, was launched on April 28, 2014, just when the province’s intention to host the Palaro reached fever pitch. Talaingod Mayor Basilio Libayao has been fully behind the program ever since it was implemented.

“The Palaro is a great opportunity for LGUs to showcase whatever strength they have in terms of sports,” Del Rosario said. “DavNor has the Talaingod runners who are fitting examples that, being given this attention and importance, means so much to them.”

The program is composed of six girls and four boys who were selected from 200 AtaManobo children. They undergo a special daily training program prepared by Professor Renato Unso, head coach of the national running team.

Lamigo, Pamorada win doubles’ crown ALYESKA Lamigo and May Pamorada, Alex Borromeo and Mike Minuluan led all the doubles’ winners on opening day of eighth Prima Pasta Badminton Championships at the Powersmash Badminton Courts in Pasong Tamo, Makati City.

Lamigo and Pamorada of Team Prima and PLDT Babolat outlasted Steffie Aquino and Maria Kristine Gaspar of University of Santo Tomas, 21-16, 22-20, to capture the women’s doubles B title of the competition organized by Team Prima Chairman Alexander Lim. Borromeo and Minuluan whipped John Bergantin and Jerome Pechera of Adamson University, 22-20, 21-15, to win the men’s doubles’ A title of the competition attended by more than 2,000 entries nationwide.

The annual badminton event is

supported by Babolat and SMART Communications through MVP Sports Foundation, Boysen Paints, Morning Star Milling, Mabz Builders, ILO Construction, Monolith Construction, Monocrete Construction, Pioneer Insurance, Promax, Regent Foods Corp., Vitwater, Unilever, Del Monte Fit N’ Right and powered by Forthright Events.

In women’s doubles F, Abby Aganon and Camille Malbog outplayed Abby Alar and April Remolacio, 18-21, 21-15, 11-9, while Alex Borromeo and Alem Palmares crushed John Edgar Reyes and Ralph Dominic Santos, 21-16, 21-16, to bag the men’s doubles B crown.

Other doubles’ champions were Jean Lucas and Lanie Reyes (women’s D); Hanzel Andre Endriga and Yoedie Hendriyanto (men’s F); The Men’s Doubles Level A champions Alex Borromeo and Mike and King Espiritu and Emil Tausa Minuluan (second and third from left) are shown here with Alex (men’s D).

Lim (left) and Eric Sanchez of Bakerite.

Gilas coach buckles down to business AN initial list of 25 PBA players is likely to compose the Gilas Pilipinas national pool gearing up for the FIBA Asia Men’s Championship to be held in China later this year.

Coach Tab Baldwin disclosed he’s looking at around that number from which the latest batch of Gilas will be culled as he lays down the foundation of the country’s serious quest to earn the lone Asian berth for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Jainero.

The American-New Zealand native however, would rather keep mum on who the players are, although there’s one particular name which he said could not simply be ignored.

“From what I’ve seeing, from the names I’ve got down now, it’s looking at around 25. It’s something like that,” said Baldwin in his first Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum appearance on Tuesday at Shakey’s Malate.

“But I’d say that the only player right now that cannot be excluded given the demographic of the sport of basketball is June Mar Fajardo,” he added, referring to the 6’11” San Miguel center who was part of Gilas Pilipinas under former coach Chot Reyes.

Out of the 25, the list will be trimmed to 16 from which the final 12 bound for the Olympic qualifier are going to be chosen.

“Having a group of around 16 would be ideal,” the Gilas coach added. “I would say within four or five days, we’ll be able to make the first cut down to 16, and then we won’t cut down that 16 to the last 12 until we have to, until the last day whatever the deadline is.”

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 5

A14

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Cuppers ready for Sri Lankans

PHILIPPINE Davis Cupper Ruben Gonzales will return to the country with international doubles champion Treat Huey and Francis Casey “Nino” Alcantara to join Patrick John Tierro face Sri Lanka for the First Round of the Asia/Oceania Zone Group II games of the Davis Cup at the Valle Verde Country Club from March 6 to 8.

Philippine Davis Cupper Ruben Gonzales (left) with Jean Henri Lhuillier, Philta Chairman

Jean Henri Lhuillier, President and CEO of Cebuana Lhuillier and Chairman of the Board of the Philippine Tennis Association, is optimistic that the team will perform better this year.

Lhuillier, who is also the team manager of the Philippine Davis Cup team, is optimistic of the Philippines’ chances of repeating

Republic of the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources

Republic of the Philippines Department of Environment and Natural Resources

North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines

Mines and Geosciences Bureau

Mines and Geosciences Bureau

Tel. No. (+63 2) 920-9120/ 920-9130 / 928-8937 Fax No. (+63 2) 920-1635 E-mail: central @ mgb.gov.ph

Tel. No. (+63 2) 920-9120/ 920-9130 / 928-8937 Fax No. (+63 2) 920-1635 E-mail: central @ mgb.gov.ph

INVITATION TO BID FOR 2015 No.2015-03-004 P

INVITATION TO BID FOR 2015 No.2015-01-002 (2nd Posting)

1 lot Supply of Labor and Materials for MGB Hostel Bldg. - Phase II (Archives)

2 units Coaster Type Motor Vehicles P.R. No. 2015-01-001

P.R. No. 2015-02-010 P 1.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau, through the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for CY 2015 intends to apply the sum of Three Million Four Hundred Eighty Seven Thousand Nine Hundred Fifteen Pesos and Seventy Eight Centavos (PhP3,487,915.78) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for 1 lot Supply of Labor and Materials foe MGB Hostel Bldg. – Phase II (Archives). Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau now invites bids for the contract of “1 lot Supply of Labor and Materials foe MGB Hostel Bldg. – Phase II (Archives)”.

Completion of work is required within sixty (60) calendar days upon receipt of Notice to Proceed.

1.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau, through the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for CY 2015 intends to apply the sum of Six Million Pesos (PhP 6,000,000.00) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for 2 units Coaster Type Motor Vehicles under Purchase Request No. 2015-01-001P. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau now invites bids for the Supply and Delivery of 2 units Coaster Type Motor Vehicles.

Bidders should have completed, within Five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

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

4.

The following persons/entities shall be allowed to participate in the bidding for this projects:

5.

a)

Duly licensed Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships;

b)

Partnerships duly organized under the laws of the Philippines and of which at least seventy-five percent (75%) of the interest belongs to citizens of the Philippines;

c)

Corporations duly organized under the laws of the Philippines, and of which at least seventyfive percent (75%) of the outstanding capital stock belongs to citizens of the Philippines;

d)

Cooperatives duly organized under the laws of the Philippines, and of which at least seventy percent (75%) belongs to citizens of the Philippines; or

e)

Persons/entities forming themselves into a joint venture, i.e., a group of two (2) or more persons/entities that intend to be jointly and severally responsible or liable for a particular contract: Provided, however, That, in accordance with Letter of Instructions No. 630 (LOI 630), Filipino ownership or interest of the joint venture concerned shall be at least seventy-five percent (75%): Provided, further, That joint ventures in which Filipino ownership or interest is less than seventy-five percent (75%) may be eligible where the structures to be built require the application of techniques and/or technologies which are not adequately possessed by a person/entity meeting the seventy-five percent (75%) Filipino ownership requirement: Provided, finally, That in the latter case, Filipino ownership or interest shall not be less than twenty-five percent (25%). For this purpose, Filipino ownership or interest shall be based on the contributions of each of the members of the joint venture as specified in their JVA.

Delivery of the Goods is required within thirty (45) days upon receipt of Notice to Proceed. Bidders should have completed, within Five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

4.

7.

Preview of specifications can be downloaded from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS).

5.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on March 11, 2015, Wednesday at 2:00PM at the Office of the Bids and Awards Committee, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

6.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on March 23, 2015, Monday on or before 1:30PM. All Bids must be accompanied by a Bid Securing Declaration or any other bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bidders are required to conduct a Site Inspection on March 13, 2015, Friday at 2:00 PM. A Certificate of Site Inspection shall be issued to bidders who conducted Site Inspection upon payment of a non-refundable fee in the amount of Five Hundred (PhP500.00).

Bid opening shall be on March 23, 2015, Monday at 2:00PM, at the Office of the Bids and Awards Committee, Mines and Geosciences Bureau. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend.

Late bids shall not be accepted.

The Certificate of Site Inspection and Inspection Report shall be part of the bidder’s eligibility requirements.

8.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on March 23, 2015, Monday on or before 1:30PM. All bids must be accompanied by a bid securing declaration or any other bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount as stipulated under Section 27.2 of RA 9184.

Bid opening shall be on March 23, 2015, Monday at 2:00PM, at the Office of the BAC, MGB Compound, North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend. Late bids shall not be accepted.

9.

The MGB 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.

10.

For further information, please refer to: Roberto D. Caseros Head, BAC Secretariat Bids and Awards Committee North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City Telefax No.: 928-8649 E-mail: bacems_minesbureauco@yahoo.com Website: www.mgb.gov.ph

Interested bidders may obtain further information from Mines and Geosciences Bureau and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during office hours, from 9:00am to 4:00PM. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from March 3 to 20, 2015 at the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Four Thousand Pesos (PhP4,000.00).

Preview of specifications can be downloaded from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS).

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on March 11, 2015, Wednesday at 2:00PM at the Office of the Bids and Awards Committee, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, which shall be open only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

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

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least sixty percent (60%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines, and to citizens or organizations of a country the laws or regulations of which grant similar rights or privileges to Filipino citizens, pursuant to RA 5183 and subject to Commonwealth Act 138.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from Mines and Geosciences Bureau and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during office hours, from 9:00AM to 4:00PM. A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from March 3 to 20, 2015 at the address below and upon payment of a non- refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of Three Thousand Pesos (PhP3,000.00).

6.

last year’s win as the country hosts Sri Lanka for the First Round of Asia/Oceania Zone Group II of the Davis Cup. “All of our players are the peak of their careers. Treat and Ruben are playing very well in the International tennis circuit, Nino has gained valuable experience from playing in the US NCAA

7.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau reserves the right to accept or reject and 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.

8.

For further information, please refer to: Roberto D. Caseros Overall Head, BAC Secretariat Bids and Awards Committee North Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City Telephone No. 6676700 loc. 153 E-mail: bacems_minesbureauco@yahoo.com Website: www.mgb.gov.ph (Sgd.) JUANCHO PABLO S. CALVEZ Chairman, BAC

(Sgd.) JUANCHO PABLO S. CALVEZ BAC-Chairman (MST-MAR. 4, 2015)

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

competition, while PJ on the other hand, has been dominating the local tournaments. We definitely have high hopes for this year’s Davis Cup competition,” said Lhuillier, who also currently sits as the Chairman of the Board of the Philippine Tennis Association.

World-class pro netters Huey and Gonzales are returning to carry the country’s colors in the prestigious annual international event, together with 2014 PCA Open champion Patrick John Tierro and former Australian Open Juniors doubles Francis Casey “Nino” Alcantara.

The match with Sri Lanka is the start of the team’s quest to return to Asia/Oceania Zone Group I of the Davis Cup.

(MST-MAR. 4, 2015)

Bautista, Gonzaga crowned volley champs POWER duo Jovelyn Gonzaga and Nerissa Bautista came through with a scorching performance that torched the opposition in the just-concluded third leg of the Tanduay Light Women’s Beach Volleyball Challenge Sunday at the sand court of the Cantada Sports Center in Bagumbayan, Taguig City.

Gonzaga and Bautista counted as victims slight favorites Judy Caballejo and Coyah Abanto, who settled for second place, followed

by Aiza Maizo Pontillas and Janine Marciano in the event supported by sportsman, Lucio “Bong” Tan, Jr. Other tournament supporters are MAPECON and Toyota Balintawak.

The organizers, Edgardo “Tito Boy” and Gerard Cantada, lauded the success of the series aimed at providing first-class competition.

They also promised more events under the Philippine Volleyball Federation.

The series and succeeding events are welcomed by the beach and indoor volleyball players all over the country for not requiring entry fees, while offering participants, officials and guests complimentary meals.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 5

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Guce marks 1,000th US win JENNY ORTUOSTE

THE HOARSE WHISPERER

Damien James of Alaska (center) eludes the defense of KIA’s Kyle Pascual, only to meet man-mantain PJ Ramos in the lane in a PBA Commissioner’s Cup game won by the Carnival, 103-89.

KIA adds Alaska to its roster of elite victims

By Jeric Lopez

KIA MOTORS resumed its role as giant killers and added Alaska to the list of its shocked victims.

PJ Ramos powered his way to another monster game of 36 points and 33 rebounds, carrying the Carnival to a 103-89 demolition of the Aces in the 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

With another stunning win over the Aces, the Carnival, who have now won three of their last four games—all against powerhouses— improved to 4-5 to remain in ninth place, making them a legit contender for a quarterfinals berth. ‘’The players were challenged to play hard in this game because we

played flat the last time,’’ said assistant coach Chito Victolero, who know realizes that his squad is in good shape to fight for a spot in the playoff. ‘’The big picture for us is making the playoffs.’’

On the other hand, the slumping Aces, who suddenly find themselves in an unfamiliar position, lost their third straight and further slipped to 2-5. They remained in 10th place with their window of opportunity of making the quarters becoming bleak.

Karl Dehesa and JR Cawaling both came out firing off the bench as they scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, to provide a lot of

assistance for Ramos, who added four assists and two blocks.

Already in control, Kia erected a key 12-2 blitz in the middle of the third to suddenly build a comfortable double-digit lead, 75-63, after Ramos’ basket at the 2:40 mark of the period. The Aces then made a brief stand as they trimmed the deficit to, 81-77, with 8:58 remaining, but the Carnival responded by finishing the game emphatically.

Kia ended the contest with a 22-12 finishing kick to put the game to rest.

LA Revilla added 10 points, five rebounds and five assists for Kia. Even with head coach Manny Pacquiao already gone to train in Los Angeles, Kia still played inspired and steady basketball as Ramos, Dehesa, and Cawaling’s

combined forces spearheaded the squad’s solid stand against the Philippine Cup runner-up.

Damion James led Alaska with a double-double with 25 points and 16 rebounds.

Alaska, despite the return of Sonny Thoss, was still nowhere near its top form as it continued to search for answers.

The scores: Kia 103—Ramos 36, Dehesa 14, Cawaling 13, Revilla 10, Cervantes 6, Avenido 6, Buensuceso 5, Thiele 4, Alvarez 3, Poligrates 2, Pascual 2, Yee 2, Webb 0.

Alaska 89—James 25, Thoss 16, Baguio 14, Abueva 11, Banchero 7, Manuel 6, Jazul 4, Dela Cruz 4, Eman 2, Dela Rosa 0, Casio 0, Menk 0, Espinas 0, Exciminiano 0.

Quarters: 28-27; 53-49; 77-67; 103-89.

Estanislao, Balce prevail

Manuel Balce III (left) and Daniel Estanislao III hold their trophies after topping their respective divisions in the Cainta leg of the Palawan Pawnshop tennis circuit.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

DANIEL Estanislao III and Manuel Balce III hacked out a pair of thrilling three-setters over their top-seeded rivals to rule their respective divisions while Chloe Mae Saraza stamped her class in the girls side in the Palawan Pawnshop-Palawan Express Pera Padala regional age group tennis at the Brookside Hills Tennis Club in Cainta, Rizal last Monday.

The fifth-ranked Estanislao, from Baesa Seventh Day Adventist, recovered from a close second set defeat to upend No. 1 Miguel Vicencio, 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3, and snare the boys’ 12-and-under crown. He earlier bundled out second seed Jan Trillanes, 7-5, 6-2, to seal a title clash with Vicencio, who survived Edgardo Angara, 7-5, 6-3.

“Estanislao and Balce’s victories should serve as an inspiration for those who aspire to join the growing list of winners outside of the top-seeded bets. But it takes a lot of hard work and discipline to be able to range against the favorites,” said Palawan Pawnshop COO Bobby Castro.

The second-seeded Balce, playing out of Ateneo, toppled two-leg champion Cenon Gonzales Jr., 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, to bag the 16-U plum in the Group 2 tournament sponsored by the country’s leading pawnshop, remittance and claim center and sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association headed by president and Paranaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

CONGRATULATIONS to Los Angeles-based Filipino jockey Ramon “Monching” B. Guce for posting his 1,000th North American career win!

He reached this personal milestone last Valentine’s Day at Los Alamitos after winning on 4YO California-bred filly A B C Me Awesome.

Monching reckons he racked up 2,500 wins in Manila before migrating in the late ‘90s to ride Thoroughbreds and quarter horses at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, and Santa Anita Park.

Once known as “RB Guce” on the local programa, in the US he’s called “Ramon,” and his tagline there is: “The Guce is Loose!” with his surnamed pronounced as one word, like the fowl, rather than with two syllables like it is here.

On the Los Alamitos’ website, he says his Philippine experience prepared him well: “In the Philippines, the shortest racing distance is 4-1/2 furlongs and those races are carded maybe 10 times the entire year. Instead, most races are between 7-1/2 furlongs and one mile, so I think that’s benefited me from an endurance standpoint when riding in the 4-1/2 furlong races at Los Alamitos.” (A furlong is roughly translated as 200 meters.)

Monching, leading rider for 2014 in Los Alamitos, is a scion of the Guce racing dynasty. He is the son of the late jockey and trainer Pablito Guce, brother of riders Lyndon Noel (now a Philracom commissioner) and Canadabased Angelito, cousin of legendary jockey Jesus “El Maestro” C. Guce, and the uncle of the young band of Guce brothers -- journeymen John Paul, John Alvin, and John Anthony and trainees Peter John and John Jr. About the same time Monching marked his 1,000th US win, veteran rider and sometime actor Gary Steven (who played jockey George Woolf in the film Seabiscuit) posted his 5,000th win at Santa Anita Park.

Jockeys and other racing folk who mark such milestones abroad are feted. Sadly, we don’t commemorate occasions such as this. Statistics aren’t well kept and we have no similar rituals. *** Update on the Philracom Colts race: The Philippine Racing Commission will hold a second meeting today with the Manila Jockey Club Board of Stewards (BoS) to look into the latter’s decision in the Philracom 3YO Colts stakes race.

The five members of the MJC BoS as of February are Rafael de las Cagigas (as chairman), Jesus Villanueva, Francisco Fernando, Rene Sare, and Daniel Valmonte.

On Feb. 22 at San Lazaro Leisure Park, the MJC BoS disqualified the first placer Money Talks in favor of Juachenzo’s Run, saying the former had swerved-in into the latter’s path at the jump-out, this “interference” marring his chances for victory, a decision hit by many racing fans.

Philracom will also be looking today into the case of jockey Dar E. Deocampo, who was suspended for one year likewise by the MJC BoS but by the prior slate of stewards on Jan. 16 for “deliberately losing the race” on Candy Crush. *** The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office will hold a trial race on Mar. 6 for its 3YO Open at Santa Ana Park, with the actual race on Mar. 21.

To run over a mile are Gentle Strength, Sigma’s Treasure, Winning Move, Air Supply, Erik the Viking, Incredible Hook, Prince Jed, Legionnaire, Dominatore, Stargazer, and Make Him Known. *** Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @gogirlracing, Blog: http://jennyo.net

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 5

A16

RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

REUEL VIDAL A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

UNDEFEATED and undisputed pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. “looked very good,” when he worked out in his gym in Las Vegas on Monday, according to strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza.

The coach said Mayweather had actually started working out last Saturday, and Monday was the first day of an easypaced workout with his uncle Roger Mayweather, who Ariza remarked “is very, very good.”

“Mayweather got to familiarize himself with the movement of a southpaw,” said Ariza, adding that the welterweight and super welterweight champion was “very excited and motivated for his May 2 showdown with Manny Pacquiao.”

The eight-division world champion Pacquiao is currently No. 2 on Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound ranking behind Mayweather.

Ariza, the former strength and conditioning coach of Pacquiao, told the Manila Standard/Viva Sports that he loves Floyd’s work ethics. “He is very enthusiastic, willing and shows no resistance to trying new things,” said Ariza.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, did his usual morning run and worked out at the Wild Card Gym of Freddie Roach in Los Angeles, with boyhood friend and assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez and strength and conditioning coach and former world heavyweight contender Justin Fortune.

Following his workout, Pacquiao spoke to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports and appeared extremely confident.

“I know to box and I can move side to side and throw punches,” Pacquiao said, conceding that Mayweather “has very good speed and footwork and he has punches and that makes him look good.”

However, the Filipino boxing icon said: “It depends on the fighter he is going to face. But I know how to fight. For me, as a boxer, I know what the job is. I’m going to throw a lot of punches, a lot of hard punches.”

Pacquiao remarked that there was “nobody out there who really has thrown a lot of punches at him (Mayweather). But I’m going to do that.”

The two fighters will face each other for the first time since their two meetings in Miami, Florida at a press conference in Los Angeles on March 11.

Floyd looking good Pacquiao begins intense training in LA

By Eddie Alinea LOS ANGELES—Freddie Roach or no Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s preparation for his coming super-fight with undefeated American Floyd Mayweather Jr. started in full speed Monday here.

Unmindful of a jet lag brought about by a 13-hour direct flight from Manila last

KIA stuns Alaska TURN TO A15

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Saturday, Pacquiao woke up at 3 a.m. Monday morning, ran for 30 minutes instead of just 15 around the Pan Pacific Park. After a brief rest, he raced to the Wild Card Boxing Gym in Hollywood. He did the mitts with assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez, before punishing the heavy bags and the speed

balls for a three-hour stretch, as if time was running out on him with still two months away before the historic fight on May 2 in Las Vegas.

With Roach still in Macau, the plan was to take it easy the whole week until Saturday, two days before the chief trainer arrives here on Monday next week.

“We were supposed to do half of today’s load only, pero

sabi ni Manny, kulang daw,” Fernandez said. “Sayang daw ang energy na naipoon niya noong unang leg ng camp sa General Santos City.”

“We lost a few days kasi while preparing for out trip here, kaya nasabik,” Buboy, who, along with conditioning coach Justin Fortune and another assistant trainer, Roger “Haplas” Fernandez, reasoned out.

LOTTO RESULTS Balanced 6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 scoring lifts Mavs 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 TURN TO A12

6 DIGITS 0-0-0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

B1

WEDNESDAY: MARCH 4, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

BUSINESS

Newsprint prices going up

By Othel V. Campos

PSe comPoSite index

THE Tariff Commission imposed a 9-percent safeguard duty on newsprint imports to protect local producers from an incresasing volume of incoming shipments.

Closing March 3, 2015

8000 7500 6840 7500 6180

7000

5520

6500

4860

6000 4200 3860 5500

7,776.51 2.59

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing MARCH 3, 2015 45

P44.060

44

CLOSE

43 42 41

HIGH P44.060 LOW P44.125 AVERAGE P44.089 VOLUME 448.900M

P508.00-P728.00 LPG/11-kg tank P37.80-P43.35 Unleaded Gasoline P27.90-P31.20 Diesel

oPriceS il P today

P35.40-P39.15 Kerosene P23.70-P24.40 Auto LPG

Internet honchos. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerbeg (right) enjoys a light moment with Globe

Telecom Inc. president and chief executive CEO Ernest Cu during a dinner hosted by Facebook at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. Globe is the first telecommunications company in the world to team up with Facebook to support Zuckerberg’s Internet.org efforts to provide free Internet through the successful Free Facebook promo.

Economic growth not inclusive—JFC

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, March 3, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

44.1290

Japan

Yen

0.008324

0.3673

UK

Pound

1.536700

67.8130

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.128957

5.6907

Switzerland

Franc

1.043079

46.0300

Canada

Dollar

0.797766

35.2046

Singapore

Dollar

0.732601

32.3289

Australia

Dollar

0.781311

34.4785

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652520

117.0531

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266667

11.7677

Brunei

Dollar

0.729927

32.2109

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000077

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.030941

1.3654

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

12.0164

Euro

Euro

1.118100

49.3406

Korea

Won

0.000909

0.0401

China

Yuan

0.159413

7.0347

India

Rupee

0.016214

0.7155

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.277008

12.2241

New Zealand

Dollar

0.755572

33.3426

Taiwan

Dollar

0.031814

1.4039 Source: PDS Bridge

B3

THE economic growth under the Aquino administration over the past four-and-a-half years was not inclusive enough to uplift the condition of the poor, according to foreign investors.

“Growth is not as inclusive as it should be. If there is growth at all, then it is not felt. It is not inclusive,” the Joint Foreign Chambers said in a news briefing Tuesday during the 4th Philippine Arangkada Forum at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.

Arangkada Forum, now in its fourth year, is a joint effort of the members of JFC and local business groups.

Business groups said the country should diversify growth from

PH orders suspension of Recto Bank drilling

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

If there is growth at all, then it is not felt.

its focus on the services sector, especially the business process outsourcing and call centers.

“The Philippine government needs a more diversified economy and more open business environment,” JFC said.

The group said specific targets should be realized to support inclusive growth in the

B4

coming years, including an 8-percent acceleration of the gross domestic product; investments increasing from 19 percent to 30 percent of the GDP; foreign direct investments surging from $6 billion to $10 billion; and public sector spending in infrastructure reaching 5 percent of the GDP. “For the Philippines to make growth more inclusive, successive presidential administrations should undertake reforms that sustain and increase GDP growth.

This will require continued good governance, political will to undertake more structural reforms, better infrastructure, a fair regulatory system and better business costs,” JFC said. Othel V. Campos

SC: PEACe bond tax illegal

B5

The imposition of the duty is expected to raise the cost of imported newsprints and their users in the Philippines.

The Tariff Commission, however, gave the Trade Department the leeway to decide on the tariff adjustment and its effectivity.

Tariff Commission chairman Abon said Trade must order the adjustment within 15 to 20 days after the the body’s recommendation on February 23, 2015. But the timeframe was “directory” and not mandatory,” he said.

“The Trade Department can take its time in issuing an order,” Abon told reporters at the sidelines of the 4th Arangkada Philippines Forum at the Shangri-La Hotel in Makati City.

Trade, he added, may reduce or increase the recommended rate by the Commission but it could not reverse the body’s recommendation.

“It can modify the amount,” Abon said, adding Trade could cite public interest if the department decided to reduce the recommended safeguard duties.

The newsprint industry can also appeal the decision with the Court of Tax Appeals and to the Supreme Court.

The Tariff Commission recommended a specific P2,470 per metric ton in the form of definitive safeguard measure.

The duty came about after calculating the weighted average landed cost of imported newsprint against the weighted average domestic selling price of locally-produced newsprint in 2013, when the highest volume of imports was recorded.

PH opens auction on e-trikes suppy

WEDNESDAY: MARCH 4, 2015

B2

BUSINESS business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

MST BuSineSS Daily STockS Review Tuesday, March 3, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

2.7 75.3 99.4 105.2 63 2.3 4.2 19.6 31.6 22.5 1.01 92.9 30.5 75 99 140 392 59 146.8 1700 130 2.8

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. MEDCO Holdings Metrobank PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

42.6 6.1 1.66 2.3 17.98 113 17.2 15.8 56.8 4.57 39.5 14 12.98 8.15 12.34 17 27.1 90.5 27 0.014 15.74 9.4 0.98 199.8 10.98 5.2 45.45 30 90 14.7 317 6.49 5.37 14.48 7.5 14.5 7.03

1.55 63.5 67.5 82.5 50 1.9 1.1 14.5 23.2 6.84 0.175 69.35 20.45 58 76 119 276 41.5 105.1 1281 116 2.25

Close 4.1 69.8 110.00 98.95 46.55 2.45 2.50 16.1 26 7.99 0.510 93.6 18.36 31.95 84.00 95.30 355 46.1 162 1384.00 70.10 3.02

Low

FINANCIAL 4.2 4.1 69.85 69 112.40 110.10 99.00 98.20 46.75 46.65 2.47 2.45 2.69 2.46 16.28 16.06 25.7 25.5 8.23 8.00 0.540 0.510 94.7 93.45 18.38 18.36 32.50 32.50 84.30 82.60 95.40 95.30 359 350.6 47 46 163.8 161.3 1360.00 1332.00 70.30 69.50 3.1 3.1 INDUSTRIAL 44.8 44.2 1.86 1.84 1.11 1.09 2.02 1.99 8.31 8.11 50.1 50.1 18.82 18.8 21.05 20.6 57.5 57 1.75 1.72 13 12.92 18.880 18.68 10.98 10.82 9.13 8.92 10.60 10.46 19 18.2 30.85 29.7 103.6 102.5 14.36 14.32 0.4900 0.4800 14.80 14.80 6.79 6.66 0.610 0.610 221.00 218.40 10.38 10.26 2.57 2.57 51.00 50.60 31.6 30.8 30.4 29 8.150 8.080 281.00 277.60 4.06 4.00 4.53 4.49 10.62 10.40 4.03 4.03 10.80 10.74 3.98 3.95 2.74 2.65 5.95 5.76 6.65 6.45 207 203 1.85 1.77 0.210 0.174 1.56 1.55 2.41 2.30 218.40 215.2 4.65 4.65 0.79 0.71 23.00 23.00 1.59 1.55 HOLDING FIRMS 0.480 0.480 58.20 57.00 23.75 23.45 7.14 7.10 1.65 1.58 2.85 2.70 2.83 2.75 728 722 9.75 9.65 15.96 15.80 4.69 4.64 0.390 0.375 1275 1215 6.49 6.37 67.25 66.80 9.1 8.95 0.7 0.69 15.3 15.1 0.6 0.59 5.51 5.3 5.15 5.05 0.0420 0.0420 1.340 1.340 0.730 0.730 78.20 77.20 2.85 2.85 905.00 897.00 1.23 1.21 110.00 108.00 0.5900 0.5500 0.2750 0.2600 0.345 0.320 PROPERTY 10.100 9.960 10.00 10.00 1.06 1.04 1.350 1.290 37.00 36.65 4.46 4.34 5.12 5.05 0.97 0.95

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

4.2 69.85 111.70 98.95 46.7 2.46 2.63 16.28 25.7 8.23 0.520 93.85 18.36 32.50 84.00 95.40 358 46.15 163 1360.00 69.55 3.1

2.44 0.07 1.55 0.00 0.32 0.41 5.20 1.12 -1.15 3.00 1.96 0.27 0.00 1.72 0.00 0.10 0.85 0.11 0.62 -1.73 -0.78 2.65

41,000 46,100 1,682,220 1,327,780 23,800 378,000 311,000 14,300 76,500 86,300 1,942,000 3,262,730 132,000 200 16,200 2,160 52,560 387,000 1,032,220 125 64,330 50,000

44.4 1.86 1.1 2.02 8.12 50.1 18.8 20.9 57.5 1.75 13 18.800 10.84 8.96 10.46 18.4 30.15 102.5 14.32 0.4800 14.80 6.68 0.610 219.00 10.28 2.57 50.90 31.1 29.7 8.100 278.20 4.00 4.5 10.40 4.03 10.80 3.96 2.67 5.90 6.46 206.8 1.85 0.194 1.55 2.30 215.2 4.65 0.76 23.00 1.56

-0.67 0.54 0.00 1.00 0.12 0.20 0.00 -0.48 0.88 2.34 0.00 0.97 0.00 0.67 -0.19 -3.16 2.20 -0.87 -0.28 2.13 0.68 -0.74 0.00 0.92 -0.96 -1.15 -1.93 -1.27 -0.67 0.12 -0.64 -4.76 0.00 -0.38 0.50 0.00 0.00 0.38 1.72 -3.58 0.88 2.78 11.49 0.00 -2.95 -1.19 3.56 4.11 0.00 -1.89

2,929,400 -51,732,025.00 36,000 1,380,000 1,870,000 -69,650.00 24,700 100 342,900 -2,124,400.00 145,100 -14,665.00 3,490 8,878.00 162,000 61,600 -438,878.00 4,134,400 56,353,018.00 2,095,300 11,978,092.00 32,443,900 4,295,050.00 176,000 -152,088.00 65,300 -5,550.00 9,620,400 55,351,620.00 555,520 -48,812,903.00 3,600 -44,472.00 430,000 11,200 165,760.00 316,000 5,000 1,041,990 -12,145,320.00 1,412,600 -4,950,278.00 4,000 6,900 1,145,800 -1,302,800.00 476,300 1,290,395.00 637,700 242,085.00 398,160 -30,026,450.00 128,000 784,000 -571,410.00 4,576,000 1,680,552.00 2,000 31,200 565,000 237,000.00 551,000 676,500 2,982,825.00 42,400 103,480 20,329,382.00 651,000 -7,360.00 118,220,000 -189,840.00 33,000 10,007,000 -14,812,090.00 1,695,260 -78,906,362.00 1,000 3,584,000 278,050.00 100 124,000

0.480 57.00 23.65 7.11 1.61 2.70 2.75 724 9.72 15.88 4.68 0.385 1259 6.49 66.90 8.99 0.69 15.18 0.6 5.32 5.1 0.0420 1.340 0.730 77.30 2.85 900.00 1.22 110.00 0.5700 0.2600 0.340

0.00 -1.72 1.50 0.14 -5.85 -6.57 -2.83 -0.14 0.21 1.15 0.86 4.05 3.79 1.88 -0.15 -0.44 -1.43 0.53 0.00 -1.66 -0.97 0.00 0.75 0.00 -1.02 1.79 0.33 -0.81 1.85 3.64 -1.89 3.03

40,000 956,920 8,550,600 7,300 19,000 953,000 35,000 484,770 4,019,000 13,351,800 110,000 6,290,000 319,770 1,020,600 1,698,280 5,457,400 187,000 8,175,600 20,000 55,800,300 140,000 1,500,000 10,000 71,000 163,550 15,000 116,360 72,000 1,310 30,697,000 3,060,000 4,760,000

10.040 10.00 1.06 1.320 36.70 4.42 5.05 0.96

0.40 0.00 1.92 1.54 -0.81 -1.56 -1.37 -1.03

1,964,300 10,000 355,000 283,000 4,936,800 1,910,000 12,700 4,212,000

1,113,166.00 -14,913,885.00 42,108,310.50 14,760.00 -44,760.00 144,510.00 -1,267,915.00 54,570.00 18,568,982.50 1,187,892.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

2.51 0.201 0.98 1.09 0.370 2.25 1.77 1.6 5.3 0.180 4.45 24.8 2.06 3.6 19.62 1.02 6.66 1.96 6.5

1.21 0.068 0.47 0.87 0.175 1.22 1.18 1.19 3.12 0.070 2.5 18.72 1.45 2.9 14.1 0.58 3.05 0.87 4.37

3.25 43.7 1.09 12.46 14 0.1640 4.05 71 12.3 3.28 9 4 2008 9.04 2.02 118.9 18.4 0.017 0.0653 2.2800 6.99 9.67 2.2 4.32 1.97 2.45 14.46 0.62 1.040 22.8 6.6 2.85 107 11.3 3486 0.710 2.01 48.5 74

1.55 27 0.59 10 8.28 0.0960 2.97 44.8 10.14 1.99 4 2.58 1580 7.12 1.2 94.4 5 0.012 0.026 1.560 1.95 5.82 1.1 1.9 0.485 1.42 10.14 0.35 0.36 14.54 5.2 1.85 81 4.39 2572 0.250 0.26 32.2 48

Close

City & Land Dev. Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Primex Corp.

Robinson’s Land `B’ Rockwell Shang Properties Inc. SM Prime Holdings Sta. Lucia Land Inc. Starmalls Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. Vista Land & Lifescapes

High

Low

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

1.14 0.145 0.460 0.900 0.223 1.71 1.71 1.35 5.56 0.127 6.92 28.80 1.75 3.20 19.60 0.89 7.27 1.040 7.150

1.23 1.23 1.23 0.149 0.146 0.147 0.510 0.460 0.470 0.910 0.900 0.900 0.234 0.223 0.223 1.66 1.62 1.64 1.70 1.67 1.68 1.36 1.36 1.36 5.6 5.48 5.54 0.133 0.123 0.127 7.5 7 7.5 29.30 28.65 29.00 1.77 1.76 1.76 3.20 3.19 3.20 19.86 19.54 19.60 0.92 0.89 0.9 7.27 7.27 7.27 1.070 1.020 1.040 7.180 7.090 7.150 SERVICES 7.8 8.1 7.32 7.95 64 65 64 64.8 0.700 0.710 0.690 0.700 12.52 12.72 12.5 12.72 10.60 10.80 10.38 10.38 0.1110 0.1130 0.1110 0.1110 4.2 4.38 4.08 4.25 90 90.1 87.45 87.45 10.46 10.68 10.46 10.68 1.75 1.8 1.77 1.78 5.90 6.25 6.05 6.25 2.80 3.12 3.02 3.12 1930 1935 1917 1933 6.30 6.33 6.30 6.32 1.62 1.69 1.62 1.66 114 114 112.2 112.6 4.01 4.01 4.01 4.01 0.014 0.015 0.014 0.015 0.280 0.285 0.275 0.280 1.3800 1.4200 1.3500 1.3800 2.8 2.91 2.8 2.8 9.39 9.40 9.21 9.21 1.64 1.65 1.55 1.64 2.27 2.27 2.27 2.27 0.710 0.710 0.700 0.700 2.01 2.02 2.02 2.02 10.38 10.46 10.26 10.26 0.365 0.370 0.355 0.370 0.510 0.530 0.510 0.530 18 18.48 18 18 4.70 4.80 4.60 4.80 3.23 3.18 3.18 3.18 97.00 97.00 96.50 96.55 13.66 13.68 13.40 13.66 3100.00 3130.00 3086.00 3098.00 0.590 0.590 0.580 0.590 1.650 1.690 1.650 1.670 39.35 40.45 39.25 40.45 87.00 86.70 83.50 83.60 10.00 10.18 9.95 9.95 0.70 0.71 0.70 0.70 7.01 7.1 7 7 0.380 0.390 0.365 0.375 1.370 1.350 1.340 1.350 MINING & OIL 0.0053 0.0054 0.0053 0.0053 2.92 3.00 2.86 3.00 9.98 9.99 9.83 9.84 0.265 0.265 0.260 0.265 7.7000 7.12 7.12 7.1200 7.0100 7.1 7.1 7.1000 1.05 1.09 1.04 1.06 0.9 0.9 0.88 0.89 7.60 8.00 7.60 7.71 2.87 2.98 2.92 2.95 0.360 0.360 0.350 0.360 0.260 0.260 0.255 0.260 0.265 0.265 0.255 0.260 0.0150 0.0150 0.0140 0.0150 0.0150 0.0160 0.0160 0.0160 5.94 6.08 5.91 5.94 29.4 29.65 28.65 28.65 3.29 3.37 3.29 3.3 0.7300 0.7500 0.7300 0.7400 2.370 2.420 2.300 2.390 0.0140 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.0140 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 5.86 5.86 5.70 5.70 8.25 8.25 8.12 8.16 4.61 4.56 4.1 4.3 0.016 0.016 0.015 0.016 159.50 164.20 160.00 163.70 4.35 4.75 4.41 4.55 0.0110 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 PREFERRED 68 68.25 67.55 68 509 510 509 510 110 111 110 111 500.5 503 500 500 6.19 6.33 6.29 6.33 1.04 1.03 1.03 1.03 106 106 106 106 1033 1034 1034 1034 76 76.1 75.6 76.1 81.55 82 81.6 82 1.8 1.8 1.8 1.8 WARRANTS & BONDS 4.000 4.250 4.000 4.000 SME 7.86 8.17 7.87 7.92 68.95 68.8 64 68.8 10.96 11.32 11.02 11.08 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 126 126.2 125.8 126

7.89 1.38 2.17 0.00 0.00 -4.09 -1.75 0.74 -0.36 0.00 8.38 0.69 0.57 0.00 0.00 1.12 0.00 0.00 0.00

25,000 23,850,000 -8,820.00 7,220,000 442,000.00 540,000 -268,450.00 110,000 8,829,000 -10,991,940.00 40,770,000 -19,858,520.00 56,000 40,822,400 -33,506,894.00 13,650,000 6,525,300 -2,052,195.00 2,909,300 50,232,040.00 24,000 -5,310.00 22,000 9,782,400 27,559,374.00 124,435,000 67,160.00 1,000 157,000 4,840,400 -20,497,675.00

1.92 1.25 0.00 1.60 -2.08 0.00 1.19 -2.83 2.10 1.71 5.93 11.43 0.16 0.32 2.47 -1.23 0.00 7.14 0.00 0.00 0.00 -1.92 0.00 0.00 -1.41 0.50 -1.16 1.37 3.92 0.00 2.13 -1.55 -0.46 0.00 -0.06 0.00 1.21 2.80 -3.91 -0.50 0.00 -0.14 -1.32 -1.46

934,700 73,770 326,000 13,500 17,569,200 5,280,000 1,605,000 850,420 6,300 104,000 194,000 16,000 75,045 63,400 4,179,000 1,213,580 1,000 122,700,000 32,530,000 287,000 91,000 417,200 149,000 5,000 254,000 11,000 1,467,600 820,000 254,000 128,500 20,000 3,000 1,970 267,400 384,785 2,574,000 6,589,000 4,999,900 505,150 825,800 181,000 187,300 530,000 77,000

0.00 2.74 -1.40 0.00 -7.53 1.28 0.95 -1.11 1.45 2.79 0.00 0.00 -1.89 0.00 6.67 0.00 -2.55 0.30 1.37 0.84 -7.14 7.14 -2.73 -1.09 -6.72 0.00 2.63 4.60 0.00

380,000,000 -106,000.00 104,000 -132,000.00 225,400 319,184.00 470,000 -2,600.00 35,000 30,700 551,000 11,680.00 186,000 18,900 17,068,000 -2,012,280.00 150,000 6,640,000 3,130,000 -255,200.00 46,400,000 7,700,000 2,793,900 -3,602,950.00 2,784,600 -33,265,810.00 4,006,000 1,247,720.00 723,000 1,330,000 401,170.00 23,200,000 1,000,000 13,800 1,071,100 -1,534,389.00 284,000 26,200.00 29,000,000 15,000.00 1,150,370 23,595,375.00 1,916,000 291,780.00 13,800,000 1,100.00

0.00 0.20 0.91 -0.10 2.26 -0.96 0.00 0.10 0.13 0.55 0.00

149,850 20,230 27,980 4,740 2,200 968,000 14,500 600 248,970 37,110 1,000

3,311,449.00

0.00

1,178,000

20,320.00

0.76 -0.22 1.09

2,197,500 1,430 2,244,000

-516,240.00

0.00

3,780

12,610.00

MST Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Bogo Medelin Century Food Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI Federal Res. Inv. Group First Gen Corp.

First Holdings ‘A’ Ginebra San Miguel Inc. Greenergy Holcim Philippines Inc. Integ. Micro-Electronics Ionics Inc Jollibee Foods Corp.

Lafarge Rep LMG Chemicals Macay Holdings Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Phoenix Semiconductor 4.88 RFM Corporation 2.28 Roxas Holdings 210 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 1.7 Splash Corporation 0.102 Swift Foods, Inc. 1.6 TKC Steel Corp.

1.37 Trans-Asia Oil 111.3 Universal Robina 1.58 Victorias Milling 0.550 Vitarich Corp.

9.01 Vivant Corp.

1.33 Vulcan Ind’l.

44.7 1.85 1.1 2 8.11 50 18.8 21 57 1.71 13 18.620 10.84 8.90 10.48 19 29.5 103.4 14.36 0.4700 14.70 6.73 0.610 217.00 10.38 2.6 51.90 31.5 29.9 8.090 280.00 4.20 4.5 10.44 4.01 10.80 3.96 2.66 5.80 6.7 205 1.8 0.174 1.55 2.37 217.8 4.49 0.73 23.00 1.59

0.7 61.6 31.85 7.39 2.7 3.29 2.05 747 11.34 84 5.34 0.23 1060 7.1 59.8 6.55 0.9 19.9 0.75 5.4 5.35 0.0550 2.31 0.84 88 3.5 866 2.2 156 0.285 0.245 0.510

0.46 45.75 21.95 6.3 1.550 1.8 1.04 508 7.470 47.25 4 0.144 706 5.3 36.7 3.95 0.58 12.96 0.580 4.06 4.5 0.027 1.23 0.355 54.5 1.5 680 1.04 58.05 0.158 0.150 0.295

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anscor `A’ Asia Amalgamated A ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Minerales Industrias Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion San Miguel Corp `A’ Seafront `A’ SM Investments Inc. Solid Group Inc. Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.480 58.00 23.30 7.10 1.71 2.89 2.83 725 9.7 15.70 4.64 0.370 1213 6.37 67.00 9.03 0.7 15.1 0.6 5.41 5.15 0.0420 1.330 0.730 78.10 2.80 897.00 1.23 108.00 0.5500 0.2650 0.330

9.03 26.95 1.99 2.07 35.3 6.15 6.1 2

5.51 12 0.99 1 23.7 4.41 5 1.22

8990 HLDG 10.000 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 10.00 A. Brown Co., Inc. 1.04 Araneta Prop `A’ 1.300 Ayala Land `B’ 37.00 Belle Corp. `A’ 4.49 Cebu Holdings 5.12 Century Property 0.97

6.68 8.1 275 2.25 0.191 2.5 2.68 188.6 5.5 1.3 26 2.17

High

31.75 2.51 0.88 1.25 9.58 40.2 14.6 9.82 21.5 0.82 17.3 5.98 9.05 4.25 8.68 8.61 12.2 48.9 16 0.0097 12.8 2.05 0.32 150.8 8.55 2.8 16 20.35 12 10.1 246 3.37 4 11.56 5 9.94 4.33

Trading Summary FINANCIAL INDUSTRIAL HOLDING FIRMS PROPERTY SERVICES MINING & OIL GRAND TOTAL

SHARES 10,930,575 204,060,865 148,418,857 304,264,355 215,584,405 546,161,920 1,433,867,746

-450,169.00 41,022.00 -8,934,678.00 -5,042,415.00 62,633,092.00 1,005,100.00

2,482,581.50 -45,723,335.00

19,676,500.00 -2,935,180.00 91,164,400.00

203,288,310.00 -6,375,733.00 12,834,497.00 5,511,134.00

-14,117,882.00 -37,725,929.00

51,830.00 -3,300,247.50

24,445,090.00

-31,320.00 115,000.00 320,000.00 982,002.00 -57,140.00 -32,519,670.00 6,027,250.00

0.87 11.46 0.435 1.6

2GO Group’ ABS-CBN APC Group, Inc. Asian Terminals Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp.

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) Centro Esc. Univ.

Discovery World DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones Leisure & Resorts Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown MG Holdings NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Paxys Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons RTL SSI Group 0.59 STI Holdings 7.78 Travellers 0.305 Waterfront Phils.

1.04 Yehey

0.0086 5.45 17.24 0.325 12.8 12.7 1.2 1.73 10.98

0.0028 1.72 11.48 0.225 6.2 6 0.5 0.76 4.93

0.46 0.455 0.730 0.024 0.026 8.2 48.85 3.35 1.030 3.06 0.021 0.023 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.042 420 9 0.016

0.385 0.3000 0.2950 0.012 0.014 1.960 14.22 1.47 0.220 1.24 0.016 0.017 4.02 7.8 6.5 0.031 123 4.3 0.0087

44.1 60 116 511 9.04 9.67

26.3 30 102 480 6.76 5.82

77.3 81.85 1.34

74.2 75 1

2.42

0.0010 LR Warrant

10.96 35

2.4 7.74

Double Dragon IRipple E-Business Intl Xurpas

119.6

94

First Metro ETF

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Basic Energy Corp.

Benguet Corp `A’ Benguet Corp `B’ Century Peak Metals Hldgs Coal Asia Dizon Ferronickel Geograce Res. Phil. Inc. Lepanto `A’ Lepanto `B’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `A’ Oriental Pet. `B’ Petroenergy Res. Corp.

Philex `A’ PhilexPetroleum Philodrill Corp. `A’ Semirara Corp.

TA Petroleum United Paragon ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure and Resort MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred B SMC Preferred A SMC Preferred C Swift Pref

167,500.00 -148,533,530.00 -27,255,529.50

25,414,780.00

-166,000.00 2,945,195.00

-18,200.00

82,500.00

6,054,822.00 -49,700.00

-9,540.00 178,581.50 -209,250.00 82,955,280.00

-2,205,790.00 -91,460,105.00 -33,863,216.00 314,788.00 800,100.00

-1,081,000.00

82,400.00 -760,500.00

-422,540.00

1,273,690.00

T op g ainerS VALUE 849,646,967.36 1,874,653,339.325 2,032,499,794.84 1,120,824,858.44 2,266,157,424.97 382,419,745.25 8,569,472,480.987

137,312.00

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,781.97 (UP) 8.74 INDUSTRIAL 12,859.52 (DOWN) 22.27 HOLDING FIRMS 6,845.82 (UP) 13.25 PROPERTY 3,082.72 (DOWN) 13.22 SERVICES 2,198.14 (DOWN) 10.77 MINING & OIL 16,572.20 (UP) 24.21 PSEI 7,776.51 (UP) 2.59 All Shares Index 4,525.07 (UP) 0.28 Gainers: 102; Losers: 68; Unchanged: 50; Total: 220

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Swift Foods, Inc.

0.194

11.49

Benguet Corp `A'

7.1200

-7.53

Easy Call "Common"

3.12

11.43

Oriental Pet. `A'

0.0130

-7.14

Primex Corp.

7.5

8.38

PhilexPetroleum

4.3

-6.72

City & Land Dev.

1.23

7.89

ATN Holdings A

2.70

-6.57

Oriental Pet. `B'

0.0150

7.14

Asia Amalgamated A

1.61

-5.85

IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

0.015

7.14

Panasonic Mfg Phil. Corp.

4.00

-4.76

Manila Mining `B'

0.0160

6.67

Global-Estate

1.64

-4.09

DFNN Inc.

6.25

5.93

Robinsons RTL

83.60

-3.91

Bright Kindle Resources

2.63

5.20

Roxas Holdings

6.46

-3.58

TA Petroleum

4.55

4.60

Federal Res. Inv. Group

18.4

-3.16

WEDNESDAY: MARCH 4, 2015

B3

BUSINESS business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

PH orders suspension of Recto Bank drilling

By Alena Mae S. Flores

FORUM Energy Plc of the UK, controlled

by Philex Petroleum Corp., said Tuesday the government declared a force majeure on service contract 72 (Recto Bank) in West Philippine Sea because of the territorial dispute with China.

Forum, which already spent around P1 billion for pre-development activities in SC 72, said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange the Energy Department declared a force majeure on SC 72 “as this contract area fails within the territorial disputed area of the West Philippine Sea which is the subject of the United Nations Arbitration process between the

Philippines and China.”

A force majeure is declared because of risks beyond the control of a party in a contract. This effectively suspends the contract for a particular period and frees the parties involved from liability or obligation.

“Under the terms of the force majeure, all exploration work at SC 72 is immediately suspended

[effective from December 2014] until the DoE notifies the company that it may commence drilling. As a result, the second sub-phase of SC 72 has been put on hold until further notice,” Forum said.

Forum spent P1 billion for preparatory activities in SC 72, Philex Petroleum chairman Manuel Pangilinan told reporters.

Pangilinan said Forum was asked “not to engage in any activity” in SC 72 and “we understand the arbitration case filed against China is still pending.” “[I] Don’t think anything will happen this year, at the earliest 2016,” Pangilinan said. He said the declaration of force majeure would allow for an automatic extension of the work program.

Forum Energy has not yet con-

ducted a seismic study over the gas and oil-rich area, but its service contract is set to expire in 2016.

Pangilinan said despite the force majeure declaration, Philex was bullish on other oil and gas prospects in the country. He said the company might look at other areas owned by Philex Petroleum and Pitkin Petroleum Plc. Philex Petroleum holds a 60.45-percent direct and indirect interest in Forum Energy, which in turn owns a 70-percent operating interest in SC 72. The Energy Department earlier extended Forum’s exploration license by another year or until August 2016.

Pangilinan said China would not likely surrender its claim. “I don’t think China will give up its claim on sovereignty,” he said.

Seal of approval. Ambuklao and Binga hydroelectric power plants, owned and operated by SN Aboitiz Power-Benguet Inc., received

the ‘Official Seal of Approval’ for consistent environmental excellence from the Environment Department. The SNAP-Benguet team, represented by chief finance officer Eleanor Blomdahl, chief technology officer Kjell Valdal, assistant vice president and plant manager Manny Lopez, safety manager Hollis Fernandez, safety officers Jess Palma and Cliff Dailay, environmental officer KT Teodoro and nurse/health officer Jason Paneda received the award from Environment Undersecretary Jonas Leones and Philippine Environment Partnership Program head Consolacion Manila Crisostomo in a ceremony in Quezon City on Feb. 18, 2015.

Standard

Alveo launching P40-b projects

By Jenniffer B. Austria ALVEO Land Inc., the high-end residential arm of Ayala Land Inc., on Tuesday unveiled a plan to launch P40 billion worth of residential and office building projects this year.

Alveo Land president Robert Lao said in a news briefing the company was preparing to launch six projects with total sales of P25 billion in the first half.

These projects include the Stiles Tower, an office development in Circuit City in Sta. Ana, Makati; High Park Tower 2 in Vertis North Quezon City; The Veranda East Tower in Arca South Taguig City; Park Triangle Residences in Bonifacio Global City; and two horizontal developments in Nuvali and Pampanga.

Lao said given the company’s aggressive launches this year, Alveo Land’s reservation sales were also expected to increase to P40 billion from P36 billion in 2014.

He said over the next three years, Alveo Land’s reservation sales would grow 20 percent annu-

ally amid the positive outlook on the domestic economy.

“We have a growing middle class exercising their spending power, boosted by higher consumer confidence, so we are sharpening our focus on providing genuine consumer-relevant, real estate innovations that will truly make a mark in the industry,” Lao said.

Alveo Land posted an impressive 21 percent average growth rate over the past three years, primarily from sales of vertical developments.

It said this year, the office sector was expected to account for 33 percent of total sales, up from 20 percent in 2014 as the company planned to launch more office for sale projects.

The share of horizontal developments in total sales this year is also expected to go up to 22 percent from 15 percent in 2014 while the share of vertical developments to total sales is projected to reach 55 percent from 65 percent in 2014.

Alveo Land launched nine new projects with total sales value of P33 billion in 2014.

TODAY

Market advances; First Gen, GT climb STOCKS rose slightly Tuesday, led by banks and retailers, which reported moderate growth in net income last year, following a strong lead from Wall Street.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, gained 2 points, to close at 7,776.51. It was up 7.6 percent since the start of the year.

The heavier index, representing all shares, barely moved at 4,525.07 on a value turnover of P8.5 billion. Gainers led losers, 102 to 68, while 50 issues were unchanged.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the most active stock, shed 0.1 percent to P3,096, after reporting that 2014 profit sank 4 percent to P34.1 billion.

GT Capital Holdings Inc., the investment company of tycoon George Ty, emerged as the biggest gainer among the 20 most active stocks, as it advanced 3.9 percent to P1,260.

Power producer First Gen Corp. rose 2.7 percent to P30.30, while coal miner Semirara Mining Corp. added 2.6 percent to close at P163.70.

Retailer Puregold Price Club Inc. climbed 2.5 percent to P40.35 while BDO Unibank Inc., the largest lender, gained 1.6 percent to P111.80. Security Bank Corp. rose 0.9 percent to P163.40 while Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. gained 0.4 percent to P93.95.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks were mixed Tuesday. Shanghai lost 1 percent after rallying Monday in response to the Chinese central bank’s weekend interest rate cut, while Hong Kong pared an initial advance to sit virtually unchanged.

Tokyo closed flat, slipping 0.06 percent, or 11.72 points, to 18,815.16.

Sydney, which ended Monday at a seven-year high, fell 0.42 percent, or 24.98 points, to 5,933.90 after the Australia central bank kept interest rates on hold, confounding expectations for a cut to another record low. With AFP

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SC: PEACe bond tax illegal Inflation near the bottom, says ING

By Julito G. Rada A BANK economist said Tuesday Philippine inflation is in a bottoming out process or near the base.

Joey Cuyegkeng, senior economist of ING Bank Manila, said in a report power outages during the dry season which starts this month meant higher power costs.

“The economy is slowly feeling the effects of the dry season with hotter days likely ahead.

Oil prices for Asia seems to have bottomed out, especially as the floor of Dubai oil prices have been suggested at higher than the January average of $46/bl and closer to the February average of $56/bl,” Cuyegkeng said.

“Dubai crude oil price is Asia’s benchmark oil price which has been set higher last month by oil producing countries in the Middle East. With a steadily higher oil demand for Asia, Dubai oil prices may have also started the process of bottoming out. Unless another major downward price movement for oil happens, Philippine inflation may be in a long bottoming out process,” Cuyegkeng said.

He said power outages in Luzon might raise power costs during the dry season, while increases in tariffs of other utilities and wage pressures could offset some of the downward pressures from easing port congestion and more favorable food prices.

By Julito G. Rada

THE Supreme Court ordered the government to return the P4.86-billion tax it withheld from the interest earnings of eight banks that bought the 10-year zero-coupon government bonds that matured in 2011.

Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. said in a disclosure to the stock exchange the high tribunal granted the petition of eight banks to recover the 20-percent tax withheld by the Bureau of Treasury and Bureau of Internal Revenue on the P24.3billion interest earned from the Poverty Eradication and Alleviation Certificates, or PEACe bonds.

Metrobank said it received a copy of the Supreme Court decision dated Jan. 23, which granted the banks’ petition to nullify BIR Ruling No. 37-2011 that collected

the 20-percent tax on interest earned from PEACe bonds.

Metrobank said the high tribunal also reprimanded the Bureau of Treasury for its continued retention of the amount corresponding to the 20-percent final withholding tax despite the court’s earlier temporary restraining order.

It also ordered the Treasury to immediately release and pay to the banks the amount corresponding to the 20-percent final withholding tax that was with-

held on Oct. 18, 2011.

The court’s decision is not yet final.

Aside from Metrobank, other petitioners were BDO Unibank Inc., Bank of Commerce, China Banking Corp., Philippine Bank of Communications, Philippine National Bank, Philippine Veterans Bank and Planters Development Bank.

Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., RCBC Capital Corp. and Caucus of Development NGO Networks were also petitioner-intervenors.

The banks filed the case against the government, the BIR commissioner, the secretary of Finance, the National Treasurer and the Bureau of Treasury.

A consortium of eight banks on Oct. 17, 2011 filed a petition for certiorari, prohibition and/or mandamus (with urgent application for a temporary restraining

order and/or writ of preliminary Injunction) with the Supreme Court to annul BIR Ruling No. 370-2011 which imposed the 20-percent final withholding tax on the 10-year zero-coupon government bonds.

The petitioners also asked the respondents to pay the full amount of the face value of the PEACe bonds.

Metrobank said on Oct. 18, 2011, the Supreme Court issued the TRO enjoining the implementation of the BIR ruling on the condition that the 20-percent final withholding tax be withheld by the petitioner banks and placed in escrow pending resolution of the petition.

“Despite the TRO, the BIR still withheld the 20-percent final tax corresponding to the interest earned on the PEACe bonds,” Metrobank said.

IC turns 66.

Sen. Cynthia Villar (second from left) leads the celebration for the 66th anniversary of the Insurance Commission with the theme, ‘Alleviating Poverty through Inclusive Insurance Protection.’ Villar thanked the people behind the Insurance Commission for serving poor people through microinsurance. With Villar are (from left) IC deputy commissioner Ferdinand George Florendo; IC Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc; and IC deputy commissioners Dorothy Calimag, Vida Chiong and Dennis Antonio Funa.

St. Agustine gets environment clearance on King-king mine

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales ST. AUGUSTINE Gold and Copper Ltd., a Washington-based listed company in Toronto, Canada, received an environmental compliance certificate for its King-king copper gold project in Pantukan, Compostella Valley, the company said Tuesday.

St. Augustine said in a statement posted on its Web site it obtained approval for its environmental impact statement from the Environmental Management Bureau.

“In connection with the EIS approval, the EMB has issued

King-king’s ECC,” St. Augustine said.

St. Augustine is the developer of the $2-billion mining project while local partner Nationwide Development Corp. holds the mineral production sharing agreement over the Kingking prospect.

“The approval of the EIS is a key milestone for the project on a number of levels. First, we have achieved a critical step in de-risking the project. The approved EIS demonstrates our commitment to international environmental and social best practices,” said St. Augustine

The approval of the EIS is a key milestone for the project...

president and chief executive Paolo Villar.

“Furthermore, it is a testament of the support for development of King-king from the Philippine government, both at the local and national levels,” he said.

“The ECC is critical to the ad-

vancement of the King-king project and is required for the final submission and subsequent approval of the Declaration of Mining Project Feasibility, the Philippine’s mine permit. Receipt of the DMPF will enable construction to commence at King-king,” Villar added.

Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo Jasareno said the government was evaluating the company’s DMPF. Earlier, Jasareno said the government suspended the evaluation of the company’s DMPF amid a corporate dispute.

Two groups are contesting the

management of Nadecor, including the Calalang group and the Ricafort faction.

Corazon Ricafort and her children claimed they were deprived of their right to vote during the annual stockholders’ meeting on Aug. 15, 2011.

Conrado Calalang, however, said Corazon Ricafort’s husband was present during the meeting and signed the attendance sheet on their behalf.

The Court of Appeals last month ruled that the Aug. 15, 2011 election of the Calalang Group to the board of directors of Nadecor was valid.

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 5

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BUSINESS business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

Top Mandaluyong taxpayer.

The Hubris Syndrome FOR some reason, we are reminded of our Greek mythology lessons and the way characters fell (from grace, from power) due to “hubris.” We don’t know why, but we suddenly have this urge to gift certain residents in Malacañang books all about hubris and how it can delude a person into thinking he can do no wrong. A quick search on the word’s definition would easily show that “hubris” is characterized by extreme pride and arrogance usually by those in positions of power, who believe they have a monopoly on what is right or good. As one definition goes, it’s a character flaw wherein the person afflicted with it overrates his talents, his skills and capabilities to the point that he loses sight of reality.

More often than not, hubris is associated with the powersthat-be and how this can blind them and make them lose sight of reality. We came across a very interesting November 2013 article titled “Dangerous link between power and hubris in politics” by neurologist Dr. Peter Garrard and published online at The Conversation (http://theconversation.com/dangerous-link-betweenpower-and-hubris-in-politics-20169), he talked about the dark side of power and how it can change the mindset of people who hold it, the risk of cognitive distortions increasing as power becomes greater, and the consequences that happen as contact with reality is lost.

“There is, however, a dark side to power, which derives from its mind-changing effects on the people who hold it: the reluctance of subordinates to criticize or question leading to contempt for the views of others; successful outcomes of bold decisions blurring the boundaries between judgement and recklessness; personal status within an organization generalizing into a belief in ‘special qualities.’

“The greater the power, the greater the risk of these cognitive distortions taking hold and the worse the devastation when things go wrong, as they surely must when contact with reality is lost.

“An increasingly popular way of describing this pattern of behavior is by using the term hubris. In ancient Greece, where it was a legal term, hubris denoted the equivalent of grievous bodily harm; in modern English hubris has come to refer to recklessness and overconfidence among those who wield power in financial or political arenas—particularly when it leads to spectacular or disastrous errors of judgment,” Dr. Garrard wrote, providing examples of businessmen and politicians whose hubris resulted in disastrous consequences.

But what really got our attention was the article’s discussion on the “Hubris Syndrome” as theorized by British politician, neurologist and author Lord David Owen, wherein the acquisition of power by a “susceptible individual” can induce a unique pattern of behavioral traits and expressed beliefs which point to a distinct personality disorder known as the “Hubris Syndrome.”

According to Dr. Garrard’s article, Owens examined the personal, medical and political histories of several leaders from the US and the UK and identified common features that could be considered as diagnostic criteria. “The features included not only the narcissistic and antisocial tendencies already identified [exaggerated self-belief; contempt for others; an insatiable appetite for self-glorification] but also novel behaviors, such as a tendency to refer to themselves in the third person, to use the royal ‘we,’ to identify themselves with the nation and to take decisions in an increasingly impulsive fashion,” Dr. Garrard elaborated, sharing the “candidates” identified by Owen which included a US president and three British leaders.

The author then posits three questions, the last of which asks if hubris can be controlled. It’s the most difficult to answer, he admits.

“A comforting truth is that democratic elections and government by cabinet with collective responsibility have immunized many modern nation states against the excesses of individuals whose authority is or becomes inalienable. But hubristic leadership in organizations where no such checks and balances exist can have devastating consequences,” he says, ending his piece with a reference to the story of Daedalus who devised wings that could help him and his son Icarus escape from his prison in Crete.

Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun—a warning that was ignored as Icarus felt enormous exhilaration as he soared, with disastrous consequences.

So, hubris? Our friends who know their Bible quoted Proverbs 16:18. “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit comes before a fall.”

••• For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns, readers may email to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com. You may also visit and like our Facebook page https://www.facebook. com/happyhourmanilastandard. We’d be very happy to hear from you. Cheers!

SM Supermalls president Annie Garcia (center) and SM Megamall assistant vice president Christian Mathay (right) receive the Top Taxpayer Award from Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin Abalos Jr. SM Megamall, the largest mall in the country, received theaward in ceremonies held at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club.

The award is given in recognition to SM Megamall as being a key partner in the city’s continuous development.

Through its taxes, the mall is able to help the whole city in order to create more jobs, businesses, and other vital opportunities that uplift the city’s economic growth.

PH opens auction on e-trikes suppy

By Alena Mae S. Flores

THE Energy Department has opened the bidding for the supply and delivery of 3,000 units of energy efficient electric tricycles (e-trike).

“We are inviting interested bidders to join the renewed bidding process for the benefit not only of the electric transport industry, but of the ordinary Filipino citizens and tricycle drivers to enjoy an alternative mode of public transport,” Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos said Tuesday.

The Asian Development Bankfunded project, under the Market Transformation through the Introduction of Energy-Efficient Electric Vehicles Project, is targeting local government units nationwide with an initial rollout of 3,000 units in the National Capital Region and the provinces in Region IV. The E-Trike project aims to promote sustainable transport, address the increasing carbon emissions in major cities, and reduce oil dependence of the local transport sector.

The project also plans to transform the public tricycle sector and jump-start a new industry in the transport sector.

The Energy Department has made the bid documents available since February 26, 2015.

The department set the pre-bid conference on March 11, and the

closing date and opening of bids on April 14.

The government is pursuing the $300-million program in cooperation with the ADB to replace replace 100,000 gasoline-fed trikes around the country by 2016.

Electric vehicles such as e-trikes are highly efficient, using up to 75 percent of their energy to power the vehicle against only 20 percent for most internal combustion engines.

The e-trike produces no noise and zero tailpipe emissions and

can be charged at night during off-peak electricity hours.

A Japanese company in early February completed an assembly plant in Carmona, Cavite and was preparing to start mass production of three-wheeled electric vehicles that will replace traditional tricycles.

Bemac Electric Trans-portation Philippines Inc., formerly known as BEET Philippines, said the assembly line for electric vehicles was in place and ready for mass production.

Govt set to introduce 2-tier budgeting in ’16

By Jennifer Ambanta THE Budget Department said Tuesday it will implement the two-tier budgeting approach in preparing the 2016 budget.

The budgeting mode will introduce separate reviews for on-going or approved programs against new or expanded ones to give better focus on each type of program.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the administration was building on the strengths of previous budgetary reforms to create a responsive appropriations act.

“And more than deepening the budget reforms, we are aiming to make these reforms an integral part of the national budget process,” Abad said.

The 2016 budget preparation will also aim for a lesser number and magnitude of Special Purpose Funds by incorporating these lump sums into the agency

budgets.

With the release of the 2016 budget call, the government plans to sustain the momentum of reforms amid a program on good governance, anti-corruption and disaster risk adaptation in government bureaucracy The budget call prescribes specific guidelines and procedures for government agencies and departments as well as government-owned and -controlled corporations on their budget proposal documents.

The national government wants agencies and departments to focus on the disaggregation of lump sum funds in the agency budget; total resource budget; use of performance-based approaches; provision of strategic support for Private-Public Partnership projects and activities; and program or horizontal/convergence budgeting

WEDNESDAY: MARCH 4, 2015

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BUSINESS business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

PLDT’s profit dips 4% to P34b

By Alena Mae S. Flores

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. said Tuesday net income in 2014 fell 4 percent to P34.1 billion from P35.4 billion in 2013 because of higher expenses and competition from social media and free messaging applications.

Shopping haven.

Property developer Robinsons Land Corp. welcomed a new member to its commercial centers portfolio with the opening of its 38th mall, Robinsons Place Antipolo at the junction of Sumulong Highway and Circumferential Road. The two-level shopping mall is the only full service mall in Rizal and is part of a 16-hectare mixed-use complex owned by RLC. Shown cutting the ribbon are (from left) Robinsons Malls general manager Arlene Magtibay, RLC celebrity endorser Maja Salvador, RLC president Frederick Go, Antipolo City mayor Casimiro Ynares III, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. president and chief operating officer Robina Gokongwei-Pe, Chiqui Roa-Puno and husband Antipolo City First District representative Roberto Puno and Mutya ng Pilipinas – Asia Pacific International 2014 Eva Patalinjug.

Companies see low inflation until June

By Julito G. Rada COMPANIES expect the inflation rate to remain low in the first half of the year, settling within the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent, according to a survey conducted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Results of the business expectations survey showed that more respondents expected inflation to decrease in the current quarter.

“Businesses expected that the rate of increase in commodity prices is likely to remain low and within the 2 to 4 percent target range in 2015, at 3.9 percent for

both Q1 and Q2 2015 compared to 4.3 percent in the previous quarter’s survey results,” it said.

Bangko Sentral said the findings were consistent with the results of the January 2015 survey of private sector economists which yielded lower mean inflation forecasts for 2015.

Bangko Sentral set an inflation rate target of 2 percent to 4 percent for 2015 until 2018. These targets were lower than the 2014 goal of 3 percent to 5 percent.

Last year, inflation averaged at 4.1 percent, slightly above the mid-point of target range of 3 to 5 percent in 2014.

Inflation rate decelerated to 2.4

percent in January from 2.7 percent in December last year. It was also slower than the 4.2 percent in January 2014 and the slowest since the 2.1 percent in August 2013.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said inflation likely accelerated in February from a month ago, due to higher electricity and water rates coupled with the rebound in the prices of oil in the world market.

Tetangco said February inflation likely settled within the range of 2.2 percent to 3 percent, as the higher cost of power and water as well as the recovery in oil prices implied some upward

inflation pressures.

Crude prices fell by almost 50 percent in 2014 to less than $50 a barrel, after the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries moved to defend market share amid a global glut. Local pump prices also dropped, translating to lower transport fares and cheaper electricity rates.

Power distributor Manila Electric Co. hiked electricity rates by P0.84 per kilowatt-hour in February, translating into an increase of P168 for small households consuming 200 kWh per month.

The higher power rates in February came after three consecutive months of price reduction.

PLDT said consolidated core net income, before exceptional items, also dropped 3 percent to P37.4 billion last year from P38.7 billion recorded in 2013. It said the decline was due to higher cash operating expenses, product subsidies and income taxes.

Consolidated service revenues grew 1 percent to P165.1 billion in 2014, as revenues from the data and broadband and domestic voice businesses offset the declines in SMS or text messaging revenues and the international and national long distance streams.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization margin stood at 47 percent. Consolidated Ebitda fell 1 percent to P76.9 billion as the increase in service revenues was offset by higher cash operating expenses and subsidies.

“Our 2014 performance reflects the combined effect of the intense domestic competitive situation and the changing global landscape – where OTT [over-the-top] players are disintermediating the traditional telcos, and data services and social media are overtaking legacy services,” PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan said.

“Taking these into consideration as we chart our future growth, PLDT recognizes the need to complement its present business by participating in the digital world beyond providing access and connectivity,” Pangilinan said.

French group cites Albay green program LEGAZPI CITY—French President Francois Hollande and his entourage were impressed by Albay’s green economy, a pioneering economic program on sustainable development and poverty alleviation hinged on environment protection.

Albay Govenor Joey Salceda presented the program, along with the province’s climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction strategies during a state dinner tendered by President Aquino at Malacañang Palace on Feb. 26.

The French president visited the Philippines on Feb. 26 and 27 to drum up support for action on climate change, ahead of his country’s hosting of the 21st Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or COP 21 in Paris

in December this year.

Salceda listed the gains Albay’s green economy as zero casualty during disasters in 18 to 20 years, increased forest cover by 88 percent in seven years, expansion in mangrove areas from 700 hectares to 2,400 hectares and increase in rice production.

He said despite weather disturbances, the province’s rice harvest increased from 147,291 metric tons in 2008 to 200,088 metric tons in 2013 through proper use of water resources.

Other gains achieved by Albay are the 250 megawatts of geothermal projects, with another 650 MW potential projects, investments in environment and enhanced ecotourism which increased foreign tourists inflow from 8,700 in 2006 to 339,000 in 2013.

Muntinlupa taxpayers. Mayor Jaime Fresnedi (center) awards plaque of recognition to top ten taxpayers of Muntinlupa City for their outstanding support to the local government during the 20th founding anniversary of the city on March 1. Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino (5th from left) and Rep. Rodolfo Biazon (8th from left) attended the city’s celebration. Muntinlupa’s top ten taxpayers are Ford Group Philippines Inc., Filinvest Alabang Inc., Meralco, Alabang Commercial Corp., Amkor Technology Phils., Filinvest Land Inc., Pepsi Cola Far East Trade Dev., Zuellig Pharma, Insular Life Assurance Inc. and Manuela Corp.

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 4 , 2 0 1 5

WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

B7

Moscow funeral for Nemtsov MOSCOW—Mourners for slain Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov prepared to gather for his funeral in Moscow Tuesday as Polish and Latvian officials said they had been barred from entering Russia on the eve of the ceremony in retaliation for EU sanctions over Ukraine.

The funeral for Nemtsov, a 55-year-old former deputy prime minister, longtime Vladimir Putin critic and anti-corruption crusader who was shot dead in central Moscow four days ago, will be held in the Russian capital’s Troekurovskoye cemetery.

His body was to lie in state starting at 0700 GMT at the Andrei Sakharov rights centre, the RIA-Novosti news agency quoted Nemtsov colleague Konstantin Merzlikin as saying.

Senior officials from Poland and Latvia who sought to attend the funeral said Monday they had been denied entry into Russia.

Polish Senate speaker Bogdan Borusewicz was refused entry by Moscow in reprisal for EU sanctions against Russia’s upper house of parliament speaker Valentina Matviyenko, the Polish foreign ministry said.

Latvian MEP Sandra Kalniete told AFP she had also been refused entry into Russia at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, but was not given a reasonable explanation for the ban.

“Since I have always taken a clear and explicit language on Russia’s role in Ukraine, I had suspicions that it could happen,” she said.

Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Konrad Pawlik will attend the funeral, according to

Polish media, while Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius will also be present, his spokesman said.

Nemtsov was gunned down shortly before midnight Friday while walking across a bridge just a short distance from the Kremlin with his Ukrainian model girlfriend Ganna Duritska.

Putin, whose rule has seen the steady suppression of independent media, non-Kremlin controlled political parties and opposition-minded business figures, called the murder a “contract killing” and said it was a provocation.

Soon after the killing, Putin promised an all-out effort to catch the perpetrators.

Late Monday 23-year-old Duritska—the chief witness in the murder—arrived in Kiev, her lawyer confirmed, as authorities vowed to solve the most shocking political assassination to take place during Putin’s rule.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov pledged that the “heinous crime” would be “fully investigated”.

A reward of three million rubles ($48,000) was offered for information on Nemtsov’s death, a substantial amount in Moscow, where the average monthly salary is 60,000 rubles ($960).

Duritska said earlier Monday she had given all the information she could to investigators but that they were preventing her from leaving Russia, citing concerns for her security.

Ganna’s mother Inna Duritska, who lives in Kiev, told AFP prior to Ganna’s departure from Russia that she feared that her daughter’s de facto house arrest meant investigators might be preparing to make her a pawn in the deepening Russia-Ukraine crisis.

Moscow and Kiev have been foes since the ouster last year of Kremlin-backed president Viktor Yanukovych and Russia’s seizure of the Ukrainian Crimea province. Ukraine’s current pro-Western government has also been battling a pro-Russian insurgency in the east since April. AFP

Manila

Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

SCN FORM NO. 1 Standard (R.A. NO. 9139)

TODAY

001274

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NATURALIZATION IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF ANDREA LOREN LO SY to be naturalized as Filipino citizen pursuant to Republic Act No. 9139.

SCN CASE NO. 000569 x-------------------------- x PETITION Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9139, petitioner hereby submits a petition for naturalization to become a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines and respectfully declares: 1. My full name is ANDREA LOREN LO SY , but I have also been known since childhood as Andrea or I have been N.A. . judicially authorized to use the alias name(s) 2. My present place of residence is 7 SAMPAGUITA ST., ARANETA VILLAGE, BRGY. POTRERO, City/Municipality of MALABON, Province of NCR and all my former places of residence are (please indicate periods of residence) N.A. ______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________ 3. I was born on November 22, 1990, in Manila Philippines. I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of UNITED KINGDOM/NORTHERN IRELAND. 4. My father's name is CHUNG TIN SY and he was born on January 20, 1957, in HONGKONG. He is a citizen or subject of UK/NORTHERN IRELAND My mother's name is LAI NGAR LO and she was born on JAN. 19, 1959 in HONGKONG . She is a citizen or subject of UK/NORTHERN IRELAND. 5. My trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is N.A. and from which I derive an average annual income of P N.A. , inclusive of bonuses, commissions and allowances.

My wife's/husband's trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is N.A. and from which she derives an average annual income of P N.A. .

(Where the above does not apply): I am exempt from the requirement of lucrative trade or occupation and from submitting income tax returns for the past three (3) years because I am a college degree holder [please state (1) degree obtained:BS BIOCHEMISTRY, (2) name of school: UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILS. MANILA and (3) years graduated: 2011] who cannot practice my profession (the practice of which requires a government licensure examination) by reason of my citizenship.

6. My civil status is SINGLE , I was married on N.A. in N.A.My wife's/husband's name is N.A. and she/he was born on N.A. in N.A. . She/he is a citizen or subject of N.A. and presently resides N.A. .

7. I am legally separated from my spouse; my marriage was annulled, per decree of legal separation/annulment dated N.A. granted by N.A.. (please indicate the particular court which granted the same). I am a widower/widow and my spouse died on N.A. in N.A..

8. I have N.A. child/children, whose names, dates and places of birth and residences are as follows:

Name N.A.

Date of Birth N.A.

Place of Birth Residence N.A.

N.A.

9. I received my primary and secondary education from the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Name of School

Dina Eidman (L), 87, the mother of murdered Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov, and Nemtsov’s widow Ekaterina Odintsova (R), attend a farewell ceremony in Moscow on March 3. Russia vowed on March 2 to find the killers of outspoken opposition leader Boris Nemtsov as fresh details emerged about the most shocking political assassination during Vladimir Putin’s rule. Nemtsov’s body was to lie in state on March 3 at the Andrei Sakharov rights center in Moscow, followed by his burial at the city’s Troekurovskoye cemetery. AFP

‘Protest action in HK not in vain’ TOKYO—Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami says he regrets that Hong Kong’s democracy protests did not bring the changes demanded by demonstrators, but their actions were not in vain.

The writer made the remarks on Monday in his online agony uncle column, responding to a question from a 22-year-old woman who said she took part in last year’s street protests in the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city.

“I regret that a lot of things did not go as hoped,” said Murakami, 65, one of Japan’s best known writers who has repeatedly been tipped as a future Nobel laureate.

“But I think what you did for democratization will never be in vain. It remains a fact, and no one can ignore that fact. Please keep trying to change the world, even just a little. I give my support,” he added.

The protests, which began in September and lasted for more than two months, began after Beijing said that candidates for the 2017 vote for Hong Kong’s next leader would be vetted by a loyalist committee.

Campaigners described the decision as “fake democracy”, but leaders in Hong Kong and China made no concessions despite the 79day protests.

In November Murakami sent a message of support to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protesters, likening their struggle to the fight to bring down the Berlin Wall as he collected a prize in the German capital.

When he received the 2009 Jerusalem Prize, Israel’s highest literary honor for foreign writers, he obliquely criticized authoritarian systems in the Middle East for claiming the lives of innocent civilians.

In a recent interview, he also chided his own country for shirking responsibility over its World War II aggression and the Fukushima nuclear disaster. AFP

Place of School

Dates of Study

HOPE CHRISTIAN HIGH MANILA 1997-2003 SCHOOL HOPE CHRISTIAN HIGH MANILA 2003-2007 SCHOOL UNIV. OF THE PHILS. DILIMAN, Q.C.. 2012-PRESENT UNIV. OF THE PHILS.

MANILA

Highest Grade Completed PRIMARY SECONDARY ENROLLED IN MASTERAL COLLEGE

2007-2011

10. I am able to read, write and speak Filipino and/or any of the following dialects of the Philippines: Tagalog 11. I have enrolled my minor children of school age in the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philipine History, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Name of Child

Name and Place of School

N.A.

N.A.

Date of Enrollment N.A.

12. I shall never be a public charge. I am of good moral character. I believe in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution. I have conducted myself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of my residence in the Philippines in my relations with the constituted government as well as with the community in which I am living. I mingled socially with Filipinos and have evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions and ideals of the Filipino people. I have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications under Republic Act No. 9139.

I am not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. I am not defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault or assassination for the success and predominance of one's ideas. I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy. I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude. I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to

13. It is my true and honest intention to become a citizen of the Philippines and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and, particularly, to UK/NORTHERN IRELAND of which at this time I am a citizen or subject.

I will reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of the filing of this petition up to the time of my admission to Philippine citizenship.

14. My character witnesses are FATIMA THERESA LIM and IMEE TAN both Filipino citizens, of legal age, and residing at 1310 Benavidez St., Sta. Cruz, Manila and 612 Elcano St., Binondo, Manila respectively, who have executed sworn statements attached hereto in support of my instant petition, together with: (a) brief biographical data about themselves; (b) detailed statements on the dates they first came to know me, the circumstances of our initial acquaintance and the reasons and extent of our continuing familiarity; and (c) the number of times they have acted as character witnesses in other petitions for naturalization.

15. Attached hereto as annexes and made part of this petition are the duplicate originals or certified photocopies of the following documents (please check the appropriate box): [ / ] a. Petitioner's birth certificate [ / ] b. Petitioner's alien certificate of registration (ACR) [ / ] c. Petitioner's native-born certificate of residence (NBCR) [ ] d. Petitioner's marriage certificate, if married [ ] e. Death certificate of his/her spouse, if widowed [ ] f. Court decree annulling his/her marriage or granting legal separation, if such was the fact [ ] g. Birth certificates of petitioner's minor children [ ] h. ACRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] i. NBCRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] j. Affidavits of financial capacity by the petitioner, duly supported by bank certifications, passbooks, stock certificates, or proof of ownership of other properties [ / ] k. Affidavits of at least two (2) credible witnesses who must be Filipino citizens of good reputation in petitioner's place of residence [ / ] l. Medical certificate from a government hospital stating that petitioner is not suffering from mental alienation or a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or any incurable contagious disease. [ ] m. School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner from the school/s he or she attended in the Philippines [ ] n. Certifications stating that petitioner's minor children are enrolled in public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the DECS, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality [ ] o. Petitioner's income tax returns for the past three years [ ] p. Petitioner's receipts of payment of income tax for the past three years 16. Other documents submitted by the petitioner in support of his/her petition: FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF FATHER WITH BANK CERTIFICATE CERTIFICATE OF EMPLOYMENT OF FATHER/CERTIFICATE OF TAX WITHHELD & ALPHALIST NBI & POLICE CLEARANCES CLEARANCES FROM OFFICE OF CITY PROSECUTOR, MTC & RTC BARANGAY CERTIFICATE PRAYER WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that petitioner be conferred Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No, 9139.

Dated at San Juan, Metro Manila, this 23RD day of JANUARY 2015.

ANDREA LOREN SY Name and Signature of Petitioner Address: 7 SAMPAGUITA ST., ARANETA VILLAGE BRGY. POTRERO, MALABON CITY Telephone Number: 364-4689/0916-737-753

Right Thumbmark of Petitioner Petitioner's signature and right thumbmark REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES ) CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF SAN JUAN METRO MANILA) S.S. I, ANDREA LOREN LO SY of legal age and a resident of 7 SAMPAGUITA ST., ARANETA VILLAGE BRGY. POTRERO, MALABON CITY, after being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the petitioner herein, that I have read the foregoing petition and know the foregoing petition and known the contents thereof, and that the same is true of my own knowledge.

ANDREA LOREN SY Name and Signature of Petitioner SUBCRIBED AND SWORN to before me at SAN JUAN, METRO MANILA this JAN. 23, 2015.

(MST-Feb. 18,25 & Mar. 4, 2015)

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CESAR bARRioquiNto EDITOR

mst.daydesk@gmail.com

world

This is an overview of the Roundabout Theater Company’s 2015 Spring Gala at the Grand Ballroom at The Waldorf Astoria on March 2 in New York City. AFP

Macau casino take sees 49-percent dip HONG KONG—Macau casino revenue plunged a record 49 percent year-on-year in February as gaming takings slumped due to China’s corruption crackdown, figures showed Tuesday.

It was the ninth straight month of decline as Beijing encourages the semi-autonomous territory to diversify away from gambling and reins in high rollers from the mainland.

February revenue fell to 19.54 billion patacas ($2.45 billion), compared with 38.01 billion patacas for the same period last year, according to figures from the former Portuguese colony’s Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau.

The previous highest yearon-year drop was 30.4 percent in December, and an overall fall of 2.6 percent in 2014 was the first annual decline since figures were first released in 2002.

“With all the current policies from China and the changing sentiment in Macau, we were not expecting the main driver for revenue to improve,” Simsen International Financial Group associate director Jack-

son Wong told AFP. “A lot of people have lost faith in the sector and that’s why it has plunged.”

But despite the drop, the figure was slightly better than expected, said Wong, and prompted Macau casino stocks listed in Hong Kong to rise.

Eight analysts polled by Bloomberg News had given a median estimate of a 53.5 percent decline ahead of the results.

Analysts had also trimmed their estimates for the month after fewer Chinese gamblers traveled to the city during the Chinese New Year period, usually one of the year’s busiest, Bloomberg reported.

Wong said revenue may now stabilize at current levels, “or actually might improve going forward”.

“That’s why the stocks acted a little positively” he added.

Shares in gambling giants Sands China and Wynn Macau were up almost three percent on the Hong Kong stock exchange after the result, while casino operator SJM was up nearly one percent.

SJM Holdings reported last Wednesday a slump of 13 percent in 2014 net profit. AFP

Netanyahu takes fight to Congress WASHINGTON—Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu goes to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for another round in an increasingly heated battle with the White House over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

In a landmark speech to Congress, Netanyahu will seek to mobilise lawmakers to oppose an emerging deal with Tehran which is backed by President Barack Obama.

Obama on Monday lashed out at his nemesis, pointing to Netanyahu’s attacks on a previous interim US-Iran deal that paved the way for this week’s ongoing talks in Switzerland.

“Netanyahu made all sorts of claims,” he told Reuters.

“This was going to be a terrible deal,” he went on. “This was going to result in Iran getting $50 billion worth of relief. Iran would not abide by the agreement. None of that has come true.”

Netanyahu aides say that in his address he will present information proving that the shape of the deal being discussed in Switzerland this week presents grave danger.

State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf warned Monday that if the details came from US briefings to Israel, revealing them could mean there would be no more.

“We’ve continuously provided detailed classified briefings to Israeli officials to keep them updated and to provide context,” she said.

“Any release of any kind of information like that would, of course, betray that trust.”

“We want to keep talking in these settings, of course, but that would be a problem.”

Netanyahu believes that in the talks with Iran the so-called P5+1 group is verging on striking a deal that will ease international sanctions without the ironclad safeguards the Jewish state says are essential to deny Tehran a nuclear bomb.

The US administration says that is just not true.

“This president has made clear that he’s not going to sign a bad deal,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest said on Monday.

Samantha Power, Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations, weighed into the

fight on Monday when she addressed 16,000 pro-Israel activists in the US capital.

“The United States of America will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon, period,” she said. Taking the podium shortly after Power, Netanyahu remained unswerving in his opposition to Obama’s policy.

“The purpose of my address to Congress tomorrow is to speak up about a potential deal with Iran that could threaten the survival of Israel,” he said.

“My speech is not intended to show any disrespect to President Obama,” he told the lobby group AIPAC’s annual conference.

“Israel and the United States agree that Iran shouldn’t have nuclear weapons. But we disagree on the best way to prevent them from developing those weapons.”

The row is not only about the core issues but also about the way Netanyahu and US Republicans are waging the battle.

He was invited by Speaker of the House John Boehner, a Republican, and he accepted with neither party informing the White House.

Netanyahu himself is running for a third consecutive term—which would be a fourth overall—in an Israeli election on March 17. AFP

State of Georgia delays woman’s execution WASHINGTON—The US state of Georgia late Monday temporarily delayed the execution of the sole woman on its death row, convicted of conspiring to murder her husband, because of problems with the lethal injection drug.

State authorities announced a delay in the execution of Kelly Gissendaner, who has been on death row for 16 years, but did not announce a new date for it.

The 46-year-old had been due to be put to death at 1900 local time (0000 GMT) in the city of

Jackson, but the execution was delayed after the team due to carry out the procedure found fault with the drug to be used.

Georgia uses a chemical called pentobarbital to execute death row inmates and the sample to be used Monday night was tested and given a green light by an independent laboratory.

But the team assigned to carry out Gissendaner’s execution raised concerns because it reportedly had a cloudy appearance and out of precaution, the

execution was postponed, state penitentiary system spokeswoman Gwendolyn Hogan in an email to AFP. Gissendaner’s execution had already been delayed for several days because of wintery weather in Georgia.

She would have become the 16th female prisoner to be executed in the United States since the death penalty was reinstated nationwide in 1976, compared with 1,387 men who have been put to death during that period, according to the

Death Penalty Information Center.

Gissendaner was sentenced to death for recruiting her then-lover to kill her husband Doug in February 1997 in order to collect on his life insurance payout.

The Gissendaners had separated several times and even divorced before remarrying.

The boyfriend, Gregory Owen, pleaded guilty and testified against Gissendaner in 1998, thus avoiding a sentence of life in prison. AFP

Myanmar students and Buddhist monks shout slogans during a protest march in Letpadan town, some 130 kilometers north of Myanmar’s main city Yangon, on March 3. Students have rallied for months over a controversial education bill that they say is undemocratic. AFP

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 0 4 : 2 0 1 5

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

LIFE

LUXURY

FAMILY JEWELS Giorgio Grassi Damiani comes to town As Italian as they come - read: charming, sharplydressed, and clearly devoted to his family; after all, he works for the family company - Giorgio Grassi Damiani revealed, in a glittering presentation, the latest collections from Damiani.

Joining the family business was a pretty clearcut path for the 44-year old, who began his career at Damiani in in 1990. Today, he is CEO of the Damiani Group, and in charge of the acquisition of raw materials - precious stones, pearls, gold and the like, in addition to product development and sales relations. Which pretty much means he is involved with every exquisite piece of jewellery crafted at Damiani.

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LIFE g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

LUXURY

DIAMONDS ON THE BLOCK

BY BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE

R

amon S. Lerma is still in shock.

But it’s a desirable kind of shock.

Lerma, together with his wife Karen, recently concluded a major Jewellery and Timepieces Auction through their auction house, Salcedo Auctions, which they established in 2010.

“One of the most exciting lots to go up was the packet of loose diamonds,” he said. “The bids started at P8,000 for the lot, different stones of varying color and sizes, al unmounted. The gavel went down at P200,000! The bids were coming from left and right, back and front, locally and internationally, it was crazy!”

All in all, Lerma is pleased with the results of the sale, which presented carefully chosen items from private collections all over the region. There was a wide range of vintage jewellery, colored stones and investment-grade diamonds, not to mention wristwatches and pocket watches.

One of the showstopping pieces was a beautiful Patek Philippe Annual Calendar, a complication watch with a simple black leather bracelet. It sold for almost P2 million. Other watches that did particularly well was a stunning Jaeger-LeCoultre and an Audemars Piguet.

“There was quite a contest for these watches,” recalled Lerma. “In the end the Jaeger doubled its estimate.”

He also noted that the higher-ticket items sold better than the lower-priced ones. The same held true for jewellery.

“Our diamond jewellery was competitively priced, and they all went up in value.

For example, a fairly simple brilliant-cut diamond - an 8ct stone, by the way - set quite

conventionally on a gold chain, went for a whopping P1.6 million! An Art Deco necklace consisting of onyx, diamonds and kunzite on white gold fetched P600,000, much to the owners delight. She wasn’t even sure that it would sell, because it was a very distinct style and didn’t thin there would be much interest. Which goes to show that buyers are savvy. They recognize quality, they recognize value and they recognize a great buy when they see it.”

While Lerma is not at liberty to reveal the names of the successful bidders, he did disclose that they were mostly “end-users who had come to add to their personal collection. For lovers of jewellery, it was a great opportunity to get unique pieces.”

Auctions are a great way to track the investment value of your pieces. And with bidding extending online via invaluable. com, bidders from overseas could bid live.

In fact, one of the winning bidders for a watch was from the UK; another winning bidder was from the US. Salcedo Auctions has another sale coming up with weekend, featuring Important Philippine Art, among whose highlights are a Juan Luna oil on wood depicting a Normandy country scene from the 1890s, whose whereabouts for nearly a century had been unknown; a Lee Aguinaldo abstract that was almost consigned to the dustbin until Lerma fished it out from an office in Cebu; an unusual BenCab 1968 ink and acrylic of a seated man; and an Alfonso Ossorio that rarely comes up at auction.

For more information, visit www. salcedoauctions.com

LUSH LUXURY One of the simplest, yet most pleasurable luxuries in life is a relaxing, nourishing, enriching shampoo. And by that we mean the works - shampoo, conditioner, treatment, blow-dry.

There is a naked simplicity to the Lush line of fresh handmade cosmetics that belie their actual luxurious effects. And don’t forget the ecological benefits that come with the use of each Lush product.

Take for instance its new range of shampoo bars. Lush’s naked, unpreserved solid shampoo bars are not only convenient and free from preservatives, nut for every one you use, you are saving three bottles of liquid shampoo from being condemned to the landfill.

The new haircare line is a complete range that encompasses shampoo bars, hair treatments and conditioners. Apart from smelling divine, I love that while each product is serious about what it does, it allows itself to have a sense of humor. A honey shampoo with a best-selling toffee sweet scent is called Honey I Washed My Hair, while a bar containing andiroba oil from Brazil, is called the Brazilliant, and another containing argan oil is called Jason and the Argan Bar. Gotta love a brand that knows its Greek mythology.

Exclusively distributed by the SSI Group, Inc., Lush stores are located at Greenbelt 3, Alabang Town Center, SM Mall of Asia, Bonifacio High Street, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Robinsons Magnolia, Trinoma, SM Annex North Edsa. Online, Lush is available on www.lush.com.ph.

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 0 4 : 2 0 1 5

LIFE

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

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CHEF MICHEL’S BLACKBOARD AND COCKTAIL MATES FROM KUALA LUMPUR TO MANILA

In a rare case where a successful restaurant moved from one country to another, The Blackboard, once a favorite Asian-Mediterranean fusion restaurant in Desa Sri Hartamas Kuala Lumpur is now located at our very own The Podium Mall in Ortigas Center. The restaurateur and chef, Michel Cottabarren had taken his culinary talent to Manila in collaboration with The Cravings Group. The Blackboard by Chef Michel opened at Level 5 of The Podium just late 2013. Chef Michel Cottabaren is one of those truly international and multicultural chefs. While Chef Michel is 100% French by blood, he was born and raised in the U.S.. He is also well traveled and extremely versed with the Asian dining culture having worked in China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, more recently Malaysia, and now here in the Philippines.

Chef Michel has brought to our country his brand of classical Mediterranean and fusion dishes coming from his opulent wealth of experience.

Recently, I was invited to The Blackboard

by Chef Michel when they launched their `Sommelier Selections’ wine concept. Chef Michel Cottabarren teamed up with Yats Wine Cellars owned by one of my most admired wine experts, Mr. Danny Wang, to create a world class wine list and wine friendly menu. In the event, I was able to drink very good wines and sample very interesting canapés, including two that caught my fancy, the chicken liver parfait topped with caramelized onions (I could not have enough of it that day), and the eggplant caviar served in Chinese spoon. Aside from Danny Wang’s warm presence, young French sommelier Tristan Massaux was also around to explain the wines Yats Wine Cellars were serving to The Blackboard guests.

GLIMPSE OF THE BLACKBOARD WINE LIST

The new wine list has a very respectable forty different wines. The list is very French-centric (twenty eight or 70% of the wines are French) but is surprisingly very well priced- considering that there was not a single Vin de Pay wine in the entire list.

And as my friend, the always affable Danny explained: `I am more into promoting the smaller unknown chateaux that offer great value for money, then those highly commercialized ones.’ And true enough the few Bordeaux I tried during the launch event were pretty good and not that expensive too. The Chateau Vrai Caillou 2011 from Entre-Deux-Mers AOC, Bordeaux was a

great dry white, exuding white petal nose, subtle citrus flavors, dry and very crisp on the finish. The Chateau Vrai Caillou 2012, the red counterpart, a Bordeaux Superieur AOC was a classic Bordeaux with red cherry, gun flint nose, racy acids, yet quaffable with a dry fruity finish. And in typical Danny Wang generosity, an older vintage wine, a trademark of Yats Wine Cellars, a 1994 (21 year old) Domaine de Petit Musset, Montagne-Saint-Emilion AOC was also served. This wine to me had very nice vibrant color despite its age and so called much maligned vintage (1994), but on the nose, the wine showed capsicum and sour cherry, still very drinkable, but the thinning tannin somehow brought out more pronounced acidity. This may suggest that the wine is slightly passed its prime.

Though to me, it is still an amazing treat – as how often do we mortals get to drink 20 year old wines!

The Blackboard by Chef Michel is located at the 5th level of The Podium Mall, ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center and open daily at mall operating hours. For reservations, kindly call (02)696-9083. Also visit their website at www.theblackboardbychefmichel.com.

Chef Michel Cottabarren, the culinary genius behind The Blackboard by Chef Michel

The Domaine de Petit Musset 1994 - a rare 21 year old wine being tasted at The Blackboard event

MIXMATE GOES FULL PORTFOLIO

Mixmate International, Inc., a local manufacturing company specializing in cocktail mixers owned by Ms. Brigida `Eden’ Gonzales, has been slowly but surely expanding since its foray into the market last 2008.

With the objective and vision of being the `one-stop supplier’ of cocktail mixes, Mixmate International will soon be adding tequila flavoured spirit into their portfolio.

The tequila flavoured spirit under Mixmate will be called Unico. The Unico has a very distinctive clever label showing the silhouette of a Mariachi Band riding horses. Tequila is one of the most popular cocktail spirits and is the mainstay of such ubiquitous cocktails such as Margarita and Tequila Sunrise. With the new tequila range, Mixmate family of products are now thirty products strong, from the indispensable cocktail waters (Tonic, Ginger Ale, Soda), to crème liqueurs (Amaretto, Creme de Cacao, Creme de Menthe) to the aesthetic mixers (Grenadine syrup, Blue Curacao).

And best of all, Mixmate International prides themselves in selling their products at the most competitive prices.

Mixmate products are being distributed nationwide by The Wines Specialist & Beyond Inc., with contact numbers at (02)831-5988 and (02)831-8291.

EXCLUSIVITY VS ACCESSIBILITY

BY ED BIADO

Luxury brands pride themselves in their exclusivity. The ultrarich patronize these labels because they offer prestige and mystique—things that mass-market lines lack. As status symbols, luxury products are inaccessible to the middle class and, therefore, possess aspirational value.

Louis Vuitton is perhaps the most well-known of luxury brands; and that might not be a good thing. It seems that for years, the prominent brand has been aware that it has been losing its luxury status, driven by the popularity of its “entry-level” pieces, particularly the canvas versions of the Speedy and Neverfull monogram bags. Canvas items supposedly make up as much as two-thirds of Louis Vuitton’s total sales.

According to a November 2011 entry on the CNBC blog, “Louis Vuitton has become too ordinary” in China. The post describes how “tens of millions of Chinese women... aspire to buy a Louis Vuitton handbag and millions are actually buying it,” leading the “mega wealthy” to seek rarer, more upscale alternatives.

Danny Wang (middle in suit), Yats Wine Cellar owner, explaining wine to guests

The ever expanding Mixmate family of cocktail mixers

For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, wine consultancy and other wine related concerns, please e-mail me at protegeinc@ yahoo.com. I am a proud member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. You can also follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/sherwinlao.

The Unico Tequila Flavored Spirits - latest product extension from Mixmate International

It’s stories like this that prompted the brand’s parent company to change things up in hopes of attracting high-end consumers again. Reuters said that in 2011, LVMH founder and chief executive Bernard Arnault “decided to change Louis Vuitton’s top managers after he sensed it needed to regain its waning exclusivity after years of breakneck expansion which saw the brand open shops in far-flung places such as Ulan Bator.”

But the changes did not include limiting the label’s less luxurious offerings and remain accessible to the broader market. Except now, they’re more prohibitive. Each price hike, which happens once or twice a year, adds five to 12 percent to the tag, depending on territory. Vogue UK says that between 2009 and 2014, the cost of owning a “classic” Speedy in the United States increased by 32 percent.

The same Vogue story explains that aside from covering inflation and rising production costs to maintain a level of quality, “economists conjecture that the increases are strategic by brands to make the items more desirable—a phenomenon known as Veblen goods, where price increases result in more, not fewer, sales.” The upping of retail prices also “help customers differentiate between the high-end brands and their increasingly popular mid-market competitors,” with the former being presented as more exclusive.

Still, the perception of the brand’s diminished value remains commonplace among luxury consumers, specifically at places where luxury products are most in demand.

The title of a Business Insider piece on the matter last week sums it up: “Louis Vuitton is now a ‘brand for secretaries’ in China.”

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LIFE

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

LUXURY

BUTTERFLY RING BUTTERFLY BRACELET AND RING

BUTTERFLY MASTERPIECES Inspired by the light and delicate butterfly wings fluttering, this collection is feminine, ethereal and timeless. The white gold butterflies, with mutlicolor sapphires and diamonds, are the main element of this collection.

They are presented in three different sizes and many amazing color combinations.

Every butterfly can be worn as a pendant, a brooch or set on a ring.

BUTTERFLY BRACELET

BUTTERFLY NECKLACE

MIMOSA One of Damiani’s most successful collections, inspired by the Mimosa flower, this watch collection is simply stunning, a union of precious gems and the purest diamonds.

MULTI-USE BUTTERFLY

BRACELET IN GOLD, WITH DIAMONDS, PINK SAPPHIRES, PERIDOTS, TOURMALINE AND CITRINE QUARTZES

SPRINGTIME Romantic and lyrical, the Springtime Collection celebrates the splendor of the season, inspired by flowers and buds in white, pink and yellow gold with diamonds and sapphires in all its shades and colors.

WATCH WITH BLACK DIAMONDS AND RUBIES

WATCH WITH BROWN DIAMONDS AND BLUE SAPPHIRES

WATCH WITH PINK SAPPHIRES AND EMERALDS

BATTITO D’ALI This is a creative and evocative reinterpretation of the butterfly wing, becoming an icon of design characterized by a game of solids and voids typical of Damiani jewellery.

BATTITO D’ALI COLLECTION EARRINGS IN PINK GOLD WITH DIAMONDS, AMETHYSTS AND PERIDOT

D.LACE Entirely handmade by the goldsmiths in the Damiani atelier, the D.Lace collection consists of rings, bracelets, pendants and earrings whose clean shapes combine with gold, diamond and semi-precious stones.

It revolves around the D that is the iconic symbol of Damiani, reworked and reinterpreted, a logo that becomes a non-logo.

WHITE GOLD BRACELET WITH DIAMONDS

DAMIANI MAKES A GRAND ENTRANCE Damiani, the Italian jewellery firm run by the Damiani family for three generations now, unveiled a new collection recently of fine jewellery at Rustan’s Makati.

For many years a discreet but highly regarded jewellery brand - Damiani has been crowned the best diamond jewellery manufacturer at the Diamonds International Awards, considered the “Oscars” of the jewellery industry, a record 18 times - it became a Hollywood favorite when Brad Pitt chose Damiani for Jennifer Aniston’s engagement ring. Damiani also made the wedding rings for the couple according to the actor’s design.

Unfortunately, the marriage between Aniston and Pitt didn’t last, but you can bet those rings - and the expert craftsmanship that went into them - have withstood the test of time beautifully. Of course they may currently be locked up in some vault, but trust us, each Damiani piece is built to last.

Giorgio Grassi Damiani, the CEO of the Damiani Group and the third generation scion of the Damiani family, was in Manila to showcase the fine handmade goldsmithing and jewellery design Damiani is known for.

The line-up consists of delictae earrings, precious pendants, fine necklaces, elegant bracelets, and intricately crafted timepieces. Each piece represents impeccable craftsmanship and modern design and features precious stones with fine Italian quality.

Damiani is the only family-managed Italian jewellery brand, available exclusively at The Silver Vault, Rustan’s Makati and Rustan’s Shangri-La.

BELLE EPOQUE Watch in pink gold with 4.503ct. diamonds

CALANTHEA Necklace in white gold with 22.47ct diamonds

WHITE GOLD EARRINGS WITH DIAMONDS

EARRINGS

NECKLACE

BRACELET

NATURAL MOHTER-OF-PEARL WITH BRILLIANT CUT DIAMONDS, AND A CASE OF 18K WHITE GOLD AND 46 WHITE DIAMONDS

MIMOSA DRAGON Damiani’s homage to China and the dragon that so symbolizes this Oriental power.

At the same time, this jewelled timepiece pays tribute to Italian craftsmanship with its 46 claw sets handmade one by one on the bezel around a dragon silhouette.

BLUE MOTHER-OF-PEARL WITH BRILLIANT CUT DIAMONDS, AND A CASE OF 18K WHITE GOLD, WITH 24 DIAMONDS AND 22 SAPPHIRES

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 0 4 : 2 0 1 5

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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SPANISH FILMS ON WOMEN’S DAY

W

hile men continue to dominate filmmaking on the world stage, several critics have noted that this is slowly changing with many women emerging as promising female directors.

On March 8, International Women’s Day, Instituto Cervantes de Manila, in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain and the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), “Female Filmmakers,” a special eight-film line-up that showcases the achievements of contemporary Spanish, Latin American and Filipino female filmmakers who have established themselves as an important force in their own countries’ screen culture will be held.

The film cycle will open on March 7, at 2 p.m., in Instituto Cervantes, with the Filipino horror movie Asin, directed by Aimee Apostol in 2012. The movie tells the story of Lila, a girl living in isolation with her mother in a remote town of Iloilo. Lila makes a dangerous journey across the mountains to buy salt from the nearest town. There, she unravels the dark horrible secret that doomed her to a life hidden from the world.

The same day, March 7, at 4 p.m., will be the turn of the Spanish film También la lluvia (Even the Rain), directed by Icíar Bollaín in 2010. The story focuses on Sebastián (Gael García Bernal) and Costa (Luis Tosar), who are making a movie about the discovery of America. The film is being shot in Cochabamba (Bolivia), where privatization and sale of water to a multinational sows discomfort among the population that triggers the infamous Bolivian Water War (April 2000). Five hundred years after the discovery of America, sticks and stones again face the steel and powder of a modern army. But this time the fight is not for gold, but for the most essential of the vital elements: water.

También la lluvia received more than 30 international awards and nominations –among them, the Best Fiction Film in Panorama Audience Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in 2011, and the Silver Ariel to the Best Latin American Film at the 2011 Mexican Ariel Awards.

Screening on March 14, 2 p.m., is Los niños salvajes (Patricia Ferreira, 2012), an insightful drama about three misunderstood adolescents from the lower class, living in a big city. The film received the Best Film Award at the Málaga Spanish Film Festival in 2012.

At 4 p.m. by Otilia Rauda, a Mexican film directed by Dana Rotberg in 2001 will be screened. It tells the story of Otilia, a sensual young girl with an ideal body but whose face is marred by an enormous mole. As a result, Otilia grows up friendless, except for the companionship of Melquiades, a young man employed by her family.

On March 21, 2 p.m., the audience will have the opportunity to see a movie from Uruguay – Ana Díez’ Paisito (Small Country). Produced in 2008, the film tells the story of Xavi, a Uruguayan soccer player who returns to Uruguay, his “paisito”, after completing his professional football career in Spain. He soon runs into Rosana and his past rises up to meet him. Between love and hate, she has spent 20 years waiting for Xavi to come to her and explain what he remembers of their past.

Paisito will be followed at 4 p.m .with the screening of El cielo gira (The Sky Turns), a documentary shot by Mercedes Álvarez in 2004. The last child to be born in a tiny Spanish village, Mercedes Álvarez and her parents left the area when she was three years old. Decades later, she decides to return home to discover the world her family left behind. The town has now been reduced to just a few elderly people. Some plans to revitalize the region are proposed: the castle, the ruins, and fossils of ancient creatures could attract tourists, yet whatever remedy is proposed would surely be too late for those who now live there.

Filmmaker Mercedes Álvarez has fashioned a moving portrait of a vanishing world in this documentary. El cielo gira garnered several of major awards in different festivals around the world – the Tiger Award in 2005 Rotterdam International Film Festival and the Best Film at the Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema, among them.

The film series will conclude on March 28 with the showing of a movie from Spain and another one from the Philippines.

De tu ventana a la mía, directed by Paula Ortiz in 2011, depicts three women of different generations who lose the love of their

De tu ventana a la mia

Los niños salvajes

El cielo gira Otilla rauda

También la lluvia

lives and are now aiming to build the lives they desire. It will be screened at 2 p.m.

The same day, at 4 p.m., the Filipino multi-awarded drama Transit will close the cycle. Directed by Hannah Espia in 2013, the film tells the story of Filipino diaspora in Israel. It specifically deals with one family, siblings working in Tel Aviv. They have expired working visas and now are in hiding.

Admission to all the screenings is FREE on a FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED basis.

For further information, please call 526-1482 (local 111) or visit http://manila.cervantes.es or www. facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila. Instituto Cervantes de Manila is at 855 T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila.

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SHOWBITZ

EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

WITHOUT WANG 2

BY NICKIE WANG

Quoting the multiplatinum pop star, host Toni Gonzaga asked Apl de Ap for his comment on Sarah’s statement. The Black Eyed Peas member just said, “Alisah is APL – Alisah Laging Panalo,” without really answering Toni’s question.

In the end, Jason emerged as the clear victor of the talent search that night. Although some people were rooting for Team Lea’s Leah Patricio, who interestingly dished out the best performances during the two-day finale, Jason had everything in his bag – good looks and star appeal, a decent singing voice and an all-out support from Sarah’s army of fans called Popsters. Jason is undoubtedly a huge improvement from the last season’s grand winner.

A NOT SO ‘CRAZY BEAUTIFUL YOU’

Team Sarah’s Jason Dy is the winner in this season os The Voice PH

SARAH G.’S BET WINS ‘THE VOICE PH’

In a televised grand finale last Sunday, young singer Jason Dy of Team Sarah won the second season of The Voice of the Philippines.

The 23-year-old crooner from Butuan City sang an Ariel Rivera tune (“Minsan Lang kita Iibigin”) and received 52.94 percent of the votes beating Team Apl’s Alisah Bonaobra who, on the other hand, belted Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself ’ to woo the public’s text and online votes.

Jason, just like in his previous performances, sang effortlessly concentrating on the song’s lyric and meaning.

Meanwhile, Alisah appeared trying to impress the audience and the viewers with her powerful pipes even though she struggled reaching the high notes and didn’t look comfortable singing such a big song.

Right after the two contestants’ final showdown, Sarah Geronimo appealed to the viewers to vote for Jason, who she described as someone who can sing and narrate a story without shouting from the top of his lungs.

Over the weekend, out of curiosity, my friends and I decided to watch Star Cinema’s Crazy Beautiful You, a rom-com with Daniel Padilla and Kathryn Bernardo.

First, we were tempted to watch the romantic teen flick because it was being shown on two screens (so Kingsman: The Secret Service had to wait) and according to ABS-CBN news, it earned a whopping P32 million on its opening day (it has surpassed the 100-millionpeso mark in terms of gross revenue as of this writing) so that gave us the impression that the movie must have something interesting to offer.

It turned out, after sitting through the movie, this KathNiel rom-com is another cash cow that banks on the onscreen chemistry of the two leads.

The movie starts off pretty on track, bursting upon the silver screen with a very familiar formula, until a few conflicts arise that get resolved in an instant. Like the title implies, this film

The KathNiel tandem is a big box-office draw

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 43 44 46 48 49 50 53 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Transparent 6 Made crooked 10 Agree 14 Marilyn of the Met 15 Declare openly 16 Auction site 17 Cake decoration 18 Ristorante order 19 Poop out 20 Noncommital (hyph.)

22 Former JFK arrivals

ISAH V. RED

23 24 26 30 34 35 36 37 38 40 41 42

Q.E.D. part Width of a cir.

Consultant Scramble up Wildlife refuges Debt securer Seine moorage Brenner Pass locale Humors Short-order orders — Dawn Chong It’s seen in bars

Fanatic Reflects Weasel relatives Crumb-toter Kirk’s helmsman Trail mix Oater feature Flapjack chain Queen beaters Debonair Put away High spirits Ms. Barkin of film Notified Rank below marquis Biased viewpoint

DOWN 1 Intel product 2 Bonkers 3 Viking name 4 Prince Charles’ sister 5 Go backward 6 Fund-raiser 7 Banish from a flat 8 Jot down 9 Plays with idly 10 Flotsam and — 11 Long-legged wader 12 Homer’s kid 13 Hurricane centers 21 Half a swing

is a mish-mash of all the silly clichés that make teen movies what they are – shallow juvenile romance that tries to bend some logic in the real world.

Crazy Beautiful You revolves around the story of Jackie (Kathryn), a rebellious child forced by her mother (Lorna Tolentino) to immerse herself in a medical mission in Tarlac.

There, she meets a jolly lad named Kiko (Daniel), the illegitimate child of the city mayor. The two fall in love, of course, in a span of a few days.

Also in a span of a few days, Jackie undergoes drastic character transformation from being stubborn to a sweet girl-next-door type. A few revelations along the way and a sudden inclusion of sibling rivalry, the movie climaxed with everybody being given a second chance just after saying sorry. Even domestic conflicts like the tension of being with an abusive former husband again in the same room is no longer a big issue.

That’s the Star Cinema rom-com for you. For any consolation, Kathryn and Daniel are really fun to watch. They are giving what the script is asking for.

GOLFING FIRST CLASS

More than 200 golfers attended the exclusive annual Smart Infinity Golf Classic held at Sta. Elena Golf Club in Laguna last week.

The event, according to Julie Carceller, head of Smart Infinity, is the telco’s way of saying “thank you” to all its valued subscribers and other corporate individuals who support the brand.

After the golfers’ time on the fairways, they also attended the dinner party and awarding ceremony that saw the entertainment provided by Nicole Asensio, the lead vocalist of the defunct all female rock band, General Luna.

“What’s interesting about this tournament is that some people come here alone, but at the end of the game, they make friends and eventually business partners. That’s the real essence of this event – to bring together people who share the same passion and make them grow their network to build a solid community,” the official said.

Smart Communication has staged a total of 18 golf tournaments since its first golfing event fifteen year ago.

They will be staging another golf tourney in Cebu later this month.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 04, 2015

25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 35 38 39 40 42 43 45 46 47 49 50 51 52 54 55 56 57 58

Mr. Fleming Bedside noise The One-L Lama Puff adder, e.g.

Tax org.

British FBI Hull’s bottom Rocker — John Pauses — -eared bunny Borrow on New World alliance Morsel Dad, to Grandpa Minor injuries Knocked Shellfish Totality Villain’s smile Talent Indiana neighbor Cinnamon goody NCAA Bruins Declare invalid Dress-up occasion Neck and neck Budget item

Dave Franco stars in Unfinished Business with his idol Vince Vaugh

DAVE FRANCO’S JOURNEY TO ADULTHOOD Dave Franco admits that he was a little nervous at the prospect of starring opposite Vince Vaughn – one of his comedy heroes - who plays his boss desperately trying to secure a deal that will keep his struggling company afloat.

“It’s always intimidating at first to work with someone that you’ve admired for so long,” he says. “I didn’t want to be the person in the scene to slow everything down, but what I quickly realised, working with someone as funny as Vince, is that no matter what I say, no matter how dumb the joke is, Vince will take that dumb joke of mine and turn it into gold.

“The odds may be stacked against Dan, Tim and Mike, but together they find a bond that proves to be unbreakable. “I think with all three of these guys, they are down on their luck but they never feel bad for themselves. They’re fighting as hard as they can, against all odds,” says Franco.

For young Mike Pancake – an innocent abroad who has never ventured more than a few miles from his home before – being on the road with the two older, more experienced men gives him the confidence to explore, in every sense of the word. A virgin before he left the States, he proves to be very popular with some of the women he meets in the exotically Bohemian Berlin. “Yeah, that’s a big part of Mike’s journey, and he’s very successful,” Franco laughs. “Much more so than you might expect from a character who’s never even been out of his home town.

“He ends up sleeping with multiple women, and I think what they’re attracted to is what we’re talking about: his sincerity and his sweetness. His sexual journey is an entire movie within itself. He’s not only losing his virginity, but he’s trying to do it in a way that would even be risqué for a character in 50 Shades of Grey.”

Unfinished Business is rated R-16 by MTRCB and opens nationwide in cinemas tomorrow from 20th Century Fox distributed by Warner Bros.

W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 0 4 : 2 0 1 5

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

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P6.8 MILLION CASH PRIZES AT STAKE At the opening rites are, from left, Francine Prieto, Rufo’s President Paul Izon Reyes, singing girl group Sassy Girls, singer-actor Ogie Alcasid. LJ Reyes, Orly Ilacad of OctoArts, Jan K. Ilacad, and Gretchen Gregorio Ilacad.

RUFO’S FAMOUS TAPA IS NOW AT SM MEZZA From C8

R

ufo’s Famous Tapa brought its popular Filipino comfort food to more locations in Metro Manila when it recently opened new branches, one of which is at the ground floor of SM Mezza Strip of SM Residences on Aurora Blvd. corner Araneta Ave. in Quezon City.

The branch is owned and managed by award-winning music producer Jan K. Ilacad and singer-songwriter, Gretchen Ilacad. It is open 24/7 with 24/7 delivery.

The star of the restaurant’s menu is the famous tapa - fried, tender and juicy beef strips with a rich and sweet sauce that remains one of the most-loved and most endearing Filipino dishes enjoyed by people from all walks of life. Other delicious and affordable offerings by Rufo’s are Mushroom Adobo, Bulalo, Chicken Tinola, Pork Humba, and other local favorites.

Rufo’s celebrated its 30th anniversary last year and is gearing up for more aggressive expansion this year.

The restaurant chain won two prestigious awards, namely “Best in Franchise Support” and “Fastest Growing

Janice Oandasa receives the P1 million mock check for winning Tang Gawing Makulay ang Buhay from RGMA President Mike Enriquez and Tang Asst.

Brand Manager Lawrence Lorico

Franchise” in 2013’s Entrepreneur Magazine Franchise Awards.

Rufo’s other newly-opened branches are located at Paseo Center Mall along Paseo de Roxas St. Makati City, Galleon Food Court Ortigas, and in Banawe, Quezon City bringing to 22 its total number of stores situated in strategic areas in Metro Manila and provinces.

For inquiries, delivery and reservations, call Rufo’s SM Mezza call at 353-8464.

For more information on the Rufo’s Famous Franchise Program call U-Franchise at 0917-881-6999 or 634-0586, email franchising@rufos.com.ph, visit www.rufos.com.ph or follow “Rufo’s Famous Tapa” on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram HHHHH Radio GMA’s Tang Gawing Makulay Ang Buhay Promo winner Janice Oandasan from Tuguegarao recently received her one million peso grand prize from RGMA President Mike Enriquez and Tang Assistant Brand Manager Lawrence Lorico.

Oandasan, a 29-year old mother of two who works in a hospital as a food server, said she will put her

winnings in the bank to fund her children’s education and start a small business for her family.

Tang Gawing Makulay Ang Buhay, a Luzon-wide promo involving seven RGMA stations, also gave away P3000 each to 300 lucky participants throughout the promo’s eight-week duration.

“It was my first time to join sendin promos and until now I still can’t believe that I won,” Oandasan said.

Learning about the promo on Radio GMA’s Barangay 89.3 FM Tuguegarao, Oandasan recalls keeping the Tang sachets from her youngest daughter’s first birthday and christening in November last year, and using them as her proof of purchase.

“I dropped my entries at the grocery near [the place of] my work. Then everyday I would tune in to Barangay 89.3 to check if I won.”

After more than eight weeks of waiting patiently, Oandasan received a phone call that brought her good news.

“With this prize, we won’t [have to] worry about our kids’ education. I would like to thank Tang and Radio GMA for making our future makulay,” she shared.

IN CASINO FILIPINO’S “BINGO FIESTA”

Casino Filipino (CF) is brewing another exciting surprise for bingo aficionados.

For its upcoming nationwide Bingo Fiesta on March 29, Casino Filipino will give away P6.8 million in cash prizes to lucky winners. The bingo event will be simultaneously held in Malate (host venue), Pavilion, Malabon, Ronquillo, Angeles, Olongapo, Tagaytay, Bacolod, Cebu, Mactan, Iloilo, and Davao. Off-site venues will be at Limketkai Mall in Cagayan de Oro City.

Bong Quintana, assistant vice president of PAGCOR’s Entertainment and Bingo Department, said the Bingo Fiesta is one of the major crowd drawers in many CF venues. “The spirit of fun, anticipation and excitement can be felt in our nationwide bingo-linked games like the Bingo Fiesta. What makes the event unique and more exciting is the fact that participating bingo players are simultaneously playing in different parts of the country to vie for the cash prizes,” he added.

Quintana explained that to take part in the Bingo Fiesta, a player must buy a ticket worth P1,500. “For this amount, a player will get four bingo cards good for ten games. For Games 1 to 9, up to P500,000 will be given away in each game while P1 million will be up for grabs in Game 10,” he said.

Apart from the major prizes, a total of P1.3 million is also at stake in the local games as each of the participating CF branch will give away an extra P100,000 to one lucky bingo player,” said Quintana.

The Bingo Fiesta is a prelude to the Bingo Shower of Millions, where thousands of bingo aficionados gather in various CF venues to have fun and to win millions in cash prizes. “The difference between the two events is that the Bingo Fiesta offers a more affordable ticket price but still offers huge and exciting prizes,” Quintana noted.

The Bingo Fiesta games will start at 2:00 p.m. Bingo players are encouraged to buy their tickets before the event since the CF branches will implement a NO TICKET, NO ENTRY policy.

For more information, please call the PAGCOR Entertainment and Bingo Department at telephone numbers 5233678 & local 2401 to 2404 and 708-2046 or visit the Casino Filipino website at www.casinofilipino.ph. #

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W E D N E S D AY : M A R C H 0 4 : 2 0 1 5

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

8 GMA SHOWS FINALISTS IN

2015 NEW YORK FESTIVALS Eight entries from GMA Network were named as finalists- the most number among local TV networks- in the 2015 New York Festivals World’s Best TV and Films competition.

Top-rating weekend news magazine program Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho was shortlisted in the Human Interest category for its episode “From Saudi with Love.” A heartwarming story about gratitude that crosses borders, defies language barriers, religion and ethnicity, the episode featured Saudi journalist Rawan Radwan’s search for her former Filipino nanny.

Chosen as one of the finalists in the Community Portraits category was the afternoon program Reporter’s Notebook for its “Burak at Pangarap” episode. It centered on the story of 12-year-old Junjun, one of 78,000 children in Metro Manila facing severe deprivation of shelter, after a fire razed his family’s home along with more than a hundred other houses in Malabon.

Late-night documentary program Front Ro made it as a finalist in the Best Public Affairs Program category for its feature on the neurodegenerative disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). The documentary ALS took viewers beyond the viral Ice Bucket Challenge and showed the real story behind the disease in the eyes of the patients and their families.

Katipunan, GMA Network’s first historical mini-series, earned a finalist status for its premiere episode “Teresa” under the Best Camerawork category.

Produced by GMA News and Public Affairs, Katipunan shed light on the real Andres Bonifacio and the men and women who started the revolution.

Meanwhile, nominated in the Biography/Profiles category was GMA News TV’s weekend documentary program Reel Time featuring “Dungkoy,” a 10-year-old boy from Calauan, Laguna, abandoned by his parents and left alone to take care of his paralyzed grandmother.

Travel documentary program Motorcycle Diaries’ “Karapatan ng Bata” episode, ISAH V. RED also on GMA News TV, was named as a finalist in the Human Concerns category. The episode showed how poverty denies countless Filipino children their basic rights through the eyes of several less fortunate children in the country.

Walang Rape sa Bontok, one of the winning entries in the first Cine Totoo Philippine Documentary Festival produced by GMA News TV, was listed as a finalist in the Film/Documentaries category. The documentary by Carla Samantha Ocampo tells the story of two Filipinas, both victims of sexual abuse, who yearn for utopia where women can live without being sexually violated.

Further, GMA News TV’s “May Pag-asa” station ID, a collection of stories of hope that aims to show the power of the human heart to see light in the midst of darkness, was chosen as one of the finalists in the Station/ Image Promotion category.

All finalists will proceed to a second round of judging by award-winning industry experts from around the globe. Winners will be presented at the 2015 Television and Film Awards Ceremony scheduled on April 14 in Las Vegas. ★★★★★ Meanwhile, Arnold Clavio and Kara David were honored in the Gawad Bagani 2015 held at the University of the East (UE) Caloocan on Feb.20.

A joint project of the CAMANAVA (Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and Valenzuela) Studies Forum and UE Caloocan’s Department of Communication of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), Gawad Bagani sa Komunikasyon: Gawad para sa Makabagong Mandirigma sa Larangan ng Radyo at Telebisyon was launched in 2013 to highlight media influence among the public. It seeks to recognize media practitioners who “champion social and community services”

SIMPLY RED

GMA news anchor Arnold Clavio and reporter Kara David win honors anew

in the field of television and radio.

Clavio and David topped the survey conducted among select barangays in the CAMANAVA area and among the students and faculty of UE Caloocan CAS, which earned for them the award for the radio and television categories, respectively.

Together with Ali Sotto, Clavio hosts the daily radio program Dobol

A sa Dobol B apart from Saksi, Alisto, Unang Hirit (GMA) and Tonight with Arnold Clavio (GMA News TV).

David is one of the hosts of I-Witness, hosts Powerhouse (GMA) and copresents News to Go (GMA News TV) while remaining a reporter for GMA News.

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