The Standard - 2015 May 21 - Thursday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 93  3 Sections 32 Pages P18  THURSDAY : MAY 21, 2015  www.manilastandardtoday.com  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

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Aquino still in control of Liberals

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Arrest of Binay pals flawed

SENATE SAYS NO TO RAILROADING Next page

Done deal. Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, head of the ad hoc panel conducting hearings on the Bangsamoro Basic Law, took up his post again as the lawmakers resumed voting on the BBL at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. MANNY PALMERO

Curry lifts Dubs past Rockets

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What’s on in cinemas this week

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PH should come to aid of refugees, bishops say

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan WHILE the Philippines is under no legal obligation to grant asylum to the Rohingya boat people, as the only Catholic nation in Asia, it has the moral duty to keep them from harm, the leader of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Wednesday.

CBCP president and LingayenDagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas also said the country’s “attitude of hospitality” was praiseworthy as other Asian nations turned the boat people fleeing from Myanmar away.

“By all precepts of morality and decency, there is an obligation not to leave them to the mercilessness of the elements on the high seas,” Villegas said in a statement posted on the CBCP website.

The refugees in flimsy boats were enduring appalling conditions and headed toward Philippine waters “tired, famished and desperate,” Villegas said.

“Many of them [are] carrying the dead bodies of their children in their arms,” he said.

“It is saddening that some countries in our Southeast Asian region have turned these refugees away, refusing them the comfort of even just a temporary stay,” he added.

On Tuesday, the Philippines said it was ready to help the Rohingya and Bangladeshi boat people.

The Philippines is obliged to help the migrants, many of whom are fleeing persecution, because it is party to the 1951 United Nations convention on refugees, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Charles Jose said.

“We have the commitment and the obligation to extend humanitarian assistance to these asylum seekers,” Jose said on the ANC news channel.

De Lima said that “saving lives” was paramount.

“I think humanitarian consideration should transcend any other consideration,” she said after meeting with the country representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Nearly 3,000 migrants have swum to shore or been rescued off Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand over the past week, with thousands more believed to be drifting on boats without food or water.

The three governments have sparked international outrage for driving away some of the migrant boats, who are believed to have been deserted by human trafficking rings after a Thai crackdown.

“It is not a crisis that can be solved by a single state. It’s a collective responsibility,” Bernard Kerblat, the country representative of the UNHCR, said after meeting with de Lima.

Villegas criticized countries that turned the refugees away.

“In many instances, coast guard and naval patrol vessels tow these boats, brimming over with their load of our hungry, sick and desperate brothers and sisters back to the high seas, there to face the elements, and often, sadly, to perish,” he said.

Decades ago, he said, the Philippines was host to boat people from Vietnam following the triumph of the communists. – With aFP

Final voting. Lawmakers raise their hands during the final voting for the passage of the Bangsamoro Basic Law at the House of Representatives on Wednesday. Manny PalMero

No Senate railroading of BBL, Marcos vows

By Macon ramos-araneta, Sandy araneta and Maricel V. Cruz

THE Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) will not be railroaded through the Senate as it was in the House, where the Palace version of the bill was passed by a vote of 50-17, Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said Wednesday.

“Our senators are very independent-minded,” Marcos told a radio interview when asked if the bill would go through the same process in the Senate.

After a marathon 13-hour session that began Tuesday, the House ad hoc panel finished line-by-line voting on the 109-page draft bill, which was almost identical to the Palacesubmitted draft.

Critics complained that the majority railroaded the bill through after two meetings with President Benigno Aquino III in the Palace ahead of the vote.

Amendments that were previously discussed were abandoned in the so-called “chairman’s draft” prepared by the head of the panel, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez.

But Marcos said his meticulous and detailed scrutiny of the draft BBL was based on the suggestions of his fellow senators.

Still, he said, members of the administration party and their allies would likely support the Palace version of the bill.

“But we are in constant communication with each other and I think that if it is evident that some provisions need amendment,” Marcos said.

Marcos said he expected Senate amendments on BBL to focus on provisions on constitutional bodies, the “opt-in” provision and the provision on Bangsamoro police.

So far, Marcos said that except from some billboard and media campaigns directed at him personally he has not felt any direct pressure on him to rush the passage of the BBL in his committee.

“Nobody has told me what to do.

There were only reminders not to stop so we could not be seen as delaying the process. That’s why we have hearings (on BBL) practically every week,” Marcos said.

And after two more hearings for sectors who felt left out in the process, one on May 25 for the sultanates and indigenous people, and another on June 3 for local government officials, Marcos said his panel would buckle down to the task of writing its report.

The senator has been saying that for BBL to work it should be allinclusive and that it should have popular support.

However, the public attitude towards BBL was eroded after the Jan. 25 Mamasapano massacre of 44 police commandos by Muslim rebels, including the those from the government’s peace partner, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

The latest Social Weather Station survey showed only 23 percent of the Filipino people support the passage of the BBL. A Palace spokesman on Wednesday denied that there was any quid pro quo when the President discussed the BBL with congressional leaders over the weekend.

“Peace and prosperity in Mindanao. That’s the end goal of the BBL. I mean, if you are asking for any quid pro quo, there is none,” said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda, addressing suspicion that administration lawmakers were rewarded for voting in favor of the Palace version of the BBL. No money or slots in the Liberal Party senatorial slate for 2016 were offered in exchange for votes, Lacierda said.

Lacierda said Aquino was prompted to call a meeting with the congressmen because ime was getting short and Mamasapano had obviously delayed the administration’s timetable.

“And we need to catch up,” he said.

He said the government needed to make sure that those who would take a leadership role after the BBL was passed had the capacity to govern the area.

Lacierda also welcomed the statement of MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal who said the rebels were happy with 90 percent of the BBL. “It’s a positive, it’s a good step for us,” Lacierda said.

Lacierda described the two weekend meetings of the President with lawmakers as “part of the deliberative process in Congress” but declined to give details on what was said during those meetings.

“I have no personal knowledge of what transpired,” he said.

Asked about criticism that the BBL was rammed through the ad hoc panel in the House, Lacierda said any concerns raised by those in disagreement were being heard.

“But the process is continuing.

However you characterize it, there’s a democratic process that continues to run and let’s wait... at least in the final version of the BBL in the House,” Lacierda said.

Both Marcos and Senator Francis Escudero have criticized the Palace for setting a deadline for the passage of the BBL. Lacierda acknowledged that the senators were like “independent republics,” but said he would consult with Senate President Franklin Drilon about the Palace deadline for the BBL. “I think all of us are in agreement that there is a need to pursue this avenue for the peace and development of—and eventual prosperity of Muslim Mindanao,” he said.

In the House, the ad hoc panel scrutinizing the BBL voted 50-17-1 in favor of the Palace version of the bill.

Critics slammed what they called as tyranny of the majority when t Rodriguez adopted a substituted bill entitled “Basic Law of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.”

Zamboanga City Rep. Celso Lobregat, an administration ally but the most vocal critic of the bill, decried the deicision of his allies in the majority to vote down several of his proposed amendments to the bill.

“This is a very sad day,” Lobregat, vice chairman of the House committee on peace, reconciliation and unity, said, even as he clarified that he supported the peace initiative being pursued by the Aquino government.

“I am for peace but not at the expense of the republic,” he said.

Lobregat said he made more than 150 “principled and logical amendments on the basis of law and Constitution.”

He also slammed Rodriguez for doing an about-face when he then said several times and even assured the Palace-created Peace Council that all the contentious provisions would be excised from the measure.

Rodriguez himself voted in favor of the Palace version of the measure.

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Leila accused of bribe-taking

By Rey E. Requejo

A WITNESS who retracted her statements accusing Justice Department prosecutors of taking bribes from the Ampatuan clan in the Maguindanao massacre case has filed a serious illegal detention charge against Maguindanao Gov. Esmael Mangudadatu and 10 others.

In her complaint, Jerramy Joson also said she received information that Justice Secretary Leila de Lima received a P5 million monthly “allowance” from Mangudadatu.

De Lima immediately dismissed Joson’s accusation as “rubbish.”

De Lima said she has already ordered an investigation of Joson.

“That woman has done so much harm already to the institution but we will find out who exactly this woman is, what she is up to and who is or are behind her. I will not allow anyone or anything to destroy our institution and the Maguindanao massacre case,” De Lima said, in a text message.

In her complaint, Joson said she and her child were detained from Aug. 15 to 20, 2014 and continuously briefed by Mangudadatu’s lawyer, Nena Santos and Gemma Oquendo, on what to say based on the contents of the notebook. She said she was told to say that Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan and several state prosecutors handling the Maguindanao massacre case were recipients of bribes from the Ampatuan camp.

Joson later recanted her accusation of bribery against the prosecutors, saying she was coerced by Mangadadatu and Santos to make the allegations.

She also added that the two even took her mobile phones and told her she could only get it back once the National Bureau of Investigation took her testimony on the alleged bribery allegation.

Aside from Mangudadatu and Santos, Joson also named Maguindanao 2nd District Rep. Zajid Mangudadatu and his wife, Ebrahim Jong Mangudadatu, Poblacion Mangudadatu, King Jhazzer Mangudadatu, Khadafeh Mangudadatu, board member Bobby Katambak, lawyers Gemma Oquen-

do and Prima Quinsayas.

Joson said she wanted to tell authorities and her family what was happening but she could not do so out of fear.

The witness said that she was told that De Lima is a close friend of Santos and that the DOJ chief was receiving a monthly allowance from Mangudadatu.

Joson pointed out that she only made the bribery allegations against the DOJ officials and prosecutors after she was coached and coerced

by Mangudadatu, Santos, Oquendo, Prima Quinsayas and Mangudadatu’s son, King Jhazzer Mangudadatu.

She took back her statement because she was bothered by her conscience, she said.

Mangudadatu denied Joson’s allegations and said they were a “desperate attept to salvage whatever little respectability that remains with her name and reputation.”

“This recent legal misadventure

by Joson is therefore expected just to satisfy her ‘benefactor’ and to lend some cloud of respectability to the intricate web of lies she has spun just to make her story appear credible,” the governor said.

Also on Wednesday, De Lima said the filing of a third batch of cases involving the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) scam may be done next week.

De Lima said the final recommendation of the special investigation team created to determine who should be charged in connection with the PDAF scam will be completed next week.

She gave assurances that the result of the investigation would be immediately known, just as it was when the first batch of cases was filed against opposition Senators Ramon Revilla Jr., Jinggoy Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile. – With PNA

Drill. Employees

of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company in Makati participate in an earthquake drill after the MMDA asked local government units to intensify their preparations for a big earthquake. DANNY PATA

Ping to wait for survey before deciding

By Macon Ramos-Araneta FORMER Senator Panfilo Lacson, who has said he will decide on his plan to run for President after the release of the next political survey, on Wednesday discussed his possible opponents in the May 2016 elections.

Taking the cudgels for Senator Grace Poe, who was attacked by Vice President Jejomar Binay for her lack of experience to run the country, Lacson contradicted Binay and said “she is qualified.”

“Grace Poe is inexperienced but qualified,” Lacson told a breakfast forum in Manila.

He made his statement even as superstar Nora Aunor on Wednesday said she would endorse Poe in case she decided to run for President in 2016.

"Yes!" she said. She said she would campaign 100 percent for

Poe. Lacson described Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, another possible presidential candidate, as a problem analyzer and not a problem solver.

On Binay, who is being hounded by astring of corruption charges, Lacson said he had too many problems to solve.

If things did not change and Binay retained his number one ranking for the 2016 elections, then he would be a force to reckon with, Lacson said.

He described former President and now Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada as “localized.”

The supporters of Lacson in his presidential run want Poe to be his runningmate.

Retired military and police officials recently came out with a one-page political advertisement urging him and Poe to forge a po-

Aquino still in control of Liberal Party PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III is still in control of the Liberal Party (LP), as fears of a breakup might happen due to some members endorsing Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Mar Roxas to be the standard bearer, while others are backing Senator Grace Poe to run for president.

“As far as the LP Cabinet members I have spoken to, there is no concern as to a breakup.

The President remains firmly on the top leadership --- in control of the Liberal Party,” stressed Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda, during a press briefing in Malacanang yesterday.

“I think everyone in LP respects the decision of the President insofar as the timetable of his announcement. So we do not want to preempt the schedule or all these concerns, these sentiments,” Lacierda also said.

Lacierda admitted that there are certain quarters outside of LP who would like to see the breakup of LP, naturally. “But as far as the LP leaders are concerned, they are solidly behind the President and they will stand by the decision of the President, when the time comes, as to who he will endorse as the presidential standard bearer,” said Lacierda.

Lacierda also said that they are confident that members of the LP “will respect, follow, and adhere to the decision of the President.”

Reports said that House Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II, the chair of the LP parliamentary caucus, last Tuesday, had admitted that he himself could not say whether the LP would remain intact as its leaders grappled with the question of whether to go with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas or Sen. Grace

Poe as standard bearer of LP for 2016.

“People are already asking who will be the standard-bearer and all that. I think it clearly shows that we are so personality based. But if you want to frame the elections it should be about honesty and experience,” stressed Lacierda.

Lacierda said that they have tested integrity, and have experience in governing the country.

“We are concerned in making sure that the daang matuwid…

As far as the administration is concerned, we are concerned about the daang matuwid,” he said.

Lacierda also said the President is already thinking about elections on 2022 and 2028, and who would continue the reforms he has started when he was elected in 2010. President Aquino thinking of 2022, 2028 and 2034 elections. Sandy Araneta

litical alliance and run in 2016.

The group said the country needed “the strong-willed, disciplined and decisive service reputation of Lacson and the untarnished and compassionate brand of leadership of Poe.” But Lacson said there were no formal talks yet with Poe, who closed ranks with Vice President Jejomar Binay in the last presidential survey.

Lacson has repeatedly said he has high regards for Poe. He says the senator did well as head of the Senate public order committee that led the Senate investigation into the Mamasapano debacle in which 67 Filipinos, including 44 police commandos, were killed He also said Poe’s name had never been tainted and they shared the same advocacy: the fight against graft and corruption.

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

CO M M I S S I O N O N A P P O I N T M E N T S INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BID T he C om m i s s i o n o n A p p o i n t me n t s (C . A . ), w i t h o f f i c e s l o c a t e d a t t h e 6 th Fl o o r, P N B F i nanc i al C ente r, P re s . D i o s d a d o Ma c a p a g a l B o u l e v a rd , P a s a y C i t y i n v i t e s a l l G o v e rn me n t El ec tr oni c Pr ocu re me n t S y s t e m (G -E P S ) re g i s t e re d b i d d e rs t o a p p l y f o r e l i g i b i l i t y a n d t o bi d for the heal t h i n s u ra n c e c o v e ra g e o f i t s e mp l o y e e s f o r t h e y e a r 2 0 1 5 -2 0 1 6 .

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F ur ther , th e C o mmi s s i o n o n A p p o i n t me n t s a s s u me s n o o b l i g a t i o n w h a t s o e v e r to c om pens ate o r i n d e mn i f y t h e b i d d e r f o r a n y e x p e n s e o r l o s s t h a t t h e y ma y i n c u r i n par ti c i pati ng i n t h i s u n d e rt a k i n g n o r d o e s i t g u a ra n t e e t h a t a n a w a rd w i l l b e ma d e .

J O E Y C . FLA MI N I A N O D e p u t y S e c re t a ry f o r A d mi n i s t ra t i o n C h a i rma n , B i d s a n d A w a rd s C o mmi t t e e 6/F PNB Fi n a n c i a l C e n t e r, P re s . D i o s d a d o P . Ma c a p a g a l B l v d . , P a s a y C i t y (TS-MAY 21, 2015)

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Demo flight. An Airbus 350 XWB taxis toward the Ninoy Aquino International Airport terminal after a demonstration flight. The new-generation jetliner, which came into commercial service only last January, is the first Airbus with both fuselage and wing structures made of carbon-fiberreinforced polymer. ERIC APOLONIO

Senate order flawed, legal experts declare

By Rey E. Requejo, Sandy Araneta and Vito Barcelo

THE arrest order issued by Senate President Franklin Drilon against associates and alleged dummies of Vice President Jejomar Binay in connection with the ongoing corruption probe in the Senate is legally flawed, according to legal experts.

Rev. Ranhilio Aquino, law dean of San Beda Graduate School, and University of the Philippines law professor Harry Roque Jr. made the assessment as Malacañang denied it had a hand in the issuance of arrest orders against 17 people identified with Binay.

Even Justice Secretary Leila de Lima weighed in on the debate and said Binay should just appear in the Senate because he was not immune from suit.

The Binay camp, on the other hand, slammed De Lima for what they described as lack of understanding of the “rule of law” when

she insisted that the Vice President is not immune to suit.

Aquino and Roque also questioned the role of the arrests in aiding legislation because, while the issuance of arrest orders is within the Senate’s plenary powers, it should only be used if necessary for its mandate to legislate or create laws.

Both legal educators said the individuals who have been ordered arrested for contempt by the Senate blue ribbon committee can ask relief from the Supreme Court.

“The Senate has to show first that the testimonies of those it has summoned are necessary for legislation.

A bare allegation that the hearing is in aid of legislation will not suffice,” Aquino said.

Aquino noted that the subjects of the Senate’s arrest order “can go to court and file certiorari petition questioning the contempt citation.”

Agreeing with Aquino, Roque said: “It’s part of plenary powers of Congress. However, power to investigate was clarified to be for legislative purposes only per ruling of SC in Neri vs Senate Blue Ribbon Committee. It should not be used for partisan purposes.”

Roque added that the associates of Binay could also run to the Supreme Court just as Romulo Neri did.

In the Neri case, the SC stopped in February 2008 the Senate Blue Ribbon committee from enforcing its arrest order against petitioner who was then chairman of Commission on Higher Education in connection with the $329-million ZTE National Broadband Network deal.

The SC later voided the Senate arrest order because the Senate had abused its authority by ordering Neri’s arrest for contempt despite the non-publication of its rules on procedures.

The Binay camp also slammed De Lima for claiming that the Vice President is not immune to suit.

“DOJ Secretary De Lima should understand the ‘rule of law’ and what it means,” said Binay’s political spokesman Rico Quicho.

Quicho explained that the Ombudsman cannot investigate impeachable officials for an alleged crime except for purposes of impeachment.

“The Constitution also says that a person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. It is not right for the government or any of its officials to accuse an impeachable official like the President, Vice President, a Supreme Court Justice, or an official of a constitutional office, of a crime like plunder and tell him to explain his innocence.”

Militants score CHED’s ‘mumbo-jumbo data’ THE youth group Anakbayan condemned the Commission on Higher Education and the Aquino government for its approval and implementation of tuition and other school fee increases for the incoming school year despite protests from students, parents, and educators.

“This government has no heart,” said Anakbayan national chairper-

son Vencer Crisostomo, who also scored the CHED’s late issuance of “mumbo-jumbo data” on approved tuition and other fee hikes as “misleading and deceptive.” “[The government] wants more people to kill themselves, more people to be pushed to hopelessness and more anxiety about the future.

Pinapayagan nilang nakawan pa lalo ang mga mag-aaral at magulang,”

Crisostomo added.

“It seeks to cover-up the fact that government’s tuition deregulation policy has led to skyrocketing tuition rates and the collection of illegal, exorbitant fees. Why has CHED not released the list of schools implementing tuition hikes? Why is it silent on drop-out rates, increasing profits of big schools and the complaints filed by students?” he said.

He said actual “per student” computations may reflect higher rates as CHED’s averages does not factor in larger student population in big schools which collect up to more than P80,000 to P100,000 in tuition and other school fees. He said student estimates show average school fee rates have increased by more than P20,000 per semester since 2010.

4 Marines implicate Pemberton in killing OLONGAPO CITY – Four US Marines took the witness stand Tuesday at the murder trial of their comrade accused of killing a local transgender woman in the Philippines, lawyers who attended the closed-door proceedings said.

The American servicemen were asked to testify on what the defendant, Private First Class Joseph Pemberton, had told them shortly after the October 24, 2014 killing, the lawyers said.

“I think I may have killed a he or she,” Lance Corporal Michael Rose told the court when asked what Pemberton had said to him on the night the body was found, according to Virgie Suarez, a lawyer for the family of the victim, who was at the hearing.

Defense lawyer Benjamin Tolosa confirmed after the hearing that “some admissions were made,” but declined to elaborate.

The victim Jennifer Laude, who was also known as Jeffrey, was found naked with strangle marks on her neck in a cheap motel room in the northern port of Olongapo, according to a Filipino police autopsy report.

Pemberton, who had just finished taking part in a joint training exercise between the US and the Philippines near Olongapo, checked into the motel with Laude shortly after meeting her at a bar, prosecutors said.

Suarez said the court was told Pemberton spoke to Rose about the incident when he returned to their ship quarters.

Rose along with two of three other marines who testified Tuesday had been with the defendant at the bar before he checked into the hotel with the victim, Suarez said. AFP

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STANdArd TALKS AT MANiLA rOTArY tHE Standard and the rotary Club of Manila present the second edition of “the Standard talks†at the Manila Polo Club today. to be moderated by veteran journalist, BizNews Asia publisher and the Standard columnist tony Lopez, the forum will discuss another hot issue facing the country today: the situation on the West Philippine Sea and whether the country should continue to pursue diplomatic efforts with China.

Presenting opposing views on the topic are University of the Philippines law professor and international law expert Harry roque and Magdalo Party List representative Ashley Acedillo.

Live-streamed on the Internet to reach wider audiences, “the Standard talks†allows readers to make informed choices, form intelligent opinions and make a stand on hotbutton issues by featuring panelists who are well-versed on the topics discussed. the forum and live-streaming start at 12:30 p.m.

Live-in partners Julius Lacanilao and Maria Kristina Sergio, alleged recruiter of death convict Mary Jane Veloso attend the preliminary hearing on charges of illegal recruitiment, estafa and human trafficking file against them by the relatives of Veloso. DANNY PATA

Recruiters clear Veloso

By Rey E. Requejo

The alleged recruiters of Mary Jane Veloso cleared her of drug smuggling even as they denied Wednesday the string of criminal charges filed by the family of Veloso who’s facing execution in Indonesia.

Ma. Cristina Sergio and live-in partner Julius Lacanilao said they did not deceive Veloso into carrying illegal drugs to Indonesia in cahoots with an alleged member of drug syndicated identified only as a certain Ike. Sergio and Lacanilao, accompanied by public attorneys, showed up before the Department of Justice (DOJ) and submitted separate counter-affidavits on charges of illegal recruitment, human trafficking and estafa by swindling.

While denying the charges, the Sergio cleared Veloso of involve-

ment in drug trafficking, saying it was possible that she was duped into carrying the luggage containing 2.6 kilograms of heroin by the African-looking men who tried to befriend them while she and Mary Jane were taking snacks on the afternoon of April 24, 2010 at a restaurant in front of the Sun Inns Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Sergio said she believes that Veloso was a victim and “was taken advantage of because she didn’t know any better, was in dire need of a job, and because of her tendency to trust people, even

strangers.”

“I fully believe that Mary Jane Veloso is innocent in the case lodged against her for smuggling illegal drugs from Malaysia to Indonesia, which led to her death sentence in Indonesia,” she added.

“I believe Mary Jane did not know that she would be asked to bring a suitcase instead of handcarry luggage by the dark-skinned man and that she did not know that she was made to bring illegal drugs,” Sergio said.

Insisting their innocence on

charges of illegal recruitment, human trafficking and estafa by swindling, Sergio stressed that they only helped Veloso in trying to find a job abroad.

“We cannot be considered illegal recruiters because we did not promise Mary Jane a job. It was she and her husband who pleaded that we lend them money so she could find job abroad,” Sergio said in Filipino.

They denied taking a tricycle from Veloso as part of the payment for her trip abroad.

According to them, Lacanilao was supposed to accompany Sergio on a round-trip flight to Malaysia. But Lacanilao failed to get his passport, so it was Veloso who went with Sergio instead.

Based on their account, Sergio and Veloso left the country

for Malaysia on April 21, 2010 to meet a potential employer there.

Sergio further claimed that it was Veloso who met Ike and a certain John – whom she described as “dark skinned, curlyhaired men” - in Malaysia while having snacks outside their hotel on April 24, 2010.

Sergio recalled that Veloso later on told her that the two men offered her a job – to bring a luggage either to Singapore or Thailand.

She said she repeatedly warned Veloso, but the latter was dead-set on finding a job immediately.

“As long as I find a job, any job – for my family),” Veloso supposedly told Sergio. the two men then called Veloso again and the next day, she left the hotel room for the airport, Sergio recalled.

Smartmatic twits rival firms

By Sara D. Fabunan

Still critical. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Service Administration hydrologist Sonia Serrano on Wednesday warns that irrigation water may be cut off due to the receding water level in Angat Dam that has reached the critical 1.75 meters. DANNY PATA CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

SMArtMAtIC-total Information Management president Cesar Flores on Wednesday reminded his company’s critics of the “historic role” it played in helping the Comelec hold the first-ever automated elections in 2010.

Flores said that competitors are having “sleepless nights” making unfair tactics against the Smartmatic-tIM to protect their own interest.

“Of course, this is giving our competitors a lot of sleepless nights. Desperate and unable to compete with us on a level playing field, these groups can

only find recourse in resorting to unfair tactics to protect their business interests, not least of which is filing frivolous blacklisting suits,” Flores said.

His remark was made after the Citizen for Clean and Credible Elections called on the Comelec en banc to blacklist Smartmatic-tIM . rejecting C3E’s plea, Flores noted that the Comelec bids and awards committee (BAC) had long junked the blacklisting suit.

“The BAC had already junked the blacklisting suit finding it completely bereft of merit. Smartmatic has always respected and abided by the laws of the Philip-

pines,” Flores said.

In May 10, 2010, the Smartmatic-tIM was the lone technical provider that manufactured the 81,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, automating the country’s election system.

Aside from the Presidential elections, the Smartmatic-tIM was the technical provider of the Senatorial polls in 2013, reusing the old PCOS units.

Flores noted that no company could claim such reputation where even other countries, aside from the Philippines, relied on Smartmatic in terms of automating the voting system.

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A6

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Responsible mining pushed

By Rio N. Araja

MINING workers from Sta. Cruz, Zambales, together with rice farmers and fishermen, on Wednesday stormed the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Quezon City to express support for the lifting of a suspension order on the mining activities in the province.

Disaster preparedness. Employees of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone in Makati City take part in an earthquake drill on Wednesday following calls from the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology for disaster preparedness. DANNY PATA

If mega-quake hits, golf courses on tap

By Joel E. Zurbano IN CASE a powerful earthquake hits the National Capital Region, the government will use at least three golf courses as evacuation centers in the National Capital Region.

The Villamor Golf Club in Villamor Air Base in Pasay City, Intramuros Golf Club in Manila and the Veterans Memorial Medical Center Golf Club in Quezon City were identified by the Metro Manila Development Authority as evacuation centers in preparation for the “big one.”

MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino said the golf clubs will also be used as relief distribution hub, trauma centers, mobile hospitals, training and command post based on the agreement made by the agency and the management of the golf courses.

The MMDA also designated other pri-

vate establishments and public institutions as operation centers to assist affected residents. These are University of the Philippines (UP) Campus in Diliman, Quezon City; Light Rail Transit depot in Santolan, Pasig City; Marikina Boys Town, Marikina Red Cross and the University of Life Arena, also in Pasig City.

MMDA officials said the Pasig River will also serve as an alternate route for rescue and relief personnel in case bridges are destroyed.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) earlier warned the public of a massive quake if the Valley Fault System moves. The system is comprised of the 10-kilometer East Valley Fault in Rizal, and the 100-kilometer West Valley Fault, which passes through six Metro Manila cities and parts of the Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal provinces.

The warning came following a mag-

nitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Nepal on April 25.

The MMDA is closely coordinating with Phivolcs to make an assessment and impact study to mitigate damages in the event a major earthquake occurs.

The earthquake in Nepal has roused the Philippine government to prepare for the country’s “Big One” - a phrase used to describe the gigantic earthquake.

A study conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency showed that Metro Manila would crumble if it is hit by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.

The study stated that Metro Manila is not prepared to deal with a 7.2 magnitude quake in terms of existing resources and given the old building structures around an within the metropolis.

In its official website, the MMDA came up with safety tips and “What to do BEFORE, DURING and AFTER Earthquake.

The Mine Workers, Families and Community, led by Danilo Calimlim, an accountant of Benguet Corp. Nickel Mines Inc. and Orlan Mayor of Eramen Minerals Inc., along with other miners and residents, met with Environmental Management Bureau assistant director Eva Ocfemia at DENR central office.

In an interview, Calimlim denied mining employees are underpaid and overworked, and that mining operations in Sta. Cruz have caused severe environmental degradation “as shown by the antimining advocates through old photographs and rehashed stories.”

“We are here to tell the truth. Not only fishermen, but also farmers and fishers benefit from the scholarship grants of Benguet Corp. and the other three mining companies,” he told The Standard.

On July 14, 2014, DENR issued a suspension order to stop the extraction of nickel ore in Sta. Cruz municipality by Zambales Diversified Metals Corp., Benguet Corp., ERAMEN Minerals Inc. and LNL Archipelago Minerals Inc. after a team of different government agencies had interviewed residents about their complaints of nickel siltation in river, farmlands, fishponds and the sea.

At least 3,000 mining workers lost their jobs.

Even scholars and residents were deprived of the opportunity to attain a college degree, medical and dental outreach programs and other projects, Calimlim said.

In February this year, DENR lifted the suspension order.

“The order expires today,” Calimlim said.

Ocfemia ordered the submission of a monitoring report by Friday next week to assess the impact of the mining operations in the town.

Samuel Marty, a 51-year-old rice farmer, said the four mining firms have been extending their assistance to the entire community as part of their corporate social responsibility.

Without mining, Calimlim said the 3,000 miners and their families would be badly affected.

He appealed to EMB and the Mines and Geosciences Bureau to allow their “responsible” mining operations.

Indonesia frees 17 Pinoys

By Vito Barcelo AT LEAST 17 Filipino fishermen who were arrested for illegally fishing in waters off Indonesia were repatriated to the Philippine, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Tuesday said.

The Filipino fishermen were from fishing vessels KM Garuda 05, KM Garuda 06, KM Inday Hubag, KM JVY and KM JV from Jakarta, Indonesia.

“The fishermen were arrested in groups for illegally fishing in Indonesian waters for not

having proper travel and work permits,” the DFA said.

They were not in possession of passports nor travel documents when they entered Indonesian waters, the DFA said.

They were received by Ambassador Ricardo Endaya of the Office of the Undersecretary for Migrant Workers Affairs.

“The Philippine Government is committed to provide repatriation assistance to Filipinos who may find themselves in distress overseas, including our fisher folks who

stray into foreign waters,” Endaya said.

The DFA coordinated with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to arrange for the temporary shelter and transportation requirements of the said 17 Filipinos for their onward travel to General Santos City and Saranggani Province.

Since January 2015, the DFA has repatriated 139 Filipino fishermen from Indonesia after entering Indonesian waters without proper documentation and permission.

Traders’ donation. Leaders of the Federation of Filipino-Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. headed by Dr. Alfonso Siy on Wednesday distribute cash to survivors of the Kentex Factory fire in Valenzuela that killed 72 workers and injured scores. The victims’ relatives also received scholarship grants from the federation. DANNY PATA

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Robbery, murder suspect nabbed CAMP DIEGO SILANG, San Fernando City, La Union—One of the suspects in the Jan. 8 robbery and killing of a pawnshop employee in Dagupan City was nabbed yesterday in Barangay Ambonao, Calasiao, Pangasinan.

Senior Superintendent Francisco Esguerra, regional chief of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group 1, identified the suspect as Rolando Gonzales who allegedly killed and robbed Loreta Antonio, 61, and dumped her body at a cornfield in Barangay San Miguel, San Manuel, Tarlac.

Esguerra said that pieces of evidence, like the shoulder bag of the victim, ID and other personal belongings, were recovered from the suspect’’s house.

The raiding team also recovered from the suspect’s possession the ID of Michael Edades, an alleged CIDG asset, who was tagged as the principal suspect in the crime.

Investigation showed that Edades’ ID had blood stains; a hand towel was found with hair strands.

Esguerra said that the victim’s employer Leandre Tan reported to the Dagupan City police station on Jan. 7, 2015 that his messenger (the victim) went missing with an undetermined large amount of cash money owned by the pawnshop.

The following day, the victim’s body, allegedly riddled with gun and stabbed wounds, was found by spouses Winifredo and Juvy Panagsagan of San Miguel, San Manuel, Tarlac.

Suspect is now under the custody of Pangasinan CIDG.

Soft kitty, warm kitty. A resident of Sudapin, Kidapawan City feeds a newborn kitten abandoned by its mother. GEONARRI SOLMERANO

Court: No royalty for songs played inside Baguio eatery BAGUIO CITY—A local businessman was spared from paying to a collection agent the amount of approximately P500,000 after the city’s Regional Trial Court Branch 6 dismissed, for lack of merit, the charges of infringement of copyright filed by the Philippine Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Inc. Judge Cecilia Corazon Dulay Archog ruled Philscap failed to substantiate its claims of infringement of copyright against Anrey Inc., represented by its president Miguel “Carlos” Anton for playing various songs in the different outlets of Sizzling Plate through the radio.

The case of infringement of copy right was filed by Philscap against Anton after its officers happened

to eat in one of the outlets of Sizzling Plate and heard the various songs of the artists that they were handling being played in the establishment’s radio.

Subsequently, the organization started billing the establishment of royalties followed by the circulation of notices to the different food service establishments and hotels assessing them of royalties for play-

ing songs in their establishments through the radio.

When Anton contested the said notices, the Philscap on September 8, 2009 filed the civil case of infringement of copyright against him before the local court. philscap demanded the food establishment operator to pay royalties or license fees for the public performance of local and foreign copyrighted musical works. It also prayed for Anton to pay the group at least P300,000 in nominal damages, P18,900 as compensatory damages, P100,000 as exemplary damages and P50,000 as attorney’s fees and litigation expenses and cease and desist from publicly performing PHILSCAP musical works unless and until he

secures a public performance license from the organization.

The court ruled: “The defendant (Anton) cannot be said to have infringed upon the copy right law. He is therefore not liable to plaintiff for any public performance license since the customers of his restaurant pay only for the food and drinks and apparently not for listening to the music. It was not shown that defendant’s customers patronized the restaurant because of the music being played over the radio. Defendant was not charging any admission fee in respect of such public performance, and it does not charge any additional cost to the customers for the music played in his restaurants,”the decision stressed.

Claretians to launch book on martyred missionaries

By Ronald O. Reyes

THE Claretian Missionaries of the Philippines has invited the public to the book launching of “Witness: Mission Stories of Basilan” on Saturday, May 23.

The activity is in commemoration of the 15th death anniversary of martyred Claretian missionary Fr. Rhoel Gallardo, CMF. Kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group on March 20, 2000, along with four teachers and 22 students from the Claret School of Tumahubong in Sumisip, Basilan, Fr.

Gallaro died in a crossfire between the bandit group who held them in captivity and the military who tried to rescue them on May 3 of the same year.

Five of the school children and three of the teachers were also killed along with Fr. Gallardo.

“While there have been essays and publications about the bigger Mindanao situation, Witness: Mission Stories of Basilan contains stories of Claretian missionaries who have committed themselves to journey with the people as ‘witnesses’ to

the Gospel amid all odds and threats to their lives,” said Fr. Angel Calvo, CMF, Mission Procurator of Claretian Missionaries, Philippine Province.

Described as “a quiet, simple missionary priest”, Fr. Gallardo hailed from Olongapo city, Zambales and assigned as school director to the remote Tumahubongin in Basilan for his mission.

Veteran journalist and editor Jose “Joe” Torres, also a two-time awardee of the Philippines’ National Book Award for Journalism, edited the book.

Best picture. Judges looks on to some 584 entries at the 10th National Children’s Day Photo Contest 2015 held in Davao City. REVOLI CORTEZ

T h u R S D AY : M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA editor

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

View from mAlCom Atty. hArry roque jr.

Schizophrenia on boat people ii

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Attributes of A leAder TwO top politicians have recently exchanged views on the attributes of an ideal candidate for president.

Vice President Jejomar Binay said a president must have competence and experience. Inexperience would be costly to the country. In response to this, and probably because she felt alluded to, Senator Grace Poe said the ideal leader should be honest.

Mr. Binay may as well be speaking pointedly to his perceived closest rival. Poe is a nephyte senator who surprisingly finished first during the 2013 senatorial race. She had a brief stint at the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, but that was about it. All she had was a familiar last name --her father was a movie icon -- and a fresh face.

Her words may be construed to refer to the string of corruption accusations hounding the Binay family.

In light of these exchanges, the people ask: does it have to be a choice between competence and experience, on one hand, and honesty, on the other? Such simplification simply panders to the ways of traditional politics that portrays one person as good and the opponent evil. This is how you mold unthinking voters. This is how you discourage critical thinking.

One virtue in fact should build on the other. Honesty for instance is fundamental.

It is a given that a country must have an honest leader – one who does not only not steal, but one who also does not lie or engage in doublespeak for his or her own perverted ends. we need an honest person who is as quick to acknowledge shortcomings as he is fast to claim rightful credit for things that go well.

But if honesty were the main criteria, then practically anybody could be president.

The neighbor who watches over your house when you’re on vacation is honest. The cab driver who returns a bag of cash is honest. The vendor at the market who makes sure his scales are accurate is honest.

The presidency is a job, as all others, with a unique set of requirements from its applicants. It is executive in nature, so the need is for somebody who gets things done and implements the law fairly. But the president also has the power to accept or reject laws passed by the Legislature. He is the face of the country before the community of nations; his or her word binds us all. And many others. enough of this posturing about which attributes the next president must possess. It’s a way of telling the people that they have these qualities and their opponent does not. To be able to give us real alternatives, those angling to be the next leader of the land must show us that they are more than just archetypes and personalities but actual potential leaders who can make tough decisions and inspire us with how they work, and live. we’ve had plenty of experience, for instance, banking on “the son of democracy icons” who promised to eliminate poverty by going after the corrupt. Look where that has taken us.

A misuse of power lowdown jojo A. robles YOu may think that President Noynoy Aquino has lost his grip on what his “bosses,” the people, want. But his hold on the Lower House, displayed yesterday in the voting on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, is as firm as it ever was.

After flying through the committee level, the BBL seems headed for approval by the House of Representatives

in a plenary session with the help of an even bigger majority. In fact, those privy to the machinations in the House have told me that the backers of the BBL are already assured of more than 180 out of the nearly 300 votes of the entire House.

Such an overwhelming majority hasn’t been seen since 188 members of the House voted in favor of impeaching then Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2011. By way of comparison, the expected lopsided vote in favor of BBL in the plenary dwarfs the 133 votes

received in the full House by the Reproductive Health Law in 2012.

The determination of the House to deliver to President Noynoy Aquino what looks like his final centerpiece legislation is in full swing, regardless of what some people in the Senate (which is crafting its own BBL counterpart on the same palace-dictated deadline) say. And our congressmen have shown that they will not let the submission of last-minute replacement versions – like the one they voted on after meeting

A9

imagine what Aquino could have accomplished, if he had employed his powers over Congress for good.

Aquino in Malacanang last weekend – stop them from doing what the President wants them to do.

The ad hoc committee chairman on the BBL, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, and his fellow House travelers on Aquino’s “matuwid na daan” can protest all they want that they tried their best to serve the interest of the people of Mindanao and all Filipinos – not just the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. But their voting in the committee level only proves that their real master is Aquino.

It’s as if all the noise generated in the House questioning the constitutionality of the

proposed law and the logic and even the sanity of its proponents never happened. And the talk about how the congressmen who voted in favor received P50 million in projects and P1 million in cash each is unbelievable, in my opinion, because the foot-dragging before the weekend palace meetings and the speed of the actual vote afterwards only tell me that the pro-BBL lawmakers merely jacked up their “price” to as high as it will go; those figures, in my opin-

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

ion, are too small because the stakes were already too high and the war chest of Malacanang is just too big.

It’s just sad that Aquino chooses to use his vast powers of “convincing” Congress to settle his petty personal vendettas (as in the case of Corona) and to traitorously dismember the country over and above the people’s objections (like in the BBL). Imagine what he could have accomplished, had he actually employed his powers of persuasion

5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

over Congress for good, like for the aforementioned FoI. As the old song says: I can dream, can’t I? *** Speaking of power and its misuse, the news from Baguio City is that a local court has stopped the sheriff ’s office from perpetrating a serious miscarriage of justice on the people who bought and leased property in Camp John Hay, the former American 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

Chairman President & Chief Executive Officer Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Director of Operations Finance Officer

Ma. Editha D. Angeles Advertising Manager Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

THe Aquino administration has yet another policy schizophrenia on what to do with the Rohingya boat people crisis.

Last Monday, newspaper reports quoted Presidential Spokesman Herminio Coloma saying that the Rohingya boat people will be “pushed back to sea.” Coloma made this remark in the context that today’s modern boat people do not possess travel documents. under existing immigration laws, the country can ordinarily refuse entry to undocumented aliens or those without travel documents.

Then yesterday, another alter ego of the President, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima suggested sending rescue boats to the distraught boat people. According to her, “it would be a good gesture if we send a rescue ship or two along with other Asean neighbors and it should be a concerted effort, a regional action.” She clarified, however, that this was only a “suggestion” as the issue should be decided by “government officials at the highest level.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement stating that we have to balance our obligations under our treaty obligations with “our interests, economy and security.” This sounds suspiciously similar to the position of Thailand and Malaysia in refusing entry to today’s boat people.

There should never have been conflicting positions, to begin with. As a party to the 1951 Convention on the Rights of Refugees, we are duty bound to accept and provide humanitarian assistance to those who have crossed national boundaries owing to a wellfounded fear of persecution in their homelands. Our duty is to accept them and we cannot turn them away even if they are illegal refugees. Further, under the Palermo Convention and its protocols, we also have the duty to provide for the protection of trafficked persons.

According to the united Nations, the Rohingya Muslims are today among the most “persecuted” minorities in the world. Largely based in Myanmar, the estimated 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims are considered as illegal settlers in the predominantly Buddhist country.

Recently, one of the biggest scandals that rocked Thailand was an expose that members of the group are being employed there literally as slaves made to work in exchange for food and lodging.

The problem today is that countries such as Australia and the states constituting the eu have insisted that they cannot afford the material and political costs of admitting modern-day boat people in their territory. Australia has consistently refused entry to boat people opting to process and detain them in an offshore island. The eu, despite its proven commitment to human rights, has also tightened its border controls and has also refused entry to boat people from Africa.

The eu now has to contend with the fallout arising from a sinking of one such boat with at least 700 casualties. Increasingly, Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor City Editor Senior Deskman Art Director Chief Photographer

T h u R S D AY : M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA editor

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

View from mAlCom Atty. hArry roque jr.

Schizophrenia on boat people ii

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Attributes of A leAder TwO top politicians have recently exchanged views on the attributes of an ideal candidate for president.

Vice President Jejomar Binay said a president must have competence and experience. Inexperience would be costly to the country. In response to this, and probably because she felt alluded to, Senator Grace Poe said the ideal leader should be honest.

Mr. Binay may as well be speaking pointedly to his perceived closest rival. Poe is a nephyte senator who surprisingly finished first during the 2013 senatorial race. She had a brief stint at the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, but that was about it. All she had was a familiar last name --her father was a movie icon -- and a fresh face.

Her words may be construed to refer to the string of corruption accusations hounding the Binay family.

In light of these exchanges, the people ask: does it have to be a choice between competence and experience, on one hand, and honesty, on the other? Such simplification simply panders to the ways of traditional politics that portrays one person as good and the opponent evil. This is how you mold unthinking voters. This is how you discourage critical thinking.

One virtue in fact should build on the other. Honesty for instance is fundamental.

It is a given that a country must have an honest leader – one who does not only not steal, but one who also does not lie or engage in doublespeak for his or her own perverted ends. we need an honest person who is as quick to acknowledge shortcomings as he is fast to claim rightful credit for things that go well.

But if honesty were the main criteria, then practically anybody could be president.

The neighbor who watches over your house when you’re on vacation is honest. The cab driver who returns a bag of cash is honest. The vendor at the market who makes sure his scales are accurate is honest.

The presidency is a job, as all others, with a unique set of requirements from its applicants. It is executive in nature, so the need is for somebody who gets things done and implements the law fairly. But the president also has the power to accept or reject laws passed by the Legislature. He is the face of the country before the community of nations; his or her word binds us all. And many others. enough of this posturing about which attributes the next president must possess. It’s a way of telling the people that they have these qualities and their opponent does not. To be able to give us real alternatives, those angling to be the next leader of the land must show us that they are more than just archetypes and personalities but actual potential leaders who can make tough decisions and inspire us with how they work, and live. we’ve had plenty of experience, for instance, banking on “the son of democracy icons” who promised to eliminate poverty by going after the corrupt. Look where that has taken us.

A misuse of power lowdown jojo A. robles YOu may think that President Noynoy Aquino has lost his grip on what his “bosses,” the people, want. But his hold on the Lower House, displayed yesterday in the voting on the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law, is as firm as it ever was.

After flying through the committee level, the BBL seems headed for approval by the House of Representatives

in a plenary session with the help of an even bigger majority. In fact, those privy to the machinations in the House have told me that the backers of the BBL are already assured of more than 180 out of the nearly 300 votes of the entire House.

Such an overwhelming majority hasn’t been seen since 188 members of the House voted in favor of impeaching then Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2011. By way of comparison, the expected lopsided vote in favor of BBL in the plenary dwarfs the 133 votes

received in the full House by the Reproductive Health Law in 2012.

The determination of the House to deliver to President Noynoy Aquino what looks like his final centerpiece legislation is in full swing, regardless of what some people in the Senate (which is crafting its own BBL counterpart on the same palace-dictated deadline) say. And our congressmen have shown that they will not let the submission of last-minute replacement versions – like the one they voted on after meeting

A9

imagine what Aquino could have accomplished, if he had employed his powers over Congress for good.

Aquino in Malacanang last weekend – stop them from doing what the President wants them to do.

The ad hoc committee chairman on the BBL, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, and his fellow House travelers on Aquino’s “matuwid na daan” can protest all they want that they tried their best to serve the interest of the people of Mindanao and all Filipinos – not just the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. But their voting in the committee level only proves that their real master is Aquino.

It’s as if all the noise generated in the House questioning the constitutionality of the

proposed law and the logic and even the sanity of its proponents never happened. And the talk about how the congressmen who voted in favor received P50 million in projects and P1 million in cash each is unbelievable, in my opinion, because the foot-dragging before the weekend palace meetings and the speed of the actual vote afterwards only tell me that the pro-BBL lawmakers merely jacked up their “price” to as high as it will go; those figures, in my opin-

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

ion, are too small because the stakes were already too high and the war chest of Malacanang is just too big.

It’s just sad that Aquino chooses to use his vast powers of “convincing” Congress to settle his petty personal vendettas (as in the case of Corona) and to traitorously dismember the country over and above the people’s objections (like in the BBL). Imagine what he could have accomplished, had he actually employed his powers of persuasion

5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

over Congress for good, like for the aforementioned FoI. As the old song says: I can dream, can’t I? *** Speaking of power and its misuse, the news from Baguio City is that a local court has stopped the sheriff ’s office from perpetrating a serious miscarriage of justice on the people who bought and leased property in Camp John Hay, the former American 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

Chairman President & Chief Executive Officer Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Director of Operations Finance Officer

Ma. Editha D. Angeles Advertising Manager Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

THe Aquino administration has yet another policy schizophrenia on what to do with the Rohingya boat people crisis.

Last Monday, newspaper reports quoted Presidential Spokesman Herminio Coloma saying that the Rohingya boat people will be “pushed back to sea.” Coloma made this remark in the context that today’s modern boat people do not possess travel documents. under existing immigration laws, the country can ordinarily refuse entry to undocumented aliens or those without travel documents.

Then yesterday, another alter ego of the President, Justice Secretary Leila De Lima suggested sending rescue boats to the distraught boat people. According to her, “it would be a good gesture if we send a rescue ship or two along with other Asean neighbors and it should be a concerted effort, a regional action.” She clarified, however, that this was only a “suggestion” as the issue should be decided by “government officials at the highest level.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement stating that we have to balance our obligations under our treaty obligations with “our interests, economy and security.” This sounds suspiciously similar to the position of Thailand and Malaysia in refusing entry to today’s boat people.

There should never have been conflicting positions, to begin with. As a party to the 1951 Convention on the Rights of Refugees, we are duty bound to accept and provide humanitarian assistance to those who have crossed national boundaries owing to a wellfounded fear of persecution in their homelands. Our duty is to accept them and we cannot turn them away even if they are illegal refugees. Further, under the Palermo Convention and its protocols, we also have the duty to provide for the protection of trafficked persons.

According to the united Nations, the Rohingya Muslims are today among the most “persecuted” minorities in the world. Largely based in Myanmar, the estimated 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims are considered as illegal settlers in the predominantly Buddhist country.

Recently, one of the biggest scandals that rocked Thailand was an expose that members of the group are being employed there literally as slaves made to work in exchange for food and lodging.

The problem today is that countries such as Australia and the states constituting the eu have insisted that they cannot afford the material and political costs of admitting modern-day boat people in their territory. Australia has consistently refused entry to boat people opting to process and detain them in an offshore island. The eu, despite its proven commitment to human rights, has also tightened its border controls and has also refused entry to boat people from Africa.

The eu now has to contend with the fallout arising from a sinking of one such boat with at least 700 casualties. Increasingly, Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

Publisher Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Associate Editors News Editor City Editor Senior Deskman Art Director Chief Photographer

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A10

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Eviction stoppEd THe 1,631 buyers in good faith of Camp John Hay properemil p. ties finally got some jurado respite from the bullying of Bases Conversion Development Authority president Arnel Paciano Casanova, who is a former Ayala executive.

The Court of Appeals issued a temporary restraining order preventing the Baguio City Sheriff ’s Office from evicting them as a result of the still-unresolved dispute between the BCDA and Camp John Hay Development Corp.

The TRO, effective for 60 days, required the petitioners to post a P30-million bond.

What is difficult to understand is why the Camp John Hay investors, all sub-lessees in good faith, have to go through this rigmarole. The law on obligations and contracts of the Philippine Civil Code is precise that third parties in good faith have to be protected.

Besides, they were not parties to the five-year dispute between BCDA and the developer.

And why was the RTC Sheriff ’s Office the one that posted the eviction notice on all the doors of the investors when the RTC judge herself had already ruled on the right of buyers in good faith?

This led me to ask, since when did the Baguio Sheriff ’s Office become an extension of the BCDA? Something really smells.

A lot of things don’t add up in this continuing dispute despite the fact that the controversy has already been resolved by the regional trial court, and affirmed by the Arbitration Tribunal.

The issue is actually very simple. As mandated by the tribunal, all the BCDA has to do is to pay the developer P1.4 billion representing rentals since because of mutual breaches, both BCDA and the developer have reverted to the position they had before the former American base was leased by government to CJHDevco.

As soon as the P1.4 is paid by BCDA to the developer (they call it “kaliwaan” in the vernacular), the developer must vacate the Camp including all their improvements.

So why is Casanova making things difficult for the developer and buyers in good faith?

Another thing that makes me wonder is why the RTC judges of Baguio City are not acting on many petitions to “quiet” the titles of the buyers in good faith. They are, after all, protected by law. Now the appellate court has restrained the eviction of the 1,631 investors, but only for 60 days. That’s the reason why some investors are petitioning for a permanent injunction.

The petition to “quiet” titles is a remedy to have a court render a judgment that titles to properties are sacrosant and protected by law.

For the past two weeks, there have been full-page advertisements in some broadsheets posted by concerned Camp John Hay investors and sub-lesses appealing to President Aquino to act on the rights of the 1,631 investors.

The concerned buyers in good faith are mostly seniors, war veterans, government retirees, even balikbayans and some foreigners, who bought properties from the developer for a lease of 50 years just to smell the pine trees and get away from the heat of the lowlands. Surprisingly, Santa Banana, the President has not lifted a finger to help these people and respect their rights.

It would seem that despite all the claims of the President that the people are his “bosses,” he is selective in protecting “buyers in good faith,” the President normally listens and acts on appeals. If an appeal were to come from his Ayala Avenue friends, the President would have acted pronto.

to the point

of firEs and EarthquakEs instead of streamlining and simplifyTHe tragic fire of that slipper manuduty ing regulations for better enforcement. facturing plant in Valenzuela City that Calls Whatever policies that the government killed 72 workers including four pregnant women should not be happening florenCio will take, these must be simple and easy to follow. Adding more red tape to an anymore in this country in this day and fianza already complicated and repetitive sysage. Unfortunately however, we never tem will only make things worse. One seem to learn our lesson.

The tragic fire in the Bangladeshi capital of Dacca reason why there is so much corruption and that many a couple of years ago wherein thousands were killed businesses operate without complying with all requireshould have prompted our authorities to tighten regu- ments is because of red tape.

The trick is to simplify procedures. It does not mean lations on safety in manufacturing plants; nothing was done. In that Dacca clothing manufacturing plant, the that when procedures are streamlined, the rules are employees worked like slaves. There were no fire es- not strict. On the contrary, it is easier to enforce and capes or windows that would have allowed some of the supervise simple regulations. The 72 people did not have to die if only the company took it upon itself to workers to escape the fire.

It is much like what happened to the building institute fire safety procedures like drills and put workowned by the Kentex Manufacturing Inc. Looking at able fire escapes. The lives of their employees should the gutted building, we can see that the windows on have been paramount instead of profit and the governthe second floor were all boarded up which according ment agencies also must take part of the blame for the to the company lawyer in an interview were installed poor implementation of regulations. * * * * * to prevent theft of goods by their employees. He went Because of the two massive earthquakes that hit Neon to say that the company had every right to do this.

The company in other words, put the value of these pal, killing more than 8,500 people and injuring tens of thousands, the Phivolcs is taking a more proactive step slippers over the lives of their employees.

If it was theft that the company was afraid of, CCTV and is warning people of a possible strong earthquake cameras could have been installed or other measures along the 100-kilometer West Valley fault located in undertaken but the company did not. Maybe the lives the National Capital Region. The agency is estimating of their employees are not worth that much. And this that casualties, should a magnitude 7.2 earthquake hit can be shown by the amount of financial assistance us, would be in the vicinity of 35,000. Infrastructure that the company distributed to the families of the vic- damage could be more than P1 trillion.

The Nepal earthquake bring back memories of the tims - Php 13,000. It is shocking.

As usual, it is in the aftermath of tragedies like this 1990 7.7 earthquake that hit the so- called Digdig fault that the government swings into action. Procedures located about 80 kilometers from Baguio. Two thouand regulations are again being looked into by forming sand people died. This was attributed to better and multi-agency task forces. There is really no more need stricter building regulations. Still, the damages were for this. There are already enough regulations that if considerable. In the case of Nepal, building regulaimplemented properly and efficiently would ensure tions appear to be deficient and this caused more caadequate safety for laborers working in sweat shops sualties. Reinforcing materials were not evident in the like this slipper factory. If not for the aggressive media TV footages shown. Houses there are made of bricks coverage and the actions taken by some cause-orient- with very little steel reinforcement.

Although our 7.7 earthquake was only slightly lowed groups, this tragedy would have been consigned to oblivion by now. There is no decisiveness on the gov- er than their 7.8 earthquake, the difference is actually a lot if we talk of earthquakes. What happened after ernment part.

I understand the need for proper legal procedures our earthquake however, was that building regulations to protect the rights of every one but I do think that were improved and strengthened. We now have sturthe owners of the company are being treated with kid dier buildings more capable of withstanding strong gloves and government is not moving fast enough. A earthquakes. The Ruby tower collapse in Manila as a picture, they say, speaks a thousand words and the TV result of the 1968 earthquake may be a distant memory footages and the pictures of the gutted factory builders to many but that, together with the 1990 earthquake, say it all. The authorities should act more expeditious- did a lot to improve our building code.

Government efforts to call attention to the destrucly. It is time to throw the book at the company.

As tragic as the incident was, perhaps the govern- tiveness of earthquakes is commendable but this must ment can now really do something to improve the be followed by efficient regular information drives and working conditions of the hundreds of thousands who drills especially in the Metropolitan area so that evwork in less than ideal conditions. The government eryone will know what to do in case of an emergency. however, sometimes has a very strange way of trying Regular building and infrastructure inspections will to improve the system. It often adds more red tape also help in in mitigating damages. *** If Senator Grace Poe gets to be President Aquino’s anointed, corruption will surely become the main issue. And Santa Banana, the issue of corruption will be the issue against Vice President Jojo Binay, who remains the man to beat in next year’s presidential elections.

The question now is: Will the next president rise and fall on this issue alone? I don’t think so since there are also many in the administration who have been found corrupt, and yet President Aquino coddles and defends them.

The issue of corruption is a gut issue. It hits everybody, especially the poor since the money that could have gone to them in the form of

assistance and aid lands in the pockets of corrupt pubic officials. The problem is that corruption can be leveled against anybody, especially public officials. But, my gulay, allegations without hard proof and evidence that can stand in court are meaningless. They are just that -- allegations.

Take all the issues against Binay on allegations of corruption and ill-gotten wealth. Have Binay’s political enemies proven them? In the 20 hearings conducted by the Blue Ribbon subcommittee, they have not proven anything.

Just remember that when you throw muck at people, your fingers also retain the muck.

Why is Casanova making things difficult for these people who made investments in good faith?

T h u R S d aY : M aY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

adelle chua EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

mInORITy REpORT DanIlO suaREz

Should we continue on the tuwid na daan?

When President Benigno Aquino III took over the reins of government in 2010, he promised the Filipino people a better life under the “tuwid na daan” (the straight path). he vowed to fight corruption to solve the poverty problem of the country, saying “kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap” (If there is no corruption, there will be no poor people).

Five years into so-called straight and narrow path and a year before the next presidential elections, poverty, together with incidence of hunger and joblessness, shows an increasing trend. Add to this misery the rising cost of energy and other basic necessities. The following should be enough to dissuade the readers that continuing with the policies of this administration, huge on rhetoric but falls short on competence, is a huge folly that should not be repeated.

The national averages provided by the Social Weather Stations’ poverty, joblessness and hunger survey shows that from 2010 to the first quarter of 2014, the number of Filipino families that consider themselves poor has increased approximately by 700,000 per annum -- roughly a growth rate of about 3.5 million Filipinos every year (at a notional 5 members per family). The same increasing trend is observed in the national averages of jobless Filipino workers from 2010 to 2013,

where the number of unemployed has been growing by 500,000 a year. Likewise within the 2010 to 2013 period, the number of Filipino families that experienced hunger is observed to have been increasing by approximately 200,000 a year (roughly 1 million Filipinos per year).

This is made more significant in comparison with the progressive increases in the annual budget allocated for the Conditional Cash Transfer, the primary cash dole out program of this administration for poverty alleviation.

Despite being one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia (Gross Domestic Product growth has been exceeding seven percent for several quarters since 2013) official poverty levels remain high at 19.7 percent, dropping insignificantly by just a little over than one percent since 2006.

It should also be worth mentioning here that the Annual Poverty Indicator Survey used by the government does not fully capture the poverty situation in the country because the basis for the index is that people earning P52.75 a day are not poor.

Although this reflects the World Bank measure of a $1.25 per person a day as a poverty standard, it does not take a genius to see the impracticality of the measure.

Just a single trip in the MRT can cut this amount in half already, what more with regard to sustaining one’s basic needs?

Consequently, according to the 2014 labor force survey released by the national Statistics Office, the official local unemployment rate remains alarmingly high at 7.5 percent (the worst in Asia).

Put in perspective, this meant that there were 4.5 million unemployed Filipinos as of April 2014.

These social indicators have been deteriorating under this administration within a backdrop of rosy economic numbers and positive investor confidence and market sentiment. With the burgeoning population and a labor force that exponentially increases every year, poverty and unemployment remain the most glaring challenges that government will need to address with the coming decade. This will require not only coming out with the responsive program and policy support from the government, but more importantly, a sincere and capable leadership with a true empathy for the people.

Definitely the next president should be a man of the masses. You can never have real empathy for the poor if you have not experienced being poor. There is nothing more humbling and for poverty to leave its mark on your psyche than to experience having a loved one die on you because your family did not have enough money for proper medical care.

a home for the homeleSS pOp gOEs ThE wORlD jEnny ORTuOsTE AFTeR media reported that no other Southeast Asian country was willing to take them in, a Philippine official announced that the country would shelter the refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh now adrift at sea.

Communications Secretary herminio Coloma said the country can accept up to 3,000 of the “boat people”, citing the signing by the Philippines of the 1951 United nations convention relating to the status of refugees. he also mentioned that in the 1970s, the Philippines extended similar assistance to some 2,700 refugees from Vietnam fleeing the Vietnam War who were later resettled in other countries.

The Rohingya are a Muslim minority in Buddhist Myanmar. Myanmar claims the Rohingya are mostly migrants from Bangladesh. Many have cast to sea in unseaworthy boats – “floating coffins” - in a bid for freedom, only to be rejected by Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.

A Cnn report online says “the scale of the crisis is still unknown. no organization, from the United nations high Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization for Migration to Rohingya rights groups,

knows how many boats there are,” although the number of refugees “is estimated to be in the thousands”.

The tone of some online reports is puzzlement – why are Filipinos going to accept these boat people? Don’t they have enough problems of their own?

We can rattle off several justifications – religion (Coloma: “As the only predominantly Catholic nation in Southeast Asia, it is our duty to provide succor to those in need”), law (1951 Un convention on refugees), and human rights (Justice Secretary Leila de Lima: “First thing is the humanitarian concern, saving lives”) – but the point is that we as a nation cannot call ourselves moral and just if we merely stand by and let these people drown when we can very well rescue them.

We can also look to Philippine culture for motivations.

Among our highly-regarded values of hospitality and pity (awa). Guests are treated as lavishly as our means allow. Foreign travelers are constantly amazed by the warmth with which they are welcomed; thus they overlook shortcomings in facilities because their experiences are made special and memorable by the friendliness and aboveand-beyond sort of help extended by Filipinos. The boat people, we might say, are just some kind of travelers we can accommodate.

Pity is another highly-regarded value. Someone who resists an appeal to charity is

labeled hard-hearted or heartless (walang puso). Somehow being a good Samaritan is in the Filipino DnA, regardless of religious affiliation or background. Sharing our blessings comes naturally; even the poorest people still manage to divide their meager meals or share their huts with those more afflicted than themselves.

In addition to these, Filipinos have a sympathy for the underdog (api or inapi), because that’s how we often view ourselves in relation to the rest of the world.

The persecuted, the downtrodden, the oppressed – we have been all these at various points in our history, and it requires no inordinate stretch of the emotions for us to support, protect, and defend the abused. having made the important decision to take in the displaced Rohingya, it’s now time to get practical. Preparations now need to be made to receive them. Where and how? Morong, Bataan again, where we set up camps for the displaced Vietnamese decades ago?

Our countrymen in the Visayas are still reeling in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, and many areas in Leyte and other affected locations have not fully recovered. how are we going to manage all the ongoing recovery programs and add yet another project?

Where will supplies of food, water, shelter, and medicines come from? In addition to medical aid, therapy should also be made available to treat

those with post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychological concerns.

Who will provide safety and security? Displaced persons living in camps are vulnerable to rape, human trafficking, and prostitution – these traumas should not be added to the persecution and homelessness that these refugees are already suffering.

All these are logistical problems that should not be all that difficult to solve. Sheltering 3,000 refugees is going to be a tall order for the Philippines, but government, in cooperation with private charitable organizations, should be able to handle it.

“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore,” wrote poet emma Lazarus, lines rather apt for this situation as the Philippines opens its heart and hands to those seeking safe harbor.

The government’s move to welcome these displaced persons makes me proud to be a Filipino. If anyone still doubts whether this is the right thing to do, they should remember that it’s now our turn to help others, as we ourselves have been given a hand by the world during our interminable bouts with typhoons, earthquakes, and other natural disasters.

It’s time for us to pay it forward.

Facebook: Jenny Ortuoste, Twitter: @jennyortuoste, Blog: http://jennyo.net

A11

a misuse.. From A9 military reservation. The Sheriff had issued eviction notices to Camp John hay’s third-party investors, basing the move on a patently erroneous interpretation of a Writ of execution to the Camp John hay Development Corp. (CJhDevCo) last April 20.

The sub-locators and sub-lessees at CJh protested the clear conflict with what the court had lawfully decided in connection with the Feb. 11 ruling by the Philippine Dispute Resolution Center Inc. on the arbitration case that CJhDevCo filed in 2013 against its government partner, the Bases Conversion and Development Authority. The PDRCI arbitral tribunal rescinded three months ago the 1997 Memorandum of Agreement between BCDA and CJhDevCo owing to violations of this lease contract, and ordered the state-run corporation to pay P1.42 billion to its private partner-developer for the breaches. On March 27, Judge Cecilia Corazon DulayArchog of the Baguio RTC issued a writ confirming the PDRCI ruling and directed CJhDevCo to vacate the CJh while at the same time ordering BCDA to cough up the P1.42-billion arbitral award.

In a wrongful interpretation by the sheriff, notices have since then been served on innocent third-party investors who are vested rights holders, having acquired their respective properties at CJh in good faith and are thus clearly not covered by the notice of eviction. BCDA had earlier provided the sheriff an opening when it came out in late April with a full-page newspaper ad depicting the writ’s cover letter beside the names of the third-party investors, all of whom are categorically not the targeted recipients of the order.

Those in the know have long concluded that BCDA’s chief executive is moving heaven and earth to “reclaim” Camp John hay in order that it may be given to a big developer who is his patron. But when he decides to use the sheriff to deprive thirdparty buyers in good faith of their legal rights, that’s just a naked abuse of government power – and it should be stopped.

schizophrenia... From A9 more and more countries, Thailand and Malaysia included, have refused entry to refugees precisely on the same grounds mentioned by our DFA, to wit: “national interests, economy and security.”

In fairness to De Lima, she was clear that her opinion to render humanitarian assistance to the modern-day boat people was only a recommendation. This has not prevented Un officials from praising our country for making what in reality, is a non-offer. And while the Justice Secretary appears to be rather influential in this administration since she defied the Supreme Court’s temporary restraining order barring the executive Branch from preventing the departure of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo early on in Pnoy’s term; her recommendations, like her opinion that the CA TRO on the ouster of Mayor Jun Jun Binay as Mayor of Makati, is, to quote her, “merely recommendatory.” In short, we still have to come up with an official policy on whether we will assist Southeast Asia’s modern boat people.

The Philippines opened its territory in the 1970s to the hordes of Vietnamese people fleeing the repressive communist regime in hanoi.

We did so then out of compliance with our treaty commitments and out of compassion.

While we could not accept the Vietnamese as refugees into our territory, we agreed to process them until other countries could accept them as refugees. If we did it then, I see no reason why we cannot do this anew for the Rohingya Muslims.

It’s a cardinal principle under international law that in default of further legal basis, mankind shall continue to be protected by public international law, the dictates of conscience and the laws of humanity. To Asia’s only Christian nation, admitting today’s boat people is to walk the talk that Christians will give homes to the homeless.

Let’s hope Pnoy finds the heart to walk the talk.

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Elite athletes’ brains 82% faster LONDON—Elite athletes are blessed with an area of the brain that performs 82 percent faster than average under intense pressure, a study published on Wednesday claims.

A series of tests commissioned by Dunlop Tyres in conjunction with University College London (UCL) found that extreme sportsmen and women performed significantly better under physical and mental duress than members of the public.

Test subjects were given tasks that required the use of the parietal cortex, a key part of the brain that determines reaction speed. The study found that the athletes had “an exceptional advantage”.

“What often sets some people apart from the rest is not how good they are in the practice arena, but

how good they are under pressure,” said UCL professor Vincent Walsh, who has worked on mental conditioning with British Olympic athletes and the England rugby team.

“We wanted to test these guys to see if we could probe what sets them apart. In some of the participants’ fields, split-second decision-making can result in the ultimate difference.”

The five athletes who took part in the study were motorcyclist John McGuinness, a multiple Isle of Man TT winner, leading free climber Leo Houlding, racing driver Sam

Bird, wing-suit daredevil Alexander Polli and skeleton bob Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams.

The quintet and five members of the public were subjected to mental and physical pressures before performing a timed visual task that required participants to identify a series of shapes and patterns.

After the physical exercises, which included the participants working until exhaustion on exercise bikes, the elite sportspeople were 82 percent quicker than the other participants.

In particular, McGuinness, 43, performed more quickly under physical pressure than under no pressure at all, making no errors in the test.

Overall, the high-risk sportsmen and women individual performances improved by 10 percent when

they were fatigued, while the other group’s results got 60 percent worse.

Following the mental tests, which measured how the participants coped with distractions while responding to visual cues, the elite athletes performed three times better than the members of the public.

While it is unclear whether the athletes’ neurological advantages were inherited or developed through practice, Walsh said: “These skills can definitely be improved.

“It’s a case of exposing yourself to these conditions and challenges on a regular basis to get better.

“We might not be able to become a John or a Leo, but all these areas of the brain can make connections in later life so we can enhance ourselves.” AFP

Patriots won’t appeal SAN FRANCISCO— New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced Tuesday the club is willing to accept the penalties handed down by the National Football League in the “Deflategate” scandal.

Speaking at the NFL owners meetings, Kraft said it is time to move on because the fiasco had already taken up too much of everyone’s time.

“I don’t want to continue the rhetoric that’s gone on the past four months,” said Kraft. “I’m going to accept, reluctantly, what (NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell) has given to us and not continue this dialogue and rhetoric and we won’t appeal.

“I know a lot of Patriot fans are going to be disappointed in that decision but I hope they trust my judgement and know that I really feel at this point in time that taking this off the agenda is the best thing for the New England Patriots, our fans and the NFL and I hope you all can respect that.” AFP

Lyceum Subic Rapid chess starts May 24

A file photo taken in Putrajaya on Nov. 22, 2014, shows Virgin Racing driver Sam Bird of Britain celebrating on the podium after winning the 2014 Formula E Putrajaya ePrix race. Elite athletes are blessed with an area of the brain that performs 82 percent faster than average under intense pressure, a study due to be released on May 20 claims. AFP

LA’s Fil-Am sensation Clarkson coming to PH THE National Basketball Association today announced that Los Angeles Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz guard Trey Burke and NBA Legend Horace Grant will visit the Philippines to celebrate the NBA Playoffs with Filipino fans.

The Oklahoma City Thunder dance team – the Thunder Girls – and Charlotte Hornets mascot Hugo the Hornet will also make appearances and interact with fans.

NBA Cafe Manila will host two NBA Playoffs viewing parties for Filipino fans, showcasing the Western Conference Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. Clarkson and Burke will attend viewing parties for Games 2 and 3 on May

22 and 24 (Philippines time), with Grant joining for Game 3. Clarkson, Burke and Grant will also conduct an NBA Cares basketball clinic for 60 underprivileged local youth from Project Pearls – a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help underprivileged children lead a better life through education – and make an appearance at the NBA Store on May 23.

Fans can reserve their spot to attend the viewing parties, meet with the NBA players, and win exclusive NBA-themed prizes.

Visit www.nba.com/nbacafe and follow NBA Cafe Manila on Facebook and Twitter for more information on the viewing party. For all things NBA, visit www.nba.com and follow us on and Twitter.

Jordan Clarkson was drafted 46th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft and was named to the 201415 NBA All-Rookie First Team.

Clarkson ranked second among rookies in points per game (11.9), third in assists per game (3.6) and free throw percentage (.829), fourth in field goal percentage (.448), and 13th in rebounds per game (3.2).

Trey Burke was drafted ninth overall in the 2013 NBA Draft and was named to the 2013-14 NBA All-Rookie First Team. Burke averaged 12.8 points, 4.3 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game in his sophomore season and was selected to participate in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge at NBA All-Star 2015 in New York City.

ClArkson

THE 1st Lyceum Subic Bay Open Rapid Chess Team Tournament kicks off on May 24, 10 a.m at the Event Center, Harbor Point, Subic Bay in Olongapo City.

Open for chess players with an average rating 2220 and below, the tournament will allow one titled player for each team.

Female entries, however, will be allowed to field two or more titled players with a maximum average rating of 2200.

Non-rated players in the team, meanwhile, will be given an initial rating of 1800 for computation process.

Joel Villanueva of the organizing Chess Center of Excellence based in Olongapo City said at stake in the tournament are P22,000 and trophy for the champion team; P12,000 plus a trophy for the second placer; P8,000 plus a trophy for the third placer; and P6,000 and P5,000 for the fourth and fifth

T hurs day : m ay 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Meralco on Wednesday launched the One Meralco Sports website unifying all three Meralco Sports teams as shown here -- the Bolts (basketball), Spikers (Volleyball) and Sparks (Football).

The website provides unrivalled acces to the Meralco Sports teams by providing each team with a main page for news, game scores, photo and video galleries, player profiles, exclusive interviews, feature stories, club developments, academy updates, social responsibility efforts, training or player challenge videos, and monthly look-backs. MANNY PALMERO MANNY PALMERO

Bolts, Spikers, Sparks get one common site

By Peter Atencio

GETTING to know the athletes better will help the fans reach out to three sports teams of Meralco.

This is the thrust of onemeralcosports.com, a website created to inform fans about the athletes who play for the company’s professional teams in basketball, volleyball and football.

“We wanted to have our own website, and sports is big for Meralco,” said Al Panlilio, Meralco senior vice president for marketing and communication, who discussed the growing fan base of their sports clubs during yesterday’s launch at the Meralco head office in Ortigas.

The website, Panlilio added, hopes to unify the fans and

bring them closer to the athletes who belong to all three Meralco sports teams.

These are the Meralco Bolts in the PBA, the Meralco Sparks in football, and the Power Spikers in women’s volleyball.

The website, according to Panlilio, will provide access to the teams by providing each organization with a main page for

news, history, photo and video galleries.

It will also feature player profiles, exclusive interviews, feature stories, club developments, academy updates and social responsibility efforts.

Stories and features on training or player challenge videos, and monthly look-backs are also there.

Panlilio said this is part of Meralco’s commitment to sporting excellence.

Project manager Trina Soriano said the undertaking started early this year after the managers of the teams involved discussed their concerns together.

“It’s a good avenue for fans to communicate with players, supporters and other fans,” Soriano added.

Rivera brothers 1-2 in national slalom;

MILO Rivera of Tough Gear Racing Team once again bagged the production and overall best time in the fourth leg of the RACE Motorsports National Slalom at the Robinsons Starmills in Pampanga.

Rivera’s younger brother Estefano made it a 1-2 finish for Tough Gear by finishing second, shoving chief rival Dr. Peewee Mendiola of Team Big Chill to third spot. Milo Rivera easily bagged the titles with a time of 43.10, while Estefano came in second with a clocking of 44.02.

Dr . Mendiola came in third with a time of 44.34.

Jevoy Moreno (45.44) of Auto Fastion Racing Team and Paul Santos (45.86) placed fourth and fifth, respectively.

Moreno grabbed the Front Wheel best time of the day with a 45.86 clocking, topping his rival Mike San Miguel of MSM Motorsports (45.98).

Santos this time also bagged the novice best time of 46.32, with Nico Lualhati (46.62) emerging as his runner-up.

The 2015 National Slalom Series is sponsored by Shell Helix Motor Oils, Federal Tyres, Outlast Battery, Starbright

Body Kits, Auto Transporter, media partners Stoplight TV, Inside Motoring, ZRJ-Am, Pinoy Speed sa mga Pahayagan, Spin.Ph Sports Interactive Network, C! Magazine, Autocar Magazine and Robinsons Starmills Pampanga.

All events are sanctioned and affiliated by the Automobile Club of the Philippines.

The fifth leg will be on May 24, to be held for the first time at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan, in cooperation with the 1st Philippine Motoring Festival.

For details, contact Bing Bang Dulce at 09178119337 or 09228165344 or email at racemotorsportsclub@yahoo.com.

Official Results: Novice Modified A: 1st Nico Lualhati 46.76; 2nd Guilfred Eugenio 49.08; 3rd Jeff Capiral 50.16.

Novice Modified B: 1st Paolo Santos 46.86; 2nd Nico Lualhati 51.08; 3rd Bryan David 53.76; 4th Jerad Dizon 57.60 Novice Modified C: 1st Paolo Santos 46.32; 2nd Nico Lualhati 46.62; 3rd Roy Agomba 52.04 Pro Stock A: 1st Milo Rivera 43.10; 2nd Peewee Mendiola 45.06; 3rd Paul Santos 45.86

Zhang, Cayabyab clinch tickets to PGF Jr Masters grand finals BURBERRY Zhang, Mariel Tee, Annyka Cayabyab and most of the fancied names took their expected spots in the Luzon swing of the Philippine Golf Foundation Junior Masters at the Aoki course of the Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in Gen. Trias, Cavite.

While Cayabyab and Zhang cruised to victory in the girls’ 11-12 and 9-10 years age brackets, respectively, Tee settled for a four-stroke win in the girls’ 13-14 agegroup of the 36-hole tourney that selected the Luzon bets for the national grand finals

of the series sponsored by the Philippine Golf Foundation.

The top two finishers per division qualified for the finals which starts today also at Eagle Ridge with the Luzon bets joined by the qualifiers from the Visayas and Mindanao legs.

Annika Guangko went unchallenged in the girls’ 15-17 years division.

The boys’ winners of the tourney forming part of the ICTSI-JGFP summer circuit also supported by Philippine Airlines, Martin Lorenzo, Golf Depot and Inquirer Golf were Andre Lanuza

(9-10), Josh Jorge (11-12), Marc Corrales (13-14) and Nathan Kawpeng (15-17).

Placing second in their divisions to also qualify for the boys finals were Sean Granada, Kim Joo-hyung, Gilbert Purcia and Barrister Nolasco.

The other finalists as runners-up in the girls’ side were Maria Theresa dela Paz, Kang Da-yoon and Annika Tan. Joining the Metro Manila qualifiers in the culminating event of the series are the winners of the Mindanao leg hosted by Del Monte and Visayas stop held at the Cebu Country Club.

Jevoy Moreno of Autofastion Team is shown after bagging the Front Wheel Best time of the day.

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A14

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Floyd’s uncle/trainer wants Pacman rematch

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

UNDEFEATED pound-for-pound No.1 Floyd Mayweather’s uncle Roger Mayweather, who helped train the champion for his Fight of the Century against eightdivision world champion Manny Pacquiao, believes there should be a rematch in order to cement Floyd Jr.’s legacy.

In an interview with Jenna Jay on the popular radio show “On the Ropes,” Roger Mayweather noted that both fighters had injuries, with Pacquiao suffering from a torn rotator cuff, which was operated on in Los Angeles and Mayweather Jr. claiming that both his hands and shoulders were also injured.

Asked whether they should face each other in a rematch Roger Mayweather said: “That’s what they should do. If you are going to give the fans 100 percent of your performance, then you need to do that and go to the ring healthy and produce what

Cage clinics. Mandaluyong City sponsored a free six-day summer basketball

clinic to young kids in the city with former Metropolitan Basketball Association and Philippine Basketball Association player Estong Ballesteros conducting the clinic at the Andres Bonifacio Integrated School covered court, together with staffers from the Mandaluyong Sports Development Office, headed by former councilor Noe Bernardo. Councilor Charisse Abalos graced the opening ceremonies and delivered an inspirational talk to the more than 200 kids, who signed up for the event. Photo shows Councilor Abalos, Ballesteros, and the organizers surrounded by the participants.The program is part of Mandaluyong Mayor Benhur Abalos’ efforts to promote and develop sports in the city.

Republic of the Philippines

Province of Ilocos Sur Local Government Unit Santiago Ilocos Sur

INVITATION TO BID The Municipality of Santiago, Ilocos Sur through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites contractors registered with and classified by the Philippine contractors Accreditations Board (PCAB) to apply for eligibility and if found eligible to bid for the hereunder contract: : Construction Concrete Bridge : Al-aludig, Santiago, Ilocos Sur : Construction : : : :

5,432,000.00 RA 7171 LOCAL SHARE 60 CD 10,000.00

The BAC will conduct the procurement process in accordance with the Revised IRR of RA 9184. Bids received in excess of the BAC shall be automatically rejected at the opening of bid.

To bid for this contract, a contractor must submit a Letter of Intent (LOI), purchase bid documents and must meet the following major criteria) prior registration with Local Government Unit-Santiago, Ilocos Sur (b) Filipino citizen or 75% Filipino-owned partnership, corporation, cooperative, or joint venture, (c) with PCAB License applicable to the type and cost of this contract, (d) completion of a similar contract costing at least 50% of ABC within a period of 10 years, and (e) Net Financial Contracting Capacity at least equal to ABC, or credit line commitment for at least 10% of ABC. The BAC will use non-discretionary pass/fail criteria in the eligibility check and preliminary examination of bids.

Unregistered contractors, however, shall submit their applications for registration to the Local Government Unit-Santiago, Ilocos Sur before the deadline for the receipt of LOI. The Local Government Unit-Santiago, Ilocos Sur will only process contractor’s applications for registration, with complete requirements, and issue the Contractor’s Certificate of Registration (CRC).

The schedule of BAC activities is as follows: BAC Activities 1. Advertisement/Posting of Invitation to bid/ Request for Expression of Interest 2. Issuance of Bid Documents 3. Pre-bid Conference 4. Receipt and Opening of Bids

Schedule 19-May-15 May 19 to June 15, 2015 June 3, 2015 @ 2 PM June 15, 2015 @ 2:00 PM

The BAC will issue hard copies of Bidding Documents (BD’s) at Local Government Unit-Santiago, Ilocos Sur, upon payment of a non-refundable fee as stated. The Pre-bid Conference shall be open only to interested parties who have purchased the BD’s. Bids must be accompanied by a bid security, in the amount and acceptable form, as stated in Section 27.2 of the Revised IRR. Mailed intends shall not be entertained.

Prospective bidders shall submit their duly accomplished forms as specified in the BD’s in two (2) separate sealed bid envelopes to the BAC Chairman. The first envelope shall contain the technical component of the bid, which shall include the technical component of the bid, which shall include a copy of the CRC. The second envelope shall contain the financial component of the bid. Contract will be awarded to the Lowest Calculated Responsive Bid as determined in the bid evaluation and the postThe Local Government Unit of Santiago, Ilocos Sur reserves the right to accept or reject any or all bid and to annul the bidding process any time before Contract award, without incurring any liability to the affected bidders.

Approved by: (Sgd.) NESTOR C. PERALTA JR. BAC Chairman (TS-MAY 21, 2015)

6/55 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M+ 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0 M 4 DIGITS 0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

Sonsona in ‘stay busy’ tiff

you would have produced the first time, a good performance. That’s what boxing’s about.”

Asked what he thought about what Mayweather’s win over Pacquiao did for his legacy, his uncle replied: “Floyd’s legacy is going to be good, but he needs to close that legacy with Pacquiao. He needs to go back and him and Pacquiao need to do it again. That’s what I think.

To close the door in terms of victory. That’s what he (Floyd) needs to do.”

Should Mayweather Jr. do that, Jenna Jay asked Roger, where does that put him among the greats?

1. Name of Project Location Brief Description Approved Budget for The Contract (ABC) Source of Fund Contract Duration Cost of Bid Documents

LOTTO RESULTS

FORMER world champion, promising southpaw “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona will face Mexico’s Jonathan “ Lil’ Thunder” Arellano in a “stay busy fight” at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California on June 6.

Promoter Sammy Gello-ani, whose partner is international promoter and matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz, told The Standard/boxingmirror.com, that Sonsona has been training diligently at the Roy Jones Jr. Gym in Las Vegas under Filipino trainer Jun Agrabio and is facing the 27-year-old Arellano in a featherweight bout that he described as “an activity fight,” to size up whether Sonsona is ready to begin a serious attempt to win a world title once again.

Gello-ani revealed that should Sonsona perform well against Arellano, who has a record of 15-5-2 with 3 knockouts, he will be scheduled in a big fight sometime in September. Ronnie Nathanielsz

Fierce duel looms as PLDT, Huge cast PH Army clash in Game 1 vies in Palawan net meet

UNBEATEN PLDT Home Ultera fancied team its first defeat with a late goes for the first of two wins to cap meltdown.

Valdez, the face of women’s vola record campaign but Army won’t go down without fighting for the leyball in the sport’s return into the crown it won in emphatic fashion last mainstream, can’t wait to start again year, guaranteeing a slam-bang ac- for PLDT with help to come from Jaja Santiago, Gretchel tion in today’s (ThursSoltones and former day) opener of their Games Today best-of-three series for 2 p.m. • Meralco vs Cagayan MVP Suzanne Roces (best-of-three for 3rd) along with setter Rubie the Shakey’s V-League 4 p.m. • PLDT vs Army de Leon as they try to Season 12 Open Con(best-of-three for title) move closer to a dream ference crown at The title quest.

Arena in San Juan.

PLDT coach Roger Gorayeb has Twice did the Ultra Fast Hitters beat the Lady Troopers this confer- not only whip up Valdez to become ence – a resounding straight-set what she is now but has also turned romp in the elims and a come-from- Santiago from an intimidating force behind five-set victory in the semis on the net against the other side’s hitlast Sunday. But PLDT’s other five- ters to one gem of an offensive threat set escape over ousted Meralco last the last few games, norming doubleTuesday has somehow lessened the digit output in the semis.

But expect the Lady Troopers to team’s aura of invincibility.

For one, the Lady Troopers have come out smoking too in their 4 p.m. the tools and materials to match the showdown with De Guzman also Ultra Fast Hitters’ vaunted firepower. raring to finally end PLDT’s streak What they want to cash in on at this and fuel their own drive for the stage of their chase for the coveted championship in the league where it crown in the season-opening con- all started.

With Soltones completing PLDT’s ference of the league sponsored by fearsome frontline, the Lady TroopShakey’s is their experience.

With open spikers Rachel Ann ers will have to devise plays on how to Daquis, last year’s MVP Jovelyn Gon- neutralize the triple threat although zaga and the power-hitting Dindin De Guzman has also in his arsenal Manabat in charge at the net, Mary a slew of power hitters and veteran, Jean Balse and Nerissa Bautista, both gritty stoppers.

While attacks and kills will decide former MVPs and veterans of many Shakey’s V-League wars, must pro- the series, reception and floor devide stability needed in down-to-the- fense will also play a big role in each wire finishes the way it went the last side’s title quest, including their service that has stymied many a team’s time out.

But more is needed to stop the bid in title playoffs.

Meanwhile, Cagayan and Meralco vaunted PLDT offense.

In a rare stint, Alyssa Valdez came also start their own best-of-three off the bench to fire 23 hits and help series for third at 2 p.m. with both lift the embattled Ultra Fast Hitters games can be viewed live via streampast the Power Spikers, who missed ing on www.v-league.ph, according to becoming the first team to deal the the organizing Sports Vision.

CLOSE to 300 entries brace for a four-day battle of power and styles as action in the Palawan Pawnshop Regional age-group tennis circuit resumes in Kidapawan City in Cotabato Province today.

To accommodate the big number of participants, organizers have tapped all the courts in the province— with the Kidapawan City Tennis Club as the main venue—with a busy schedule on tap in the four-day Group 3 tournament presented by Technifibre and hosted by Kidapawan City Mayor Joseph Evangelista.

“We’d like to thank Palawan Pawnshop for holding a regular tournament here not only for our youth but also for the young aspiring players from other towns, cities and provinces in Mindanao,” said Evangelista. “There are other regular junior tennis tournaments being held here but nothing beats this one in terms of participant and quality of play.”

Meanwhile, the circuit goes to Koronadal for the next leg on May 25-28. Registration is ongoing. For details, call Bobby Mangunay, PPS-PEPP tennis event organizer and sports program development director at 0915-4046464.

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTS A15

Republic of the Philippines

ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City

sports@thestandard.com.ph

IN THE MATTER OF THE APPLICATION FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE OVER/ UNDER RECOVERIES PURSUANT TO ERC RESOLUTION NO. 16, SERIES OF 2009 AND ERC RESOLUTION NO. 21, SERIES OF 2010

Painters eye 1st triumph

By Jeric Lopez

RAIN or Shine, GlobalPort and Barangay Ginebra bring their acts to the United Arab Emirates today as part of the continuing 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup. Today, it will be the Elasto Painters (0-2) and the Batang Pier (3-1) going at it at 11 p.m. (7 p.m. Dubai time) at the Al Shabab Al Arabi Club, Dubai to delight overseas Filipino workers, as well as basketball enthusiasts in the Arab state.

Rain or Shine will then return to face the Gin Kings Kings (1-3) tomorrow night at the same time and venue.

This will be the fourth time that the PBA will hold games in Dubai.

After starting at 3-0 to grab the early lead, the Batang Pier will look to bounce back after tasting their first defeat of the conference at the hands of San Miguel Beer, 124-102, last Sunday.

GlobalPort is now showing more toughness against top-tier teams and it is also looking forward to the boost that will be given by new import Jarrid Famous.

After the unimpressive Patrick O’Bryant got the pink slip and stand-in

ERC CASE NO. 2015-009 CF VISAYAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC. (VECO), Applicant. x- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - x

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING TO ALL INTERESTED PARTIES: Notice is hereby given that on March 27, 2015, the Visayan Electric Company, Inc. (VECO) filed with the Commission an application for the approval of its over/under recoveries pursuant to ERC Resolution No. 16, Series of 2009 and Resolution No. 21, Series of 2010.

In the said application, VECO alleged, among others, that: 1.

Game Today

(Al Shabab Al Arabi Club, Dubai) 11 p.m. (7 p.m. Dubai time) • Rain or Shine vs. GlobalPort Game Tomorrow (Al Shabab Al Arabi Club, Dubai) 11 p.m. (7 p.m. Dubai time) • Rain or Shine vs. Ginebra

It is a corporation duly organized and existing under and by virtue of the laws of the Republic of the Philippines, with principal office at J. Panis Street, Banilad, Cebu City. It is a duly authorized distribution utility of the electric light and power distribution service in the municipalities of San Fernando, Minglanilla, Consolacion and Lilo-an and the Cities of Naga, Talisay, Cebu and Mandaue, all in the Province of Cebu (the Franchise Area), pursuant to its franchise under Republic Act No. 9339. It may be served with the orders, notices and processes of the Commission through the undersigned counsel at the address indicated below;

ERC Resolution No. 16, Series of 2009 and ERC Resolution No. 21, Series of 2010 2.

import Steve Thomas now away as well, the Batang Pier expect the 6’11” Famous, (a returning PBA import who once suited up for Meralco several seasons ago), to be the towering force they need inside.

The backcourt trio of rising stars Terrence Romeo, Stanley Pringle and Asian import Omar Krayem will once again be at the forefront of the GlobalPort attack, along with the incoming Famous.

The three guards have been displaying stellar performances thus far, taking turns in leading the Batang Pier to the strong start they enjoy.

On July 13, 2009, the Commission issued ERC Resolution No. 16, Series of 2009 entitled, “A Resolution Adopting The Rules Governing The Automatic Cost Adjustment And True-Up Mechanisms and Corresponding Confirmation Process for Distribution Utilities” (the True-Up Guidelines).

2.1 The True-Up Guidelines provided the formula for the determination of the Generation, Transmission, System Loss,1 Lifeline Subsidy and Franchise and Business Taxes Rates.2 It likewise provided for the calculation of over- and under-recoveries on the said rates due to the variance in the allowable cost and the revenues billed using the applicable formula.3 2.2 Under Resolution No. 21, Series of 2010,4 Visayas distribution utilities (DUs) were given until March 31, 2015 to file their applications for adjustments implemented for the billing months from January 2012 to December 2014; THE INSTANT APPLICATION

3.

The instant application is being filed pursuant to the above Resolutions of the Commission. Based on the formula on the various automatic cost adjustments and true-up mechanisms under the True-Up Guidelines, as amended by Resolution No. 21, Series of 2010, it incurred over- and under- recoveries for the period from January 2012 until December 2014, including prior years’ local franchise taxes;

4.

The breakdown of the over- and under-recoveries are attached hereto as Annexes “A” to “D”, summarized as follows:

Generation Transmission System Loss Life Line Local Franchise Tax Total Under Recovery

Based on the foregoing, it is entitled to recover the amount of PhP178,493,441.70 as total Net UnderRecovery. The amount is comprised of the Net Under-Recovery for Generation, Transmission, System Loss and Life Line for the billing periods from January 2012 to December 2014, including recovery of prior years’ Local Franchise Tax. It intends to recover the said amount over a span of thirty-six (36) months; and

6.

It prays that the Commission, after due notice, hearing and examination, approve the instant application and authorize it to recover the amount of PhP178,493,441.70 as Net Under-Recovery, thus: Generation Transmission System Loss Life Line Local Franchise Tax Total Under Recovery

Fireman wins the US Open trials both west/east not bidding, I immediately asked for aces, then Kings.

With 1 king missing I stopped at 6 spades.

Now shows the need to asses a hand can you spot the 100% certain way to make 6?

It obvious, that my only loses are in Clubs, but how to ensure only 1, if the clubs 3/2 split up 6 made, but what if they split 4/1 or even 5/0 (QJ in 1 hand).

Results of the Alejandro Duplicate Game on May 12, 2016 Harumi Ieda-Satomi Suzuki Nena Ramirez-Ayesha Fuchs Ching Holley-Chris Tweddell The Manila Peninsula on May 13, 2015 Sylvia Alejandro-Satomi Suzukio Ellie Esteban-Chris Tweddell Nalin-Hiranthi Samarasingha The Cambridge Club on May 14, 2015 Congratulations to Bernie and John, first place North/South with 63.39%. And congratulations to Hector and Abe, first place East/West with 60.12%.

Comments to: sylvia.alejandro@ yahoo.com

Under (Over) Recoveries 101,406,008.93 21,324,395.28 14,729,496.77 6,918,758.72 34,114,782.00 178,493,441.70

5.

Members of the GlobalPort team with new import Jarrid Famous

T E A M Fi rema n SYLVIA LOPEZ (Paul Fire FireALEJANDRO man, Cap Captain, John Kranyak, John Hurd, Gavin Wolpert, Vincent Demuy and Joel Wooldridge won the US Open Trials 2015 and will be representing USA1 team USA2 at the Bermuda Bowl in Chennai, India.

Congratulations to both teams for an excellent game, was a treat to watch for thousands of bridge fans all over the world. oOo My regular partner on Bridge Base Online Mike Swain a.k.a. golfermike had this useful hand to illustrate the art of Safety Play.

North

♠QJ1073

♥4

♦A63

♣A973 East South ♠4

♠AK986 ♥K9763 ♥A8 ♦975 ♦K5 ♣QJ102 ♣K864 West

♠52

♥ QJ1042

♦DJ1082

♣5 North as dealer opened 1♠, with

2012 2013 2014 18,179,658.08 (11,924,236.00) 95,150,586.85 6,256,738.92 (3,428,834.39) 18,496,490.75 7,106,003.73 1,714,558.16 5,908,934.88 2,108,295.17 4,858,577.76 (48,114.21) Please see Annex D of the application 33,650,695.90 (8,779,934.47) 119,507,898.27

Under (Over) Recoveries 101,406,008.93 21,324,395.28 14,729,496.77 6,918,758.72 34,114,782.00 178,493,441.70

The Commission has set the application for initial hearing, expository presentation, pre-trial conference and evidentiary hearing on May 26, 2015 (Tuesday) at two o’clock in the afternoon (2:00 P.M.) at the ERC Hearing Room, 15th Floor, Pacific Center Building, San Miguel Avenue, Pasig City.

All persons who have an interest in the subject matter of the proceeding may become a party by filing, at least five (5) days prior to the initial hearing and subject to the requirements in the ERC’s Rules of Practice and Procedure, a verified petition with the Commission giving the docket number and title of the proceeding and stating: (1) the petitioner’s name and address; (2) the nature of petitioner’s interest in the subject matter of the proceeding, and the way and manner in which such interest is affected by the issues involved in the proceeding; and (3) a statement of the relief desired.

All other persons who may want their views known to the Commission with respect to the subject matter of the proceeding may file their opposition to the application or comment thereon at any stage of the proceeding before the applicant concludes the presentation of its evidence. No particular form of opposition or comment is required, but the document, letter or writing should contain the name and address of such person and a concise statement of the opposition or comment and the grounds relied upon.

All such persons who may wish to have a copy of the application may request the applicant, prior to the date of the initial hearing, that they be furnished with a copy of the application. The applicant is hereby directed to furnish all those making such request with copies of the application and its attachments, subject to reimbursement of reasonable photocopying costs. Likewise, any such person may examine the application and other pertinent records filed with the Commission during the usual office hours.

WITNESS, the Honorable Chairperson, ZENAIDA G. CRUZ-DUCUT, and the Honorable Commissioners, ALFREDO J. NON, GLORIA VICTORIA C. YAP-TARUC, JOSEFINA PATRICIA A. MAGPALE-ASIRIT, and GERONIMO D. STA. ANA, Energy Regulatory Commission, this 11th day of May, 2015 at Pasig City.

ATTY. NOEL J. SALVANERA Director III, Legal Service ________________ 1 2 3 4

Resolution No. 21, Series of 2010 issued on October 18, 2010 modified the formula for the determination of the Systems Loss Rate Over/Under Recovery.

Article 2 of Resolution No. 16, Series of 2009 Article 4 of Resolution No. 16, Series of 2009 Entitled “A Resolution Amending Section 4 of Article 4 and Section 1 of Article 5 of the Rules Governing the Automatic Cost Adjustment and True-Up Mechanisms and Corresponding Confirmation Process for Distribution Utilities” (issued on October 18, 2010).

(TS-MAY 21, 2015)

A16

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

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

Wolves snag 1st pick in NBA draft

Curry shows why he’s MVP, lifts Dubs Stephen Curry (right) of the Golden State Warriors drives against Josh Smith of the Houston Rockets in the fourth quarter during Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals of the 2015 NBA Playoffs at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. The Warriors drew first blood with a 110-106 win. AFP

OAKLAND—Stephen Curry tallied 34 points, six rebounds and five assists as the Golden State Warriors defeated the Houston Rockets 110-106 to take the early lead in their NBA playoff series.

The Warriors are known more for their offensive prowess but Tuesday they shut down the Rockets with some timely defense to go ahead 1-0 in the best-of-seven showdown between the top two teams in the Western Conference.

Shaun Livingston scored 16 of his playoff career-high 18 points in the first half for Golden State, who are in their first conference finals since the mid-1970s.

“I was just trying to bring energy off the bench. Our

bench has been good all year,” Livingston said. “We rely on our depth. Again, I just tried to come in and do my part.”

Draymond Green finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in the win.

Game two will be on Thursday.

The matchup everyone was waiting to see was league MVP Curry against Rockets star James Harden, who was runner-up in the voting.

Harden was up to the task, scoring 28 points and getting 11

Elite athletes’ brains 82% faster TURN TO A12

rebounds and nine assists.

“It’s entertaining basketball but we’re both supposed to help our team win and do what we can to impact the win,” Curry said of the matchup with Harden. “Hopefully we have a big impact and that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Houston hasn’t been to the conference finals since 1997.

“We’ve done a great job of letting things go. It’s all about game two now,” Harden said of the difficult task ahead.

NEW YORK—The Minnesota Timberwolves won the NBA draft lottery Tuesday, becoming the first team with the worst record to be awarded the top overall pick since the Orlando Magic in 2004.

The Los Angeles Lakers moved into the top three and will pick second. The Philadelphia 76ers stayed put at number three, the New York Knicks get the fourth pick and the Orlando Magic round out the top five.

It marks the first time in team history Minnesota will pick first.

“We have a very young team, and we will add one outstanding young player,” Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor said. “We just want a young man with a great heart and a great mind.”

The top draft prospects include power forward KarlAnthony Towns of Kentucky and centre Jahlil Okafor of Duke University.

Minnesota’s first pick will join forward Andrew Wiggins who was recently named the NBA’s rookie of the year.

The Sacramento Kings will pick sixth, the Denver Nuggets seventh, the Detroit Pistons eighth, the Charlotte Hornets ninth, the Heat 10th, the Indiana Pacers 11th, the Utah Jazz 12th, the Phoenix Suns 13th and the Oklahoma City Thunder 14th.

The entry draft will be held at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center arena on June 25. AFP

Trevor Ariza had 20 points and Josh Smith chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds for the Rockets, who have lost six straight contests to the Warriors.

Houston’s Dwight Howard was hobbled by a sore knee and finished with a disappointing seven points.

Howard at one point went to the locker room to get checked by the team trainers. He later returned to the lineup but wasn’t his usual self. AFP

Rain or Shine vs GlobalPort in Dubai TURN TO A15

THURSDAY: MAY 21, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

business@thestandardtoday.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

PSe c omPoSite

BUSINESS

index

Closing May 20, 2015

8500 8000 7500 7000 6500 6000

B1

7,881.93 10.62

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing MAY 20, 2015 46

P44.600

45

CLOSE

44 43 42

HIGH P44.570 LOW P44.660 AVERAGE P44.611 VOLUME 543.600M

P500.00-P650.00 LPG/11-kg tank P39.65-P45.25 Unleaded Gasoline P28.00-P31.30 Diesel

o

il P PriceS today

P35.40-P39.15 Kerosene P23.70-P24.40 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Wednesday, May 20, 2015

F o r e i g n e x c h a n g e r at e Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

44.5270

Japan

Yen

0.008285

0.3689

UK

Pound

1.551500

69.0836

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129007

5.7443

Switzerland

Franc

1.067578

47.5360

Canada

Dollar

0.818063

36.4259

Singapore

Dollar

0.749064

Australia

Dollar

0.791077

35.2243

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652379

118.1025

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266667

33.3536

11.8739

Brunei

Dollar

0.746269

33.2291

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000076

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.029940

1.3331

UAE

Dirham

0.272257

12.1228

Euro

Euro

1.115000

49.6476

Korea

Won

0.000914

0.0407

China

Yuan

0.161119

7.1741

India

Rupee

0.015672

0.6978

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.278552

12.4031

New Zealand

Dollar

0.734214

Taiwan

Dollar

0.032788

32.6923 1.4600 Source: PDS Bridge

Jollibee’s partners. Jollibee Group Foundation, in celebration of its 10th anniversary, paid tribute to its partners from both the public and private sectors as well as members of the Jollibee Foods Corp. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Ortigas, Pasig City. Among the partners is Kalasag Farmers Producers Cooperative, the first farmer group to directly supply Jollibee Foods. Shown during the awarding ceremony are (from left) Jollibee Group Foundation trustee Senen Bacani, Wency Gomez and Arnold Dizon of Kalasag, Senator Paolo Benigno Aquino IV and JGF and JFC chairman Tony Tan Caktiong.

SEC watching Facebook, Twitter

By Karl Lester M. Yap

THE Philippines will start formally monitoring social networks like Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. as the nation’s securities regulator cracks down on stock-market manipulation and Ponzi schemes.

The Securities & Exchange Commission is collecting evidence to prepare a case against one company for insider trading, commissioner Ephyro Luis Amatong, 42, said in a May 18 interview, without naming the firm.

The regulator will monitor tweets and Facebook chat groups for signs of price manipulation and is “actively pursuing” other cases, he said, declining to say whether they are primarily investigating company insiders or brokers.

“The pump-and-dump, insider trading, scams: we are told they’re happening online,” Amatong said.

“We’re actively pursuing cases, to protect the integrity of the market.”

The value of the Philippine stock market has grown threefold to $278 billion in the past five years as the country’s fastest

B3

economic growth since the 1950s lures foreign funds and retail investors. While the benchmark equity index has soared more than 140 percent in that period, surging share prices are not always accompanied by disclosure of information, and there have been cases of financial results being divulged to analysts before they appeared on the bourse’s website.

Facebook and Twitter didn’t respond to e-mails from Bloomberg seeking comment on insider-trading investigations. Amatong didn’t specify whether either social network had been used for wrongful activities.

“There’s a lot of chatter online on what stocks to buy and you wonder sometimes: how did these people get this information?” said Jonathan Ravelas, chief market strategist at

Alliance Global bares flat profit

BDO Unibank Inc. in Manila.

Filipinos are tied with Argentinians as the world’s biggest users of social media, according to a report this year from Londonbased consultancy We Are Social.

Use is so prevalent that finance officials said in 2010 they were turning to Facebook and Twitter to track down tax cheats.

The Philippine campaign echoes similar moves in China, where the securities regulator last month started a campaign to crack down on market manipulation by brokerage employees using non-public information, as an equities boom lures a record number of novice investors who risk being left out in the cold by sudden, unexplained stock-price movements.

Shares of Manila Broadcasting Co. surged 20-fold to P80 in the 12 trading sessions through May 14 without any disclosure of information to the exchange. The company told the bourse it wasn’t aware of a reason for the price movement. Rudolph Jularlbal, vice president and legal and corporate secretary, didn’t respond to an e-mail or messages left at his office on Tuesday by Bloomberg.

Bloomberg

B6

SEC bars currency trader

SMC, K-water set to sign Angat deal

By Alena Mae S. Flores SAN Miguel Corp. is set to sign a joint venture agreement with Korea Water Resources Corp. this month to operate and maintain the 218-megawatt Angat hydroelectric power plant in Bulacan province.

“We will be going to Korea next week. We will formalize the signing and everything,” San Miguel president and chief operating officer Ramon Ang told reporters.

K-water won the bidding to operate and manage the Angat power plant. K-water is the dominant player in the Korean water industry with a 46.5-percent market share in the national water supply.

The company paid state-owned Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. P19.662 billion for the Angat power facility.

“Korean Water invited us to take 60 percent. Once we come in, then we will get local partners but with approval of the Koreans,” Ang said.

Ang said the joint venture encountered some delays, as “Korean Water is a very very big company, it’s state-owned and you have to pass through their formalities.”

“K-water will help us with their technical expertise on water business,” Ang said earlier.

K-water must team up with a local partner to comply with the Philippine Constitution limiting foreign ownership of utilities to 40 percent.

K-water president Gyewoon Choi earlier confirmed that negotiations were ongoing with San Miguel for a possible partnership but nothing had been finalized yet.

Angat HEPP in Barangay San Lorenzo, Norzagaray, Bulacan, consists of four main units, each with a 50-MW capacity.

The units were commissioned between 1967 and 1968.

San Miguel is expanding its power portfolio to include new coal projects, namely the 600-megawatt coal plant in Malabuyoc, Cebu, 600-MW coal plant in Batangas City and 600-MW coal plant in Mariveles, Bataan.

THURSDAY: MAY 21, 2015

B2

BUSINESS business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

MST BuSineSS Daily STockS Review Wednesday, May 20, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

7.88 75.3 124.4 104 63 2.49 4.2 18.48 31.6 9.5 2.95 1.01 99.4 30.5 75 94.95 137 361.2 59 174.8 1700 127.9 3.26

2.5 66 84.6 84.5 45.8 1.97 2.03 12.02 23.55 6.3 1.75 0.225 78 18.02 58 76.5 95 276 45 107.6 1200 66 2.65

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. I-Remit 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

7.58 73.35 116.70 100.80 47.6 2.49 2.15 15.74 22.9 7.40 1.68 0.435 93.4 18.20 30.00 74.95 94 317 46 168 1440.00 65.00 3.1

35.6 1.04 1.41 7.92 40.3 32 14.6 10.08 29.15

1.04 10.72 8.44 9.79 5.43 9.54 1.06 8.61 18.06 67.9 13.24 3.12 0.395 168 8.65 24.4 16.2 7.62 250.2 3.87 9 3.7 9.94 3.03 2.22 1 4.72 1.65 6 201.6 4.1 1.67 0.122 1.02 2.01 143.4 0.670 9.01 1.39

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

Asiabest Group Bogo Medelin C. Azuc De Tarlac Century Food Cirtek Holdings (Chips) Concepcion Crown Asia Da Vinci Capital Del Monte DNL Industries Inc. Emperador Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) EEI Euro-Med Lab Federal Res. Inv. Group First Gen Corp.

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

Lafarge Rep Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

Phoenix Semiconductor Pryce Corp. `A’ RFM Corporation Roxas and Co. Roxas Holdings San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ SPC Power Corp.

Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

43.4 1.07 2.09 11.6 49.25 86.50 19.2 28.35 57.4 1.95 1.83 12.66 19.880 11.38 8.01 10.46 1.8 16.1 27.05 89.6 14.42 5.88 0.620 212.60 10.24 26 27.1 7.4 274.00 4.2 9.96 4.3 11.56 4.00 2.43 2.1 5.11 2.47 6.4 188 4.5 1.56 0.160 1.25 2.30 203.6 0.77 20.80 1.31

0.45 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 1.4 1.6 600 7.390 14.18 4.25 0.144 818 5.3 46.6 4.96 4.43 0.59 12 0.580 4.22 4.5 1.23 0.450 66.7 1.5 709.5 1.13 85.2 0.200 0.173

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `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 Jolliville Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

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

Minerales Industrias Corp.

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

0.470 57.60 24.80 1.29 6.98 0.285 0.28 806.5 8.2 14.96 4.54 0.250 1430 6.40 72.85 4.05 7.77 0.74 14.74 0.69 4.71 4.9 1.350 1.050 66.15 2.81 908.50 1.28 82.65 0.3700 0.2290

6.01 12 0.91 0.192 29.1 4.1 4.96 0.89 0.97

8990 HLDG 8.700 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 9.90 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.79 Arthaland Corp.

0.240 Ayala Land `B’ 40.65 Belle Corp. `A’ 4.07 Cebu Holdings 5.2 Century Property 0.9 Cityland Dev. `A’ 1.15

47 1.66 2.36 15.3 113 148 20.6 32 65.8 4.57 23.35 21.6 12.98 9.13 12.34 2.89 17 31.8 109 15.3 9.4 0.98 241 12.5 33.9 90 13.98 292.4 5.25 13.04 6.8 14.5 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.68 7.86 8.1 253 5.5 3.28 0.315 2.5 2.68 226.6 1.3 26 2.17 0.7 59.2 31.85 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 800 11.06 84 5.14 0.66 1380 6.68 72.6 8.9 9.25 0.9 18.9 0.73 5.53 6.55 2.31 0.84 87 3.5 934 2.2 156 0.710 0.435 10.5 26.95 1.99 0.375 40 6.15 5.4 1.54 1.48

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 7.57 6.57 73.5 73.2 117.00 115.00 100.80 100.50 47.6 47.3 2.52 2.48 2.15 2.11 16 15.7 22.9 22.1 7.40 7.40 1.68 1.68 0.450 0.430 93.2 92.45 18.20 18.20 29.95 29.95 74.95 74.55 94.5 94 317 314.4 46 44.8 170.1 168 1465.00 1465.00 65.30 65.00 3.25 3.1 INDUSTRIAL 44 43.4 1.07 1.06 2.1 2.07 11.8 11.6 49.25 49.25 86.50 86.50 19.18 19.02 30 28.35 58.3 57.4 1.99 1.79 1.79 1.78 12.82 12.66 20.400 19.86 11.38 11.02 8.02 7.97 10.48 10.40 1.8 1.7 16.48 15.2 27.5 27.1 90 89.2 14.44 14.42 5.92 5.8 0.600 0.600 212.80 212.00 10.4 10.1 26.7 25.8 27.4 26.65 7.4 7.38 275.00 272.20 4.5 4.12 10.00 9.90 4.34 4.05 11.60 11.56 4.02 3.95 2.46 2.35 2.4 2.06 5.11 5.01 2.6 2.23 6.4 6.4 191.8 190 4.53 4.5 1.61 1.56 0.173 0.157 1.24 1.24 2.38 2.32 210 203.6 0.78 0.75 20.85 20.85 1.31 1.31 HOLDING FIRMS 0.470 0.470 58.20 56.30 25.00 24.15 1.31 1.28 7.12 7.00 0.285 0.280 0.29 0.29 822 806.5 8.23 8.2 15.14 14.80 4.56 4.50 0.250 0.242 1449 1430 6.40 6.40 74.20 72.50 3.43 3.43 7.87 7.65 0.75 0.72 14.98 14.46 0.69 0.68 4.82 4.7 5.1 5 1.330 1.330 1.070 1.000 66.30 65.30 2.81 2.81 904.00 895.50 1.26 1.22 83.50 82.70 0.3800 0.3700 0.2320 0.2150 PROPERTY 8.780 8.650 10.28 10.28 0.83 0.79 0.250 0.250 41.20 40.40 4.09 4.06 5.21 5.17 0.9 0.88 1.10 1.10

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

7.4 73.5 115.00 100.80 47.5 2.49 2.15 16 22.15 7.40 1.68 0.430 92.65 18.20 29.95 74.55 94.5 314.4 46 168.5 1465.00 65.30 3.15

-2.37 0.20 -1.46 0.00 -0.21 0.00 0.00 1.65 -3.28 0.00 0.00 -1.15 -0.80 0.00 -0.17 -0.53 0.53 -0.82 0.00 0.30 1.74 0.46 1.61

101,400 24,720 5,265,220 1,495,760 39,100 67,000 6,000 24,100 554,000 25,000 4,000 3,620,000 6,478,220 15,400 100 37,960 5,460 1,780 216,000 1,231,290 60 9,750 665,000

44 1.06 2.1 11.62 49.25 86.50 19.08 29.5 58.3 1.99 1.79 12.78 20.400 11.08 8.00 10.42 1.7 15.86 27.25 89.2 14.42 5.9 0.600 212.00 10.4 26.65 27.4 7.4 275.00 4.39 9.95 4.05 11.56 3.99 2.42 2.28 5.04 2.24 6.4 191 4.53 1.61 0.165 1.25 2.36 208.6 0.77 20.85 1.31

1.38 -0.93 0.48 0.17 0.00 0.00 -0.63 4.06 1.57 2.05 -2.19 0.95 2.62 -2.64 -0.12 -0.38 -5.56 -1.49 0.74 -0.45 0.00 0.34 -3.23 -0.28 1.56 2.50 1.11 0.00 0.36 4.52 -0.10 -5.81 0.00 -0.25 -0.41 8.57 -1.37 -9.31 0.00 1.60 0.67 3.21 3.13 0.00 2.61 2.46 0.00 0.24 0.00

2,446,000 186,000 303,000 3,800 300 780 105,100 776,400 1,940 11,821,000 33,000 134,900 3,766,300 1,120,800 19,142,300 213,800 9,000 104,100 4,512,500 104,050 32,200 5,485,200 20,000 269,900 2,108,800 1,201,000 27,300 143,800 273,210 12,133,000 961,000 10,000 1,200 247,000 689,000 1,560,000 3,044,400 352,000 3,000 70 56,000 159,000 15,240,000 200,000 5,086,000 2,531,790 2,910,000 3,000 252,000

0.470 56.50 24.30 1.28 7.00 0.285 0.29 819 8.2 15.04 4.51 0.250 1446 6.40 72.50 3.43 7.87 0.74 14.48 0.69 4.75 5.1 1.330 1.040 65.30 2.81 902.00 1.26 82.95 0.3800 0.2180

0.00 -1.91 -2.02 -0.78 0.29 0.00 1.79 1.55 0.00 0.53 -0.66 0.00 1.12 0.00 -0.48 -15.31 1.29 0.00 -1.76 0.00 0.85 4.08 -1.48 -0.95 -1.28 0.00 -0.72 -1.56 0.36 2.70 -4.80

40,000 1,766,120 12,822,300 60,000 591,600 2,440,000 20,000 300,590 3,334,300 10,861,400 269,000 1,250,000 455,955 320,000 2,387,170 6000 1,930,400 6,000 4,070,200 886,000 16,990,000 10,000 4,000 9,993,000 358,420 19,000 160,150 120,000 4,780 3,580,000 600,000

8.750 10.28 0.80 0.250 40.95 4.06 5.2 0.89 1.10

0.57 3.84 1.27 4.17 0.74 -0.25 0.00 -1.11 -4.35

36,900 200 1,847,000 10,000 3,549,200 377,000 142,400 2,595,000 50,000

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

High

Low

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

0.201 0.98 1.09 0.305 2.25 1.87 1.8 6.34 4.88 0.180 0.470 0.72 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 3.6 20.6 1.02 7.56 1.96 8.59

0.083 0.445 0.85 0.188 1.4 1.42 1.19 2.8 2.75 0.090 0.325 0.39 23 2.57 21.35 1.64 3.08 15.08 0.69 3.38 1 5.69

Crown Equities Inc. 0.154 Cyber Bay Corp.

0.460 Empire East Land 0.860 Ever Gotesco 0.185 Global-Estate 1.38 Filinvest Land,Inc. 2.09 Interport `A’ 1.41 Keppel Properties 6.00 Megaworld Corp.

5.33 MRC Allied Ind. 0.124 Phil. Estates Corp.

0.3300 Phil. Realty `A’ 0.4600 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 29.00 Primex Corp.

7.28 Robinson’s Land `B’ 29.20 Rockwell 1.72 Shang Properties Inc. 3.39 SM Prime Holdings 19.94 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.74 Starmalls 7.12 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 0.980 Vista Land & Lifescapes 7.340

0.65 1.09 3.49 0.00 -0.72 0.00 1.42 -6.83 0.19 0.81 3.03 0.00 -17.59 0.00 -0.34 0.58 -1.77 -0.70 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.95

2,170,000 260,000 12,000 170,000 1,060,000 20,894,000 650,000 41,100 28,643,300 400,000 190,000 20,000 5,000 97,800 4,976,200 870,000 26,000 30,542,200 285,000 2,100 160,000 16,211,700

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 15.82 0.1460 4.61 99.1 12.3 9 4 2090 8.41 33 1.97 119.5 7 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 2.85 2.2 3.2 5.9 2.46 15.2 0.62 22.8 6.41 4 110.2 14 3486 0.710 2.28 48.5 90.1 11.6 0.87 10.2 0.490 1.6

1.97 32.5 1 0.6 9.61 0.0770 2.95 46.55 10.14 5.88 2.58 1600 5.95 30 1.36 105 3.01 0.036 1.200 2.34 6.5 1.69 1.1 2 1.05 1.8 8.7 0.34 14.54 3 2.28 79 4.39 2726 0.380 0.32 31.45 60.55 7.59 0.63 6.45 0.305 1.04

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

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

DFNN Inc. Easy Call “Common” Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Jockey Melco Crown MG Holdings 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 STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

4.62 0.65 0.00 -9.64 -1.70 -1.02 0.23 2.97 0.00 2.88 14.38 5.16 -0.79 0.00 0.74 0.45 -14.98 -0.42 -1.52 -3.24 0.62 -5.22 6.25 0.49 4.74 0.00 -2.45 -1.37 -2.13 -0.42 1.67 -0.39 -1.79 1.20 1.52 -1.78 -1.98 -1.79 1.34 -1.49 0.31 6.06 -1.48

1,653,700 4,480 128,000 44,472,000 10,586,400 17,820,000 639,000 1,071,520 1,000 40,000 110,000 89,155 56,100 2,100 265,000 367,890 15,700 2,830,000 487,000 19,000 671,700 544,000 116,000 13,000 6,010 77,000 1,630,900 710,000 1,200 13,000 10,000 3,150 536,600 93,655 2,373,000 5,163,000 4,736,800 604,020 5,442,000 429,000 195,700 200,000 24,000

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 12.7 12.8 1.2 1.73 10.98 4.2 0.48 0.455 0.475 0.023 0.026 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 0.020 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9

0.0043 1.72 8.65 9.43 0.236 6.5 6.98 0.61 0.78 5.99 1.08 0.330 0.2130 0.2160 0.014 0.014 3.660 20.2 2.11 0.365 1.54 0.012 0.013 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67

Abra Mining Apex `A’ Atlas Cons. `A’ Atok-Big Wedge `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

1.96 1.45 -3.42 0.00 -3.85 2.74 5.48 0.00 -2.30 -0.79 -5.17 0.00 -4.82 -2.75 7.14 0.00 -1.24 -1.89 -1.04 -1.39 -0.48 0.00 0.00 0.23 -0.30 25.65 0.00 0.00 13.79

25,000,000 6,000 750,400 5,000 100,000 85,700 28,500 1,958,000 315,000 15,300 48,760,000 1,070,000 7,350,000 210,000 22,300,000 100,000 391,000 7,650,700 870,000 375,000 105,000 81,600,000 1,600,000 2,000 443,800 33,077,000 6,400,000 587,090 3,568,600

70 553 525 120 515 8.21 12.28

33 490 500 101.5 480 5.88 6.5

76.9 78.95 84.8

74.2 74.5 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure and Resort PCOR-Preferred B SMC Preferred A SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C

-0.24 0.00 0.00 0.08 0.00 0.00 0.00 -6.41 0.00 0.00 -0.58

46,400 1,000 2,090 25,000 4,700 86,800 2,108,000 2,000 148,000 127,870 40,040

-41,000.00

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

3.49

629,000

-5,554,340.00 -169,980.00 -251,516.00 -1,306,340.00

10.96 88 12.88

2.4 13.5 5.95

1.22 -1.32 4.94

916,700 820 4,633,300

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

0.16

2,160

692,735.50 47,371,454.00 -30,668,574.00 14,250.00

-6,710,545.00 -6,720.00 -624,500.00 -321,112,091.50

0.155 0.153 0.155 0.465 0.460 0.465 0.890 0.860 0.890 0.185 0.185 0.185 1.38 1.37 1.37 2.10 2.04 2.09 1.45 1.40 1.43 6.45 5.00 5.59 5.36 5.31 5.34 0.125 0.124 0.125 0.3400 0.3250 0.3400 0.4600 0.4600 0.4600 23.95 23.40 23.90 7.3 7.28 7.28 29.60 28.85 29.10 1.73 1.72 1.73 3.42 3.33 3.33 20.00 19.76 19.80 0.74 0.72 0.74 7.12 7.12 7.12 0.990 0.097 0.980 7.370 7.240 7.270 SERVICES 6.93 7.46 7.08 7.25 61.9 62.3 61.85 62.3 1.07 1.1 1.07 1.07 0.830 0.830 0.750 0.750 10.58 10.70 10.40 10.40 0.0980 0.0990 0.0970 0.0970 4.28 4.35 4.26 4.29 90.95 94.1 91.2 93.65 10 10 10 10 6.95 7.15 7.12 7.15 3.06 3.80 3.40 3.50 2440 2574 2440 2566 6.30 6.32 6.25 6.25 27.50 39.00 27.50 27.50 1.36 1.42 1.35 1.37 112 113.2 110.3 112.5 6.01 6.01 4.23 5.11 0.238 0.242 0.230 0.237 1.3200 1.3300 1.3000 1.3000 2.47 2.48 2.39 2.39 9.74 9.95 9.75 9.80 2.68 2.65 2.45 2.54 1.28 1.37 1.01 1.36 2.05 2.06 2.06 2.06 58.00 63.90 54.90 60.75 2 2 2 2 9.38 9.29 9.14 9.15 0.365 0.360 0.355 0.360 18.8 18.4 18.4 18.4 4.77 4.75 4.73 4.75 3 3.05 3.05 3.05 128.00 127.50 127.50 127.50 22.35 22.35 21.35 21.95 2844.00 2876.00 2836.00 2878.00 0.660 0.670 0.650 0.670 1.690 1.690 1.660 1.660 40.50 40.50 39.70 39.70 84.00 84.00 82.30 82.50 10.48 10.80 10.50 10.62 0.67 0.67 0.66 0.66 6.48 6.59 6.49 6.5 0.330 0.355 0.350 0.350 1.350 1.330 1.290 1.330 MINING & OIL 0.0051 0.0052 0.0051 0.0052 2.76 2.80 2.77 2.80 7.90 7.80 7.55 7.63 15.50 15.50 15.50 15.50 0.260 0.250 0.250 0.250 7.3000 8.1000 7.3000 7.5000 7.3000 7.8000 7.5000 7.7000 1.03 1.03 1.02 1.03 0.87 0.86 0.85 0.85 7.55 7.80 7.49 7.49 1.74 1.71 1.63 1.65 0.345 0.350 0.335 0.345 0.249 0.249 0.237 0.237 0.255 0.248 0.240 0.248 0.0140 0.0150 0.0140 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 0.0150 4.04 4.03 3.99 3.99 26.5 26.2 24.6 26 3.86 3.9 3.8 3.82 0.7200 0.7200 0.7100 0.7100 2.080 2.080 2.070 2.070 0.0130 0.0130 0.0120 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 0.0130 4.41 4.42 4.42 4.42 6.75 6.76 6.72 6.73 1.91 2.68 1.81 2.4 0.015 0.016 0.015 0.015 159.80 160.00 159.00 159.80 8.7 10.18 8.8 9.9 PREFERRED 63.5 63.35 63.2 63.35 522 522 522 522 525 525 525 525 119 119.5 119.1 119.1 520 521 520 520 6.2 6.2 6.03 6.2 1.09 1.14 1.09 1.09 1170 1096 1095 1095 76.6 76.75 76.6 76.6 84 84.5 84 84 86.95 86.85 86.45 86.45 WARRANTS & BONDS 4.300 4.650 4.300 4.450 SME 9.84 10.1 9.83 9.96 75.5 75 70 74.5 10.12 10.76 10.1 10.62 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 128.2 128.5 128.2 128.4

-462,530.00 12,530,980.00 -18,414,129.00

MST

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

SHARES 23207165 102121723 76320555 116306280 107128337 244972612 675609672

2,995.00 -627,554.50

3,735,165.00 19,821,050.00

-214,500.00

33,023,105.00

-41,800.00

-431,834.00 11,480.00 84,630.00

1,533,678.00 10,507,389.00 163,096.00 -18,120,585.00 1,640,990.00

-50,647,895.00 -4,938,854.00

28,811,153.00

8,090,266.00 11,251,974.00 16,615,395.00

-757,232.00 13,865,542.00 251,160.00 -1,488,422.00

235,420.00 71,500.00 22,500.00 -124,391.00 49,060.00 1,910.00

107,350.00 -49,802,044.00 -228,500.00 113,100.00

-24,280,840.50 -136,788,710.00

-265,750.00

5,700.00 2,338,125.00 91,839.00 -53,029,476.00 916,620.00

247,021,425.00 435,200.00 6,085,619.50 -686,760.00

-15,008,560.00 30,349,190.00

33,640.00 -7,517,016.50

-108,111,540.00 9,840.00

Double Dragon IRipple E-Business Intl Xurpas

T op g ainerS VALUE 1771651975.023 1775543374.65 2347631638.29 1222394072.84 1157355349.85 502122238.42 8835462187.073

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,805.52 (down) 10.41 INDUSTRIAL 12,275.86 (up) 110.64 HOLDING FIRMS 7,010.94 (down) 21.63 PROPERTY 3,236.16 (up) 3.26 SERVICES 2,183.10 (up) 15.65 MINING & OIL 15,125.34 (down) 135.19 PSEI 7,881.93 (up) 10.62 All Shares Index 4,546.74 (up) 4.34 Gainers: 85 Losers: 86; Unchanged: 51; Total: 222

-16,783,815.00 -1,254,250.00 376,489,872.00

-9,859,918.00

-57,868.00

-225,340.00 6,213,066.00 32,058,640.50

52,760.00 73,697,530.00

-5,215,585.00

4,126,475.00

2,783,401.00

18,940.00

0.00 2,811,890.00 -60,952,580.00 -453,620.00 863,040.00 -128,271,930.00 -28,518,427.50 -598,960.00 -896,350.00

-462,612.00

-758.00 -1,642,300.00 -25,910,720.00

-271,880.00 -28,587,315.00 27,010.00

202,200.00 -1,811,000.00 7,000.00 40,657,989.00 247,157.00 -628,390.00

61,320.00

1,193,868.00 15,342,018.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

PhilexPetroleum

2.4

25.65

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry

23.90

-17.59

Easy Call "Common"

3.50

14.38

Jolliville Holdings

3.43

-15.31

TA Petroleum

9.9

13.79

Imperial Res. `A'

5.11

-14.98

Pryce Corp. `A'

2.28

8.57

APC Group, Inc.

0.750

-9.64

Manila Mining `A'

0.0150

7.14

Roxas and Co.

2.24

-9.31

Lorenzo Shipping

1.36

6.25

Keppel Properties

5.59

-6.83

Waterfront Phils.

0.350

6.06

PCOR-Preferred B

1095

-6.41

Benguet Corp `B'

7.7000

5.48

Phil H2O

4.05

-5.81

Globe Telecom

2566

5.16

Euro-Med Lab

1.7

-5.56

Xurpas

10.62

4.94

Liberty Telecom

2.54

-5.22

THURSDAY: MAY 21, 2015

BUSINESS business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

B3

Alliance Global bares flat profit

By Jenniffer B. Austria

ALLIANCE Global Group Inc., the listed holding company of business tycoon Andrew Tan, posted a net income of P5.6 billion in the first quarter of 2015, or nearly flat year-on-year.

Income attributable to shareholders of the parent rose four percent to P3.5 billion in the threemonth period, while consolidated revenues grew five percent to P32.3 billion on year.

“Our consumer-centric businesses--real estate development, food and beverage manufacturing and distribution, integrated tourism development, and quick-service restaurants--all showed profitability in the first three months of this year. They all maintained their strong positions in their respective industries,” AGI president and chief operating officer Kingson Sian said.

The majority-owned companies of AGI all delivered strong earnings in the first three months

of the year.

Megaworld Corp. reported a net income of P2.3 billion, while Emperador Inc. registered a profit of P1.4 billion. Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. posted a net profit of P1.7 billion, while Golden Arches Development Corp. registered a net income of almost P160 million.

“Our companies are all paving the way for future growth that will ultimately increase shareholder value,” Sian said.

Megaworld this year is launching 20 township developments, while Emperador plans to introduce eight new products, including the newlyintroduced Smirnoff Mule.

Sian said Travellers would open more hotels, an additional gaming area and retail spaces by the end of 2017, while Golden Arches, which holds the exclusive right to operate restaurants in the Philippines under the McDonald’s brand, aimed to boost its branches nationwide to 500 by the end of 2015.

Meanwhile, Emperador president Winston Co said net income of the company decreased in the first quarter of 2015 to P1.4 billion as higher liquor prices affected the company’s margins.

BENGUET CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS OF MARCH 31, 2015AND DECEMBER 31, 2014 (Amounts in Thousands) ASSETS Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents Trade and other receivables Inventories Other current assets Total Current Assets Assets classified as held for sale

March 31, 2015 (Unaudited)

December 31, 2014 (Audited)

262,023 495,547 59,924 706,922 1,524,416 – 1,524,416

P 258,113 713,293 94,886 719,577 1,785,869 53,544 1,839,413

3,983,313 11,453 627,068 166,693 493,947 5,282,474

3,992,785 11,423 615,850 166,693 496,016 5,282,767

P 6,806,890

P 7,122,180

646,234 1,002,131 12,834 160,649 1,821,848

P 882,838 1,388,477 12,532 30,170 2,314,017

– 718,305 50,513 73,017 12,886 300,388 1,155,109 2,976,957

33,575 734,064 50,513 73,017 16,210 388,872 1,296,251 3,610,268

P 745

P 745

352,597

352,597

232,880 269,844

232,880 269,844

800,780 41,541 65,331 1,029 5,494 2,067,708 – 3,837,949 (8,016) 3,829,933 P 6,806,890

800,780 41,449 65,331 1,010 5,494 1,713,027 36,771 3,519,928 (8,016) 3,511,912 P 7,122,180

P

Noncurrent Assets Property, plant and equipment Available-for-sale (AFS) investments Deferred mine exploration costs Investment property Other noncurrent assets Total Noncurrent Assets TOTAL ASSETS LIABILITIES AND EQUITY Current Liabilities Current portion of loans payable Trade and other payables Obligations under finance lease Income tax payable Total Current Liabilities

P

Noncurrent Liabilities Loans payable - net of current portion Deferred income tax liabilities - net Liability for mine rehabilitation Pension liability Obligations under finance lease - net of current portion Other noncurrent liabilities Total Noncurrent Liabilities Total Liabilities Equity Capital stock Convertible preferred Class A - P 3.44 par value Authorized - 19,652,912 shares Issued and outstanding - 217,061shares in 2015 and 2014 Common Class A - P 3.00 par value Authorized - 120,000,000 shares Issued and outstanding -117,532,388shares in 2015 and 2014 Common Class B - P 3.00 par value Authorized - 80,000,000 shares Issued and outstanding -77,626,819 shares in 2015 and 2014 Capital surplus Other components of equity: Revaluation increment - net of deferred income tax liability Cumulative translation adjustments of foreign subsidiaries Cost of share-based payment Unrealized gain on AFS investments Remeasurement loss on pension liability Retained earnings Revaluation increment of assets held for sale Cost of 116,023 shares held in treasury, P 69 per share Total Equity TOTAL LIABILITIES AND EQUITY BENGUET CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2015 (With Comparative Figures for the three months ended March 31, 2014) (Amounts in Thousands)

REVENUES Sale of mine products Sale of merchandise and services

THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31 2015

P 978,888 43,752 1,022,640

333,726 15,061 663,197 97,249 1,109,233 440,608 6,153

438,306 39,704 372,461 55,115 905,586 117,054 20,247

113 (351) 53,449 53,211 487,666

4 (2,727) 10,742 8,019 104,826

COSTS AND OPERATING EXPENSES Costs of mine products sold Costs of merchandise sold and services Selling and general Taxes on revenue INCOME FROM OPERATIONS INTEREST EXPENSE OTHER INCOME Interest income Foreign exchange gain (loss) Miscellaneous - net INCOME BEFORE INCOME TAX PROVISION FOR INCOME TAX NET INCOME

P

BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE DILUTED EARNINGS PER SHARE

Citicore-Solar venture. Citicore Power and Solar Philippines signed a joint venture agreement to complete the construction of solar power plants with a combined capacity of 250 megawatts by 2016. The two parties will invest equally in each project, and leverage their expertise in construction to complete the projects in time to avail of the feed-in-tariff, an incentive for the first 500 MW in solar projects to connect to the national grid. At the signing ceremonies are Megawide Construction Corp. chief executive Michael Cosiquien and Solar Philippines chief executive Leandro Leviste (third and fourth from left, respectively). Megawide is the parent of Citicore Power. (Story on B4)

Market up slightly; Globe rallies THE stock market rose slightly Wednesday on selective buying and favorable corporate earnings reports.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index added 10.62 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,881.93 on a value turnover of P6.3 billion. Losers edged gainers, 88 to 84, with 45 issues unchanged.

Globe Telecom Inc., the second-biggest telecommunications firm, advanced 5.2 percent to P2,566, while parent Ayala Corp. gained 1.6 percent to P819.

Universal Robina Corp., the largest snacks food maker, climbed 2.5 percent to P208.60, while GT Capital Holdings Inc. of tycoon George Ty rose 1.1 percent to P1,446.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the biggest telecommunications firm, added 1.1 percent to P2,876.

Tokyo’s stock market, meanwhile, hit a 15year high Wednesday as Seoul and Shanghai also rose, but Hong Kong and other Asian markets retreated after recent gains.

The euro suffered fresh losses after a European Central Bank official said it would ramp up its massive bond-buying program, while Greece’s

debt reform talks with its creditors continued to lumber along.

Tokyo rose 0.85 percent, or 170.18 points, to 20,196.56—its highest since April 2000--although car parts maker Takata plunged after a recall of US cars fitted with the firm’s airbags doubled to 34 million.

Seoul was up 0.88 percent, closing 18.69 points higher at 2,139.54, and Shanghai gained 0.65 percent, or 28.74 points, to 4,446.29.

However, Sydney ended marginally lower, giving up 5.2 points to 5,610.3, and Hong Kong lost 0.39 percent, or 108.49 points, to end at 27,585.05.

There were also losses in Wellington and Taipei.

Official Japanese data showed the economy grew 0.6 percent in the first three months of the year, after limping out of recession in the previous quarter. The figure was better than the revised 0.3 percent expansion in October-December and beat the market median forecast of a 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter increase.

“The January-March GDP growth data were good... and buoyed sentiment,” said Takuya Takahashi, senior strategist at Daiwa Securities.

With AFP

2014

P 1,516,911 32,930 1,549,841

BENGUET CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2015 (With Comparative Figures for the three months ended March 31, 2014) (Amounts in Thousands) March 31, 2015 (Unaudited) CAPITAL STOCK P 586,222 CAPITAL SURPLUS 269,844 DEPOSIT FOR FUTURE STOCK SUBSCRIPTION – REVALUATION INCREMENT 800,780 CUMULATIVE TRANSLATION ADJUSTMENT Balance at beginning of period 41,449 Translation adjustment 92 Balance at end of period 41,541

132,985

38,241

354,681

P 66,585

P 1.82 P 1.81

P 0.38 P 0.33

March 31, 2014 December 31, 2014 (Unaudited) (Audited) P 532,222 P 586,222 161,844 269,844 162,000 – 836,679 800,780 41,357 1,054 42,411

41,357 92 41,449

65,331 – 65,331

58,183 – 58,183

58,183 7,148 65,331

UNREALIZED GAIN ON AFS INVESTMENTS Balance at beginning of period Unrealized gain (loss) on AFS investments Balance at end of period

1,010 19 1,029

749 194 943

749 261 1,010

REMEASUREMENT LOSS ON PENSION LIABILITY

5,494

(12,201)

5,494

1,713,027 354,681 2,067,708

1,615,817 66,585 1,682,402

1,615,817 97,210 1,713,027

– (8,016) P 3,829,933

– (8,016) P 3,456,467

36,771 (8,016) P 3,511,912

COST OF SHARE-BASED PAYMENT Balance at beginning of period Options vested during the period Balance at end of period

RETAINED EARNINGS (DEFICIT) Balance at beginning of period Net income for the period Balance at end of period REVALUATION INCREMENT OF ASSET HELD FOR SALE TREASURY SHARES TOTAL EQUITY

BENGUET CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES UNAUDITED INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31, 2015 (With Comparative Figures for the three months ended March 31, 2014) (Amounts in Thousands) CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES Net income Adjustments for: Depreciation, depletion and amortization Unrealized foreign exchange loss (gain) Gain on sale of property, plant and equipment Income taxes paid Decrease (increase) in: Trade and other receivables Inventories Prepaid expenses and other current assets Increase (decrease) in trade and other payables Net cash from (used in) operating activities CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES Decrease (increase) in: Property, plant and equipment Deferred exploration costs Other assets Net cash from (used in) investing activities CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES Net repayment of loans payable Decrease in other noncurrent liabilities Net cash from (used in) financing activities NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT BEGINNING OF PERIOD CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF PERIOD ( TS- M A Y 2 1 , 2 0 1 5 )

THREE MONTHS ENDED MARCH 31 2015

2014

P 487,666

P 104,826

28,715 351 (58,239) (2,506)

26,584 2,727 – (2,658)

217,746 34,962 12,655 (386,346) 335,004

32,733 63,660 (2,301) 55,791 281,362

40,010 (11,218) 2,069 30,861

– (262,096) (48,278) (310,374)

(273,471) (88,484) (361,955) 3,910 258,113 P 262,023

(159,113) 153,462 (5,651) (34,663) 358,415 P 323,752

B4

BUSINESS

New PSE building. The Philippine Stock Exchange Inc. and Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. signed a contract to sell for PSE’s acquisition of office units in Bonifacio Global City for P805.37 million. Shown during the contract signing are (seated, from left) FBDC chief finance officer Lourdes Reyes, FBDC director Edgardo Cruz Jr., Ayala Land Inc. and FBDC president Bernard Vincent Dy, PSE chairman Jose Pardo, PSE president and chief exectuvei Hans Sicat and PSE director Vivian Yuchengco. Standing are (from left) PSE chief operating officer Roel Refranm PSE corporate secretary Aissa Encarnacion, PSE director Edgardo Lacson, PSE treasurer Omelita Tiangco and PSE director Ramon Monzon.

PH eyes joining China-led bank PSE transferring to Fort Bonifacio

By Jenniffer B. Austria THE Philippine Stock Exchange will move its headquarters from Makati City to Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City by the end of 2016.

The PSE said in a statement it signed a deal with Fort Bonifacio Development Corp. to acquire office units in Bonifacio Global City for P805.37 million.

“We are pleased with the developments in this transaction with FBDC. The transfer to Fort Bonifacio will afford PSE operational efficiencies and support the growth of the company in the coming years. We look forward to calling the fast-growing BGC our home soon,” said PSE president and chief executive Hans Sicat.

The purchased property in BGC will serve as headquarters of the PSE and house its unified trading floor. PSE expects to move to its new office in the latter part of 2016.

FBDC broke ground on new PSE headquarters in Fort Bonifacio in 2012.

The new PSE offices, which will be housed in a P3.5-billion, grade AAA multi-tower complex, will rise in the planned One Bonifacio High Street district, a 3.2-hectare, premium mixed-use block west of the existing Bonifacio High Street commercial strip.

The office space was in exchange for the 2,000-square meter parcel of land originally donated to the PSE by FBDC as the site for future headquarters more than a decade ago.

Aside from the PSE, the new office building will be home to at least 100 active brokers.

By Julito G. Rada

FINANCE Secretary Cesar Purisima said Wednesday he will submit a recommendation to President Benigno Aquino III before the end of the month on whether the Philippines should join the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank or not.

Purisima said at the sidelines of the Financial Times-First Metro Philippines Investment Summit in Makati City the Finance Department had actively participated in the meetings conducted for the creation of the multilateral bank.

“There is a scheduled meeting in Singapore and we have to attend that. We are doing it one at a time,” Purisima said.

“We are still on the stage that we don’t have to commit. When you look at the emerging governance provisions, it makes a lot of governance features of other multilaterals,” he said.

“For example in the board, there is a board of governors and the directors. I think there are 12

members in the board of directors. They have a provision there that no one nationality should have more than one seat. There’s a provision splitting the 12 into nine regional and three non-regional. That helps out the smaller countries,” Purisima said.

The Philippines currently serves as the home of the Asian Development Bank, which provides concessional loans to member-countries.

Purisima did not provide comparisons on AIIB, ADB, the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.

“I’m not very keen on that, but I am seeing features that make it more inclusive,” he said.

China and other countries are scheduled to sign the creation of AIIB in June.

“We are looking at its general provisions. The most important is it is more inclusive,” Purisima said.

AIIB aims to finance infrastructure projects in the Asian region. However, AIIB is regarded by some as a rival of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

Purisima said earlier the Philippines, as an Asean member, participated in the discussions for AIIB, viewed as an economic and financial institution.

China proposed to create a new multilateral bank, with a capital of $100 billion.

More than 20 countries have participated in the discussions, including China, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Laos, Myanmar, Mongolia, Nepal, Oman, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Megawide group, Solar PH investing $625m in power plants

By Alena Mae S. Flores CITICORE Power, a sister company of Megawide Construction Corp., on Wednesday signed a partnership deal with Solar Philippines to develop 250 megawatts of solar projects by 2016.

The partners are expected to invest up to $625 million to develop the solar projects at an estimated cost of $2.4 million to $2.5

million per MW. Citicore Power, represented by Megawide chief finance officer Michael Cosiquien, said the joint venture marked the company’s entry into power generation.

Citicore Power is a whollyowned subsidiary of Citicore Holdings Investment Inc., which has investments in airports, hospitals, schools and other infrastructure projects. Citicore

Holdings is the parent company of Megawide Construction Corp.

The partners have yet to come up with the name of the joint venture company vehicle but the first project will be the 60-MW ground-mounted solar project in Calatagan, Batangas.

The 60-MW Calatagan solar project has started construction and is expected to be completed by November. Once operational, the plant will

supply enough to power the western part of Batangas and become the largest solar farm in Luzon.

“This marks our first entry into power generation, and we are happy to do it with a company that shares our entrepreneurial spirit.

We believe solar has massive potential for growth, and this is just the first of many investments we will make in clean, renewable energy,” Cosiquien said.

Citicore Power chief finance officer Oliver Tan said the company was developing up to 400 MW of renewable energy projects, including biomass and hydro aside from solar, in the next four to five years.

The 50-50 solar partnership is seen to unlock synergies between the two companies with the vision of building the largest solar portfolio in Southeast Asia.

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

BUSINESS business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

Extension of LRT 2 to port area approved THE board of the National Economic and Development Authority approved the west extension of the existing Light Rail Transit Line 2 to Port Area, Manila.

The P10.12-billion LRT Line 2 west extension project involves the design and extension of the existing line 2, from Recto station to Pier 4.

The project will have a total length of 3.02 kilometers and add three stations, including Tutuban (located next to the Cluster Mall); Divisoria (west of Recto Avenue and Asuncion Street intersection) and Pier 4 (located 50 meters north of Zaragoza Street).

The west extension of LRT 2 will be locally funded and be implemented within 3.5 years.

The Transportation Department recently awarded the construction of LRT2 Masinag extension to DMCI for P2.27 billion.

LRT 2 east extension project involves adding 4.2 kilometers to the railway from the existing Santolan station at Marcos Highway, Pasig City, all the way to the intersection of Marcos and Sumulong highways in Masinag, Antipolo.

The transport department is also bidding out LRT 2 operation and maintenance contract under the government’s public-private partnership program.

The contract will last for 10 to 15 years, with the winning bidder given the right to maintain the existing 11 stations as well as the 4.2-kilometer Masinag extension.

Darwin G. Amojelar

B5

GMA stockholders.

GMA Network chairman and chief executive Felipe Gozon speaks during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting at the GMA Network Studios in Quezon City.

Shown with him are GMA directors Michael John Duavit (left) and Anna Teresa GozonAbrogar.

PAL eyes options to buy Airbus 350s

By Darwin G. Amojelar

PHILIPPINE Airlines is evaluating options to acquire new Airbus 350 for long-haul flights to North America and Europe.

“We will study this very carefully. The A350 can replace the long-haul aircraft of any airlines.

It can be the replacement of A340 and Boeing 777,” PAL president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista told reporters.

“There would be a need for us to get some long-haul aircraft for expansion in North America, Europe and Rome,” he said.

A350 XWB is the latest addition to the market-leading Airbus wide-body product line.

Seating up to 369 passengers in a two-class layout, the aircraft can fly on routes of up to 8,000 nautical miles, enabling non-stop service from Manila to Europe or North America.

PAL is expanding its network in the Oceania region as the flag carrier prepares to fly to Auckland, New Zealand and Cairns, Australia by Dec. 1 this year.

PAL will operate four flights weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) to serve

the Manila-Cairns-Auckland route, utilizing the 156-seater Airbus A320.

“The new service allows PAL to cater to the travel needs of business and leisure travelers and showcase its distinct brand of service marked by Filipino warmth, charm and hospitality.

With close to 40,000 Filipinos residing in New Zealand, the new service is their convenient link to their home country-the Philippines,” he said.

Meanwhile, Cebu Pacific president Lance Gokongwei said the A350 is “very idea for long-haul flight.”

“I think we are just taking a look at the aircraft now. We are evaluating it among other aircraft,” Gokongwei said.

He said the company had no definite plan to expand in the US West Coast and London.

“We don’t have the plan currently, everything is under review at this point,” Gokongwei said.

The all-new Airbus A350 XWB recently arrived in Manila for the first time for a series of demonstration flights and ground displays.

The aircraft features the latest aerodynamic design, carbon fibre fuselage and wings, plus new fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

A350 XWB has been especially successful in the Asia-Pacific region, where airlines have ordered a total of 244 aircraft, representing almost a third of the 780 orders recorded so far worldwide.

Sterling Bank’s profit rises 66% to P110.4m

By Julito G. Rada

Bags of hope. Convergys, the nation’s largest private employer, strengthens its commitment to make a difference in the communities where its employees live and work through a national campaign called “Give A Bag of Hope.” Shown are Convergys Philippines country manager Ivic Mueco (right) along with young cast members of the campaign video as they show off the actual bags, which will be given out to students of several Filipino elementary schools nationwide.

STERLING Bank of Asia, one of the fastest-growing thrift banks, said net income in 2014 grew 66 percent to P110.413 million from P66.645 million in 2013, boosted by strong core businesses.

“We are delighted by the robust financial performance of the bank, which we feel would continue this year and beyond,” Sterling Bank president and chief executive Lamberto Villena said Wednesday.

Villena said the bank managed to grow its net income, on strong growth in core business buoyed by the country’s econom-

ic growth.

Net revenue from funds rose 30 percent to P1.064 billion from P817 million in 2013, driven by higher interest income on loans and receivables and investment securities.

Total resources increased by P7.779 billion or 29 percent to P34.222 billion from the P26.443 billion as of end-2013.

The bank said the strong growth in assets was due to higher volume of investment securities portfolio, which grew P3.398 billion or 66 percent to P8.555 billion from P5.157 billion, while cash due from banks went up by P3.184 billion or 80 percent.

THURSDAY: MAY 21, 2015

B6

BUSINESS business@thestandard.com.ph extrastory2000@gmail.com

SEC bars currency trader

By Jenniffer B. Austria

THE Securities and Exchange Commission issued a cease-and-desist order against Filipino-Korean firm MetisEtrade Inc. for illegally selling foreign currency trading contracts to the the public.

The SEC in an order directed the officers, directors, agents and representatives of MetisEtrade to immediately cease and desist from engaging in activities related to selling or offering of prod-

ucts classified as foreign currency trading contracts and similar financial products.

“Respondent MetisEtrade’s operations involved offering and selling of margin contracts with-

out the necessary license from the Commission which constitute fraud on investors that is likely to cause grave irreparable injury or prejudice to the investing public, especially considering the highly volatile nature of its transaction,” the SEC said.

“Thus in the absence of secondary license, respondent MetisEtrade should be restrained from offering or selling margin contracts in the form of foreign currency trading contracts,” it added.

The SEC said it received various inquiries from the public

regarding the operations of MetisEtrade.

SEC investigation showed MetisEtrade had been operating as unlicensed commodity futures broker or commodity pool operator.

The SEC said the public trading of commodity futures contracts under the Securities Regulation Code were currently suspended in the absence of futures exchange in the country.

“There is no Futures Exchange currently registered with the Philippines through

which future contracts as be posted, traded and executed. If there is no registered as of the moment, it necessarily follows that no commodity futures merchant/broker can legally exist at this time, much less, solicit, nor accept investments in futures contracts from the general public,” the SEC said.

One complainant claimed that he lost P100,000 in investment from MetisEtrade while another sought SEC assistance in recovering P900,000 worth of investments in MetisEtrade.

Internet strategic to Apec economies

By Othel V. Campos

Xurpas-Holcim deal. Xurpas Inc. signed a six-month enterprise deal with cement maker Holcim Philippines Inc., allowing it to tap the

tech firm’s 2G platform and conduct mobile marketing promotions to boost its network of retailers. Shown during the signing of the agreement are (from left) Holcim Philippines marketing head Ann Claire Ramirez-Tecson, Xurpas chief operating officer Raymond Racaza and Holcim vice president William Sumalinog.

2010-2015 economy grew BUSINESS CLASS despite weak leadership RUDY ROMERO

FIVE years have passed since President B.S. Aquino, benefitting from the sympathy generated by his mother’s death, won the highest position in the land. Although he did not take over the reins of power until July 1, 2010, it may not be amiss to make an assessment of the performance of this country’s fifteenth Chief Executive.

Measured by the generally accepted prime indicators of economic progress—particularly GDP (gross domestic product), per capita income, stock market index and international credit ratings—the economy of this country did well during the five years ended May 9, 2015.

Annual GDP growth averaged 6.3 percent during the period, making the Philippines one of the two fastest growing economies in East Asia, second only to China. As GDP grew, so did per capita income, though only modestly because of relentless population growth. The PSE (Philippine Stock Exchange) index touched 8,000 for the first time, and the three major international credit rating agencies raised the ratings of Philippine government debt instruments to investment-grade.

That is the picture at the general, aggregative level. The picture becomes far less good when the issue of inclusiveness is brought into play. he average annual 6.3 percent GDP growth has not taken place on an inclusive, walang maiwan basis. GDP growth is bound to give rise to a reduction in overall poverty, but official data show that the Philippines will not hit the Millennium Development Goals’ extremepoverty reduction target of 50 percent by December 31, 2015. The Government’s CCT program has made a dent in the poverty picture, but only a slight one.

Social economic surveys that are well-conceived and expertly executed deserve respect, and the surveys have been showing a picture of widespread self-rated poverty and pervasive hunger.

Extreme hunger as defined by the survey institutions means having nothing to eat more than one day in the preceding three months.

Clearly, the Aquino administration has not been able to substantially narrow the wide gap between inclusive economic growth and noninclusive economic growth. The good GDP growth numbers, the stock market boom and the international credit raters’ positive actions demonstrably have not been translated into a sharp reduction

in the percentage of Filipinos who consider themselves poor and into enough food for their family dining tables.

Noy Aquino came into office amid widespread misgivings arising from his lackluster record as a Senator and Representative and his reputation as an easygoing, visionless rich kid. Daang matuwid would be the road that his administration would travel.

It probably would not be unfair to say that the misgivings indicated above have by and large materialized. I titled this piece “2010-2015 economy grew despite weak leadership” because of my belief that the nation’s 15th Chief Executive has not provided the leadership that the government of an economy, especially a developing economy needs for its growth and development. Indeed, the economy using aeronautical terminology appears to have been operating on autopilot. The pilot did not leave the cockpit, but he switched on the autopilot mechanism.

Luckily for this country there have been Cabinet members who have taken it upon themselves to supply the vision and dedication that makes a government work. The likes of Albert del Rosario at foreign affairs, Cesar Purisima at finance, Armin Luistro at education, Rogelio Singson at public works and Mar Roxas at interior and local government have compensated for the absence of undistracted direction from the top.

Can the Aquino administration be said to have brought the economy, at the end of six years in office, to a position of basic strength and long-term stability? I don’t think so. The manufacturing sector has continued to decline. The Philippine agricultural sector is arguably one of the weakest in Asean. Foreign direct investments in this country are among the lowest FDI totals in this region. And there seems to be no solution to the continuing hemorrhage of government revenues out of the Bureau of Customs.

Is it realistic to expect that PNoy Aquino’s last twelve months in office will be any different from his first five years? Again, I don’t think so. The Filipino people have now seen PNoy’s stripes. Those stripes are unlikely to change.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

THE private and public sectors in the Asia Pacific agreed connectivity is important in a rapidly growing Internet economy in the region.

The Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation economies said in a statement they were improving access to the Internet to maximize the potential of an Internet economy.

“Connectivity, through the Internet economy, will help bring SMEs to market, improve education and health services delivery, link small farmers to large markets, and change the way we design, create, and consume products and services, among others.

No business sector or segment of society will be untouched by the power and potential of connectivity,” said Ambassador and APEC Senior Officials Meeting chairman for 2015 Laura Del Rosario.

The forum on Internet economy was one of the many industryspecific meetings taking place in the ongoing Apec conference in Boracay Island in Aklan.

She said E-commerce was one of the fast-growing facets of the Internet economy. E-commerce was worth $1.2 trillion in 2013, expanding at a rate of around 20 percent every year.

Many Internet-based businesses have benefited, including FlyingV.cc, a regional crowdfunding platform, and GrabTaxi.

The meeting said while majority of global Internet users already operate in the region, the potential for growth remained big, reflecting the importance of the Internet economy to the AsiaPacific.

However, capacity remains a key roadblock and the need to build the infrastructure for the Internet before the economic and social benefits of connectivity could be fully realized with the required investment.

t H u r s D aY : M aY 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

WORLD

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Syria’s old melodies as bridges to peace DUBAI—Malek Jandali may only have been alive for four decades but the award-winning composer insists he feels ancient, having revived some of the oldest melodies from his war-torn Syrian homeland.

“I’m 8,000 years old,” said the pianist, in the middle of a world tour he hopes will spread “peace and freedom” three years after leaving Syria just as war was tearing it apart.

A winner of the 2014 Global Music Awards gold medal, Jandali has for years sought to uncover ancient melodies for modern audiences but says he is now focused on the future, both in terms of composition and for the land of his upbringing.

Born in Germany, Jandali grew up in the central Syrian city of Homs, once dubbed the “capital of the revolution” by activists, before winning a scholarship to study in the US. Soon after Syria’s uprising started in March 2011, the 42-year-old pianist and composer performed at a demonstration in front of the White House.

His initiative prompted proregime armed groups to attack his elderly parents in their home in Homs. They later fled to the United States.

Jandali said it was this attack that helped him discover “the soft power of music”.

“The Syrian people are paying a very heavy price,” he told AFP in Dubai during a tour stopover.

Jandali is aware that music alone can do little to alter the situation on the ground, but “it’s raising muchneeded humanitarian aid and much-needed awareness”.

His latest album “Syrian Symphony”, released in January, contains melodies “inspired by the chants of the Syrian people” during their protests against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

“I was always trying to... involve my own Syrian identity which is now being targeted... destroyed,” he said. AFP

cesar barrioquinto EDITOR

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Malaysia, Indonesia agree to accept boats PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia—Malaysia and Indonesia said Wednesday they would no longer turn away boat people, a breakthrough in the region’s migrant crisis that came just hours after hundreds more starving people were rescued at sea.

Flagship store. People line up to enter China’s first Disney flagship store at the Lujiazui financial district in Shanghai on May 20. US entertainment titan Disney opened its first Chinese store on May 20, ahead of its first mainland theme park, as it seeks to sell Mickey Mouse and friends to the Asian giant’s middle classes. AFP

Earlier, Myanmar, whose policies toward its ethnic Rohingya minority are widely blamed for fueling the human flow, also softened its line by offering to provide humanitarian aid to stricken migrants.

Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand had sparked growing international outrage for driving off boats overloaded with exhausted and dying Rohingya, as well as Bangladeshis.

But Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, in a joint press appearance with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi, announced that “the towing and the shooing [away of boats] is not going to happen” any more.

“We also agreed to offer them temporary shelter provided that the resettlement and repatriation process will be done in one year by the international community,” Anifah said.

The pair had met earlier with Thai Foreign Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn.

Thailand, however, refrained from participating in the offer, with Tanasak saying he must check with his government first, according to Anifah.

Nearly 3,000 boat people have swum to shore or been rescued off the three countries over the past 10 days after a Thai crackdown on human-trafficking threw the illicit trade into chaos, with some of the syndicates involved abandoning their helpless human cargo at sea.

Anifah said Malaysian intelligence estimates put the number of people still stranded at sea at about 7,000 people.

He said the offer of assistance and shelter was applicable only to those now at sea.

Joe Lowry, a Bangkok-based spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), an intergovernmental body, called the announcement “extremely good news”.

“It is a brave and timely move by Malaysia and Indonesia. They have to get these people ashore. We can help them get them back on their feet and help them resettle to third countries,” he told AFP. In the latest drama involving incoming migrants, 433 starving people were rescued from their rickety boat off Indonesia by local fishing vessels earlier Wednesday, officials and fisherman said. AFP

People smuggler jailed 10 years SYDNEY—An Iraqi man was Wednesday sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Australian court after pleading guilty to smuggling asylum-seekers from Indonesia.

Sayed Omeid helped organize two boats carrying a total of 555 asylumseekers to the Australian territory of Christmas Island in 2001, authorities said.

He was arrested in Malaysia in 2010 on two charges of bringing non-citizens to Australia.

Omeid, a 43-year-old reportedly from Erbil in northern Iraq, pleaded guilty to the charges in March.

He was given a non-parole period of sixand-a-half years Wednesday, with the start of his sentence backdated to September 17, 2010 when he was first detained in Malaysia, an official of the District Court of Western Australia told AFP. Judge Mark Herron said as he handed

down the sentence he did not believe Omeid’s defense lawyer’s argument that the Iraqi was motivated by humanitarian concerns.

“Your principal motivation was self-interest, whether it was for financial profit or assistance to family members or yourself,” the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported Herron as saying.

The judge added that Omeid played a key role in organizing the smuggling network.

“People worked for you and received instructions from you,” he said.

“You exposed the passengers to potentially unsafe conditions in unreliable and overcrowded boats.”

The court was told Omeid met the asylum-seekers in Malaysia, arranged their move to Indonesia and coordinated their transfers to the boats, the Australian Associated Press reported. AFP

Graduation ceremony. Members of the Saudi Special Forces show their skills during their graduation ceremony in the capital Riyadh on May 19. AFP

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ceSAR bARRioqUinTo EDITOR

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world

General audience. Pope Francis waves to the crowd as he arrives for his general audience at St Peter’s square on May 20 at the Vatican. AFP

North claims nuke success SEOUL—North Korea said Wednesday it had perfected the technology to make nuclear warheads, not long after announcing it had launched a ballistic missile from a submarine, dramatically upping military brinkmanship with its US-led foes.

It also canceled a visit by UN chief Ban Ki-moon after he accused it of fueling regional tensions, in a week that also saw US Secretary of State John Kerry condemn the North’s “provocative, destabilizing and repressive actions”.

In violation of a UN ban, North Korea has long been testing longrange missiles. Nearly two weeks ago, the communist state said it had successfully test-fired a submarine-launched ballistic missile.

If confirmed, that would allow the deployment of nuclear weapons far beyond the Korean peninsula. But, experts say, the hardest part of delivering a nuclear strike is shrinking a warhead to fit a missile.

Pyongyang’s powerful National Defense Commission or NDC said it now had the means to do just that, in an announcement certain to spark alarm not just in Washington, Seoul and Tokyo, but also in Beijing.

“It has been a long time since we began miniaturizing and diversify-

ing our means of nuclear strike,” the NDC said in a statement on the North’s official news agency.

“We have also reached the stage where the highest accuracy rate is guaranteed, not only for short- and medium-range missiles but longrange missiles as well.”

Several analysts treated the SLBM claim with skepticism, and were cautious too about the miniaturization announcement.

“There are differences between their statements and their actual operational reality,” Daniel Pinkston, a senior researcher of the International Crisis Group, told AFP. “Some of it is bluster or exaggeration and maybe for internal audiences, and some of it is probably also for external audiences in an effort to test and to see if they can use systems for blackmail or coercion,” he said.

Cho Han-Bum, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Pyongyang was “too cash-strapped” to perfect such intricate technology as miniaturizing a warhead.

“I find the claim hard to believe,” he said.

Cho said North Korea’s young leader Kim Jong-Un, who heads the NDC, may be having trouble keeping the military under control following the reported execution of his defense minister.

“So the latest NDC announcement appears to be aimed at assuaging hawks within the military and securing bargaining chips for negotiations with the other coun-

tries like the US by stoking their biggest fear, about the North’s nuclear and long-range missiles.”

However, the top US homeland security commander, Admiral William Gortney, said last month the North was capable of mounting a miniaturized warhead on its new KN-08 intercontinental missile.

And South Korea’s defense ministry has said the North appears to have achieved a “significant” level of technology to create a nuclear warhead.

The NDC announcement came hours after Ban said his invitation to visit the Kaesong industrial zone inside North Korea had been canceled without explanation.

Had Thursday’s visit gone ahead, Ban would have become the first UN secretary-general to set foot in the communist state for more than 20 years, since Boutros BoutrosGhali in 1993.

“This decision by Pyongyang is deeply regrettable,” the UN chief, a former foreign minister of South Korea, told a forum in Seoul.

“However, I as the secretarygeneral of the United Nations, will not spare any efforts to encourage the DPRK [North Korea] to work with the international community for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and beyond.”

But Kerry, visiting Seoul on Monday, warned that North Korea was doing everything to spurn such reconciliation as he condemned Kim’s “egregious” leadership and “grotesque” executions of top officials. AFP

Exploding airbag recall doubled to record 34m TOKYO—Japanese auto parts giant Takata has acknowledged a potentially deadly defect in its airbags for the first time, as it agreed to double a US recall to a record nearly 34 million vehicles, officials said, pushing its shares into a steep dive Wednesday.

The defect in the airbag’s inflator has been linked to as many as six deaths and scores of injuries in vehicles made almost a dozen automakers including Honda, Toyota, General Motors and BMW. US Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx announced the recall—the biggest in US history— after Takata and its US subsidiary agreed in a consent order with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration or NHTSA that the flaw raised safety issues.

“The Department of Transportation is taking the proactive steps necessary to ensure that defective inflators are replaced with safe ones as quickly as possible, and that the highest risks are addressed first,” Foxx said.

“We will not stop our work until every airbag is replaced.”

But officials said it could take years to get enough replacement airbag inflators for all affected cars.

The defect—thought to be linked

to a chemical propellant that helps inflate the airbags—can cause them to deploy with explosive force, sending metal shrapnel hurtling toward drivers and passengers.

The announcement does not include millions of other vehicles recalled outside the US for the same problem.

Last week, Japan’s top three automakers—Toyota, Nissan and Honda—expanded their recalls in the United States and elsewhere as the crisis mounts.

But “from what Takata announced overnight, we don’t think the latest US recalls will lead to additional recalls here in Japan,” a transport ministry official said.

A Takata spokesman on Wednesday said he could not supply a global recall tally, adding that the firm, one of the world’s biggest airbag suppliers, was discussing the figure with its automaker clients.

The firm is facing calls for a criminal probe and was accused in a US class-action lawsuit of “deception and obfuscation” over the defect.

Its biggest airbag client, Honda, has been named in the claim that alleges the pair conspired to hide the flaw for years. AFP

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 1 : 2 0 1 5

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE EDITOR

BING PAREL A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R g l w e e ke n d @ g m a i l . c o m

LIFE

C U LT U R E

VENICE HANGOVER

Philippine Pavilion Impresses Critics at the Venice Biennale

“I think it’s a great show,” says Renaud Proch, referring to the Philippine Pavilion at the 56th International Art Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia.

Proch, Executive Director of Independent Curators International (ICI), was one of the guests at the vernissage of the Philippine Pavilion who commended curator Patrick D. Flores for seamlessly weaving together the works of Manuel Conde and Carlos Francisco (for Genghis Khan), Manny Montelibano (for A Dashed State), and Jose Tence Ruiz (for Shoal).

“It’s really nice to see it coming together.

It is a really great succession of works that

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Shoal by JoseTence Ruiz

take a similar point of departure from the historical film but they have the space to express themselves individually.”

“Great pavilion,” says Proch, who was one of the jurors who deliberated on the curatorial proposals for the Philippine Pavilion 2015.

He adds, “It was a proposal that really told a story and that offered many points of entry to the pavilion and to the curatorial proposal.

From sculpture, from installation, from video; from the point of view of history, from the point of view of politics, it seems very relevant to today’s concerns and today’s world. And I think it has grown even more relevant ever since the jury was held in September (2014).”

THURSDAY : M AY 21 : 2015

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RAK IS N BACK! Scenes from a Rak musical

BAMBINA OLIVARES WISE

C U LT U R E

ow on its 48th year, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) brings back crowd favorite and hit comedy musical Rak of Aegis this June.

Breakout Kapuso star Aicelle Santos and 2009 WCOPA Champion Kim Molina come back as Aileen – the promodizer with big dreams to raise her family from the knee-deep floods that have plagued their town for months. This all-Filipino, all-original musical features songs from the iconic band Aegis, with a star-studded ensemble on an award winning, must-see set.

This comedy musical hit a record-breaking 135 shows in the first year of its showing alone – a milestone for Philippine theater – garnering over 16 citations for performance and technical categories including Outstanding Original Musical, Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Musical, Stage Direction for a Musical (Maribel Legarda), Original Libretto (Liza Magtoto), Musical Direction (Myke Salomon), Choreography (Gio Gahol), Costume Design (Carlo Pagunaling), Sound Design (Salomon and Happy Constantino), Set Design (Mio Infante),

Female Lead Performance in a Musical (Aicelle Santos and Joan Bugcat), Female Featured Performance in a Musical (Kalila Aguilos) and Male Featured Performance in a Musical (Myke Salomon, Pepe Herrera, Jerald Napoles and Juliene Mendoza) This run also welcomes many new neighbors to Barangay Venizia. Actor and singer Lorenz Martinez plays Aileen’s father Kiel, opposite Lani Ligot (Priscilla Queen of the Dessert; Broad Way, Narrow Way) who plays Mercy, Aileen’s mother; The Company’s Sweet Plantado also joins the cast as Mary Jane.

The ensemble is joined by PETA artist-teacher Roi Calilong (D’ Wonder Twins of Boac, PAMANA), and Teetin Villanueva (MANHID, Maxie the Musical).

The play runs from June 17 to August 16 from Tuesdays to Fridays (8 pm) and Saturdays and Sundays (3 pm and 8 pm) at the PETA Theater Center located at No. 5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, QC. Tickets are available via www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999.

For more information contact PETA at 725-6244 or 09175765400, petatheater@gmail.com or visit www.petatheater.com.

INSTITUTO CERVANTES PRESENTS BERSONG EUROPINOY, A FILIPINO-EUROPEAN POETRY RECITAL

I

nstituto Cervantes, and the Delegation of the European Union to the Philippines, the Goethe Institut, Alliance Française, the Philippine-Italian Association, the Consulate of Slovakia and the embassies of Spain, Austria, Belgium, and the Czech Republic, are presenting the 6th edition of the poetry recital Bersong Europinoy, on May 26 at 7 p.m. at Instituto Cervantes, as part of the ‘Viva Europa’ program.

Instituto Cervantes has always actively championed literary projects, from publications and lectures to public recitals. “Literature is in our DNA,” says José María Fons, the Cultural Manager of Instituto Cervantes. He still remembers the sensation of the popular reading campaign Berso sa Metro. In 2007 Instituto Cervantes filled up the LRT and MRT trains with poems. The campaign was supposed to last for six months but commuters loved the posters and it was extended. The poems are still there today. “I suppose that people appreciated poems inside of the trains, instead of ads,” Fons explains. “People do like literature, do like poetry,

and through our cultural program we are ready to cater to that desire. In 2009 we proposed to the European Cultural Group to have a Filipino & European poetry recital. The initiative was supported by the EU Delegation and since then we’ve been working together to stage Bersong Europinoy every year.”

Following the success of previous editions, Bersong Europinoy aims to serve as a cultural exchange platform in the field of poetry between Europe and the Philippines, offering a unique multicultural event where participants will delight in hearing acclaimed poems recited by European diplomats and cultural representatives in their native languages, alongside those of reputable Filipino writers. Alice Sun Cua, Mookie Katigbak Lacuesta, Carlomar Daoana, Allan Pastrana, Vijae Alquisola and Shirley O. Lua are the participant Filipino poets for this year. “As for Europe, this edition we’ll be featuring poetry from eight countries: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Slovakia and Spain,” says Carlos Madrid, Instituto Cervantes’ Director.

In 2011, Bersong Europinoy was awarded with a Gawad Jaime C. De Veyra – Natatanging Parangal from the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino (Commission of the Filipino Language) for “its continuous support and contribution to the awareness and growth of the Filipino language and literature, culture and the arts”.

This year’s theme is “Food, Gastronomy and Table Pleasures”. Live music will also be present in the recital.

“Although the current format is working well we like trying new developments,” says Carlos Madrid. “For future editions, I’d like to see poets from Europe attend the event and interact with Filipino writers. It would also be wonderful to see grow the current booklet-program in a book.”

Bersong Europinoy 2015 will be held on May 26 at 7 p.m. at Instituto Cervantes (855 T.M. Kalaw St., Ermita, Manila). Entrance to this poetry recital is free on a firstcome, first-served basis. Free copies of the poetry compilation will be given on the event. For further information on the event please log on to http://manila.cervantes.es or www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila

THURSDAY : M AY 21 : 2015

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A PASSION FOR CLAY

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Nelfa Querubin at Galeria Duemila

alleria Duemila proudly presents A Passion for Clay, a solo show by Nelfa Querubin, one of the foremost artists in the Philippines today working in contemporary ceramics. The exhibition takes its name from the artist’s recently published book authored by Patrick D. Flores and Imelda Cajipe Endaya.

Akin to a mini-retrospective, A Passion for Clay brings together Querubin’s most sought-after ceramic pieces spanning from the late 1980s to 2013. Centering on medium and technique, her practice is explicitly freehand and is much more organic than it may appear. The vitality of her works, which stylistically integrate impressions

of astronomy, geology, and panoramic scenery, guarantees Querubin an exceptional place in the pantheon of Philippine contemporary ceramics. Laden with the complexities of the natural world, her work bellies rich imagery of topography and organic matter. Even more intriguing are the distinct contrasts in her work, saturated and spare, sharp and pure, art and design, utility and frivolity, attractiveness and otherness.

A Passion for Clay runs from June 6-30, 2015 at Galleria Duemila located at 210 Loring Street, 1300 Pasay City.

For more information please call (02) 831 9990 or email gduemila@gmail.com

CREATE AND INNOVATE: ESSENCE OF SWITZERLAND ART COMPETITION Switzerland, the land of mountains, cheese and chocolate, also happens to be the most innovative country in the world, ranking first in the Global Innovation Index (GII) for the fourth time in a row. Switzerland excels in knowledge and technology in particular, while scoring second place in creative output.

The Swiss Embassy, in partnership with Swatch Philippines, and with sponsorship from Swiss Cultural Fund-Philippines and Etihad Airways, presents Create and Innovate: Essence of Switzerland Art Competition – an art tilt that challenges Filipinos to test the limits of their imagination by creating something new, or innovating something old by reinventing an existing idea into something imaginative.

Get your creative juices flowing and wow the judges with inspired creations as they could be your ticket to experience the serene beauty and dynamic energy of Switzerland.

The art contest, which runs from May 18 to July 10, is open to everyone from 18 to 30 years old with all mediums of art accepted, and entries may qualify under the following categories: 1. CREATE category. The winner in this category will receive a round-trip ticket to Switzerland for one (1) plus hotel accommodations for 5 days/4 nights and pocket money.

2. INNOVATE category. The winner will receive a roundtrip ticket to Switzerland for one (1) with hotel accommodations for 5 days/4 nights and pocket money.

3. Special Swatch Award. The winner will receive Php100,000 in cash for thinking “out-of-the-box” and integrating Swatch into the artwork.

All entries must be submitted by 8 pm on July 10.

Entry forms with the complete guidelines are available at: • www.swissculturalfundphils.org • The Swatch & Swatch Building at 918 Arnaiz Avenue, Makati City • All Swatch Shops For updates, subscribe to the Swiss Cultural Fund mailing list (swissculturalfund.ph@gmail.com) or like the Swiss Embassy Facebook page www.facebook.com/SwissEmbassyManila

MEET WARCRAFT’S ORGRIM, THE ORC

BY ED BIADO

It seems that it’s all systems go for Warcraft The Movie. After more or less eight years in development limbo, the video game-based film has finally gotten a summer 2016 release date and along with it, the reveal of its first official character images.

Ladies and gentlemen, meet Orgrim Doomhammer, an orc that is described as remarkably cunning and brilliant, a brave warrior destined to wield the legendary weapon called Doomhammer. Orgrim is played by Robert Kazinsky, best known for his roles in Pacific Rim and True Blood.

“We were looking for someone who would be able to perform the gruffness, the humor, and the toughness of this character,” director

Duncan Jones tells Wired.com.

The website adds, “Orgrim’s likeness comes from the masterminds at Industrial Light and Magic, who took concept art from Blizzard Entertainment – creators of the massive World of Warcraft video game franchise on which Jones’ film is based – and merged it with photographs and scans of Kazinsky to create the orc.”

Jones, who previously directed Source Code, tweeted one of the images of Orgrim on Monday with the caption, “Can’t tell you what a relief it is to FINALLY have at least something released from Warcraft for you all to see! :)” Kazinsky will be joined in Warcraft’s Orcish Horde by Toby Kebell as Durotan, Clancy Brown as Blackhand and Daniel Wu as Gul’dan.

The Humans of Stormwind Alliance is led by Travis Fimmel as Sir Anduin Lothar, Dominic

Cooper as King Llane Wrynn, Ben Foster as Magus Medivh, Ben Schnetzer as Khadgar and Ruth Negga as Lady Taria.

The Warcraft video game series has an incredible and extensive mythology that cannot possibly be covered by one cinematic adaption alone. The movie is said to explore the origin story of the initial encounters between humans and orcs and how the conflicts affect the opposing sides – the Alliance and the Horde.

Filming took place between January and May 2014 and the 20-month post-production is expected to wrap at the top of next year. The movie was originally slated for a Christmas 2015 release but was pushed back when it was learned that the new Star Wars installment was gunning for the holiday traffic as well.

Warcraft is scheduled to hit theaters June 2016.

T H U R S D AY : M AY 2 1 : 2 0 1 5

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A GUIDE TO WHAT’S ON AT THE CINEMAS THIS WEEK

HOT PURSUIT

Hot Pursuit

Para Sa Mga Hopeless Romantic

Officer Cooper (Reese Witherspoon), an uptight and by-thebook cop, is tasked to protect Daniella Riva (Sofia Vergara), the hot and gregarious widow of a drug boss, as they race through Texas pursued by criminals and crooked cops.

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INFINI

Pitch Perfect 2

R16 An Australian science fiction drama that follows Infini, an elite search and rescue team, who are transported through deep space to a remote mining colony to save the sole survivor of a biological outbreak and stop an impending global threat to the Earth.

R16 Following a strange sexual encounter with Hugh (Jake Weary), college student Jay Height (Maika Monroe) finds herself pursued and haunted by a supernatural entity that can only be seen by those with the curse which is passed through sex.

Spy

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Lost River

PG After figuring in a car accident and being struck by lightning, Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) suffers an inexplicable condition in which she remains 29 years old forever. Now at 107, Adaline lives a solitary existence away from anyone who might reveal her secret. Her plan to live on a farm in Oregon suddenly changes when she meets the charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) who reignites her passion for life and romance, in the process reuniting her with William (Harrison Ford) her former lover who happens to be Ellis’ father.

The fourth entry in George Miller’s Mad Max franchise, this 2015 postapocalyptic action film follows “Mad” Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), a man of action and few words, seeking peace of mind following the loss of his family in the early days of society’s collapse; and Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), a woman of action, looking to cross the desert and make it back to her childhood homeland. The two rebels team up to run from, and eventually face, the tyrannical Fascist leader King Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and his bloodthirsty military force.

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THE LAST: NARUTO THE MOVIE

MAGGIE

PG A documentary that challenges the stereotypes that surround the Mormon faith by examining the diverse lives of six devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: The Bishop (Jermaine Sullivan), The Coach (Ken Niumatalolo), The Fighter (Carolina Muñoz Marin), The Humanitarian (Bishnu Adhikari), The Candy Bomber (Gail Halvorsen), and The Missionary Mom (Dawn Armstrong).

R13 An American action comedy about Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy), a desk-bound CIA analyst, who, when her partner Bradley Fine (Jude Law) falls off the grid and top agent Rick Ford (Jason Statham) is compromised, volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of deadly arms dealer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne).

THE AGE OF ADALINE

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

MEET THE MORMONS

PG Following a humiliating performance involving Fat Amy and a wardrobe malfunction at the Lincoln Center, the Barden Bellas, led by previous Bellas Beca (Anna Kendrick), Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson), Chloe (Brittany Snow), Cynthia-Rose (Ester Dean), Lilly (Hana Mae Lee), and Stacie (Alexis Knapp), are suspended from the A Capella performance circuit. To regain their status and right to perform, the group enters an international competition that no American team has ever won.

SPY

LOST RIVER

R13 An American independent horror film about Maggie (Abigail Breslin), a teenage girl in the Midwest who falls victim to a strange disease that slowly turns those infected into cannibalistic zombies. In spite of the dangers she faces during her transformation, her loving father (Arnold Schwarzenegger) stays by her side.

PG When the relationship between high school sweethearts Nikko (James Reid) and Rebecca (Nadine Lustre) falls apart, Becca writes a story slightly similar to her love story to cope with her broken heart. She projects her heartache when she can’t give her characters – Ryan (Iñigo Pascual) and Maria (Julia Barretto) – a happy ending either.

PITCH PERFECT 2

IT FOLLOWS

An American neo-noir fantasy written, produced, and directed by Ryan Gosling about Billy (Christina Hendricks), a single mother living in Detroit, who is swept into a dark underworld while her son Bones (Iain De Caestecker) discovers a road leading to a secret underwater town called “Lost River.”

PARA SA MGA HOPELESS ROMANTIC

Maggie

G This tenth Naruto film begins two years after the events of the Fourth Great Ninja War, at the time when the moon Hagoromo Otsutsuki, created long ago to seal away the Gedo Statue, begins to descend towards the world, threatening to become a meteor that would destroy everything on impact. Amid this crisis, Uzumaki Naruto (Junko Takeuchi) helps Hyuuga Hinata (Nana Mizuki) save her younger sister, Hyuuga Hanabi (Kiyomi Asai), who is kidnapped by a direct descendant of Kaguya Otsutsuki named Toneri (Jun Fukuyama).

TOMORROWLAND

PG A Brad Bird science fiction mystery adventure that follows former boy-genius Frank Walker (George Clooney) and bright, optimistic teen Casey Newton (Britt Robertson) as they embark on a dangerous mission to unearth the secrets of a mysterious place somewhere in time and space known as “Tomorrowland.”

COMPILED BY BERNADETTE LUNAS

T HUR S DAY : M AY 2 1 : 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C5

The Honore 6 Plus on display

KC Montero is poised to open the giant box of Honor at the launch in his music bar Montero explains the qualities of Honor 6 plus

Charles Wu(Country Head, Huawei Device Ph),Nino Carandang (Sr. Marketing Manager),Jose Vega (Sales & Mrtng Director, Huawei Device Ph), Al Dimapilis (Marketing Director of Huawei), Teddy Tang (Channel Manager, Ho) Monero with Honor executives

KC MONTERO IS FOR THE BRAVE

E

verybody knows KC Montero has a biggest mouth— in a good way, of course.

He always finds something interesting to talk about whether in his TV shows (The GOAT on Fox Sports), or on radio as he makes the evening traffic rush more bearable.

Recently, KC made a “brave” move as one of business owners of Tree House Tavern. Honor (the maverick sub-brand of tech giant Huawei) chose him and the venue for the recent launch of Honor 4X, 4C and their flagship device, the Honor 6 Plus.

KC says he admires the brand for taking on the top brands by offering more affordable yet equally capable smartphones for the digital Filipinos.

“One of the bravest things I think they’re doing is they’re competing with some of the bigger brands.mThey’re coming in as a fairly new brand, and for them to jump in the world of smartphones, that is being true to their tagline-Honor is really For the Brave.”

After making quite an impressive debut with the Honor 6, smartphone maker Honor (the maverick new sub-brand of Huawei) is again generating a lot of noise with the launch of its latest flagship, the Honor 6 Plus.

Honor 6 Plus can easily go head to head with any of the high-end Android phones out there with its premium build, Dual Sim, Dual 4G capability, octa-core processor with 3GB RAM, Full HD screen,

BY ED UY

longer battery life, and the first parallel dual camera phone— which claims to take better pictures than a DSLR camera.

LIKE ITS OLDER BROTHER Just like its older brother, the Honor 6 Plus clearly takes inspiration from other good looking phones to create a very clean, simplistic but elegant-looking device.

Besides the size, there isn’t a lot of difference between the Honor 6 and the Honor 6 plus in terms of its looks, except for that “bulletproof ” outer shell which I will talk about later. I also liked the brushed finish of the 6 Plus’ metal trim that goes around the sides of the phone.

Now if they only wrapped the entire phone with that metal trim.

The 6 Plus supports Dual SIM dual 4G and the trays can be used for Micro-SIM card the other for either a Nano-SIM card or a microSD card to further expand its 32GB capacity.

The Honor 6 Plus is fairly slim at 7.5mm and weighs about 165g, which is still quite light considering its size. At 5.5 inches, it also boasts of the biggest screen ratio at 78.2 percent compared to the iPhone 6 Plus’ 71 percent. Despite its size, however, the Honor 6 Plus is still comfortable to hold.

There is a one-handed-operation option that you can easily access by dragging down the shortcuts menu, although I really wouldn’t recommend it especially if you are walking or in crowded areas.

The Honor 6 plus has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 1080x1920 (pixel density of approximately 401ppi) and protected by a 3rd Generation Gorilla Glass Display.

I have to admit it is one of the best displays I’ve seen, colors are rich and very vibrant too without becoming too blinding and the viewing angles are quite good as well.

The back glass panel of the phone houses the dual cameras, flash and the speaker and the word “HONOR” is neatly imprinted below the camera. According to Honor the back panel was created with a 6 layer composite, with the bottom layer made of fiberglass, that offers both a lightweight and rigid material.

The construction is similar to the techniques used in the construction of military helmets. I have seen a video that proved it can withstand shots from an air rifle, although I haven’t personally tried it as I don’t have an air gun.

CAMERA LIKE AN EAGLE EYE The Honor 6 Plus main selling point is its parallel dual-camera that imitates the structure of an eagle eye, with superfast focus at 0.1s.

The Parallel dual-camera uses “Binocular Vision” data, to quickly calculate focus distance and capture image and a 3IE Algorithmic Engine that imitates a brain, using “Depth Perception” to determine and record a detailed, in-depth photograph .

For serious mobile photographers, you’d be surprised to know

that the Honor 6 Plus has F0.95 Wide Aperture that rivals some of the most expensive Leica and Canon camera lenses.

The Honor 6 Plus has created it’s own F0.95 – F16 aperture, with the “First Capture, then Focus, and then Adjust” function that allows you to adjust background level blur, or completely refocus The experience of using the Honor 6 Plus was comparable to that of using other flagship phones. After the initial boot sequence, there were no hiccups or stutter when multitasking between several apps.

The 1.8 GHz quad-core + 1.3 GHz quad-core Hisilicon Kirin 925 chip and 3GB RAM really complements the Honor 6 Plus Emotion UI software and the phone is extremely responsive and snappy whether you are browsing the net or using any other applications.

If you are a gamer like me, you’ll have no problems playing all those HD games. I’ve tested Modern Combat 5, Nova 3, Asphalt 8, WWE Immortals and the frame rates are consistent without any lags.

MINOR FLAWS The Honor 6 plus has a built in 32GB of internal storage (about 25.7GB available) and you can use the other SIM slot to put in an additional 64GB microSD card for your movies and music.

As for watching videos, and listening to music, my only complaint, as with the Honor 6 was the sound quality. The loudspeak-

er sounds a bit to “tinny” and turning on the DTS mode only amplifies the sound but does not improve the quality. Using headphones does make it better but the sound is still not great.

Call audio quality was good but the volume could have been a bit louder. The 3600mAh battery can last you an entire day on heavy use. While the Honor 6 Plus doesn’t have a fast charge feature it does support Reverse Charging.

All you have to do is plug in your OTG cable on the Honor 6 Plus and connect your other phone that needs to be recharged.

The Honor 6 Plus is a premium “value for money” smartphone that combines excellent hardware and performance, great battery life and a Dual Camera that will help you take better photos and add more effects.

Its dual camera setup may initially seem like a gimmick but it does take great photos, and the wide aperture mode does give a bit of depth and add “bokeh” to your pictures.

True to its name and tagline “For The Brave,” the Honor 6 Plus does deserve a lot respect for bringing the flagship experience to a more “honorable” price point.

If you are looking to upgrade your mobile phone and want to take better photos, you can’t go wrong with the Honor 6 Plus.

Be one of the brave ones. The Honor 6 Plus, Honor 4X and Honor 4C are available online at Lazada Philippines and the respective Huawei retail stores.

T HUR S DAY : M AY 2 1 : 2015

C6

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

LUCKY DENNIS TRILLO ROMANCES MAJA, ELLEN GLEN REGONDOLA He must be a lucky guy, this Dennis Trillo. Imagine him with not just one, or two, but three love scenes with two of his female co-stars in You’re Still The One ( Star Cinema and Regal Films) showing on May 27.

The co-stars are Ellen Adarna and Maja Salvador.

Director Chris Martinez said, “They (the love scenes) have different flavors.

There’s one in the shower, in the bedroom, in a sofa and in different areas.There’s

also one in the kitchen. They should really watch it. Actually, I presented different levels of passion. That one with Dennis is more passionate, it’s hotter while that one with Richard (Yap), is more of the romantic type.”

When prodded about these numerous love scenes, Dennis explained, shyly though, how he felt while he was doing them with two of the most desirable women in showbiz.

“As to Ellen, I remember how we did those scenes,” he said. “If you know her, it seems she’s the kind of actress that when you look at her, she can do anything.

But during the shoot, she’s really nervous that she had to do some rituals to ease

herself, and be able to do our scenes. I talked to her, and she also did something to calm herself down. But she didn’t have inhibitions, that was why ours was wilder.”

With Maja, he revealed that actress was more reserved, but did everything she could to make their scenes more believable and truthful.

“She didn’t show that she’s shy,” Trillo said. “In our scenes, she was more aggressive. With whom I enjoyed most? I think, both. Maybe because we’re all professionals, that’s it. We just did what was expected of us, we have to feel our characters.”

HHHHH Meanwhile, co-star Maja Salvador is in love (again)

these days.

Not with another guy, after a heartbreak with actor Gerald Anderson, but with her second album, aptly titled Maja In Love (Ivory Records).

But what’s the buzz about Paulo Avelino and her?

In an interview, she said, “ I’m very glad that I have another love team well-loved, and well-received by the televiewers.

I’m happy that because of the beautiful story of Bridges of Love, people noticed our screen partnership. Paulo and I are friends, and we get along well on the set. But there’s nothing really between us.

Their response to us is really unexpected, and I ap-

JUDE LAW FINE IN ESPIONAGE GAME

M

eet the finest spy of them all. Bradley Fine is a charming but self-absorbed fop who manages to complete his missions while keeping every hair in place in the fall-off-your-seat action comedy Spy. Paul Feig directs the hilarious action comedy. Jude Law stars alongside Oscar nominated actress Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper, a desk-bound CIA analyst, the brains behind the suave colleague, super spy, Bradley Fine, who is out in the field, engaged in dangerous assignments. Fine gets the credit for all the successes, but it is actually Cooper doing most of the complicated work.

She is also secretly besotted with the charismatic Fine, but it’s a case of unrequited love. When Fine goes off the grid while trying to locate a nuclear bomb, Susan Cooper volunteers to go out into the field herself, becoming a bona fide spy, infiltrating the world of international espionage in Europe.

She has to confront the villainous,

rich and ultra-glamorous Rayna Boyanov (Rose Byrne) who is the daughter of a notorious arms dealer, with access to a nuclear weapon. It is up to the intrepid Agent Cooper to stop her before she wreaks global havoc!

Law says, “As far as Fine is concerned, he and Susan are the perfect team, unflappable, the cream of the crop in the CIA. He sees the relationship as purely platonic, despite the occasional flirtations. Certain elements of that she may misread, or perhaps hope will develop into something more. He doesn’t imagine that she has any real desire to leave the basement, but you could argue that he wants Susan to remain there because without her he might be lost.”

McCarthy agrees, “Fine is somewhat manipulative, but in a way that’s understandable. If you’re out in the field, you want the best person possible on your team, and you want them to be totally on top of things.” Says McCarthy, “I love the way Jude plays Fine as charming but a bit of a cad.”

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 41 42 43 44 47 51

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Circus-hoop hazard 6 Ski lift (hyph.)

10 Naive one 14 Mantra chanters 15 Urn homophone 16 Shangri-la 17 Phoenician port 18 Hammer’s target 19 Pleat 20 Interlock 21 Bitter goody (3 wds.)

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Museum display Like margarita glasses Warmed the bench Kind of eclipse Abigail or John Sheik’s bevy Gendarme’s schnoz Engineering toy Universe Canary’s abode Aberdeen pair Pert

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Start a PC session (2 wds.)

Evenings out Tierra — Fuego Char Kitchen gadgets Creates chaos (2 wds.)

Quit flying Mislay Great Lakes state Herd of cattle Singer Burl — Relax Kathmandu locale Course finale Batik need Ms. Astaire

DOWN 1 Water chute 2 Type of paint 3 “Witness” sect 4 Tough-guy trait 5 NASA counterpart 6 Doctrine 7 Laugh loudly 8 Indigo plant 9 Put back on the market 10 Happened to 11 Take in a stray

Law admits he has seldom had more fun in a role, and emphasizes it was important for Fine to “tick certain boxes and lure the audience into the high-stakes danger of spy craft.

It’s one of those few screen characters that so many boys pretend to be – astronaut, soldier, spy…“The discussions Paul and I had about Fine centered on the idea that we didn’t want him to be mean. He has genuine affection for Susan, along with self-interest in keeping the team together.

Striking that balance is important.”

Truth be told, Jude Law is running for his life, 25 feet below ground during the film’s production. On day one of filming, cast and crew have assembled in a labyrinth of limestone caves that stretches some 23 miles underneath a brewery in Buda, Hungary. Jude’s character is trying to elude some armed henchmen, relying on intel delivered to his earpiece from Susan Cooper in Langley, 6,000 miles away from his predicament in Bulgaria. Fine wears special CIA

THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015

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Contradict Finished up Young beaver Sir’s partner Undergrad degs.

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Rip Garlic section Caravan halts Motel extras Wed in haste Opponent Stone monument Naval cry Horrid-tasting Double helix

preciate it. Thanks a lot.”

Does this mean she’s not up for new relationship, or better yet, for another love?

“I need rest, my heart needs some rest,” she added. “It wasn’t an easy ride, if you only knew. There’s so many opportunities to focus on to even think of falling in love again. Paulo is a friend who has become closer to me now from the time we did Status: It’s Complicated in 2013. One thing I’m happy doing a project with him, is that I can learn so many things about acting, about life.

As I said, let lovelife take a backseat first, and concentrate on all the blessings I’m receiving know.”

1 Ellen Adarna is paired with Dennis Trillo in You're Still The One; Dennis Trillo is the man of the hour 2 Maja Salvador romancds both Trillo and Richard Yap 3 Richard Yap plays a special role in the movie

1

2 3

Jude Law is the Spy you’ll love to hate

issued contact lenses that act as a camera, sending visual images back to Cooper. Director of photography Robert Yeoman uses small GoPro cameras to simulate the imagery delivered by the contact lens camera, letting the audience see exactly what Susan is viewing on her monitor.

Says Law, “When Fine’s on the frontlines, Cooper is telling him where to go, who’s following him, the nearest escape route. His life is in her hands.” The caves were originally excavated as quarries in the 1700s, and later repurposed for beer storage. At various times they have been used as emergency shelters and even hidden hangers for Nazi aircraft. It was late in March, and while the

temperature above ground is mild, at this subterranean depth breath condenses in the air, and crewmembers don winter jackets and hats.

It’s a physically demanding role for the fit and athletic Law, who’s required to run through long expanses of the tunnels, and engage in hand-to-hand combat. Says stunt coordinator JJ Perry, “Jude has a reputation for being good at stunts, but he’s more than that. He’s a beast. He killed that sequence.”

The latest elite team of undercover agents will knock you off your feet when “Spy” opens in Philippine cinemas nationwide today from 20th Century Fox to be distributed

by Warner Bros.

T HUR S DAY : M AY 2 1 : 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C7

YENG JOINS LUIS, ROBI IN ‘THE VOICE KIDS’ 2 From C8

A

s the second season of The Voice Kids premieres this year, a new voice will showcase the heart and stories behind the voices of the kiddie artists – pop rock princess Yeng Constantino, who will join the show as host.

Constantino will team up with one of the premier TV hosts in the country, Luis Manzano, and reality star-turned-host Robi Domingo in the vocal competition for kids, which returns in June.

Yeng is currently seen as a regular in ASAP 20 and formerly hosted the musical variety show Music Uplate Live.

In The Voice Kids Season 2, Sarah Geronimo, Bamboo, and Lea Salonga return as coaches to search for the most brilliant voices in the country.

HHHHH GMA Network emerged as the runaway winner in the recently concluded 3rd Kagitingan Awards for Television in a ceremony held at the Lou-is Grand Ballroom in Balanga, Bataan last April 17.

The Kapuso Network brought home the night’s highest distinction after being declared the first recipient of the Pinakamagiting na Istasyong Pantelebisyon, on top of it winning nine out of the 10 Pinakamagiting na Programang Pantelebisyon.

For the third consecutive season since the Kagitingan Awards was founded, four programs of the Network made it to the ros-

ter: Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho, I Witness, Reporter’s Notebook, and Eat Bulaga.

24 Oras, Born to be Wild, Pepito Manaloto, AHA! and Biyahe ni Drew complete the nine Kapuso programs distinguished by Bataan Peninsula State University (BPSU).

Also last April, GMA won 14 awards from the first Platinum Stallion Media Awards at the Henry Noble Gymnasium of the Trinity University of Asia.

For television, Jessica Soho was Best News Anchor (Female) while Kara David the Most Trusted Field Reporter (Female). Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho and Wish Ko Lang were voted Best Public Affairs Program and Best Values-Oriented Program awards. I Witness won the Best Documentary Show award, while Survivor Philippines scored the Best Reality Show award.

Once Upon a Kiss with Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali won Best Primetime Show, while the Best Gag Show award was given to Bubble Gang. Celebrity Bluff won Best Game Show while Eat Bulaga the Best Noontime Show.

GMA Super Radyo dzBB 594 was honored as the Best AM Radio Station.

Ryzza Mae Dizon was acknowledged as the Best Child Female Film Actress.

Special awards were also given to news reporters Raffy Tima and Vonne Aquino as Outstanding Trinitian Media Practitioner awards.

Yeng Constantino is the new addition to the hosts of The Voice Kids along with Robi Domingo and Luis Manzano

Winners all at both Kagitingan and Platinum Stallion: Vicky Morales, Miguel Tanfelix and Bianca Umali and Kara David

FILIPINO FILMS IN CANNES

BY SEYMOUR rillante Mendoza’s a separate category in 1998.

Taklub (Trap) and Senator Loren Legarda, a restored version who collaborated with Menof the late National doza and scriptwriter Honee for Film Lino Brocka’s mas- Alipio to turn the film into a terpiece Insiang were offi- reality, said Taklub was procially selected to be part of duced in cooperation with the 68th Cannes Film Festi- the Department of Environval, which runs till May 24. ment and Natural Resources Taklub, starring Nora (DENR), Presidential ComOperations Aunor, tells the story of the munications Office – Philippine Informasurvivors of Haiyan/ Yolantion Agency (PCOO-PIA). da in Tacloban. This is MenInsiang, on the other hand, doza’s fourth work selected returns to the festival as part in Cannes after Foster Child, of the 2015 Cannes Classics Serbis, and Kinatay for lineup after being the first which he won Best Director.

Meanwhile, this is Aunor’s Filipino film presented in second time in Cannes after Cannes. The film was feaBrocka’s Bona was select- tured in Director’s Fortnight ed for the non-competitive in 1978. The digitally restored Quinzaine des Réalisateurs or version is screened this time under a new section, which Director’s Fortnight in 1981.

The Yolanda-inspired dra- aims to showcase and redisma competes in Un Certain cover classic films with new Regard against films selected or restored prints, along with from other countries. Isabel- Costa-Gavras’ Z, Luis Puenla Rossellini heads the jury zo’s La Historia Oficial (The of the section introduced as Official Story), and Orson

B

B. SANCHEZ Welles’ Citizen Kane and The Lady from Shanghai.

This is Brocka’s second film restored and screened as a Cannes Classic after his 1975 Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag shown in the festival two years ago.

Martin Scorsese’s World Cinema Project/The Film Foundation, the L’Immagine Ritrovata laboratories in Bologna, Italy, and the Film Development Council of the Philippines facilitated the restoration efforts for both Filipino classics.

The restoration and subsequent Cannes screening of Insiang was made possible after producer Ruby Tiong Tan turned over the rights of the film to FDCP’s National Film Archives of the Philippines.

After Insiang’s return to Cannes, the restored version premieres in Manila on June 24.

T HUR S DAY : M AY 2 1 : 2015

C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

Maja Salvador is in love with music.

She released a new album titled Maja-in Love

AFTER GERALD ANDERSON, IS MAJA IN LOVE AGAIN? ISAH V. RED Yes, she is. That’s what Maja Salvador declared at the launch of her new album Maja In Love.

But, of course, she wasn’t referring to another man. “I am in love with my work,” Maja said. “Especially now that I have another album.”

Maja proves her efforts as a singer is worth more than one album. It was only last year when the hugely known Philippines’ Dance Princess signed with Ivory Music & Video and released her debut album Believe that Jonathan Ong produced and which spawned hit after hit including the lead single “Dahan-dahan”, the Abra-assisted “Halika Na” and “Buong Gabi” featuring Project Pinas.

More than just a dream come true for Maja, Believe proved to be a commercial success It was certified Gold and went on to Platinum status immediately. It also led the way to her first solo concert on July 12 last year titled MAJ: The Legal Performer.

Maja now tries dishing out more mature songs in Maja-In Love, only her sophomore album yet highly anticipated not just by fans

but also by critics who were surprised at her musical talent as evidenced by the success of Believe.

Back with a sexier attitude, Maja’s new music explores deeper emotions, listeners will find out when they listen to the album and hear a different rhythm and words that evoke a variety of images.

For instance, the lead single’s provocative title, “Bakit Ganito ang Pag-Ibig,” which is considered a modern ballad. It touches on the emotional roller coaster of love. It also showcases Maja’s vocal range.

On May 1t, the music video of the single premiered and praised as predicted.

Another concert is now in the works, and by the looks of it, yet another Gold award is being anticipated.

Digital pre-orders on iTunes Philippines catapulted Maja- in Love to the charts prior to the official release date of the album.

With all the buzz on Maja as a singer, it seems she is not showing any sign of slowing things down at this point. And with music, Maja is definitely in love.

HHHHH SAM MILBY IS THE NEWEST REGAL BABY The Star Magic and Pinoy Big Brother discovery inked a contract with the film company on May 15

at the Valencia Events Place in the presence of mother-daughter team Lily and Roselle Monteverde.

According to Roselle, Regal has lined up several projects for Sam, the first of which is a team-up with Jennylyn Mercado in the movie Pre-Nup directed by Jun Lana.

Some scenes in the film will be shot in New York.

Sam has proven himself to be one of the Kapamilya Network’s most promising singer-actor-hosts since his stint as a housemate in PBB in 2005.

He is also a most in-demand leading man with teleserye credits including Maging Sino Ka Man, Diyosa, Only You, Kahit Konting Pagtingin and Dyesebel.

Apart from teleseryes, Sam has also appeared as a guest star in Maalaala Mo Kaya, Toda Max and other ABS-CBN programs on top of being a regular host-performer of ASAP. In the film front, San has starred in movies like Close To You, You Are The One, You Got Me, My Big Love, My Only U, And I Love You So, Ang Tanging Pamilya, This Guy’s In Love With U are, Babe I Love You, Death March, Kimmy Dora and The Gifted.

He has recorded a few albums as well and has received acting honors/awards/nominations in a span of 10 years. ➜ Continued on C7

Sam Milby is the newest Regal Baby. The Kapamilya actor signed a two-picture deal with Regal Entertainment starting with a movie with Jennylyn Mercado titled Pre-Nup