The Standard - 2015 August 04 - Tuesday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 175  3 Sections 32 Pages P18  TUESDAY : AUGUST 4, 2015  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

DND picks vests over missile systems

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BINAY: STATE OF FAILURE REIGNS

By Vito Barcelo VICE President Jejomar Binay tore into the Aquino administration in his “True State-of-the-Nation Address” Monday, deriding it as a callous and bungling government that has failed over the last five years to improve the lot of most Filipinos, who are still poor, hungry and unemployed.

Speaking at the Cavite State University in Indang, Cavite, one week after President Benigno Aquino III’s State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA), Binay also criticized the President for thanking so many people who helped him, including his hair stylist and fashion designer, but failing to mention the 44 police commandos who were killed in Mamasapano in January.

Speaking in front of a mural depicting the 44 Special Action Forces (SAF) commandos, Binay paid tribute to the fallen policemen, calling out their names one by one. Next page

Telling it like it is.

Vice President Jejomar Binay enumerates what he thinks is wrong with the Aquino administration in his TrueState-of-the-Nation Address at the Cavite State University in Indang, Cavite on Monday.

EY ACASIO

SMC head wants his cash back from GMA

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Roxas resigns from DILG, but Aquino won’t allow it

By Sandy Araneta, John Paolo Bencito and Francisco Tuyay LIBERAL Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II announced his resignation as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)

Monday but President Benigno Aquino III said he would ask him to stay on “a little longer.”

“I might prevail on him to stay in the post a little longer to finish a lot of things that are being done,” Aquino said in a press briefing even as Roxas bade his

staff at the DILG farewell.

The President said there should be a smooth transition at the DILG, a critical Cabinet post.

Roxas, who also oversaw the Philippine National Police (PNP) by virtue of his being the secretary of the Interior, had also said good-

bye to the PNP, but Aquino said there was still work to be done to upgrade police facilities and equipment.

“I am also following up on the updates on the informal settlers issue, especially in Metro Manila,” Aquino said. “There is a lot of work to be done.”

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Noy: I have no record of telling anyone lies

By Sandy Araneta

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III said Monday he does not lie and that he stands by what he said in his sixth and final State-of-the-Nation Address on July 27.

“I have no record that I tell lies to anyone. I stand by what we said,” Aquino said before Vice President Jejomar Binay delivered his own version of the report, calling it the “True State-of-theNation Address.”

Aquino also said that critics are free to express their own opinions.

“We are in a democracy. Everybody is entitled to their opinion so long as they conform to the rules and the laws of the land, they are free to speak their mind,”

Binay From A1...

“They are the ones who fulfilled their sworn duties, who offered their own lives. They are true Filipinos,” Binay said, speaking in Filipino throughout his speech.

In his speech, Binay recounted four examples of the administration’s incompetence and insensitivity: the Luneta hostage crisis, the Zamboanga siege, the Yolanda disaster and the Mamasapano massacre, none of which were mentioned in Aquino’s SONA. During the Luneta hostage crisis of 2010, the Aquino administration allowed eight Hong Kong tourists to be taken hostage and be killed.

“They termed it as collateral damage, unintentional,” Binay said.

“In Tacloban, in the midst of the damage brought by super typhoon Yolanda, while bodies lay scattered, people roamed hungry, thirsty, crying, and pleading for relief, did the administration not say, ‘Oh, but you are still alive, aren’t you?’” Binay said.

Binay said that while a comprehensive rehabilitation and recovery plan worth P170 billion was drafted, the money and donations given by other countries appear to have also been swept away by the typhoon.

“The United Nations itself just recently presented its conclusion: the government was lacking. It did not do enough to alleviate the problems of the people affected by Yolanda,” he said.

Five years of economic growth under the administration’s “straight path” policy have failed to benefit millions of workers, farmers and the urban poor, Binay said.

Instead, the rewards of this growth—measured by gross domestic product (GDP) and other economic indicators--remained exclusive to those who were already rich and those close to the President like his friends, classmates and members of his Liberal Party.

“It is so easy to throw numbers around. Numbers that, at first glance, seem brilliant and desirable,” Binay said. “But the glaring truth cannot be suppressed: the majority of Filipinos are still poor, hungry and unemployed.”

Binay said while the country’s economic indicators have gone up, the numbers “conceal the painful truth” that growth has benefitted only a handful.

“Among them are the rich who have become even richer in the past five years, including our President’s friends, classmates and colleagues in the Liberal Party,” he said.

Binay also noted that while the country’s foreign direct investments (FDIs) exceeded P6 billion in 2014, Aquino did not say this was the lowest FDI among the other original member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, including Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

“Even if the 2014 foreign direct investments were indeed record-breaking, they did not result in employment for the majority,” Binay said, noting that 21 percent of the FDIs went to financial and insurance activities that did not gener-

Aquino said.

At the same time, Aquino urged Binay to give accurate information when he delivers his own report to the nation.

“Well, one would hope that he would honor his pledge to serve the people and part of that... is giving them the right information,” said Aquino.

Aquino also said that his sixth and last SONA depicted the Philippines’ true state, but declined to say if

ate many jobs.

In contrast, labor-intensive sectors such as manufacturing and mining only got 6 percent of the FDIs, he added.

Moreover, Binay said that while the country’s upgraded credit ratings helped attract the interest of foreign investors, they did not translate into actual investments. They remained just that: an interest to invest and nothing else, he said.

“Why? Because the administration’s refusal to amend the economic provisions of the Constitution that prohibit the entry of FDIs,” he said.

If the economic provisions of the Constitution were amended, he added, the primary sectors of the economy would be open to foreign investors, resulting in increased jobs and employment opportunities for Filipinos, he said.

Binay also mocked the President for claiming during his SONA that the number of poor Filipinos has gone down, saying this was made possible after the administration used a low poverty threshold of P58 a day per person.

In contrast, he said, the Social Weather Stations survey showed that five in every 10 Filipinos believed themselves to be poor.

He also dismissed Aquino’s claim in his SONA that third year college students were being recruited for jobs, noting that thousands of graduates are still looking for employment.

“If this were only true for the majority, we would not be the country with the most number of poor and unemployed in the ASEAN region,” he said.

He also belied the President’s claim that there were fewer overseas Filipino workers now because of job opportunities in the country.

According to the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration itself, there has been an increase in the number of Filipinos wanting to leave the Philippines to find work in other countries, Binay said.

From 2,500 average daily deployments before Aquino became president, the number rose to 6,092 during the first quarter of this year, Binay said.

While it is true that many Filipino workers were returning, the real reason that the administration refuses to admit is war and the financial crisis.

Binay said three acronyms symbolized the administration’s incompetence – MRT, BBL and DAP. Each day, thousands of commuters suffer while taking the Metro Rail Transit (MRT), Binay said. In 2010, 20 trains and 60 coaches were running. After five years, only seven trains and 21 coaches remained functional.

New trains have not arrived even though P4.5 billion was allocated and released four years ago, Binay said.

“There was a budget of more than P5 billion for the Department of Transportation and Communication to overhaul the MRT-3 in 2014, but this has not been carried out until today. And, despite the poor service, they raised the MRT fares,” the vice president said.

Despite being in control of the MRT for five years, the administration continues to blame others for the bad service and poor maintenace, Binay said.

“Why has the government been incompetent

Binay would still criticize his administration or praise him.

Binay has officially announced that he would run for president next year under the opposition United Nationalist Alliance party.

Binay, who has been hounded by allegations of corruption, resigned from Aquino’s Cabinet in June and has since become a vocal critic of the administration.

– Sandy Araneta

and inefficient in their services? Because they switched maintenance providers. They replaced Sumitomo, who had extensive experience, with the fledgling PH Trams Company. And who is behind PH Trams? The allies and party-mates of the former and the current secretaries of the DOTC,” he said.

The Palace response to the poor service, he added, was to tell commuters: “If you do not want to ride the MRT, then take a bus.”

Binay also slammed the decision by the Ombudsman to file a case only against the former MRT general manager, and to spare the former and current secretaries of Transportation and Communication, who knew and approved of the anomalous maintenance contract.

“In this case, it is true that failure and theft by allies and party-mates go together in following the straight path,” Binay said.

Binay then blasted the administration’s view that those who opposed its Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) were automatically against peace.

“The administration has no monopoly in wanting peace. All of us have prayed and longed for a peaceful and well-developed Mindanao,” he said.

However, there are certain conditions to ensure a successful and lasting peace agreement, the first of which is that the agreement must be in accordance to the Constitution, Binay said.

Second, different groups, sectors, and recognized representatives must be involved, and third, Malacañang must not pressure or bribe Congress to pass the law.

Binay also blasted the administration for its Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), which was used to shuffle billions in public funds without congressional approval. The program was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

“It’s clear that the DAP is the most glaring example of wanton waste of public funds in our history,” Binay said. “This is also an open violation of the Constitution. But as the administration’s favorite blogger said, I’ve got your back. So the mastermind of the administration’s budget scam is untouchable.”

Three administration officials lambasted Binay for criticizing programs that he was a part of until he left the Cabinet last month.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that Binay, when he was part of the Cabinet, had always applauded the projects of the administration. After he resigned from the Cabinet, however, he suddenly began attacking the same programs.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said he does not listen to Binay.

“I did not listen to Binay. I hope he was as specific, factual and evidence-based as [Aquino’s] SONA. I hope he was as uplifting as PNoy was. I hope he inspired hope in the future. If not, I am lucky then to have used my time with work,” Abad said.

Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya also defended the administration from the failures at the MRT. “Two things are clear from the Vice President’s speech: first, he does not have any solutions at all to MRT-3’s problems; and second, he does not even understand the root of the problem, which is the onerous BLT (build-lease-

Roxas From A1...

The President said there is still time for the transition, and that he wanted Roxas to finish “a lot of things” before leavint his post.

Roxas earlier confirmed that he is leaving the Cabinet to avoid accusations that he is using his position to further his presidential bid.

In a speech before members of the PNP at Camp Crame Monday, Roxas bade farewell to the police and thanked them for their trust and support during his tenure as Interior secretary.

“Even though I still have many plans…, I need to entrust the leadership of the police force to others. Last Friday, I was called by the President to continue to expand the ‘straight path’ to many,” he said, referring to the President’s endorsement of him as the presidential candidate for the Liberal Party in 2016.

“To all members of the PNP, thank you for your trust in my leadership.

Even if some of you were annoyed every Wednesday during our meetings, still, everyone cooperated and true enough, we had achieved a lot in making the PNP more professional and efficient in providing its service,” Roxas said.

Roxas also lauded the PNP for fulfilling their sworn duty.

“To our police force: Take pride in what you are. Your insignia and uniform should serve as a reminder of what we can achieve as a government force and what we can do for our country. I promise wherever my feet will carry me to continually advocate the rise of the PNP,” Roxas said.

Roxas also used the occasion to extol and award 19 police officers who served “above and beyond their duty” during President Aquino’s State-of-the-Nation Address (SONA) on July 27, which was marked by tight security.

LP stalwart Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone earlier announced that Roxas would be resigning from the DILG to avoid being accused of using his position as an advantage for the elections.

“The last time he told us that once he decides to run, he will not stay or remain longer in his office. He will resign the following day,” said Evardone in a television interview.

Roxas was supposed to submit his resignation to the President Monday afternoon.

After the flag ceremony, Roxas answered questions relating to the status of the rehabilitation efforts for victims of super typhoon Yolanda and what was being done for the families of the 44 police commandos killed in Mamasapano in January.

Despite UN criticism of the government efforts to help Yolanda victims, Roxas said 65 percent of the projects for the Yolanda damage areas had been completed. – With Maricel V. Cruz transfer) contract,” Abaya said in a statement.

“This is proof that you cannot solve a problem that you do not understand.”

Palace allies also pooh-poohed Binay’s version of the SONA. “That’s his opinion. Let us respect his views.

At the end of the day, the Filipino people will be the ones who will judge on who they think is telling the truth,” House deputy majority leader and 1-BAP party-list Rep. Jorge Banal said.

Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice also deplored Binay, saying he had no moral ascendancy to talk about corruption in government.

“He is making a fool of Filipinos,” he added.

Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes IV, who have spearheaded a longdrawn investigation against Binay in the Senate, said the vice president had no credibility to criticize the administration because he faces corruption charges himself.

“Wrong messenger,” Trillanes said. “Right message for some, wrong messenger for all.”

– With Sandy Araneta, Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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DND chooses vests over missile system THE Department of National Defense has dumped the Army’s P6.5-billion Shore-Based Missile System, a government-to-government negotiated deal with Israel, to buy ballistic vests, helmets and rifles, among other things.

Licenses denied. Maria Arlyn Ibanez and Pastor Crescencio Agbayani

hold up a placard outside the Civil Registry Office in Manila after their applications for same-sex marriage licenses for their respective partners were denied. Same-sex marriages are not legal in largely-Catholic Philippines. AFP

SMC president demands P1-b paid to GMA 7 back SAN Miguel Corp. president Ramon Ang has asked the Department of Justice to prosecute the executives of television giant GMA 7 Network for their alleged refusal to return P1 billion representing his down payment on the buy-out of the network that did not materialize.

In a 19-page complaint, Ang said Felipe Gozon, one of the network’s owners, his family and several others should be held accountable for syndicated estafa, an offense for which bail is not allowed.

“We have not received a copy of the complaint,” Gozon’s group said in a statement.

“Our legal counsel will respond accordingly in due time.”

Ang included in his complaint Anna Teresa Gozon-Abrogar and Ismael Augusto S. Gozon of FLG Management Corp; GMA stockholders Belinda G. Madrid, Maria Erlinda G. Gana, Jaime Javier Gana, Florencia Gozon Tarriela, Edgar Tarriela and Tricia T. Valderrama.

But Ang did not include Menardo R. Jimenez Sr. of the Jimenez group and Gilberto R. Duavit Jr. for the Duavit group, the other owners of the network, as they have indicated their willingness to return his down payment.

In a letter addressed to Ang dated June 29, 2015, GMA’s counsel Belo Gozon Elma Parel Asuncion & Lucila law office or BGEPAL said the Duavit Group “has waived its participation in the retention of the P1billion down payment and in any exercise of the rights and remedies reserved.”

On the other hand, the Jimenez Group, in a letter dated June 30, 2015, said it had no interest in the P1 billion that Ang deposited as down payment under the name of Gozon.

The Jimenez Group also said any portion of the P1-billion deposit that was due them should be immediately returned to the buyer, and that they did not wish to engage Ang in any litigation that might arise in connection with the move to retain the deposit.

BGEPAL, in a letter sent to Ang dated June 29, 2015, said the complainant allegedly breached his obligation under the terms of their negotiations, thus Gozon would retain the down payment to answer for the latter’s causes of action against the buyer including claims for actual or compensatory damages, for opportunity to earn profit, and for the cost and expenses. Rey E. Requejo

“The SBMS Acquisition Project will be replaced by higher priority projects that aim to provide support and protection to soldiers in the field due to the rising security situation in the WPS [WEst Philippine Sea] and the continuing terrorist acts by the enemies of the Government of the Philippines,” a two-page letter dated July 22, 2015, signed by Patrick Velez, Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, Installation and Logistics, told Avi Felder, president of Israel Military Industries or IMI. Velez, however, said that the implementation of the SBMS project had not been shelved but only deferred).

There has been no confirmation from Malacañang if President Benigno Aquino IIIU has

approved the the project’s postponement.

Velez said the decision to use the P6.5-billion budget for missiles to buy materials for the protection of soldiers was a result of the 69th Senior Leaders Round-Table Discussion on the Defense Acquisition System on June 10, 2015.

IMI was shocked at the Defense Department’s decision.

Aquino and his defense alterego, Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, had promised that the Armed Forces would achieve minimum credible external defense capability before their term ends in 2016.

On Dec. 18, 2014, the department’s Special Bids and Awards Committee 1 declared IMI as the Single Calculated Responsive Bidder for the project.

The IMI had just been wait-

ing for the issuance of the Notice of Award when, sometime in May, then Army chief and now Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Hernando Irriberi sought the realignment of the project.

This was after the local representative of IMI filed criminal and administrative charges against him before the Office of the Ombudsman for alleged undue delay in the implementation of at least three ammunition projects worth P97.8 million.

Sources from the Ombudsman said the cases were due for resolution in connection with the supplier’s prayer for a 6-month preventive suspension against Irriberi.

According to former National Security Adviser and now Parañaque City Rep. Roilo Golez, the SBMS project could have been a good move to jump-start Aquino’s promise of minimum credible external defense capability against the aggression of China in the West Philippine Sea, where it is making artificial islands.

He slammed Irriberi for recommending in haste the realignment of the SBMS and urged the Commission on Appointments not to confirm him.

Florante S. Solmerin

Poe gets DSWD portfolio in Mar admin, Erice says CALOOCAN Rep. Edgar Erice, a staunch supporter of Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II, said Monday Senator Grace Poe will get the Social Welfare portfolio if she agrees to become the running mate of Roxas, the ruling Liberal Party’s standard-bearer in 2016.

Erice said the LP was still hopeful it would be able to persuade Poe to be Roxas’ running mate.

“Should a Roxas-Poe tandem win, the senator can be given the Department of Social Welfare and Development portfolio,” Erice said.

He also said Poe would be a more credible opponent to Roxas than Vice President Binay.

“I believe Vice President Binay is a damaged good already,” Erice said.

President Benigno Aquino III on Monday also expressed hope that Poe would eventually agree to be Roxas’ running mate.

“We are still hoping. We still want to have that very unified group that will preserve the coalition as much as pos-

sible that can ensure the victory of the agenda,” Aquino said.

On Sunday, Senator Sergio Osmeña III dismissed the possibility that Poe would be Roxas’ running mate.

“After meeting with the President several times, I think the writing on the wall is for Grace to file an independent bid for President,” Osmeña told dzBB radio.

But Aquino hoped there would be a unified group that will preserve the coalition.

“Hopefully, we can get to board one one route towards this direction. But we recognize that there might be some differences that are not substantial in the sense that, where do you want to go to? But perhaps, right now might not be the right moment to fully coalesce,” Aquino said.

Earlier, even Poe admitted she got no offer from Aquino to be Roxas’ running mate when she met him on five occasions. Maricel V. Cruz and

Sandy Araneta

Don’t you forget about me. Interior Secretary Mar Roxas sings with employees of the Department of Interior and Local Government as he announced his resignation on Monday. President Benigno Aquino III, however, rejected the resignation. LINO SANTOS

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DOJ: Iglesia case still open

By Rey E. Requejo JUSTICE Secretary Leila de Lima has directed National Bureau of Investigation Director Virgilio Mendez to discipline an official who declared earlier that the bureau’s probe on the alleged abduction of 10 ministers of the influential Iglesia Ni Cristo was deemed closed.

Closed for repair. The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines shut down Kalibo International Airport for two hours daily until August 6 due to emergency repairs of potholes brought about by heavy rain since the onset of rainy season.

ERIC APOLONIO

Release funds, Abad told

By Maricel V. Cruz

HOUSE independent bloc leader and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez on Monday dared the Aquino administration to disregard political color and hasten the release of public funds for the long-term rehabilitation of Yolanda-stricken areas.

“There should be no selective release of funds. Equal allocation to help the Yolanda-hit areas must be exercised regardless of political color of local leaders. Government program should cover all the administration and opposition areas that have been devastated by Yolanda. I call for justness and fairness,” Romualdez, whose district was among the hardest

hit of killer typhoon Yolanda, said.

Romualdez made the appeal after former Sen. Panfilo Lacson blamed Budget Sec. Florencio “Butch” Abad for the slow release of the P167.8 billion budget approved by President Benigno Aquino III for the rehabilitation of areas devastated by Yolanda nearly two years ago.

Earlier, United Nations special rapporteur Chaloka Beyani criticized the Aquino administration for not doing enough for those left homeless

by Yolanda.

Romualdez stressed that LGUs should be consulted now in the rebuilding process almost two years after the super typhoon hit the Central Philippines.

He explained that LGUs know better what is good for their people than any other government agency.

“LGUs are not given enough role in the rebuilding efforts. I hope the government will recognize the devolution policy or LGUs’ empowerment in the decisionmaking because local officials know better what is good and best for them,” Romualdez said.

Earlier, Romualdez accused the Aquino administration of abject failure in providing the necessary funding sources in the national budget for the CRRP, causing the continued government’s dismal and snail-paced implementation of the rehabilitation process.

De Lima made the statement on Monday, reiterating that the authorities are still investigating the supposed abduction of INC ministers contrary to the claim of NBI Anti-Organized Transnational Crime Division chief Manuel Eduarte that the case is now considered closed.

“The NBI official who supposedly declared that the case was closed is not involved in the investigation. He is not part of the team. I was surprised that he made those statements,” De Lima said.

“That’s why I asked Director Mendez to do something about it, to discipline him for making an unauthorized and untrue statement that the investigation was already closed,” she added.

However, De Lima declined to provide details on the information provided to them by Lowell Minorca, the brother of INC minister—Lowell Minorca, who has been placed under the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program. “[Anthony] asked for our protection and because he shared certain very sensitive information with respect to what happened to his brother.

But as to exactly what information he shared with us, we cannot yet disclose them because the NBI investigation is still ongoing,” De Lima said.

Lowell was earlier

identified by Isaias Samson Jr., the former editor in chief of the INC’s official publication “Pasugo,” as having been abducted in the province of Sorsogon and detained by the Dasmarinas, Cavite police for illegal possession of firearms.

He was released by the Dasmarinas police last July 26. But Lowell denied he was abducted.

Anthony, however, claimed that member of his family are being held against their will at the INC central office in Quezon City.

“We have to investigate which version is true. There is a need to determine which one is true since they both disputed each other’s claim, when they are brothers.

Reports about the alleged abduction of 10 INC ministers first came into focus after a blog site ran by one Antonio Ramirez Ebangelista claimed about the alleged missing church officials.

The blogsite identified one of the allegedly abducted ministers as Menorca.

However, it turned out later that Menorca was apprehended by the Dasmarinas, Cavite police for allegedly threatening two construction workers with a grenade.

He was released by the Dasmarinas City police after the complaint against him was dropped. The INC has denied the claim on the missing ministers.

‘No pass for Red leader’

By Sandy Araneta THE ranking Communist Party of the Philippines official who was captured in Iloilo City last week is not covered by safeconduct agreement that the government with the communist rebel movement, chief government peace negotiator Miriam Coronel-Ferrer said on Monday.

“As we have consistently held, [the Joint Agreement on Security and Immunity Guarantees that was signed in 1995] is operative only for those [communist] personalities who are using their real names and those who are recognized by the [government] as participants in the talks,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer made the remark after communist National Democratic Front peace panel chairman Luis Jalandoni demanded the release of Maria Concepcion AranertaBocala, the alleged secretary of the Communist Party of the Philippines Panay Regional Committee.

Jalandoni said Bocala was certified as

an NDF peace process consultant for the Visayas with Document of Identification No. ND978245 under the assumed name Remi Estrella.

But Ferrer argued that the NDF can claim anybody to be a consultant because the verification process specified in the 1995 JASIG failed in 2011 when the floppy disks on which the names and pseudonyms of people supposedly involved in the peace process were damaged.

With the failure of the validation mechanism, there is no way to verify if Maria Concepcion Araneta- Bocala and the alias “Remi Estrella” are one and the same person. “She is therefore not covered

by JASIG,” Ferrer said.

Ferrer also said they refute the claim that Bocala was illegally arrested because her arrest in Iloilo City on August 1 was a law enforcement operation based on an outstanding warrant of arrest issued by the Regional Trial Court of Kalibo, Aklan for murder.

Rising prices. Workers

unload vegetables at the Balintawak Public Market in Quezon City as consumers complained of increased prices of vegetables. LINO SANTOS

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Loren takes over finance committee SENATOR Loren Legarda is the new head of the Senate finance committee, Senate President Franklin Drilon said on Monday after an all-senators caucus.

Legarda has sufficient exposure “so she can hit the ground running,” he said.

“We have committed that we will pass the budget before the end of the session in December so that we can have the budget in place by 2016,” Drilon said.

Legarda will take the place of Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, who resigned last week from the committee chairmanship “out of delicadeza.

Escudero said he wanted to keep the forthcoming budget deliberations free from Muses. Winners in the Mutya ng Pilipinas 2015 beauty pageant show their winning pose during the coronation night held at Resort’s World Manila: politics. Macon Araneta Mutya Overseas Communities Nina Robertson, Mutya Asia Pacific Leren Mae Bautista and Mutya Tourism International Janela Joy Cuaton. DANNY PATA Escudero will assume the chairmanship of the environment committee vacated by Legarda.

Macon Araneta

Pump prices cheaper by 90c PUMP prices went down for the seventh consecutive weeks now, this time

by P0.90 per liter of diesel, P0.70 per liter of kerosene and P0.40 per liter to of gasoline to reflect the continued downturn in world oil prices.

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp., Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Seaoil Philippines, PTT Philippines, among others, issued separate advisorieson the price cut.

Most of the oil companies carried out price rollback of P0.60 per liter for gasoline and diesel, and P0.45 per liter for kerosene last July 28.

Alena Mae S. Flores

One Dream probe begins ONE Dream Global Marketing Inc. (One Dream) president Arnel Gacer, his girlfriend, and other officers of the multi-level marketing company have been summoned to appear before the Department of Justice to answer the syndicated estafa case that their investors recently filed against them.

In a subpoena, the DOJ panel headed by Assistant State Prosecutor Susan Villanueva has ordered Gacer and One Dream Vice president Jobelle de Guzman to appear in the scheduled preliminary investigation hearing of the syndicated estafa case on August 13 and September 1.

The P15-million syndicated estafa complaint, which was the first batch of cases to be filed before the DOJ in relation to the One Dream Global scheme was initiated by 18 complainants.

Rey E. Requejo

‘Campaign period may be extended’

By Sara Fabunan and Joel Zurbano The Commission on elections is looking at extending the 2016 election campaign period from 90 days to 120 days starting in January next year in a move to curb premature campaigning by ‘”epal” or attentionseeking, self-promoting candidates.

Comelec commissioner Christian Robert Lim said the proposed extension will cover all local and national bets.

“It’s really a move by the Comelec against the ‘epal’ candidates,” Lim told journalists at the sideline of the public consultation on the proposed calendar of activities for the 2016 election.

He said that in the past elections, even before the campaign period could start in March, some

candidates tend to start campaigning or buying votes.

He said that promotional activities of candidates can be already considered as campaigning.

Based on the Comelec’s draft Calendar of Activities for the May 2016 exercises, the Commission en banc planned to start the campaign period on January 10 for president, vice president, senators, party-list groups, House of Representatives, as

well as regional, provincial, city, and municipal officials.

The Omnibus Election Code sets the campaign period for national candidate 90 days or on February 9, 2016 and 45 days for the local contenders from March 25, 2016.

The Poll Automation Law provides that “any person who files his certificate of candidacy (COC) shall only be considered as a candidate at the start of the campaign period” and that “unlawful acts applicable to a candidate shall be in effect only upon that start of the campaign period.”

Asked whether extending the campaign period does not violate the Omnibus Election Code, Lim said the poll body is authorized to adjust the calendar of activi-

ties during elections.

“We have the flexibility under Section 28 of RA 8436, wherein we can fix the pre-election activities,” Lim said.

Lim however stressed that their plan is not yet final as they need to hold public consultations with political parties.

Meanwhile, Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice on Monday said 180 of the 291 members of the House of Representatives will be adversely affected if public office is limited to only one member of the family.

The lawmaker, one of the authors of House Bill 3587 (or the Anti-Political Dynasty Act), admitted that he and other proponents are having a hard time pushing for the bill ’s passage.

Like it or not: Infra list on Facebook

By Macon ramos-Araneta SENATE President Pro-Tempore Ralph G. Recto wants the government to open a Facebook account for every government infrastructure projects which amount to hundreds of billions of pesos so that the public can track the progress of each project.

More than 30 million Filipinos have accounts in the popular social networking site as of latest count.

“If there’s a proposed bridge in a town, then the field office of the DPWH can open an ‘FB Group on the Construction of Juan de la Cruz Bridge,’ adding that the details are contained in the account such as the cost, time table, name of contractor, and approved budget ceiling,” Recto said.

With most mobile phones nowadays functioning as cameras too, Recto said it will be easy to upload pictures

showing the construction progress on the FB group account.

“If there’s no progress, then the photos would capture it as well,” said the senator.

“The beauty of Facebook is that if there’s a post saying it is proceeding as scheduled, then you can ‘like’ it. If there’s a photo showing no work has been done, then you can share it. Either way, you can comment to give your praise or displeasure. You can join the ‘unlikers’,” he explained.

With government spending billions of pesos annually to monitor and evaluate taxpayer-funded projects, “there’s one untapped, free and effective tracking tool, and that’s Facebook.”

“There are many consultants in monitoring. The country which have Top earner. President Benigno S. Aquino III converses with BIR grants here appeared to be the Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares during the 111th founding United Nations. There’s also an open anniversary at the BIR, which has posted a modest growth in source for project monitoring,” he collection for the first half of the year. BIR is the biggest revenue said. earner among state agencies. MAlAcAñANg PhoTo BureAu

T U E S D AY : A U G U S T 4 , 2 0 1 5

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NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

‘China building new airstrip’ BEIJING could be preparing to build a second 3,000-metre airstrip on an artificial island in the disputed South China Sea, a Washington-based think tank said.

China is already building a 3,000-metre (9,842 feet) runway on Fiery Cross reef, the longest in the area, which could ultimately be used for combat operations, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

Airstrip building in the Spratly islands goes back nearly 40 years and four other claimants already have such facilities, according to CSIS’ Asia Maritime

Transparency Initiative.

But China has been accused of seeking to advance its sovereignty claims with its land reclamation programme and tensions have been rising in the South China Sea. The website said China’s airstrip on Fiery Cross Reef, around 1,000 kilometres from the island province of Hainan just off the Chinese mainland, is in the “advanced stages” of construc-

tion, which began last year.

Satellite photos of another reef, Subi, where nearly four million square metres (988 acres) of land have been reclaimed, indicate Beijing may be getting ready to build another strip of similar length there, it added.

“A Chinese airbase at Fiery Cross Reef would allow for much-improved situational awareness,” the website said, adding it could let China deploy maritime surveillance aircraft and fighter squadrons in the area.

“China may be more readily able to use the airbase for patrols or limited offensive operations against other South China Sea claimants,

or even United States assets,” it added.

Taiwan is currently upgrading its 1,195 metre airstrip on Itu Aba island, CSIS said.

According to the website, Malaysia has the secondlongest runway in the area on Swallow Reef at 1,368 metres. The Philippines’ strip is slightly shorter but with an “extremely worn” dirt surface.

Vietnam, the first runway builder in the region in 1976, has the smallest at just 550 metres.

Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam are all members of the Association of South East Asian Nations, as

is Brunei, another claimant to the waters.

Apprehension has grown over the militarisation of the South China Sea, nearly all of which is claimed by Beijing.

China is pouring massive amounts of sand to expand and fortify small reefs and build facilities which it says are meant to promote maritime and navigational safety and scientific research, as well as military purposes.

Washington has a network of military bases in Asia and conducts active reconnaissance of the area, and has been particularly critical of Beijing’s activities, though it has also called on other claimants to cease new

construction.

“The US side disregards and distorts the facts, and plays up ‘China’s military threat’ to sow discord between China and China’s maritime neighbours in the South China Sea,” Chinese defence ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said at a monthly briefing on Thursday.

“We firmly oppose such actions.”

China’s island-building and construction activities are expected to come under scrutiny during highlevel Asian security meetings hosted by ASEAN from Tuesday, which top US and Chinese diplomats will also attend. AFP

Water service disruptions slated

Water and drought. Maintenance worker repairs a busted water pipeline along F.B Harrison in Pasay City on Monday while water expertss take up the issue of water supply shortage amid the threat of a prolonged El Nino drought (from left): Water Corporate Communications , Jeric Sevilla; National Water Resources Board Enginner 3 George Ongtioko and Maynilad Water Services Supply Operations Chief Engr. Ronald Padua.

The three are guests at a news forum in Manila. DANNY PATA AND EY ACASIO

New law dean for Wesleyan U UNITED Nationalist Alliance Secretary-General and lawyer JV Bautista was designated as the first Dean of Law school of the Wesleyan University-Philippines , one of the largest and oldest universities in Central Luzon.

It opened a law school in its main campus in Cabanatuan City for the school year 2015-2016.

Bautista is also the legal counsel of Vice President Jejomar Binay. He is expected to be one of the senatorial bets of the UNA in the 2016 elections.

Pacifico B. Aniag, President of WU-P, announced the issuance by the Legal Education Board (LEB) of the permit allowing the University to open and operate the Wesleyan Law School. Aniag, former national head of the Free Masons and Rotary Club International, spearheaded the setting up of the law school for which he won the support of the WU-P Board of Trustees.

The new law school assembled a roster of faculty members composed of Regional Trial Court judges, City Prosecutor, and PhD degree holders. Led by Dean JV Bautista, the pioneer faculty includes Judge Johnmuel Mendoza, Judge Mildred Villaroman- Hernal, Judge Trese Wenceslao, City Prosecutor Rene Villaroman, Dr. Emelita Portillo, Dr. Amelita Chaohan, and lawyer Dante Alejandria. Vito Barcelo

Sandigan hastens plunder cases

By Rio N. Araja THE Sandiganbayan’s Fifth Division on Monday said it would hold additional weekly hearings or three times a week to speed up the resolution of the plunder and graft charges against Senator Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada.

Apart from Mondays, Associate Justices Rolando Jurado, Alexander Gesmundo and Ma. Theresa Dolores Gomez-Estoesta have set hearings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, too.

In open court, Jurado said the additional dates were in response to the request of the Office of the Ombudsman.

The additional hearings dates will also be enforced in other cases pending before the Fifth Division.

Estrada welcomed the anti-graft court’s bid to speed up his bail hearing.

The thrice-a-week of series of hearing will start this week.

“We are being blamed for the delay in the proceedings. That’s why we are doing our best to expedite everything,” Jurado said.

Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales

earlier called on the anti-graft court to hasten the proceedings of the plunder and graft cases in connection with the pork barrel fund scam and set more additional hearing dates.

Estrada is facing plunder and 11 counts of grafts before the Fifth Division for allegedly receiving kickbacks of P184 million from his Priority Development Assistant Fund funneled to fake foundations engineered by businesswoman Janet Lim Napoles, who is now detained at the Correctional Institute of Women in Mandaluyong City for serious illegal detention filed by her cousin-whistleblower Benhur Luy. “It is a welcome development. The hearing on my bail petition has been dragging on for one year and one month. I thank the court’s decision since this would speed up the proceedings,” he said.

The Fifth Division will apply the thrice-aweek hearing on the plunder charges of former congressman Edgar Valdez of the Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives party-list.

After yesterday’s bail hearing, Estrada said Secretary Mar Roxas II of the Department of Interior and Local Government is a highly qualified presidential bet.

MAYNILAD Water Services Inc. says service in some parts of the West zone will be cut from August 10 to August 13.

Maynilad said it will realign its seven-foot-tall primary line along Juan Luna St. corner Hermosa St. in Tondo, Manila to give way to the flood control project of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

This will cause rotating water service interruptions in several areas of the West Zone, ranging from 12 hours to 41 hours beginning 1 p.m. of August 10 (Monday) until 10 p.m. of August 13 (Thursday), and from 1 p.m. of August 17 (Monday) to 3 p.m. of August 18 (Tuesday).

Areas that will be affected by the rotating supply interruptions are portions of Caloocan, Manila, Pasay, Makati, Parañaque, Muntinlupa, Las Piñas, Cavite City, Bacoor City, Imus City, and the towns of Kawit, Rosario at Noveleta in Cavite.

“Maynilad will take about 107 hours to stop water flow through the sevenfoot-tall primary line, insert line stoppers to isolate the segment that will be removed, cut the pipe segment, and allow water to flow through a bypass pipeline while the new cross-under primary line is installed,” Maynilad said.

Maynilad said it is implementing a three-day gap between its scheduled water supply interruptions (August 10– 13 and August 17–18) so its customers can replenish their stock of water before the project is resumed.

Maynilad will have 35 water tankers on standby to serve areas that will experience prolonged interrupted supply. Anna Leah E. Gonzales

t u e s d ay : a u g u s t 4 , 2 0 1 5

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news

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Commission says Burnham Park not yet a heritage site

By Dexter A. See BAGUIO CITY—The National Historical Commission of the Philippines said the 34-hectare Burnham Park has not yet been officially declared as a heritage site, contrary to the insinuations from various sectors in the city that it was already declared as such.

Jetro Nicolas P. Lozada, assistant chief operating officer of the Makati-based Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority, said that his agency and the NHCP had agreed to meet with the city government and the Department of Tourism—Cordillera to further discuss the concerns of the different stakeholders in relation to the state of the scenic park.

On July 27, Lozada had met with NHCP Executive Director Ludovico D. Badoy regarding the Burnham Park development plan and the process for its declaration as a heritage site.

Burnham is titled under the name of the TIEZA but its operation, administration and management has been previously downloaded to the city government.

The NHCP previously transmitted to the city government a draft of the contents of the marker to be placed in strategic portions of the park but the city government did not comment until consultations are made with concerned sectors.

Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said this was the right approach to deal with the involved agencies and local government in order to thresh out the concerns.

At the same time, Domogan also thanked the NHCP for issuing the clarification on Burnham Park.

This, he said, would prevent the issue from being politicized.

Aside from Burnham Park, 43 other sites in the different parts of the city are being eyed by various groups to be declared as heritage sites in order to preserve their historical and cultural values for the benefit of the present and future generations.

Fine day for fishing. A man from Ilocos goes about his daily fishing routine. DAVID CHAN

Yolanda survivor among 10 Outstanding Teachers

By Ronald O. Reyes

TACLOBAN CITY—Ernani Fernandez Jr., a Technology and Livelihood Education instructor at Palo National High School in Palo, Leyte, has been named as one of this year’s 10 Outstanding Teachers by Metrobank Foundation Incorporated.

The 38-year old Fernandez is a father of two children and married to a grade school teacher in Palo.

MBFI president Aniceto M. Sobrepeña in a statement lauded Fernandez and other awardees as “instruments of nation-building.”

There were 467 teacher-nominees in this year’s search.

On March 11-14, 2014, four months after Eastern Visayas bore the brunt of super typhoon Yolanda, Fernandez and another Filipi-

no teacher travelled to Barcelona, Spain to represent the country in a Global Forum of education experts sponsored by Microsoft.

Teaming up with other three educators from Austria, Egypt, and Japan, Fernandez led their group to win the top award during a competition which focused on technology-aided instruction to develop 21st century skills.

“I’ve learned a lot from this global experience. I met the ex-

pert educators in the world... their innovative strategies in teaching and of course since it is Microsoft, the innovative strategies mean the use of technology in teaching. we exchanged ideas,” Fernandez earlier said.

In 2012, Fernandez was also recognized as one of the innovative teachers in the country during the 7th Search for Innovative Teachers Leadership Award of Microsoft Partners in Learning.

“Maybe God has a purpose in letting me live to represent the country in Barcelona and let the voices of the Paloanons be heard that we need help to rebuild Palo National High School…This achievement is for my students who worked with me on the project,” Fernadez told The Standard in an earlier interview.

“I am just a simple person. I

dreamed before of just seeing myself in a Metrobank photo, but of course educators should know the right thing to do to educate the students…If we will be committed to our work and enjoy the profession, maybe eventually whatever dreams we have will happen,” said Fernandez online after receiving words of praises from the public.

Fernandez and other awardees will receive their gold medallions, trophies, plaques of recognition for their schools, and cash prize of P 500,000 each on September 3, 2015 during the Metrobank’s 53rd anniversary celebration.

In 2013, Maria Lorna L. Garnace, a teacher at Philippine Science High School-Eastern Visayas Campus in Palo, Leyte, also won Metrobank’s Outstanding Teachers awards.

2 Fil-Indians shot dead in Pangasinan front of the Magic warehouse.

“The victims were about to eat TwO Filipino-Indian business- their supper together with their sismen were shot dead by two ter, the owner of the canteen, and unidentified suspects in the their mother when two unidentidistrict of Mauled in Dagupan fied suspects wearing helmets enCity, Pangasinan as they were tered and without any words shot preparing to have dinner inside them several times,” Tumagos said. a canteen Sunday night.

He said San Jey sustained mulCity police cheif investigator tiple gunshot wounds on his head Senior Inspector Zaldy Tumagos while Rajesh sustained lone gunidentified the slain victims as San shot wound on his neck. They Jey Khatri y Lal, 30m and Rajesh were rushed to the Nazareth HosKhatary y Lal, 35, both residents pital but expired while undergoof No. 512 Barangay Bued, Cala- ing medical treatment. siao, Pangasinan.

Tumagos said they were still inThe incident happened at around vestigating to determine the mo9:25 p.m. at the Indian Canteen in tive of the killings.

By Florante S. Solmerin

Looking on. A man feedss his cow near a windmill in San Lorenzo, Guimaras. MICHELLE ALVAREZ

T u E S D AY : A u G u S T 4 , 2 0 1 5

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA eDitor

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

eAGLe eYeS DeAN toNY LA ViÑA

Protecting overseas FiliPino workers

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Vice oVer Virtue As interesting as the emergence of names that would seek the highest post in the land are the pairings for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Various considerations determine the possible combinations and the actual partnerships formed. Is the vice presidential bet a member of good standing in the party? Is there a need to “import” from outside?Will he or she be able to complement the presidential candidate in a myriad of ways, in form and in substance? Will the tandem be “winnable”, coming, for instance, from different parts of the archipelago to ensure votes on all fronts? do they naturally get along and is there potential for them to work well together if they both win?

In other countries – in the Us, for instance – the winning president automatically brings the political partner to the White House. Here in the Philippines, there’s a separate vote for the number-two such that the vice presidential election can often get as racy as that for the top post.

It’s good staging ground for the presidency and, should anything happen to the chief executive, the vice president would be the next in line. The vice president is also expected to be the partner of the president in governing the nation -- sidekick, deputy, confidante, number-one supporter, constructive critic. After all, they are supposed to share the same ideals for the nation they are both elected to serve.

Of course we know this is not what actually happens.

Because the foundations for choosing a partner are not based on similar fundamental values, even loyalties, and because the emerging winners hardly come from the same team anyway, the president and vice president do not work in tandem. even as the vice president is a member of the Cabinet, he or she is normally given a portfolio that would not require much interaction with other members of the executive. Over various administrations, we have seen vice presidents being sidelined to irrelevance. The plum posts go to the allies and prodigies of the president. Meanwhile, the sidelined vice president lives on an island, either working diligently – or plotting moves for the next elections.

It is unfortunate that vice presidential running mates are chosen for their expected contribution to winnability, and that actual vice presidents fail to live up to their role as genuine partners of the chief executive.

More could be done if there is real teamwork. This could only be accomplished if the partnership is based on more than superficial reasons.

Mashup wanted LowDowN jojo A. roBLeS YesTeRdAY’s political stunt pulled by President Noynoy Aquino and his chosen one, secretary Mar Roxas, was not well played. In fact, as diversionary tactics go, it was really dumb.

Because Aquino and Roxas wanted to bury the big story of the day – the “True state of the Nation Address” delivered by

Vice President Jejomar Binay – they and their propaganda experts came up with a plan.

Roxas would announce that he would resign and Aquino, naturally, would not accept the resignation.

Roxas started the day with a farewell speech at the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Crame. His follow-up was a teary-eyed goodbye speech at the offices of the department of Interior and Local Government, where he sang Florante’s signature “Handog.”

Given his hectic leave-taking schedule, I won’t be surprised if Roxas couldn’t even find the time to write a resignation letter. He didn’t have to, because his BFF and principal patron announced that he wasn’t going to allow Roxas to resign, anyway. so, it was really a moromoro, a cheap publicity stunt intended to divert everyone’s attention. Mar got to make a big deal about quitting, but he wasn’t allowed to go; as they used to say in basketball, it was no harm, no foul.

A9

Binay’s speech addressed the issues that Aquino thought were beneath his consideration.

But I expect a lot more of the same from the tandem that no only brought us the “tuwid na daan” but also promises us more of the same for the next six years. Team Aquino-Roxas, after all, has an agenda in the next elections that demands coordination – not only must Roxas win, Aquino must also stay out of jail when he steps down.

It’s a tall order, for sure, but desperation is a great motivator. *** A mashup was what was required. And lots of editing.

It occurs to me that if President Noynoy Aquino and Vice

President Jejomar Binay had combined their latest speeches, we’d get the true state of the nation. Of course, then we’d have a humongous threehours-and-change speech to listen to; but if we took out the hour or so that Aquino used to slam the previous administration and to thank everyone in his life who makes him happy, it would be a lot more manageable.

Call me old school, but I believe that a state of the Nation Address should discuss the state of the nation.

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-

It should not be an exercise in blaming your predecessor as you open your sixth and final year in office or a venue for praising hairdressers and lawyers with the specialized practice of providing Marlboros and Coke.

The thing about Binay’s speech yesterday is that it addressed the issues that Aquino thought were beneath his consideration. small things (in the President’s opinion, anyway), like the Mamasapano Massacre, the Yolanda tragedy, the Luneta killings,

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

the pork barrel and disbursement Acceleration Program scandals and a version of the Metro Rail Transit breakdown that did not come directly from a press release issued

by Transportation secretary Joseph emilio Abaya.

Unfortunately for all of us, we got two speeches when we really required only one. And we didn’t even get to hear senate President Franklin drilon booing at the end of the second, just to be consistent.

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. Isabel “Gina” P. Verzosa Head, Advertising Solutions Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

LeT me start by saying that our government, indeed our society, still has a long way ahead so we can be more strategic in deploying our human resources in a globalized economy. As someone who has been an OFW for nearly a decade and as a teacher of leadership and social entrepreneurship of hundreds of our migrant workers in Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Macau, Hong Kong and dubai, I know that systematic support for our diaspora is still lacking.

We saw that recently in the Mary Jane Veloso case.

I am aware also of how many of our kababayans are discriminated against when they return to the Philippines, with their patriotism (as we see in the case of senator Grace Poe) even questioned. This reflects our schizophrenia on this issue and should be stopped for being unfair and foolish.

Nevertheless, while much work has to be done, it is important to acknowledge that progress has been made. With millions of Filipinos out of the country working as overseas Filipino workers and thousands more leaving every day for abroad, the Philippine Overseas employment Agency is one agency that plays a critical role in ensuring that our OFWs do not fall prey to human trafficking and other nefarious schemes perpetrated by opportunistic recruiters and foreign employers.

Over the years we have learned hundreds of Mary Jane Velosos and Flor Contemplacions who left their families and took a leap of faith into foreign lands in order to provide a brighter future for their loved ones. But sadly, many of them, especially those belonging to vulnerable positions like domestic helpers and entertainers, instead of finding the proverbial green pasture, fall victim to illegal recruiters and/or abusive foreign employers who maltreat them, force them to work under appalling conditions, bring them to jail for some frivolous charges or worst of all send them home in a coffin under mysterious circumstances. Working abroad may not all be about big dollars, dirham or real and a way out of grinding poverty; oftentimes, OFWs face myriad and unique difficulties like homesickness, oppressive loneliness or exposure to moral and physical danger from foreign employers practicing alien cultural practices.

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

T u E S D AY : A u G u S T 4 , 2 0 1 5

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA eDitor

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

eAGLe eYeS DeAN toNY LA ViÑA

Protecting overseas FiliPino workers

[ EDI TORI A L ]

Vice oVer Virtue As interesting as the emergence of names that would seek the highest post in the land are the pairings for presidential and vice presidential candidates.

Various considerations determine the possible combinations and the actual partnerships formed. Is the vice presidential bet a member of good standing in the party? Is there a need to “import” from outside?Will he or she be able to complement the presidential candidate in a myriad of ways, in form and in substance? Will the tandem be “winnable”, coming, for instance, from different parts of the archipelago to ensure votes on all fronts? do they naturally get along and is there potential for them to work well together if they both win?

In other countries – in the Us, for instance – the winning president automatically brings the political partner to the White House. Here in the Philippines, there’s a separate vote for the number-two such that the vice presidential election can often get as racy as that for the top post.

It’s good staging ground for the presidency and, should anything happen to the chief executive, the vice president would be the next in line. The vice president is also expected to be the partner of the president in governing the nation -- sidekick, deputy, confidante, number-one supporter, constructive critic. After all, they are supposed to share the same ideals for the nation they are both elected to serve.

Of course we know this is not what actually happens.

Because the foundations for choosing a partner are not based on similar fundamental values, even loyalties, and because the emerging winners hardly come from the same team anyway, the president and vice president do not work in tandem. even as the vice president is a member of the Cabinet, he or she is normally given a portfolio that would not require much interaction with other members of the executive. Over various administrations, we have seen vice presidents being sidelined to irrelevance. The plum posts go to the allies and prodigies of the president. Meanwhile, the sidelined vice president lives on an island, either working diligently – or plotting moves for the next elections.

It is unfortunate that vice presidential running mates are chosen for their expected contribution to winnability, and that actual vice presidents fail to live up to their role as genuine partners of the chief executive.

More could be done if there is real teamwork. This could only be accomplished if the partnership is based on more than superficial reasons.

Mashup wanted LowDowN jojo A. roBLeS YesTeRdAY’s political stunt pulled by President Noynoy Aquino and his chosen one, secretary Mar Roxas, was not well played. In fact, as diversionary tactics go, it was really dumb.

Because Aquino and Roxas wanted to bury the big story of the day – the “True state of the Nation Address” delivered by

Vice President Jejomar Binay – they and their propaganda experts came up with a plan.

Roxas would announce that he would resign and Aquino, naturally, would not accept the resignation.

Roxas started the day with a farewell speech at the Philippine National Police headquarters at Camp Crame. His follow-up was a teary-eyed goodbye speech at the offices of the department of Interior and Local Government, where he sang Florante’s signature “Handog.”

Given his hectic leave-taking schedule, I won’t be surprised if Roxas couldn’t even find the time to write a resignation letter. He didn’t have to, because his BFF and principal patron announced that he wasn’t going to allow Roxas to resign, anyway. so, it was really a moromoro, a cheap publicity stunt intended to divert everyone’s attention. Mar got to make a big deal about quitting, but he wasn’t allowed to go; as they used to say in basketball, it was no harm, no foul.

A9

Binay’s speech addressed the issues that Aquino thought were beneath his consideration.

But I expect a lot more of the same from the tandem that no only brought us the “tuwid na daan” but also promises us more of the same for the next six years. Team Aquino-Roxas, after all, has an agenda in the next elections that demands coordination – not only must Roxas win, Aquino must also stay out of jail when he steps down.

It’s a tall order, for sure, but desperation is a great motivator. *** A mashup was what was required. And lots of editing.

It occurs to me that if President Noynoy Aquino and Vice

President Jejomar Binay had combined their latest speeches, we’d get the true state of the nation. Of course, then we’d have a humongous threehours-and-change speech to listen to; but if we took out the hour or so that Aquino used to slam the previous administration and to thank everyone in his life who makes him happy, it would be a lot more manageable.

Call me old school, but I believe that a state of the Nation Address should discuss the state of the nation.

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-

It should not be an exercise in blaming your predecessor as you open your sixth and final year in office or a venue for praising hairdressers and lawyers with the specialized practice of providing Marlboros and Coke.

The thing about Binay’s speech yesterday is that it addressed the issues that Aquino thought were beneath his consideration. small things (in the President’s opinion, anyway), like the Mamasapano Massacre, the Yolanda tragedy, the Luneta killings,

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

the pork barrel and disbursement Acceleration Program scandals and a version of the Metro Rail Transit breakdown that did not come directly from a press release issued

by Transportation secretary Joseph emilio Abaya.

Unfortunately for all of us, we got two speeches when we really required only one. And we didn’t even get to hear senate President Franklin drilon booing at the end of the second, just to be consistent.

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. Isabel “Gina” P. Verzosa Head, Advertising Solutions Anita F. Grefal Treasury Manager Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

LeT me start by saying that our government, indeed our society, still has a long way ahead so we can be more strategic in deploying our human resources in a globalized economy. As someone who has been an OFW for nearly a decade and as a teacher of leadership and social entrepreneurship of hundreds of our migrant workers in Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Macau, Hong Kong and dubai, I know that systematic support for our diaspora is still lacking.

We saw that recently in the Mary Jane Veloso case.

I am aware also of how many of our kababayans are discriminated against when they return to the Philippines, with their patriotism (as we see in the case of senator Grace Poe) even questioned. This reflects our schizophrenia on this issue and should be stopped for being unfair and foolish.

Nevertheless, while much work has to be done, it is important to acknowledge that progress has been made. With millions of Filipinos out of the country working as overseas Filipino workers and thousands more leaving every day for abroad, the Philippine Overseas employment Agency is one agency that plays a critical role in ensuring that our OFWs do not fall prey to human trafficking and other nefarious schemes perpetrated by opportunistic recruiters and foreign employers.

Over the years we have learned hundreds of Mary Jane Velosos and Flor Contemplacions who left their families and took a leap of faith into foreign lands in order to provide a brighter future for their loved ones. But sadly, many of them, especially those belonging to vulnerable positions like domestic helpers and entertainers, instead of finding the proverbial green pasture, fall victim to illegal recruiters and/or abusive foreign employers who maltreat them, force them to work under appalling conditions, bring them to jail for some frivolous charges or worst of all send them home in a coffin under mysterious circumstances. Working abroad may not all be about big dollars, dirham or real and a way out of grinding poverty; oftentimes, OFWs face myriad and unique difficulties like homesickness, oppressive loneliness or exposure to moral and physical danger from foreign employers practicing alien cultural practices.

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

2016 polls a referendum TO THE pOiNT Emil p. jURAdO

THE anointment of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas as the presidential candidate of President Benigno Aquino III raises a lot of questions.

First, who will Roxas’ running mate be?

His options seems to be Senator Grace Poe, Batangas Governor Vilma Santos and Rep. Leni Robredo.

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, a Nacionalista, might be considered, because it would be great to preserve the LP-NP tandem. It seems though many Liberal stalwarts don’t want him around because he has been critical of the administration’s policies.

Santa Banana, is there nobody else?

There’s also the question of Mar’s image which must be addressed right away.

The “masa” perceive him to be an elitist. He belongs to a rich family who is difficult to approach and has no sympathy for the poor.

This perception was the fault of Mar’s handlers who had wanted to make him somebody else he is not.

Imagine him carrying sacks of rice of driving a pedicab!

I thought it was stupid, because he has shown his capabilities when he was part of the Cabinet of Presidents Joseph Estrada and Gloria Arroyo.

Mar’s biggest problem now is this: what can he offer to the greater number of Filipinos that the Aquino administration failed to do or did not do?

Along with the Aquino administration’s failed Daan Matuwid is his brand of selective justice, one

for his critics and the opposition, and another one for people around him and his friends.

Daang Matuwid or straight path is a lot of baloney. If that’s all Mar Roxas can offer us, I don’t think he can expect to win. The 2016 elections is a referendum on how the Aquino administration did.

The only thing that stood out in President Aquino’s last State-ofthe-Nation Address was his failure to mention the Mamasapano debacle where 44 police commandos died.

What makes it worse is that the survivors and kin of the Fallen 44 are

daang matuwid or straight path is a lot of baloney. if that’s all mar Roxas can offer us, i don’t think he can expect to win.

still crying out for justice. It’s an utter lack of sensitivity and empathy.

What should worry Mar is that President Aquino wants to campaign with him. The endorsement is actually a kiss of death for Mar. *** If Senator Grace Poe and Senator Chiz Escudero run as independents with the support of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, the second largest party nationwide, and if the Nacionalista Party decides to have its own presidentiable

The unforgiven LIKE all other promising young high school graduates, Krisel Mallari could have the whole world ahead of her. She dreams of becoming an accountant someday, and she has enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas where classes are supposed to start this week. However, whether Mallari gets to enter UST, or attend college for that matter, remains uncertain. It all depends if UST accepts the certificate of good moral character that has been issued grudgingly by the administrators of the Santo Nino Parochial School in Quezon City, the school where she finished high school as a salutatorian, mainly to comply with an order issued by the Court of Appeals. The SNPS has refused to give Mallari a certificate of good moral character because she delivered a speech during her graduation that accused the school of unfair practices in deciding who should become valedictorian of the class. The video of her speech (and the attempt to stop her from finishing it) became viral.

There are always at least two sides to any story so I will refrain from commenting on the merits of either Mallari’s complaints against SNPS or the wisdom of the school’s actions. The various subplots and the personal accounts and opinions of those who claim to have inside knowledge of the controversy are available in the Internet for those who want the juicy details. There are issues, however, that seem to be glossed over.

Mallari is a minor and while it is her name and her face that is out there, no one is talking about the roles that her parents and authority figures are playing in the whole controversy. It in the person of Senator Bongbong Marcos, President Aquino and his anointed one are in real trouble.

The beneficiary can only be Vice President Jejomar Binay.

This is actually the worst nightmare of the President when he started having dinners with Grace and Mar, hoping that he could convince Grace to be Mar’s running mate.

With Grace as the administration’s vice presidential bet, there’s

ARE WE THERE YET? BONG C. AUSTERO seems inconceivable that that decision to read a different speech during her graduation and the series of decisions she made thereafter were done solely by her. Yes, there are many people who were scandalized

by Mallari’s conduct during her graduation and they want her punished. But there are also those who actually think she should be congratulated for standing up for herself and for taking a position, regardless of how unpopular that stand may have been.

If Mallari made a mistake, what should be the extent of the punishment? What considerations should be made on account of her? What about her parents and authority figures?

A good moral certification is required for admission to any college or university. Denying her the certification is tantamount to denying her the right to pursue college education and, consequently, her future.

And then there’s the question about whether that one act – that controversial speech during her graduation – should define Mallari’s whole character and fate.

It is obvious that the animosity has reached such a point that people are burning bridges and making condemnations. SNPS claims to be merely fighting for its rights and protecting its image and its students. Mallari is fighting for her future. Surely both are aware that there can be no winner in this contest and that the only way they can be redeemed in the eyes of the

hope for Mar. But if Mar does not win in the 2016 polls, Mr. Aquino will surely be indicted for his mistakes while in office.

In fact, a group of legal luminaries and former justices are already fine-tuning the cases to be brought against BS Aquino III once he leaves Malacanang. Can you see another former president getting arrested and detained? Not farfetched, for me.

public is for them to find ways to forgive each other and to put the acrimony behind them?

It seems to me that SNPS has washed its hands completely of any moral responsibility it had or has in molding Mallari’s character. A teacher’s job is never done, they say. Shouldn’t they also take responsibility for Mallari’s actions? But at the core of the issue is the essence and nobility of the teaching profession; I’ve always believed teachers and educational institutions, particularly Catholic institutions, should be exemplars of values such as compassion, commitment, wisdom, loyalty, and yes, forgiveness. In this particular instance, there are quite a number of parables from the Bible that come to mind including that of the lost sheep. SNPS needs to seriously think about how being unforgiving reflects on the real essence of their school.

But Mallari also needs to show humility and, yes, loyalty.

Her parents and authority figures must remind her that being rash and vigilant needs to be tempered with respect and tolerance. She may have only been standing up for her rights, but she also hurt the school, her teachers, her classmates and schoolmates in the process.

It is however amusing that this whole controversy was revived by the need for a certification whose reliability and relevance is questionable. Whether Mallari has good moral character or not cannot be determined by a piece of paper and UST cannot pretend to be oblivious to the controversy. At the end of the day, UST needs to make a decision based on its appreciation of the facts, not on the basis of one document.

In a race of four or five presidentiables, the odds favor Binay as the lone candidate of the opposition party, United Nationalist Alliance. The election lines are slowly and surely being drawn. *** With Senate reelectionists running in 2016, and the entry of Kiko Pangilinan, President Aquino’s cabinet member for food security and agriculture modernization, and possibly former Senator

Ping Lacson running again for the Senate, there could only be four or five slots remaining for newcomers.

The re-electionists are Senate President Franklin Drilon, President Protempore Ralph Recto, Minority Floor Leader Tito Sotto, Senator TG Guingona and Senator Serge Osmena.

Kiko Pangilinan and Ping Lacson, together with re-electionists have the advantage of name recall over newcomers.

T u e S d aY : a u G u S T 4 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

adelle chua EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

WHY THE AFP HAS NO MILITARY MUSCLE

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA By now, the inability of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to defend Philippine territory against reclamation operations of Communist China in the West Philippine Sea is obvious. While the Philippines has resorted to international arbitration in Holland, all Manila can do if it wins its case is hope that world opinion will pressure the communist government in Beijing to leave Philippine territory.

The Philippine Navy has aging frigates and a measly destroyer for its armada, and most of the aircraft of the Philippine Air Force are older than President Benigno Aquino III and are considered “all air and no force.” This sorry state of the AFP makes citizens doubt if the Department of National Defense can really defend the nation.

It is unsettling to realize that the navy and air force are woefully ill-equipped, and that they pale in comparison to the military forces of neighboring countries. While the Aquino administration repeatedly promises to upgrade our defense forces, the AFP often ends up with only few new helicopters. Acquisition cost of military hardware is expensive because of the middleman. A state-ofthe art battleship or fighter jet will cost billions of pesos.

During the administration of President Fidel Ramos, the bulk of Fort Bonifacio was sold purportedly to raise funds for the upgrade of the navy and the air force. Back then, real estate in Fort Bonifacio was already very valuable due to its proximity to expensive land in Makati. The sale should have yielded enough money for the acquisition of modern ships and fighter aircraft.

Protecting.. From A9 OFWs are hailed as the Bagong Bayani for their contributions to society at large, especially to the economy, and their self-sacrifices in their quest for a better future for their families. It is but proper that the State address their concerns and ensure their well-being before they could even leave Philippine shores and especially during their stay abroad. The POEA in particular must ensure that foreign-bound workers do not fall victim to illegal recruiters or that foreign employers do not violate the terms of the contract agreed upon.

Re-processing scheme is a common enough practice where OFWs are deceived into accepting work assignment different from what was stipulated in the contract, often with heavy workloads and a lower salary.

These kinds of malpractices are what State agencies including the Foreign Affairs department, the POEA and the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration must put a stop to. Often, bad practices proliferate not for want of laws. We have adequate laws to protect our OFWS like the POEA Rules and Regulations Governing the Recruitment and Employment of Land-based Overseas Workers and Republic Act No. 1 0022, otherwise known as the Migrant Workers and Overseas Filipinos Act of 1995, as amended.

Like many of our laws, however, the problem lies in enforcement and implementation.

A11

Sadly, the proceeds of the sale obvi- to the coming Asia Pacific Economic ously went somewhere else, including Conference in Manila. The MMDA also the pockets of some government offi- spent millions on “smart” traffic lights cials. As a consequence, the navy and which were virtually useless when the the air force remain hopelessly incapable MMDA introduced u-turn slots along of national defense. Worse, soldiers who major roads in the metropolis. Also, resided in Fort Bonifacio were kicked the millions the MMDA gets from the out of the camp and forced to transfer annual film festival are spent indiscrimelsewhere. Ironically, the soldiers lost inately.

Fort Bonifacio during the presidency of Early this year, the Department of EdRamos, a former soldier. ucation spent P608 million on outdated The sure way to upgrade the AFP is to books. Millions more of public money buy a few ships and jets every year. Af- are wasted by the DepEd on textbooks ter several years, the AFP shall have had with numerous errors. A book crusader enough ships and jets. If this practice recently revealed that a 508-page book is kept, the AFP shall have had enough for Grade 10 students had 1,300 glaring ships and jets to make it a force to reckon errors. with in South East Asia. The morale of The Department of Health is unable our soldiers will improve, and Commu- to explain how it spent its anti-smoking nist China will rethink its policy in the campaign fund. P25 million was recentWest Philippine Sea. ly spent on the Camp Crame residence of Unfortunately, the government does the Philippine National Police chief. Exnot have enough money for this upgrade cessive bonuses in the millions were paid because corruption lurks in virtually all to board directors of the Social Security echelons of the bureaucracy.

System and the Metropolitan WaterIn October 2013, P136 billion of the works and Sewerage System – until the Malampaya Fund was reported missing. news media exposed the windfall. Last The Finance Secretary, the Budget Sec- month, 35 government officials, includretary, and the National Treasurer were ing the incumbent House Speaker, went unable to explain where the money went. to Holland, purportedly to attend the During the January 2015 papal visit, hearing of the arbitration case against the Department of Social Welfare and Beijing, even if only six of them were Development spent P9-M to take street needed. children off the roads of Manila so that Every year, the government televithe Pope will not see them, and the Met- sion network PTV-4 spends billions ropolitan Manila Development Author- in broadcasts which nobody actually ity distributed P120,000 worth of adult watches, save for the few minutes of the diapers for the use of traffic policemen, daily lotto draw results. PTV-4 has a who did not use them. credibility problem – only positive reJust recently, the MMDA purchased ports about the government go on the dozens of motorcycles, each costing air. Thus, PTV-4 broadcasts are ignored P400,000, for police escorts assigned by audiences because they are considered

Recently, POEA Commissioner Hans Cacdac has made some headlines when a number of disgruntled recruiters planned protest actions against him for the strict enforcement of laws against human trafficking. Previously, POEA cancelled the licenses of recruitment agencies that violated the rules on recruitment and deployment of OFWs, particularly household workers. It has also issued a circular making it mandatory for licensed recruitment agencies deploying domestic workers overseas to maintain a Facebook page to make it easier for distressed OFWs and their affected families to get in touch with their agencies. Under his watch, POEA has become more aggressive against erring licensed agencies particularly those engaged in the deployment of Filipino domestic workers to the Middle East. In the midst of the attacks, Administrator Cacdac insists that “. . . utmost professionalism, very high standards of protection, and malasakit are needed to address issues surrounding domestic worker recruitment in our country.”

In so short a time (he took over the helm of the POEA in 2012) Administrator Hans Cacdac has made a deep positive imprint on the agency and foreign labor environment.

Prior to his appointment as POEA administrator, Cacdac was Department of Labor undersecretary for labor relations. Early on he became the associate lawyer of the Sentro ng Alternatibong Lingap Panligal or SALIGAN, a legal resource non-

governmental organization engaged in development work with women, workers, farmers and fishermen, the urban poor, and local communities.

A published author, Administrator Cacdac obtained his law degree from Ateneo de Manila University and obtained his master’s degree in comparative law with focus on international trade and workers’ rights from the Cumberland School of Law of Stanford University.

In 2004, he joined the Department of Labor as executive director of the National Conciliation and Mediation Board, and moved to the POEA in 2006 as deputy administrator for licensing and adjudication, under Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz, then the POEA administrator. His career history leaves no room for doubt as to his inclinations and where he wants to devout his considerable expertise. Administrator Cacdac is a dyed-in-the-wool protector of labor.

It is no wonder his no nonsense campaign to get rid of undesirable and unethical recruiters has earned the support of OFWs and advocacy groups who expressed their full support for his reform initiatives. With so much blood, sweat and tears being shed by our kababayans in their quest for a better life abroad, we need uncompromising and resolute public officials, like POEA Administrator Hans Cacdac, who will protect them against foreign and domestic abuse.

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government propaganda.

The government spent P2.5 million to feed the politicians and their guests who listened to President Aquino deliver his State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa last June 27. The fashion competition among the government officials who went there meant millions of public funds went to fashion designers, high-end department stores, and jewelry dealers.

Many local government officials spend millions of the taxpayers’ money on self-serving political propaganda like streamers and billboards. Quezon City has many ghost employees who are paid millions from city coffers. Several city councilors are now facing graft raps before the Sandiganbayan for the anomaly.

Most politicians travel in luxury vehicles accompanied by a motorcade of assistants, bodyguards, and police escorts, all at government expense. Lately, and also at government expense, many politicians spend millions on television advertisements subtly promoting their candidacy in the May 2016 elections. When a politician dies, public funds are spent on whole-page obituaries published in several newspapers.

Many government agencies hold out-of-town seminars, the expenses for which are charged against government funds.

If all that money were used to buy a few ships and jets for the navy and air force of the country, the AFP would have had enough military muscle to discourage Communist China’s expansionist activities in the West Philippine Sea, in the same way that the Taiwan and Japan are able to stand up to Beijing.

Mashup.. From A9

*** The controversy about the supposed fraudulent Philhealth claims made by some private eye doctors and clinics is apparently not all that it appears to be. I’ve been told that what’s really at stake is who will be able to corner the lucrative Philhealth payments, amounting to billions of pesos every year, for cataract surgeries being performed on patients who number in the hundreds of thousands, most of whom are members of Philhealth.

In the ongoing Senate investigation, Dr. Dominga “Menguita” Padilla of the Department of Health accused local government officials of being in cahoots with some of the private eye clinics by recruiting patients to these facilities in exchange for kickbacks. Dr. Padilla effectively makes all local officials suspects in the alleged scam.

I wonder if the mayors, governors and even congressmen who routinely issue referrals to their constituents who need urgent health procedures, including cataract surgeries, noticed that they were being set up for the blame. Does Padilla know of specific cases of local officials sending out people to seek out possible eye patients so that they may recruit them for eye operations? Another party staking its claim in this controversy is the Philippine Academy of Ophthalmology, whose position is that all Philhealth-covered cataract procedures must only be done by their members.

However, the group said local government units and the politicians are being used by unscrupulous parties without their knowledge – contrary to Padilla’s pronouncements.

It’s clear that the Department of Health, Philhealth brass and the PAO are on the same side – against the private eye doctors and clinics which they accuse of making fraudulent, padded claims from Philhealth. So far, however, what we are hearing are all claims, no hard data or evidence.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Duel in Dubai showcases Pagara brods

By Ronnie Nathanielsz THE heat is literally on for the much-awaited Pinoy Pride 32, dubbed “Duel in Dubai II” at the sprawling International Trade Center in the heart of the United Arab Emirates as the deadly Pagara brothers Jason and Prince Albert step into the ring in another edition of the storied Philippine-Mexican rivaly on Friday at 7 p.m. (Dubai time).

Holy smokes. Matt Kenseth, driver of the Dollar General Toyota, celebrates with a burnout after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Windows 10 400 at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. AFP

USC Warriors get back at Cobras

By Michael Kenji Izumi CEBU CITY—The University of San Carlos Warriors avenged their defeat in last year’s finals of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. with a 76-64 victory over the nineman roster of the South Western University Cobras at the Cebu Coliseum on Sunday.

The Warriors pounced on the absence of some key players in the Cobras’ line-up due to their academic failures, with CESAFI strictly implementing its policy of requiring students to at least have a 60 percent grade, which Jasper Parker, Daryl Goloran, Bernie Bregondo, Rey Mark Acuno and import Mupungo Boko failed to meet.

Denied of its big men, SWU couldn’t contain the inside presence of USC’s Shooster Olago, who pulled down 21 rebounds, 11 on the offensive end. Olaga also had 14 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocked shots in an outstanding all-around performance.

The Warriors’ shooters, led by skipper Nico Magat and Ian Tagapan, torched the Cobras with accurate outside sniping, combining for 28 points on 5-of-15 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Warriors posted their biggest lead of 18 points in the middle of the third quarter before a spirited rally by SWU, led by back-to-back MVP Mark Tallo and Melvin Holper erased the huge lead and gave the Cobras a 59-56 spread late in the fourth

quarter, the last three points coming off a trey by Anton Pardo.

But the Warriors wouldn’t be denied, as they responded with a blistering 20-5 run of their own that put them on top for good even as they limited the Cobras to just four points with less than seven minutes remaining.

Four Warriors scored in double figures, led by Nicolas Kyle Magat with 16 points, Shooster Olago with 14, Charles Pepito with 12, and Uan Jefferson Tagapan with 11.

For the losing squad of coach Raul Alcoseba, Tallo had 14 points to go with 11 rebounds and four steals in an impressive performance by the reigning MVP, while Javanie Luz added 12 points and Melvin Holper had 11.

Blatter gives up IOC seat KUALA LUMPUR—Under pressure FIFA leader Sepp Blatter on Monday gave up his International Olympic Committee seat because he will soon end his reign in charge of world football.

Blatter, whose organization is embroiled in a corruption scandal, was among a group of eight IOC members who should have sought reelection on Monday at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

He has said he will stand down as FIFA president on February 26 when an election for a new leader will be held.

IOC president Thomas Bach said that Blatter “does not deem it to be appropriate to stand for re-election for eight years knowing that after seven months his term would come to an end.”

Bach thanked Blatter and other members leaving the IOC for their “great contribution” to the Olympic movement. Blatter, who has been an IOC member since 1999, did not attend the Kuala Lumpur meeting. AFP

Troy Merritt lines up a putt on the 15th green during the final round of the Quicken Loans National at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Club in Gainesville, Virginia. AFP

The fight card will be telecast live on Sky Cable payper-view at 11 p.m. and on a delayed basis over Channel 2, the pre-eminent station of ABS-CBN, as well as ABSCBN Sports & Action and the widely watched The Filipino Channel.

Renowned ALA Gym patron Tony Aldeguer, who leaves for Dubai on Tuesday evening, told The Standard/boxingmirror.com that both undefeated International Boxing Federation Intercontinental super bantamweight champion Prince Albert Pagara and elder brother and light welterweight/super lightweight Jason Pagara were both a mere two pounds over their respective weight limits. Aldeguer said the two should have no problem making the grade, especially in the stifling heat.

Pagara is coming off a solid win over Mexico’s Rodolfo Hernandez, who he dropped in the opening round and forced to retire in the fourth round when he complained of a broken hand and was unable to continue. On Nov. 15, 2014, Prince Albert dominated

veteran Raul Hirales, a former world champion, to win a near shutout decision over 12 rounds with two judges – Ian Scott and Alejandro Lopez Cid scoring the fight, 120-107, while Filipino judge Gil Co had Pagara the winner, 119-108.

One of the most scintillating performances of Prince Albert Pagara was when he mauled Mexican Hugo Partida in the very first round to score a TKO victory and grab the vacant IBF Intercontinental title. He dropped the hapless Partida three times in the round.

Prince Albert put on what we referred to as “a royal performance” when he totally annihilated the abrasive and cocky Partida, who head-butted and threw a punch at him during the weigh-in. This prompted Pagara to vow to destroy the Mexican, which he did in awesome fashion the following night.

Prince Albert will face the 30-year-old Rios, who is a ring warrior with a record 25 knockouts in 31 wins and 7 losses and is coming off a first-round TKO over Aram Valle last May 15.

Unknown Merritt takes 1st PGA win GAINESVILLE—American Troy Merritt, who missed the cut in his prior five starts, shot a four-under par 67 Sunday to win the Quicken Loans National and capture his first PGA title.

The unheralded 29-yearold held off US star Rickie Fowler and Swede David Lingmerth over the back nine, closing with a 35-foot birdie putt to become the 10th first-time winner on the US PGA Tour this season but the first in the history of the National.

“When it happens, you’re not thinking,” Merritt said of his breakthrough win moment. “You really don’t even know what your name is. I was just really happy.”

World number 180 Merritt, who fired a tournament-record 61 on Saturday, finished 72 holes at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club on 18-under 266 for a threestroke victory over Fowler with Lingmerth third on 270.

“I really made some golf

shots coming in, battled all the way to the end,” Merritt said. “In true Rickie fashion he never gave up. It’s great to battle a great player all the way to the end.”

England’s Justin Rose, the 2013 winner, shared fourth on 272 with New Zealand’s Danny Lee, Sweden’s Carl Pettersson and Americans Bill Haas, Justin Thomas, and Jason Bohn. Japan’s Ryo Ishikawa was another stroke back in 10th.

Merritt, whose best prior finish was second at Memphis last year, tweaked his putting stance Tuesday after weeks of frustration and it paid instant benefits, qualifying him for his first major in two weeks at the PGA Championship.

“You just don’t give up,” Merritt said. “You keep grinding.”

Lingmerth, who won his first PGA title in June at the Memorial, and Fowler, who won the Players Championship in May and the Scottish Open last month, each shot 69s. AFP

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Nadal exacts revenge on Fognini

Professional surfer

Filipe Toledo of Brazil gets some air before losing his Men’s US Open of Surfing semi-final at Huntington Beach, California. The event celebrates its 56th year beside the historic Huntington Pier, which is considered the birthplace of California’s surfing culture. AFP

For some, Rio’s Olympic dream has turned into a nightmare RIO DE JANEIRO—This is the story of two Rio de Janeiros a year from the start of the Olympic Games—and only one can survive.

The first is the Rio of Olympics construction frenzy, of billion dollar investments, cranes, bulldozers, shiny towers, swirling dust and sleek new real estate.

“A city that doesn’t stop,” boasts a billboard in the midst of a giant building site in the west of the city, where the main crop of stadiums for the 2016 Games is rapidly sprouting.

The second Rio de Janei-

ro is of the little guy.

It’s the Rio of Bruno Manso de Oliveira, an industrial fitter, and the Rio of his friends whose slum homes happen to be in the path of the Olympic machine and whose sole, humble dream is to stay put.

As the countdown to the Summer Games begins, this is the story of how for some a dream became a nightmare.

- Whose city is it? -

“It’s a war zone,” says de Oliveira, 29, standing in the remains of what was once a proud if impoverished neighborhood called Vila Autodromo, which the advancing Olympic Park is steadily reducing to rubble.

“It’s becoming very hard to live here,” he said. “But I will never move out just because they have told me to go somewhere. My house is not for sale.”

About 3,000 people used to inhabit the Vila Autodromo slum, or favela, which grew up as a fisherman’s settlement in the 1960s next to a picturesque lagoon.

Vila Autodromo had

the dirt roads, sometimes shaky, amateur housebuilding, and open sewers typical of favelas, but none of the usual drug-fuelled violence, winning a reputation as a laid-back place for working class people to raise families.

But from the moment the Rio authorities decided to bid for the 2016 Olympics, those quiet days were numbered.

The wider Vila Autodromo area centred on a long-abandoned motor racetrack that for years was little more than an eyesore for rich residents in nearby Barra district. To the mayor’s office, the place

seemed to be the perfect building site.

Today, the old racetrack is gone and half-finished towers and stadiums resembling recently landed spacecraft rise from the dirt. This will become the Olympic Park, ground zero in the world’s biggest sporting party next August.

Close by is the nearly completed Olympic Village, a forest of 31 matching tower blocks that will house many of the estimated 17,000 athletes and other participants. After the Olympics, the towers will turn into Rio’s newest upscale housing development.

HAMBURG—Top seed Rafael Nadal won the Hamburg claycourt title on Sunday gaining a much-needed confidence boost after a slump in form, beating Italian eighth seed Fabio Fognini 7-5, 7-5.

Nadal had been beaten twice previously this season by the experienced Fognini, in Rio de Janeiro and then in Barcelona.

But he gained his revenge in the northern German city, recovering from being broken in the very first game of a tight opening set and eventually clinching the title on his first match point after more than two and a half hours on court.

Nadal has now won the Hamburg title twice after a previous success in 2008 -- his last appearance -- and has 47 claycourt titles.

“I had some cramps which wasn’t very pleasant,” said 29-year-old Nadal.

“I lost the last two times against him, so I knew it was going to be a tough one.

“I think I had a great attitude the whole match, very positive, fighting for every ball. I had some tough moments on court, lost opportunities, but every time I came back and I kept fighting with the right mentality. I’m very happy for the victory. It is an important victory for me.”

Nadal now heads for the United States hardcourt season with the US Open, the season’s last Grand Slam tournament, starting in New York on August 31.

It has been a tough year for the former world number one who lost his French Open title in June before seeing his world ranking slump to 10, his lowest in a decade.

“Now the hardcourt season is starting, it’s a different story,” he said.

“But at the same time, I’ll keep going with the same mentality and this title helps to be a little bit more calm and add some points to my ranking to try to finish the year in the top eight again.”

AFP

Shell-Davao chess listup ongoing

On a roll. Victor Espinoza rides atop American Pharoah during another winning show at the 48th William Hill Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park in Monmouth, New Jersey. AFP

REGISTRATION for the 2015 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship Southern Mindanao leg is now in full swing with the fourth regional qualifier expected to lure another big cast when the event is played from August 8 to 9 at the SM City Annex Event Center in Davao City.

The event is the last leg of the two weekend-tournaments held in the region as the sponsoring Pilipinas Shell recognizes the wide base of chess talents and enthusiasts in Mindanao, which has drawn full-packed field each time it hosted the event in the region over the last 23 years.

For more details, contact

tournament director Alex Dinoy at 0918-3705750. Players may also opt to download registration forms at www.shell.com. ph/shell_chess.

“We continue to innovate on our Shell Active Chess program to help improve the skills of our chess players,” said Jackie Ampil, Social Investment Manager of Pilipinas Shell. “We hope this will prepare them to become better players. This year, we have narrowed the age gaps by creating a third division to even out the playing field. This is in line with our objective to develop stronger chess players who may eventually represent

the country in major international competitions.”

The holding of the three-category tournament for the first time has also given all young players a chance to showcase their talents and vie for berths in the national finals which will gather the best of the best of the five-stage regional eliminations sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines.

In the second Mindanao leg, organizers have set a maximum of 300 participants on a firstcome, first-served basis, with competitions set in the kiddies (7-12 years old), juniors (13-16) and seniors (17-20) divisions.

T UE S DAY : AUGUS T 4 , 2 0 1 5

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

La Salle spikers advance Games tomorrow (The Arena, San Juan) 1 p.m. • La Salle-Dasma vs UP 3 p.m. • NU vs FEU 5 p.m. • Ateneo vs Arellano

Juvic Pagunsan (right) leads a star-studded cast in the Aboitiz Invitational firing off tomorrow at Manila Southwoods’ Legends course. Three-time Asian Tour winner Angelo Que (left), also a two-leg winner this year, is actually expected to join the title chase but only played in yesterday’s pro-am and confirmed he’s skipping the event to take a much-needed rest following a stint in the recent European Masters.

Toughest cast assembled for Aboitiz Invitational tilt

FROM current Order of Merit leader Miguel Tabuena to comebacking Frankie Miñoza and Juvic Pagunsan to the in-form Tony Lascuña to a host of other local aces and rising stars, all are accounted for in the Aboitiz Invitational firing off tomorrow at Manila Southwoods’ Legends course.

Count in the top 10 players in the Asian Development Tour OOM rankings, and no fewer than 22 ADT winners and other notable shotmakers from around the region, one gets an idea of what looms ahead when the first shot is hit and the last putt is made in

the $100,000 event put up by Aboitiz Equity Ventures.

No local event in recent past has put together a deep, talent-laden international cast, guaranteeing a highly charged duel for the top $17,500 purse and world ranking points in all four

Knights face Pirates, seek 7th straight win LETRAN seeks to extend its win as the two collide at 2 p.m.

“If we keep playing with urfairy-tale run as it clashes with a struggling Lyceum today in the gency and desperation, there’s 91st National Collegiate Athlet- no reason we can’t keep the ic Association senior basketball streak going,” said Letran coach Aldin Ayo. tournament at The Games Tuesday The MurallaArena in San Juan (The Arena, San Juan) based dribblers City today.

2 p.m. • St. Benilde vs San have been drawing A few days after Sebastian (srs) slaying last year’s 4 p.m. • Letran vs Lyceum (srs) strength from their hustling, full-court runner-up Arellano University, the Knights shoot pressure defense and their freefor a seventh straight victory in wheeling run and gun game their 4 p.m. showdown with the anchored on the troika of KevPirates that would match their in Racal, Mark Cruz and Rey 7-0 (win-loss) start two seasons Nambatac.

Of the three, Racal, slowly ago.

In the only other seniors’ getting back into full strength game, St. Benilde and San Se- after tearing an ACL (anterior bastian, currently tied at the cruciate ligament) last year, bottom with Lyceum and shone the brightest in Letran’s Emilio Aguinaldo with identi- most recent win after erupting cal 1-5 records, gun for a second with his season-best 24 points.

days of competition co-sanctioned by the ADT and the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour.

“Just looking at the roster makes one feel uncomfortable. It’s such a tough cast that one has to play his very best to at least contend,” said Lascuña, listed as one of the favorites not only because of his backto-back victories at ICTSI Apo and ICTSI Classic in recent weeks but also because of his three-shot romp over Que in last year’s edition of the annual event at Riviera’s Couples course for his first ADT win.

But the long, bunker-laden Legends layout offers a different kind of challenge for

the competing field particularly its last line of defense—the greens, which are expected to be at their meanest in the final round of the blue-ribbon event co-organized by ADT and Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. “I may be on some kind of a roll, winning the last two tournaments. But for sure, it will be anybody’s race,” said Lascuña.

It sure will.

Tabuena, for one, is fresh after a hectic campaign that netted him victories at ICTSI Splendido and Rancho Palos Verdes and three runner-up finishes while Minoza is also coming off a stint in Japan and has always been a sentimental

favorite and contender on the local circuit this season with a series of top six finishes.

Pagunsan, meanwhile, is out to redeem himself from a mediocre joint 15th place finish in last week’s ICTSI Classic where he marked his return on local turf after a two-and-a-half campaign on the Japan PGA. Three-time Asian Tour winner Angelo Que, also a two-leg winner this year like Tabuena, is actually expected to join the title chase but only played in yesterday’s pro-am and confirmed he’s skipping the event to take a muchneeded rest following a stint in the recent European Masters.

LA Salle outduelled crossstreet rival College of St. Benilde, 25-18, 25-19, 17-25, 25-15, yesterday to clinch a quarterfinals berth in the Spikers’ Turf Season 1-Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

Team captain Raymark Woo and John Arjay Onia paced the team by firing 16 and 15 hits, respectively, as the Archers nailed their third win in four outings to join the Ateneo Eagles, their archrivals who are unbtean in three starts, in the quarters.

“Our strong start helped us because it gave us the rhythm early,” said La Salle coach Ronald Dulay.

Truly, La Salle jumped the gun on St. Benilde early and seized the first two sets with relative ease.

But the Blazers rode on the power-hiting de Guzman’s back and took the third set to keep afloat only to lose steam in the fourth when the Archers re-asserted its attacking might, thanks to Woo and Onia.

The Woo-Onia pair was just too much for Johnvic de Guzman, who led all hitters with 20 including 19 on kills but just didn’t get enough support as none of his teammates reached double-digit scoring.

St. Benilde, which finished second to reigning NCAA men’s volleyball titlist Emilio Aguinaldo College, fell into a share of third with University of the Philippines on even 2-2 (win-loss) records.

The Blazers though can make it to the next phase if they could pull the rug from under the heavily favored Eagles on Aug. 12 also at The Arena in San Juan.

Albarote, Aussies share Ironman 70.3 honors LAPU-LAPU CITY—Lezette Albarote grabbed a share of the spotlight with the Australians, who dominated the age group competitions of the Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines Sunday at Shangri-la’s Mactan Resort and Spa. Albarote topped the female 40-44 class with 5:29:35 against compatriot Anna Marissa Remigio (5:38:26) and Singaporean Jeynelle Lee (5:51:12) to put Phl on the winners’ list in the company of the Aussies, who romped off with eight victories.

Justin Ghosh (male 18-24) and Sandra Reid (female 5559) retained their respective age group titles as the Aussies flexed their muscle in the race that drew a record 2,618 participants.

Ghosh clocked 4:18:19 to repeat as champ as the expense of Filipinos Marvin Santiago delos Santos (4:36:27) and Donray Noval (5:25:01) while Philippinebased Reid submitted 5:44:49 to beat lone opponent Agnes Tinsay (6:50:33).

Joining the Aussie gold rush were Jaimielle Jacobs in the female 30-34 (5:05:21), Assad Attamimi in male 4044 (4:14:16), Lisa Redmond in female 45-49 (5:32:39), Roger Hastie in male 45-49 (4:36:37) Daniel Hyams in male 50-54 (4:59:05), and Graham Crocker in male 6569 (5:30:36).

Britain won three golds via back-to-back champ Lyndsey Fraser in female 25-29 (4:52:10), David Watson in male 30-34 (4:40:29), and

Joanne Plumbley in female 35-39 (5:49:19).

Rounding up the champions were Japanese Mika Shito in female 18-24 (5:26:49), Russian Anton Samokhvalov in male 25-29 (4:25:17), Irish Colin O’ Shea in male 35-39 (4:21:59), Singaporean Khina Ong in female 50-54 (6:37:58), Mexican Ernesto Adelina in male 55-59 (5:24:13) and American Lee Harkleroad in male 60-64 (6:59:09).

Ford Forza ruled the male relay division in 4:12:33 while David Salon reigned in the distaff side in 5:34:23.

RDAK-C won the mixed relay in 3:58:20.

They joined a stellar roster of victors headlined by reigning Asia-Pacific champ Tim Reed, who led a 1-2 finish

for Australia in the men’s pro hostilities, and Caroline Steffen, who bucked mechanical trouble and a bike crash to cop her second straight plum here.

Two-peat Filipino elite champ August Benedicto and women’s titlist Monica Torres also sparkled in the event produced and organized by Sunrise Events, Inc. with title sponsor Cobra Energy Drink, powered by Ford Philippines and presented by Summit Water.

Others backers are official courier and logistics partner 2Go Express, official footwear and apparel partner Asics, official sports drink Gatorade, race venue partners Shangri-la’s Mactan Resort and Spa, Cebu Province and Lapu-lapu City.

T UE S DAY : AUGUS T 4 , 2 0 1 5

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

MVP, Pacquiao part of PH group making final FIBA push

By Peter Atencio

SAMAHANG Basketbol ng Pilipinas president Manuel V. Pangilinan will lead a delegation to Tokyo this weekend to give a final presentation in support of the country’s bid to host the FIBA World Cup in 2019.

Aside from the Philippines, the only other country bidding to host the event is China.

The FIBA Central Board, which started accepting bids in April last year, is expected to make an announcement this weekend.

Eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao will join Pangilinan in the trip, along with former Gilas Pilipinas national basketball team head coach Chot Reyes.

Pangilinan said the Philippines’ extraordinary passion for the sport is one of its strengths in the country’s efforts to host the event.

“The FIBA World Cup is a unique opportunity to capture the hearts and minds of future generations of basketball fans in the Philippines and in every corner of the world, to ignite their passion and share it through a common language,”

Pangilinan said.

The SBP chief added that the country has existing world-class facilities that will be ready for the event such as the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan, and the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.

Pangilinan said the Philippine Arena, for one, has the world’s largest indoor arena, and because of key infrastructure initiatives and good venue development, the SBP is confident that it can deliver an international sporting development that is both memorable and shareable.

Reyes, on the other hand, said a four-year plan is already in place to help create “an incredible FIBA World Cup Basketball in 2019.”

“Our hosting is all about

puso. It’s all about pride and passion in basketball, which is our sport. And we all know that the country’s pride and passion is in basketball,” said Reyes during a presentation Monday at the Meralco headquarters in Ortigas, Pasig City.

The Philippines first hosted the FIBA World Cup in 1978, and has since built a formidable reputation as a nation capable of planning and managing the complexity of such an event, according to Reyes. He added that in 2013, some 150,000 fans came and watched the FIBA Asia World Cup for 11 days.

Pangilinan, meanwhile, said Pacquiao’s passion for the sport is something he shares with every Filipino, and they welcome his contribution to the SBP’s efforts in Tokyo.

Former Gilas Pilipinas national head Chot Reyes stresses a point during a press conference detailing the Philippines’ bid to host the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup. A Philippine delegation composed of SBP president Manny Pangilinan, boxer Manny Paquiao, Reyes and Hollywood actor Lou Diamond Philips, leaves for Tokyo for the final presentation of the country’s bid. Philippine Tourism Authority CEO Chicoy Enerio III joined the presentation at the Meralco Bldg. in Ortigas. PETER ATENCIO

Faried, Green headline NBA 3x3 PH THE National Basketball Association announced yesterday that Kenneth Faried of the Denver Nuggets and Danny Green of the San Antonio Spurs will headline NBA 3X Philippines 2015, which returns to Manila at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall Aug. 28 to 30.

Returning for the fifth consecutive year, the event combines 3-on-3 oncourt competition with free authentic NBA entertainment and experiences for fans of all ages, including a slam dunk contest, 3-point shootouts, skills challenges, autograph sessions and more. To keep fans entertained, there will be performances by the Golden State Warriors dance team, Philadelphia 76ers mascot Franklin, live bands and DJs. Faried and Green will be on hand to help run clinics and interact with fans.

“I’m excited to visit the Philippines for the first time to experience the cul-

ture and be part of the NBA 3X festivities,” said Faried. “Filipinos are incredibly passionate about the game, and this will be a weekend of great basketball as the players get the opportunity to showcase their skills.”

“I look forward to meeting the fans and showing my support for the best Filipino basketball talents competing for pride and recognition on the big stage,” said Green.

“With NBA 3X Philippines celebrating its fifth consecutive staging in Manila, we continue our goal of providing our loyal fans with a platform to interact with NBA talent and to showcase their on-court skills,” said Carlo Singson, Philippines Country Manager, NBA Asia.

“The NBA conducts year-round activities in the Philippines with Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA and NBA FIT Week, and NBA 3X is yet another way for our fans to get

the authentic NBA experience through a weekend of fun and entertainment for the entire family.”

Faried, a 6’8” forward out of Morehead State, was drafted 22nd overall by the Denver Nuggets in the 2011 NBA Draft. He was named to the NBA AllRookie First Team in 2012 and was voted NBA Rising Stars Challenge MVP in 2013.

The 2014 FIBA World Cup Gold Medalist recorded per game averages of 12.6 points and 8.9 rebounds during the 2014-15 NBA season.

Green, who won the NBA championship with the Spurs in 2014, was selected 46th overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2009 NBA Draft. The 6’6” swingman set an NBA record for most three-point field goals made in a Finals series with 27 in the 2013 NBA Finals.

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

P0 M+ P0 M

Rome rules out using Vatican for 2024 bid KUALA LUMPUR—Rome will not use the Vatican for events in its 2024 Olympic bid, a top Italian sports official said Sunday, as Toronto gave stronger hints that it will join the campaign.

The Italian capital was one of the first of the four cities so far in contention to announce that it would compete. Budapest, Hamburg and Paris are also in the race, while Los Angeles is expected to enter after Boston’s embarrassing withdrawal. Toronto is also considering entering.

Giovanni Malago, president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), said the historic Colosseum could be used in the Italian campaign. Rome’s mayor, Ignazio Marino, has proposed using the Colosseum for medal ceremonies.

But Malago said the exact role of would only be revealed after the International Olympic Committee deadline for bids closes on September 15.

Early reports also said an event like archery could be held in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican. But Malago ruled this out for religious reasons.

“It would not be right to involve the Vatican in our bid” because of its connection to the Roman Catholic Church, he told a small group of reporters on the sidelines of an International Olympic Committee meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

The CONI president said Rome wanted all religions involved.

“Islamic, Hebrew, Catholic, they will be co-protagonists” in the Italian campaign, Malago commented.

He also ruled out holding a referendum as some other Olympic candidate cities have.

He said other ways would be used to measure “public opinion” but did not give details.

Malago said the bid would be based on Rome, but that football would be held in six cities across the country and that sailing could be in Sardinia, Naples or Venice on the Adriatic. The decision will be made by the International Sailing Federation. AFP

PSA Forum tackles 3x3 tilt, touch football A WIDE-RANGE Of topics, including 3x3 basketball, will be discussed in today’s session of the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum at Shakey’s Malate.

Leading the guests list are David Aldrin, product manager of Carbridge Group Phil. Inc., and Joel Salindang, marketing consultant of Black Mamba Energy Drink, as they talk about the launching of the Black Mamba 3x3 basketball in the public service program aired live over DZSR Sports Radio 918.

With them in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Shakey’s, Accel, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. are Philippine Karatedo Federation secretarygeneral Raymond Lee, coach Ali Parvinfar, and Mae Soriano, gold medal winner in the recent Thailand Open, and officials of Touch Football Philippines, who are going to promote the group’s coming beach touch tournament at the SM Sands By The Bay. New PSA president Riera Mallari of The Standard enjoins all members to attend the session that starts at 10:30 a.m.

A16

T U E S D AY : A U G U S T 4 , 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 Fajardo

Tenorio

Pingris

NBA star Andray Blatche is excited to be back to resume his duties with the national team.

Blatche will be focal point of Gilas 5’s bid

By Jeric Lopez

GILAS Pilipinas coach Tab Baldwin and the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas may have sent to the Philippine Basketball Association their 16-player wish list, knowing fully well that not everyone could be available or released to them by their respective teams.

But if there is one player certain and is indispensable in the composition of the coming national team, then it’s got to be naturalized player and NBA veteran Andray Blatche.

Blatche is back in the country to resume his duties with the national team as he will certainly be the focal point of Gilas Pilipinas in its preparation for the 2015 FIBA-Asia Championship.

The 28-year-old forward/center arrived in Manila from the United States Sunday night

Toughest roster assembled for Aboitiz Invitational TURN TO A14

and only had a couple of hours of rest before plunging into action right away as the nationals already started official training with their first practice last night at the Meralco Gym in Ortigas Avenue.

After leading Smart Gilas last year in the team’s impressive FIBA World Cup stint, the team will be built around the talented 6-foot-11 big man.

Blatche described his feeling leading up to the team’s bid towards the Fiba-Asia title next month.

“I’m excited,’’ said Blatche to the local media.

Following Blatche’s arrival, personnel commitment continues to be a big headache for Smart Gilas as a handful of players that national coach Tab Baldwin wanted to be on the team ruled themselves out of a possible stint with the national team due to various reasons.

As a result, the pool of players that Baldwin will work on are now down to around 16 players, more or less, compared to the original target of 26.

But even if the composition of the locals that will end up in the official Smart Gilas roster remains, the team is guaranteed that Blatche will

PH makes final FIBA push TURN TO A15

be in tow, ready to be its top offensive weapon.

Blatche might be surprised that most of his teammates from last year’s FIBA World Cup roster are not participating and are most likely out of the line-up as only four holdovers, Ranidel De Ocampo, Jayson Castro, Gabe Norwood and Gary David from last year’s World Cup squad have confirmed their participation and are already active in training.

Top Philippine Basketball Association players June Mar Fajardo, Paul Lee, Jeff Chan, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar and Marc Pingris, all key components in the World Cup in Spain last year, and Marcio Lassiter, another top prospect, have begged off due to different reasons, leaving Baldwin and team management to scramble for potential players that’ll be in the pool with just over a month left before the big tournament.

However, Gilas management repeatedly said that the door is always open and the pool of players for the national team is bound to change depending on the availability of the top guns.

Cage body names 16-cager wish list AS scheduled, the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas revealed the official and tentative 16-man pool that it requests to be in the Smart Gilas Pilipinas National team.

The SBP already sent the 16-player list that national coach Tab Baldwin came up with to the Philippine Basketball Association.

There are seven returnees from the FIBA World Cup team, led by two-time PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, Jayson Castro, Ranidel De Ocampo, Marc Pingris, Gabe Norwood, Gary David and LA Tenorio, but only four could be in the final lineup as Fajardo is nursing an injury, Tenorio begged off and Pingris is still in Europe vacationing with his family.

The holdovers will be joined by Terrence Romeo, Sonny Thoss, Asi Taulava, JC Intal, Calvin Abueva, Dondon Hontiveros, Kelly Williams, Aldrech Ramos and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser in the pool.

They will join naturalized star Andray Blatche, who is already in the country and is ready to lead the team in its preparation for next month’s FIBA-Asia Championship in China.

Though Fajardo, Pingris and Tenorio earlier expressed that they will most likely beg off from the team initially due to various reasons, sources reveal that the three are already given a go-signal by the San Miguel Corporation, which owns their respective PBA teams. It will now be up to them on whether they’ll be part of the pool.

The National team already started training last night and held a two-hour practice at the Meralco Gym in Ortigas.

Even though these are the players that will now head on to train for Smart Gilas, the line-up will be open to changes, according to Gilas manager Butch Antonio depending on availability of various players.

Notably missing from the list are Paul Lee, Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar and Jeff Chan. Jeric Lopez

B1

TUESDAY: AUGUST 4, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

SM Prime’s profit surges to P19b

By Jenniffer B. Austria

SM PRIME Holdings Inc., the country’s top integrated property company, said Monday net income in the first half jumped 90 percent to P18.7 billion from P9.8 billion a year ago, boosted by one-time extraordinary gain from the sale of marketable securities.

SM Prime said excluding one– time trading gain, the company’s recurring income grew 15 percent year-on-year to P11.2 billion.

The announcement lifted SM Prime’s stock price to a high of P22 per share before closing at P21.60 on Monday.

SM Prime said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues rose 8 percent to P35.9 billion from P33.3 billion in the first six months of 2015,

driven by the continued growth of rental revenues as well as higher revenue from completed projects.

“The strong financial performance posted by SM Prime in the first half of the year is reflective of the benefits derived from a diversified property portfolio as both rental and developmental incomes contributed to the overall performance of the company,” SM Prime president Hans Sy said.

“The sustained growth could be attributed to the consolidation of SM Prime, which resulted in a strong balance sheet that allowed us to pursue all projects as planned. We are confident that we can sustain this growth in the long-term,” he said.

Rental revenues from retail and commercial spaces, accounting for 54.2 percent of the consolidated revenues, rose 10 percent in the six-month period to P19.4 billion from P17.7 billion in the first half 2015.

The growth in rental revenues was mainly driven by rising contribution from the new malls and the expansion of shopping spaces in existing malls. The growth was also boosted by increase in SM Prime’s office spaces.

Meanwhile, SM Prime’s real estate sales, which contributed

34.2 percent to consolidated revenues, rose 3 percent to P12.3 billion from P11.9 billion in the same period last year.

SM Development Corp.’s reservation sales grew 24 percent yearon-year to 6,868 units in the first half of 2015, with total sales value of P18.8 billion, up from P14.7 billion in the first half of 2014.

SM Prime opened SM Megacenter Cabanatuan and SM City San Mateo in April and May, respectively, bringing the total Philippine operating malls to 52 with a gross floor area of nearly 6.6 million square meters.

SM Prime is set to open one mall in Metro Manila, SM Center Sangandaan in Caloocan, and two malls outside Metro Manila,namely SM City Cabanatuan in Nueva Ecija and SM Seaside City Cebu this year.

PSe comPoSite index Closing August 3, 2015

8500 8000 7500 7000 6500 6000

7,593.26 23.26

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing AUGUST 3, 2015 42

P45.660

43

CLOSE

44 45 46

HIGH P45.645 LOW P45.705 AVERAGE P45.674 VOLUME 506.200M

P475.00-P675.00 LPG/11-kg tank P39.10-P45.35 Unleaded Gasoline P25.30-P28.55 Diesel

oPriceS il P today

P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene P23.70-P24.40 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Monday, August 3, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate

BAT distributor. British American Tobacco Philippines, maker of international brands Pall Mall and Lucky Strike, signed an agreement with AVS Distribution Center to cover its Northern Luzon distribution requirements. The Dagupan-based AVS has been in the distribution business for the last 20 years, carrying cigarettes and other fast moving consumer goods, while BAT is the world’s second-largest tobacco company. Shown during the signing of the agreement are (standing, from left) BAT Philippines route-to-market ead Leonel Huertas, BAT Philippines regional sales manager Michael Garcia, AVS sales supervisor Aboy Jimenez, AVS operations manager Edwin Chan, BAT Philippines area sales manager Mike Yabot, (seated, from left) AVS president Jusslynn Maisie Ang and BAT Philippines territory sales manager Pamela Reyes.

Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

45.6810

Japan

Yen

0.008072

0.3687

UK

Pound

1.562400

71.3720

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129019

5.8937

Switzerland

Franc

1.035733

47.3133

Canada

Dollar

0.764292

34.9136

Singapore

Dollar

0.728916

33.2976

Australia

Dollar

0.733783

33.5199

Bahrain

Dinar

2.652238

121.1569

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266667

12.1816

Brunei

Dollar

0.726269

33.1767

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000074

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.028433

1.2988

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

12.4390

Euro

Euro

1.098500

50.1806

Korea

Won

0.000862

0.0394

China

Yuan

0.161038

7.3564

India

Rupee

0.015660

0.7154

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.262082

11.9722

New Zealand

Dollar

0.662515

30.2643

Taiwan

Dollar

0.031697

1.4480 Source: PDS Bridge

Govt sells P20-b T-bills, as investors offer lower interest rates

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE government raised P20 billion from the auction of Treasury bills on Monday, amid strong demand among investors who offered lower interest rates for the short-term debt facilities.

The Bureau of Treasury said it fully awarded P8 billion worth of 91-day Treasury bills, P6 billion worth of 182-day debt papers

and P6 billion worth of 364-day instruments.

“We were pleasantly surprised that the volumes have increased, or the volumes came up at these levels given that last week, most of the trading was in longer tenor securities,” National Treasurer Roberto Tan said after the auction.

Treasury bills refer to government debt papers with one-year

or shorter maturities while debt instruments with longer tenor are called bonds.

“I guess the market is more confident now, but still we will have to monitor the trend because last week, it was more of longer-term securities that were being traded... We were very glad to have a revival of the market with respect to securities trading at least for Treasury bills,” he

said.

Interest rates on 91-day or three-month debt facilities settled at 1.99 percent, or 0.08 basis points lower than previous rate of 2.078.

Tenders for the three-month papers reached P29.067 billion, or more than thrice the original offer of P8 billion.

Interest rate on the 182-day or six-month debt papers also

declined by 0.15 basis points to 2.183 percent from 2.333 percent in the previous auction as tenders reached P16.030 billion or more than twice the original offer of P6 billion.

The yield on the 364-day debt facilities eased 0.246 basis points to 2.306 percent as tenders for the one-year debt facility amounted to P13.55 billion, or double the P6-billion government offer.

TUESDAY: AUGUST 4, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Monday, august 3, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 4.2 17 30.45 10.4 2.6 100 1.46 30.5 75 91.5 361.2 57 180 124 3.26 47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 20.6 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 2.89 31.8 109 9.4 0.98 241 12.5 3.95 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.86 238 5.5 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 1.3 26 2.17 0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.4 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5 76 9.25 0.85 17.3 0.71 5.53 6.55 9.66 2.31 1.61 2.99 84.9 3.5 974 1.66 156 0.710 0.435 10.5 26.95 1.99 1.75 41.4 5.6

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Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 4.02 3.6 73.35 73.05 102.20 100.20 96.20 95.10 46.8 46.45 1.50 1.50 16.26 16.26 21.8 21.6 7.65 7.20 1.69 1.65 89 87.85 0.98 0.97 19.10 19.00 26.00 26.00 65.00 64.35 310 306 39.75 39.4 150 147.6 60.00 59.50 3.33 3.3 INDUSTRIAL 35.9 Aboitiz Power Corp.

43.7 43.7 43.2 1.11 Agrinurture Inc. 1.76 1.77 1.6 1.01 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 1.03 1.05 1.02 1.86 Alsons Cons.

1.89 1.9 1.88 7.92 Asiabest Group 10.56 10.8 10.5 15.32 Century Food 18.1 18.3 17.98 10.08 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 26 26.05 25.3 29.15 Concepcion 55 56 55 1.5 Crown Asia 2.8 2.97 2.82 1.5 Da Vinci Capital 1.58 1.68 1.55 10.72 Del Monte 13 12.98 12.94 9.55 DNL Industries Inc. 21.550 22.400 21.65 9.04 Emperador 8.81 9.10 8.83 6.02 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 7.17 7.17 7.07 8.86 EEI 9.83 9.89 9.80 1.06 Euro-Med Lab 1.7 1.78 1.7 20.2 First Gen Corp.

25.85 26.55 26.05 71.5 First Holdings ‘A’ 82.8 83 81.5 5.34 Integ. Micro-Electronics 6.1 6.11 6.08 0.395 Ionics Inc 0.500 0.500 0.500 173 Jollibee Foods Corp.

190.00 195.00 190.00 10.18 8.65 Lafarge Rep 10.3 10.4 2.3 LMG Chemicals 2 2 2 1.63 Mabuhay Vinyl 2.6 2.54 2.53 23.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 24.95 25.2 24.85 17.3 Maxs Group 25.4 25.5 24.9 5.88 Megawide 6.18 6.6 6.2 250.2 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 299.00 301.00 297.60 3.87 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 4.77 4.8 4.65 8.45 Petron Corporation 10.00 7.88 7.48 10.04 Phinma Corporation 11.50 11.90 11.30 3.03 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.40 3.45 3.35 1.95 Phoenix Semiconductor 2.26 2.34 2.27 1 Pryce Corp. `A’ 3.89 3.95 3.83 4.02 RFM Corporation 4.30 4.36 4.29 1.65 Roxas and Co. 1.85 1.85 1.85 161 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 165 166.5 162.5 4.1 SPC Power Corp.

4.5 4.4 4.4 1.55 Splash Corporation 1.71 1.78 1.78 0.138 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.151 0.151 0.147 1.02 TKC Steel Corp.

1.22 1.25 1.23 2.09 Trans-Asia Oil 2.14 2.16 2.13 152 Universal Robina 191.3 193 190.5 0.7 0.7 0.69 0.640 Vitarich Corp.

10.02 Vivant Corp.

23.50 22.55 22.50 1.2 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.19 1.19 1.19 HOLDING FIRMS 0.44 Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.470 0.470 0.470 48.1 Aboitiz Equity 58.8000 59.0000 57.2000 20.85 Alliance Global Inc. 22.60 22.60 22.30 1.6 Anglo Holdings A 1.20 1.24 1.22 6.62 Anscor `A’ 6.84 7.00 6.87 0.23 ATN Holdings A 0.255 0.250 0.248 0.23 ATN Holdings B 0.250 0.245 0.245 634.5 Ayala Corp `A’ 780 795 777 7.390 Cosco Capital 7.4 7.61 7.32 12.8 DMCI Holdings 11.90 12.10 11.92 2.26 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

4.15 4.22 4.20 0.152 Forum Pacific 0.194 0.194 0.193 837 GT Capital 1400 1409 1372 5.3 House of Inv. 6.44 6.44 6.44 49.55 JG Summit Holdings 72.50 73.00 71.70 4.84 Lopez Holdings Corp.

7.21 7.28 7.03 0.59 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.65 0.66 0.64 12 LT Group 14.86 15.1 14.78 0.580 Mabuhay Holdings `A’ 0.56 0.6 0.56 4.2 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 4.85 5.04 4.76 4.5 Minerales Industrias Corp. 7.5 7.75 7.5 3.6 3 MJCI Investments Inc. 3.8 3.6 1.23 Prime Media Hldg 1.100 1.100 1.080 0.550 Prime Orion 2.110 2.140 2.080 2.26 Republic Glass ‘A’ 2.75 2.8 2.7 59.3 San Miguel Corp `A’ 56.30 57.00 56.20 1.5 Seafront `A’ 2.50 2.25 2.25 751 SM Investments Inc. 893.00 901.50 878.00 1.13 Solid Group Inc. 1.18 1.27 1.20 80 Top Frontier 79.850 81.950 79.500 0.211 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.3100 0.3100 0.3050 0.179 Wellex Industries 0.1870 0.1880 0.1880 PROPERTY 6.74 8990 HLDG 7.200 7.250 7.180 12 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 8.03 8.39 8.01 0.65 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.71 0.73 0.70 1.2 Araneta Prop `A’ 1.200 1.340 1.280 30.05 Ayala Land `B’ 37.40 37.55 36.90 3.36 Belle Corp. `A’ 3.7 3.7 3.64 2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.68 12.02 19.6 6.12 1.02 78 0.9 17.8 58 62 276 41 118.2 59 2.65

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank Bright Kindle Resources COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. I-Remit Inc. Metrobank Natl. Reinsurance Corp.

PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Union Bank Vantage Equities

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

SHARES 6,424,407 75,756,756 104,012,922 106,250,018 64,210,450 1,142,552,155 1,501,905,898

4 73.2 100.40 95.00 46.3 1.47 16.28 21.65 7.20 1.79 88.35 0.97 19.00 26.10 63.50 310 39.5 148.9 59.30 3.27

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.95 73.35 100.60 95.65 46.8 1.50 16.26 21.8 7.20 1.69 88.05 0.98 19.08 26.00 64.80 306 39.5 148.5 60.00 3.3

-1.25 0.20 0.20 0.68 1.08 2.04 -0.12 0.69 0.00 -5.59 -0.34 1.03 0.42 -0.38 2.05 -1.29 0.00 -0.27 1.18 0.92

192,000 16,120 1,553,390 810,860 154,800 4,000 200 135,700 3,000 5,000 2,844,610 296,000 15,700 10,000 62,730 24,200 56,400 140,520 7,060 91,000

43.3 1.61 1.03 1.88 10.62 18 26 55.9 2.95 1.58 12.94 21.900 9.10 7.15 9.82 1.78 26.5 82 6.09 0.500 195.00 10.18 2 2.53 25.15 25.5 6.31 299.80 4.74 7.78 11.90 3.45 2.32 3.87 4.30 1.85 165 4.4 1.78 0.147 1.23 2.16 192.1 0.7 22.50 1.19

-0.92 -8.52 0.00 -0.53 0.57 -0.55 0.00 1.64 5.36 0.00 -0.46 1.62 3.29 -0.28 -0.10 4.71 2.51 -0.97 -0.16 0.00 2.63 -1.17 0.00 -2.69 0.80 0.39 2.10 0.27 -0.63 -22.20 3.48 1.47 2.65 -0.51 0.00 0.00 0.00 -2.22 4.09 -2.65 0.82 0.93 0.42 0.00 -4.26 0.00

2,749,500 218,000 183,000 419,000 15,800 527,000 372,400 258,910 11,501,000 1,030,000 19,400 4,054,000 945,800 27,772,800 772,800 19,000 1,853,600 69,290 134,900 2,000 649,850 2,134,400 57,000 14,000 704,400 55,400 82,500 436,320 109,000 7,241,500 10,200 374,000 479,000 1,860,000 603,000 16,000 4,710 3,000 17,000 730,000 23,000 1,579,000 1,851,360 786,000 100,000 30,000

0.470 58.3000 22.35 1.24 6.90 0.248 0.245 795 7.36 12.02 4.20 0.193 1404 6.44 72.50 7.18 0.66 15 0.6 5 7.5 3.6 1.080 2.100 2.8 56.20 2.25 901.50 1.25 80.000 0.3100 0.1880

0.00 -0.85 -1.11 3.33 0.88 -2.75 -2.00 1.92 -0.54 1.01 1.20 -0.52 0.29 0.00 0.00 -0.42 1.54 0.94 7.14 3.09 0.00 -5.26 -1.82 -0.47 1.82 -0.18 -10.00 0.95 5.93 0.19 0.00 0.53

20,000 1,496,890 5,244,600 2,000 112,600 400,000 10,000 329,160 2,571,400 5,945,400 24,000 60,000 350,485 300 1,852,210 1,710,400 141,000 4,262,200 366,000 73,685,000 289,300 3,000 20,000 3,506,000 90,000 384,180 20,000 318,640 263,000 5,000 220,000 70,000

7.200 8.39 0.70 1.330 37.05 3.68

0.00 4.48 -1.41 10.83 -0.94 -0.54

237,600 -723,075.00 3,000 904,000 83,000 13,085,700 -137,080,475.00 3,183,000 949,500.00

1,029,971.50 17,522,877.00 -12,216,156.00 5,110,870.00 1,678,025.00 -14,400 36,558,976.00

316,842.00 -612,000.00 1,363,130.00 6,208,813.00 -116,212.00 -69,994,935.00 188,000.00 -7,663,858.00 -1,930,132.00 -510,840.00 -3,895,190.00 72,999.00 -112,282,278.00 2,622,283.00 -20,696,805.00 -1,338,652.00 -3,591,044.00 11,172,754.00 -80,000.00 -1,248,405.00 126,300.00 23,053,740.00 360,200.00 -13,259,198.00 772,650.00 11,580.00 637,430.00 575,000.00

-160,820.00 -87,589,731.00 2,137,500.00

20,762,173.50 -3,287,650.00

85,011,895.00 4,715,731.00 5,609,924.00 -108,807,045.00 28,622,060.00 -3,465,197.00 -39,600.00 -43,730,512.00 488,140.00

-14,759,542.00 -53,396,405.00 -8,680.00 -291,010.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

High

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

4.96 0.79 1.1 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 2.75 0.090 23 2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

Cebu Holdings 5.15 Century Property 0.83 City & Land Dev. 1.03 Crown Equities Inc. 0.129 Cyber Bay Corp.

0.430 Double Dragon 13.5 Empire East Land 0.860 Global-Estate 1.25 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.89 Interport `A’ 1.27 Megaworld Corp.

4.64 MRC Allied Ind. 0.103 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 23.00 Primex Corp.

7.37 Robinson’s Land `B’ 28.15 Rockwell 1.64 Shang Properties Inc. 3.33 SM Prime Holdings 21.45 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.75 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 0.810 Vista Land & Lifescapes 7.080

0.00 -1.20 7.77 -2.33 -2.33 2.07 0.00 0.80 5.29 1.57 3.45 -0.97 0.00 0.00 1.42 0.00 -0.30 0.70 -1.33 -1.23 -0.42

200 417,000 14,000 2,470,000 1,010,000 2,570,500 40,000 633,000 42,179,000 63,000 13,572,000 2,430,000 23 21,500 1,374,200 372,000 5,000 18,315,600 44,000 20,000 3,184,800

10.5 66 1.09 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 2.6 7.67 1700 2720 8.41 1.97 119.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 12.28 3.32 3.2 95.5 1 2.46 15.2 0.62 22.8 4 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1 11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

1.97 35.2 0.63 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 1.6 4.8 830 1600 5.95 1.23 102.6 0.011 0.041 1.200 6.5 1.91 1.95 3.1 0.650 1.8 6 0.335 14.54 2.28 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55 7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

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

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

Discovery World DFNN Inc. FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown MG Holdings Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

Paxys Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

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

Yehey

3.83 1.81 -3.17 -0.10 0.00 -2.09 1.08 0.39 -1.19 -2.00 0.00 2.09 1.09 -1.53 -0.73 9.09 -0.48 -5.76 0.00 -0.46 0.00 -6.87 0.00 0.00 -1.38 0.00 5.38 -17.81 -2.27 0.00 0.42 0.00 -0.64 -0.27 1.46 0.35 4.62 -0.38 0.00 2.11

928,500 9,170 2,000 8,642,400 9,880,000 71,000 822,690 1,500 30,000 435,200 40 160,650 91,100 192,000 617,400 7,100,000 2,210,000 3,645,000 3,243,500 535,000 5,000 1,500 21,000 20,000 3,203,800 30,000 115,110 1,000 190 65,100 108,980 569,000 10,809,000 1,526,200 901,960 1,369,700 4,226,000 629,700 200,000 1,525,000

0.0098 5.45 17.24 25 0.330 12.7 12.8 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 0.021 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9 0.016

0.0043 1.72 6.47 9.43 0.236 6.5 5.11 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 3.240 18.96 2.11 0.365 1.54 0.013 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67 0.0100

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’ Marcventures Hldgs., Inc. Nickelasia Nihao Mineral Resources Omico Oriental Peninsula Res. Oriental Pet. `B’ Petroenergy Res. Corp.

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

-4.41 0.00 2.36 0.00 -0.91 0.00 -0.58 -1.41 1.33 0.74 0.00 -1.67 -0.99 0.00 -7.14 -0.99 -1.14 3.92 0.00 2.05 0.00 0.00 -0.74 -0.61 0.00 -0.17 6.07 0.00

1,052,000,000 1,000 -2,500.00 157,500 247,790.00 3,800 120,000 22,000 3,700 -25,348.00 778,000 204,250.00 762,000 -344,520.00 25,300 3,703,000 -449,050.00 350,000 10,080,000 260,000 -10,750.00 5,400,000 3,216,000 -769,060.00 1,843,300 6,498,452.00 4,585,000 -2,237,750.00 1,000 64,000 300,000 23,000 380,700 54,976.00 761,000 53,700,000 14,300.00 1,028,550 -77,975,915.00 1,765,800 9,000.00 1,000,000

70 525 515 8.21 1047 76.9 78.95 84.8

33 500 480 5.88 1011 74.2 74.5 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. PF Pref 2 SMC Preferred A SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C

0.00 -1.92 0.00 0.00 -0.58 0.07 -3.42 -1.78

42,980 500 100 8,600 11,305 86,000 10,000 133,090

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

-0.25

163,000

15 12.88

3.5 5.95

-3.08 2.15

1,300 2,694,100

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

0.41

3,790

Makati Fin. Corp.

Xurpas

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,663.50 (up) 4.66 INDUSTRIAL 11,467.86 (down) 8.26 HOLDING FIRMS 6,867.04 (up) 44.34 PROPERTY 3,108.33 (up) 3.43 SERVICES 2,143.75 (up) 8.80 MINING & OIL 11,874.58 (down) 47.00 PSEI 7,573.26 (up) 23.26 All Shares Index 4,336.53 (up) 10.74 Gainers: 77 Losers: 82; Unchanged: 46; Total: 205

Close

5.59 1.44 1.97 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 4.88 0.180 27 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

5.15 5.15 5.15 0.84 0.82 0.82 1.12 1.05 1.11 0.129 0.126 0.126 0.430 0.420 0.420 13.84 13.1 13.78 0.870 0.860 0.860 1.28 1.25 1.26 2.00 1.91 1.99 1.31 1.27 1.29 4.8 4.69 4.8 0.109 0.101 0.102 23.00 23.00 23.00 7.39 7.23 7.37 28.55 28.00 28.55 1.64 1.64 1.64 3.32 3.26 3.32 22.30 21.45 21.60 0.74 0.73 0.74 0.800 0.800 0.800 7.200 7.030 7.050 SERVICES 8.1 8.76 8.11 8.41 60.8 62 60.85 61.9 0.630 0.610 0.610 0.610 9.70 9.77 9.64 9.69 0.0790 0.0800 0.0780 0.0790 3.35 3.3 3.23 3.28 93 94.8 92.9 94 10.36 10.4 10 10.4 1.68 1.66 1.66 1.66 5.51 5.52 5.10 5.40 970 970 970 970 2580 2640 2578 2634 6.45 6.55 6.50 6.52 1.31 1.29 1.26 1.29 109.9 109.9 107.5 109.1 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.012 0.208 0.210 0.204 0.207 1.3900 1.4300 1.2900 1.3100 10.38 10.60 10.36 10.38 2.17 2.18 2.15 2.16 2.10 2.10 2.10 2.10 40.00 36.00 42.95 40.00 0.680 0.680 0.670 0.680 2 2 2 2 8 8.09 7.6 7.89 0.310 0.310 0.310 0.310 19.88 20.95 19.88 20.95 3.2 2.63 2.63 2.63 110.00 107.50 107.50 107.50 18.90 18.90 18.50 18.90 2886.00 2920.00 2888.00 2898.00 0.660 0.690 0.660 0.660 1.570 1.560 1.520 1.560 37.00 37.30 36.80 36.90 75.40 76.50 75.30 76.50 8.69 8.73 8.59 8.72 0.65 0.69 0.65 0.68 5.33 5.33 5.3 5.31 0.320 0.320 0.320 0.320 2.840 2.960 2.840 2.900 MINING & OIL 0.0068 0.0068 0.0065 0.0065 2.50 2.50 2.50 2.50 5.50 5.70 5.50 5.63 11.50 11.50 10.80 11.50 0.220 0.218 0.218 0.218 6.7000 6.7000 6.7000 6.7000 6.8800 6.88 6.84 6.8400 0.71 0.73 0.7 0.7 0.75 0.77 0.74 0.76 6.75 6.95 6.75 6.80 1.3 1.34 1.30 1.3 0.300 0.305 0.295 0.295 0.202 0.206 0.200 0.200 0.215 0.230 0.215 0.215 0.014 0.013 0.013 0.013 3.03 3.06 2.89 3 10.54 10.62 10.42 10.42 3.83 3.98 3.83 3.98 0.6300 0.6300 0.6300 0.6300 1.9500 1.9900 1.9500 1.9900 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 0.0110 4.15 4.15 4.15 4.15 5.39 5.400 5.350 5.35 1.64 1.700 1.630 1.63 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 119.40 119.30 118.70 119.20 8.4 9.16 8.44 8.91 0.0090 0.0090 0.0090 0.0090 PREFERRED 60.5 62 60.35 60.5 547.5 537 537 537 525 525 525 525 6.4 6.4 6.4 6.4 1030 1025 1024 1024 75.5 75.6 75.55 75.55 84.9 82 82 82 84.5 84.5 83 83 WARRANTS & BONDS 4.060 4.200 4.050 4.050 SME 6.5 6.3 6.2 6.3 12.1 12.4 11.8 12.36 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 123 123.5 122.6 123.5

T op g ainerS VALUE 532,929,374.36 1,450,919,405.67 1,956,333,241.80 1,145,466,509.606 205,541,503.73 205,541,503.73 6,563,770,413.387

Low

-424,750.00 -615,418.00 2,610.00 -112,140.00 -17,326,810.00 31,531,540.00 9,200.00 -10,775,620.00 41,868,010.00 -7,477,293.00 -10,609.00 -48,954,779.00 -78,330.00 5,021,443.50

-9,260,540.00 12,700.00 -3,786,614.00 -5,500.00 41,100.00 83,980.00 15,917,924.00 -54,000.00

-638,317.00

495,068.00 -65,928,600.00 160,530.00 24,452,845.00 9,821,111.00 3,255,664.00 -1,007,720.00 548,101.00 -87,900.00

1,631,911.00

-4,835,650.00 -2,544,740.00

10,845,580.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Araneta Prop `A'

1.330

10.83

Petron Corporation

7.78

-22.20

IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

0.012

9.09

Paxys Inc.

2.63

-17.81

City & Land Dev.

1.11

7.77

Seafront `A'

2.25

-10.00

Mabuhay Holdings `A'

0.6

7.14

Agrinurture Inc.

1.61

-8.52

TA Petroleum

8.91

6.07

Manila Mining `A'

0.013

-7.14

Solid Group Inc.

1.25

5.93

Manila Broadcasting

40.00

-6.87

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

20.95

5.38

ISM Communications

1.3100

-5.76

Crown Asia

2.95

5.36

I-Remit Inc.

1.69

-5.59

Filinvest Land,Inc.

1.99

5.29

MJCI Investments Inc.

3.6

-5.26

Euro-Med Lab

1.78

4.71

Abra Mining

0.0065

-4.41

TUESDAY: AUGUST 4, 2015

B3

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

MPIC sees profit rising to P10b

By Jenniffer B. Austria

INFRASTRUCTURE conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. said it expects to post P10 billion in core net income this year, up 18 percent from P8.5 billion in 2014, despite the delayed tariff adjustments in water and tollroad businesses.

Metro Pacific chief finance officer David Nicol said in a press briefing the 2015 core net income could have been higher by P2 billion to P12 billion if the tariff rate adjustments were implemented.

“That is a very significant amount,” Nicol said.

Metro Pacific, meanwhile, said first-half net income jumped 31 percent to P5.6 billion, while core net income increased 27 percent

to P5.9 billion from P4.6 billion year-on-year.

Metro Pacific president Jose Ma. Lim attributed the increase in core net income to strong traffic growth on all tollroads owned Metro Pacific Tollways Corp., increased shareholdings in MPTC and growth in billed volume of Maynilad Water Services Inc. Lim said a higher stake in Manila Electric Co. and growth in the

hospital group also contributed to the company’s core net income.

“All our operating companies reported strong growth in profitability for the first of the year.

We anticipate continued strong growth for the rest of the year for all our subsidiaries in light of anticipated continuing economic expansion expansion,” Lim said.

“Regrettably, against this positive economic backdrop, we continue to encounter regulatory challenges on tariff setting in water, tollroads and rail as well as further delays in expansion of our road networks. These all combined act as a drag on our earnings growth which remains strong but lower than it should have given the capital we are continuing to invest,” he added.

Consolidated revenues in the

first six months of the year grew six percent to P17.6 billion from P16.6 billion a year ago.

Nicol the company was studying the possibility of reducing its ownership in the water and hospital businesses to raise funds for its tollroad projects.

He said many had expressed interest in investing in the company’s subsidiaries.

Nicol declined to comment when asked if GIC of Singpore, which has a 14.4-percent interest in the company’s hospital group, and Marubeni Corp. of Japan, which is currently a shareholder in Maynilad, were interested in acquiring additional shares in MPIC units.

Lim stressed MPIC would maintain a majority interest in Maynilad and the hospital business.

7-Eleven in CDO. 7-Eleven, the world’s leading convenience store chain, opened its first outlet in Cagayan de Oro as a part of the

company’s aggressive expansion program in Mindanao and in line with its thrust of putting up 500 stores across the country this year. The new outlet, located in Georgetown Cybermall along Pelaez Boulevard, allows 7-Eleven to introduce its wide array of products, both proprietary and graband-go brands, to the Kagay-anons. Aside from CDO, 7-Eleven’s recent expansion in Mindanao included Davao and other Metro Davao provinces.

Asia United Bank receives favorable credit rating

By Julito G. Rada ASIA United Bank, the financial arm of the Rebisco group of companies, received an issuer rating of PRS Aa from Philippine Rating Services Corp., reflecting the bank’s sound funding profile.

PhilRatings said in a statement the rating was reflective of the expectations that the bank’s profitability would remain stable as it continued to focus on the core business of lending.

“The bank’s aggressive growth strategy to support its strategic goal, given AUB’s status as a midsize player; and the positive out-

look for the domestic economy, which remains supportive of the country’s banking industry,” the ratings agency said.

An issuer rating is an opinion on the general and overall creditworthiness of the issuer, evaluating its ability to meet all financial obligations within a time horizon of one year. The rating focuses on financial strength and stability under normal and stressed conditions in meeting existing and prospective financial obligations.

A company rated PRS Aa (corp) differs from the highest-rated corporate only to a small degree, and

has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to that of other Philippine corporates.

“AUB’s funding base predominantly consisted of customer deposits, and demonstrated low reliance on wholesale funding sources,” PhilRatings said. As of March 31, 2015, deposits accounted for a high 92.3 percent of total liabilities.

“The bank’s funding profile is considered sound, with the more stable, lower-cost current and savings account representing the bulk of deposits. Forecast shows that CASA will continue to be

AUB’s primary funding source in 2015 to 2017,” it said.

The bank’s deposit growth is seen to be sustained largely by the push for more branches and its deposit-generation campaigns.

Net interest income is expected to continue to account for the bulk of revenues.

“The forecast reflects AUB’s strategy to utilize its strong deposit-generation ability to expand the bank’s loan portfolio. Net interest margins will post hikes in 2016 and 2017, given the increased share of consumer loans relative to the bank’s loan portfolio,” PhilRatings said.

Market up; Globe, MetroPac advance THE stock market rose for the fourth straight day Monday on selective buying, ignoring a decline in the regional market.

The Philippine Stock Exchange Index gained 23.26 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,573.26 on a value turnover of P6.6 billion. Losers, however, edged gainers, 82 to 77, with 46 issues unchanged.

Globe Telecom Inc., the second-biggest telecommunications firm, advanced 2.1 percent to P2,634, while parent Ayala Corp. climbed 1.9 percent to P795.

Metro Pacific Investments Corp., which is into toll road, electricity and water distribution, and hospital businesses, surged 3.1 percent to P5.

Metro Pacific said it expects to post P10 billion in core net income this year, up 18 percent from P8.5 billion in 2014 despite the delayed tariff adjustments in water and toll road businesses.

Metro Pacific chief finance officer David Nicol said in a press briefing Monday the 2015 core net income would have been higher by P2 billion to P12 billion if the tariff rate adjustments were implemented.

First-half net income jumped 31 percent to P5.6 billion, while core net income increased 27 percent to P5.9 billion from P4.6 billion year-on-year.

Jollibee Foods Corp., the largest fastfood chain, increased 2.6 percent to P195.

Asian markets fell Monday as China shares were dragged down by poor manufacturing figures and investors followed a drop on Wall Street.

A private survey of Chinese manufacturing activity showed a decline to a two-year low in July, suggesting the world’s second largest economy faces challenges in the third quarter.

Shanghai fell 1.72 percent in afternoon trade, while Hong Kong dropped 1.02 percent.

Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index slipped 37.13 points to finish at 20,548.11, while South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI fell 21.67 points to close at 2,008.49.

Sydney eased 19.9 points, or 0.35 percent, to 5,679.3 ahead of the central bank’s monthly monetary policy meeting Tuesday.

Investor sentiment in China reflected the final reading of Caixin’s Purchasing Managers’ Index, which came in at 47.8 for July.

The figure was below the 49.4 registered in June and was the weakest reading since 47.7 in July 2013, according to previous data, with a figure above 50 signaling growth and anything below indicating contraction.

With AFP

B4

e-Titling. The Land Registration Authority and The Organization of Property Stakeholders Inc. organized a summit where they pushed for the complete conversion of all paper land titles to e-titles. Shown attending the summit are (from left) CBRE Philippines director Morgan McGilvray, Bureau of Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Jacinto-Henares, National Housing Authority general manager Chito Cruz, LRA administrator Eulalio Diaz III, Home Development Mutual Fund chief executive Darlene Marie Berberabe, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board commissioner and chief executive Antonio Bernardo, and Land Registration Systems Inc. vice president Ernesto Camarillo Jr.

3 firms eye airport bus service

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board said Monday three groups are vying to provide premium airport bus service.

The LTFRB said Airfreight 2100, JAM Liner Inc. and Froehlich Tours Inc. submitted their legal, financial and technical qualification documents to provide convenient and safe premium bus airport services to airline employees and passengers of the three international and domestic terminals.

Airfreight 2100 is a member of The Lina Group of Companies, while Froehlich Tours is a prime VIP and luxury tourist bus charter company.

The agency said only one qualified applicant will be selected to apply for franchise to operate more than 40 units of modern airport buses equipped with on-board

CCTV, Wi-Fi, on-board automated bus arrival electronic display and announcement system.

“The opening and evaluation of the legal, financial and technical capability of the participants is the first step to determine who will qualify to provide the premium airport bus service,” LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez said.

The participant who will be selected to apply for franchise is expected to inject up to P420 million in investment to operate the airport bus service similar to airport bus services provided in Hong Kong and Singapore.

The board has identified two

airport bus routes. The first is the 24-kilometer NAIA–Roxas Boulevard area, including Mall of Asia and Entertainment City, while the second is the 18-km Naia–Makati Central Business District route.

Each route will have two subroutes, with one serving Naia Terminal 1 and 2 and the other serving Naia Terminal 3. Each route variant and sub-route will have no more than fiv stops, all within the ‘target zone’ to ensure efficient travel times for passengers.

Authorized airport taxi services currently provide transport

service to airline passengers in the three terminals but with the increasing number of tourist arrival, especially on peak travel months, there is a need to offer travelers alternate and convenient transport mode.

The board will announce the selected participant on August 10.

Under the requirements, a qualified participant will provide up to 42 airport bus units with a 24-passenger seating capacity that will operate from four in the morning to 12 midnight and pick up passengers on designated offstreet stops.

Insurance industry expanded 42% in Q2

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE insurance industry grew 42 percent in terms of premium income in the second quarter, on the back of the rapid expansion of the life sector, the Insurance Commission said.

Insurance Commissioner Emmanuel Dooc said total premium income grew 42 percent in the April-June period to P116.1 billion from P81.761 billion in the same period last year.

The agency said based on quarterly reports submitted by life and non-life companies, the industry’s total net income in the second quarter also grew 32.7 percent to P10.85 billion from P8.18 billion a year earlier.

Total assets in the second quarter rose 12.8 percent to P1.073 trillion from P951.66 billion in the same period a year ago.

The industry’s net worth stood at P186.57 billion as of end-June, higher than P181.20 billion recorded in the same three-month period in 2014.

Total investments increased 17.2 percent to P929.87 billion from P793.580 last year, while total paid-up capital for the second quarter went up by 4.8 percent to P40.80 billion.

Data showed the life sector’s total premiums grew 50 percent to P98.82 billion in the second quarter. Net income rose 31.3 percent to P9.046 billion while assets increase 15.5 percent to P915.20 billion.

The life insurance’s total investments increased 19.1 percent to P867.78 billion while paid up capital grew 4.1 percent to P14.81 billion.

UCPB promo. UCPB has launched a customer information update drive to encourage clients to update their customer information with the bank. The drive aims to ensure that customers receive all bank communication materials in a timely manner, including advisories, product and promo announcements and other important information concerning their accounts with UCPB. Clients who update records from Aug. 1 to Oct. 31 have a chance to win a 16-GB iPad Mini. Shown is a UCPB customer updating her information with the bank staff.

T U E S D AY : A U G U S T 4 , 2 0 1 5

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

B5

Otto starts Palawan drilling

By Alena Mae S. Flores

OTTO Energy Ltd. of Australia, operator of service contract 55, said it started drilling an oil well in a petroleum-rich prospect south off Palawan.

Otto said in a disclosure to the Australian Securities Exchange the Hawkeye-1 exploration well, covered by SC 55, was spud on July 31. Drilling depth reached 2,449 meters.

“The forward plan is to connect the blow-out preventer to the wellhead and pressure test before commencing to drill the

17.5-inch hole to just above the primary target reservoir,” it said.

SC 55 covers the exploration, development and exploitation of petroleum resources offshore southwestern Palawan covering about 9,880 square kilometers.

Otto said any success at Hawkeye-1 well would enhance the prospect of surrounding leads in

the deepwater block.

Trans-Asia Oil and Energy Development Corp., whose subsidiary Palawan 55 Exploration and Production Corp. holds a stake in SC 55, said in a separate disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange water depth at the well location reached 1,788 meters.

Trans-Asia said the programmed total depth would be 2,887 meters below sea level with drilling duration anticipated to last three weeks. The well may be deepened, depending on results, it said.

Otto last week reconsidered and accepted the offer of Pryce Corp. subsidiary, liquefied petro-

leum gas distributor Pryce Gases Inc., to acquire a 10-percent stake in SC 55.

“This farm-in option, along with the $24.5-million funding committed by BHP Biliton and Red Emperor farm in announced in March 2015 for a 15-percent working interest, ensures that Otto is fully funded for the drilling of Hawkeye -1 which is estimated to cost between $30 to $35 million,” it said.

The Hawkeye prospect was identified on a 2D seismic study in 2007 followed by 3D seismic acquisition in 2009.

It contains best estimate of 480 million barrels of oil and best

estimate net prospect resource of 47 million barrels of oil. The Cinco prospect, also located at SC 55, is estimated to contain up to 2.9 trillion cubic feet of gas.

Otto signed a binding agreement with BHP Billiton Philippines Inc. in early 2014 to terminate the farm-out agreement in SC 55.

BHP Billiton re-assigned a 60-percent working interest to Otto, increasing Otto’s working interest to 93.18 percent in SC 55.

The key terms of the agreement includes BHP Billiton’s payment of $3 million to Otto and $24.5 million more upon drilling the first exploration well.

Market index to hit 7,950 —COL

By Jenniffer B. Austria ONLINE brokerage firm COL Financial Philippines has revised downward its year-end target for the Philippine Stock Exchange index to 7,950, from the previous estimate of 8,300 on lower earnings outlook.

COL Financial vice president and research head April Lynn Tan said in a news briefing while concerns over the Greek debt default had dissipated, other external threats such as the continuous selloff in Thailand and Indonesia and the upcoming Fed rate hike in the United States were affecting the local stock market.

“The earnings outlook for listed companies has deteriorated as the 2015 earnings per share growth for the PSEi has dropped to 4 percent from 13 percent previously, prompting us to reduce our end-2015 estimate PSEi target to 7,950 from 8,300,” Tan said.

The PSEi, the 30-company benchmark, closed at 7,573.26 Monday.

Tan said the market’s current weakness was only temporary as the Philippines still had one of the best fundamental long-term stories globally.

Tan said the Philippines’ more than 6-percent economic growth would be faster than the average economic growth of both developed and developing countries.

COL Financial said government spending was expected to pick up in the second half while more infrastructure projects under the public-private participation scheme would be rolled out in the coming months.

Tan said given these factors, investors should remain invested particularly on stocks that had been sold off.

Among COL Financial’s stock picks were Ayala Corp., Metrobank, SM Prime Holdings Inc., First Gen Corp., Cebu Air Inc., Filinvest Land Inc. and Ayala Land Inc.

Mobile congress.

Globe Telecom led the discussion on its digital and mobile business models at a panel session alongside representatives from the largest companies in Asia and the world at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2015. Globe head of strategy and corporate development for consumer business Benett Aquino (second from left) discussed “Business Models for the Future of Mobile Internet”. With Aquino on the panel are (from left) Neha Dharia of Ovum, Mausam Bhatt of Flipkart, Peter Greenberger of Twitter and PranayJivrajka of Olacabs.

BSP proposes new payment system to boost economy

By Julito G. Rada THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is pushing for a new retail payment system that will reduce paper transactions.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said during the 25th anniversary of Bancnet in Makati City an efficient national retail payment system would contribute to the stability and efficiency of the financial system and the economy as a whole.

“Studies have shown that shifting from paper-based to electronic-based payment system can generate an annual savings up to 1 percent of gross domestic product,” Tetangco said.

“Equally significant, digitization of payments can promote greater financial inclusion. Our national baseline survey in financial inclusion showed that only 4 out of 10 Filipino adults currently have savings, of whom only 32.7 percent put their money in banks,” he said.

The survey also indicated that 47 percent of Filipinos had debts but banks contributed only 4.4 percent of their borrowings, with the rest coming from family, relatives, friends and informal lenders.

Tetangco cited the ongoing integration of Megalink into Bancnet, which created the unified ATM switch network in the Philippines.

He said the ultimate goal would Filipinos make about 2.5 billion be the creation of a national retail payment transactions per month payment system, with Bancnet a worth $74 billion, but only 1 pervital part of the plan. cent are transacted electronically NRPS envisions Filipinos to and 99 percent of the transactions have easy access to financial ser- are paid either in cash or checks. vices and have accounts to make “NRPS will allow us to start repayments, and receive or transfer versing this ratio. In other words, funds to other accounts anytime, you have the option to have a biganywhere, at a reasonable price ger slice of this huge pie,” Tetangfrom any digital device. co said.

Based on country diagnostics conducted by the Better Than Cash Alliance, of which the Ph i l ippi nes Mr. Wong’s column will resume next week. is a member,

TUESDAY: AUGUST 4, 2015

B6

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

Ports ready for higher volume

By Darwin G. Amojelar

STATE-RUN Philippine Ports Authority said Monday its controlled ports nationwide are ready for the influx of cargo volume brought about by the lifting of the Cabotage Law. PPA general manager Juan Sta. Ana said the agency had been improving the capacity and capability of the Philippine ports in anticipation of the implementation of the Asean Economic Community at the start of next year. He said the measures had helped the PPA to adjust easily to the amendment to the Cabotage Law. “Philippine ports are ready even prior to the signing of the law relaxing the country’s Cabotage Law,” Sta. Ana said.

He said the major gateways had long been capable of handling bigger ships and that the secondary

gateways were being improved to handle international vessels.

“While we expect that the effect of the relaxation of the Cabotage will not immediately trickle down to port operations, our ports will not have a hard time adjusting to expected influx of vessels and cargoes in the different ports,” Sta. Ana added.

The Philippines has 10 major gateways where foreign-flag ships dock, like the Manila International Container Terminal, the Manila South Harbor and the Manila North Port in Manila, Batangas Port, Port of Davao, Makar Wharf in General Santos,

Iloilo Port, Zamboanga, Ozamiz and Cagayan de Oro. Other government ports where ships call include Cebu and Subic Bay. These ports handle about 90 percent of the total cargo movement in and out of the Philippines, while the Manila ports corner about 85 percent of the percentage. The balance of 10 percent is handled by other private ports like the Manila Harbour Centre.

Philippine cargo volume in the first four months of the year posted a modest increase on strong foreign container cargo, notably exports, and healthier domestic cargo volume.

Total volume reached 66.60 million metric tons, higher by 6.34 percent from 62.63 MMT posted in the same period of 2014.

Domestic cargoes registered a 6.9 increase to 27.75 MMT from only 25.97 MMT in the Januaryto-April 2014 period.

BPI Investment awards.

The Philippine Investment Funds Association awarded BPI Investment Management Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of the Philippine Islands, in 11 categories in PIFA’s 9th Annual Awards Night at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Makati. PIFA awardees represent the top three performers in the money market, peso and foreign-currency bond, peso and foreign currency balanced, and peso equity fund categories based on their one-,three-, fiveand 10-year return on investment. Shown during the awarding ceremony are (from left) PIFA trustee Ferdinand Berba (left), BIMI representative Hasmin Jurina Canlas and PIFA trustee Jose Mari Valmayor.

The PIFA citations affirm BPI Investment Management’s excellence in mutual fund management.

Alzona appointed PSALM president

By Alena Mae S. Flores PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III appointed Lourdes Alzona as president of Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., the agency that manages the assets and liabilities of National Power Corp.

Alzona acted as officer-incharge prior to the appointment, in lieu of former president Emmanuel Ledesma Jr. who was suspended for 90 days starting May 5 due to allegations and complaints of employees.

President Aquino in a letter dated July 30, 2015 appointed Alzona as the replacement of Ledesma “for the unexpired term of office that began on 01 July 2015

and will end on 30 June 2016.”

Alzona became the sixth chief executive of PSALM, succeeding previous appointees Edgardo del Fonso, Raphael Perpetuo Lotilla, Nieves Osorio, Jose Ibazeta and Ledesma.

Alzona, a certified public accountant and a business administration graduate from the Philippine Women’s University, has been in public service for 33 years.

Prior to joining PSALM, Alzona was with National Power Corp. for over 20 years.

Having assumed various executive positions and capacities at Napocor, Alzona gained extensive experience and training in corporate budgeting, treasury management, controllership, fi-

nancial analysis and management accounting.

Alzona was first hired in PSALM as consultant in 2003 before her appointment as manager of the energy market settlement department.

When she transferred to the controllership department in 2004, it was heralded as the Most Outstanding Accounting Office– Government Corporate Sector by the Association of Government Accountants of the Philippines.

In July 2008, she joined PSALM’s management team after assuming as vice president of the finance group, and has remained as finance head until her recent appointment as officer-in-charge in May 5, 2015.

Minimum wage laws making a comeback?

THE idea that the law should set a minimum daily wage for workers gained currency during the period of the Great Depression and rose to public favor on the wave of the general dissatisfaction and distress that followed the end of World War II. The Western European in particular were highly receptive to the idea of putting a floor under workers’ take-home pay and join the US in enacting minimum-wage legislation.

As the world economy regained its strength, and as the socialist wave proceeded to recede, fervor for minimum-wage legislation gradually waned. With conservatism dominant once more, the appetite for government intervention on wage issues decreased, and the marketplace was once again thought to be the proper agent for wage-setting.

The involvement of the government in the matter of wages represents a repudiation of the labor market place, where prices of factors of production are decided by the interplay of the demand for and the supply of labor. On the basis of their philosophical predilections, conservative-minded economists are opposed to what they regard as government meddling in one of the most important markets of a capitalist economy, while liberal economists believe that assuring workers a living wage falls squarely within a government’s highest priorities. Leave wage-setting to the marketplace, conservative economists say; the market place cannot be counted upon to give workers their due, counter economists with a liberal philosophy.

The aversion of liberal economists to legislated minimum wages stems from a number of factors.

The most important of these factors is administrative in nature.

Anything that is mandated by law should be adequately administered, and this gives rise to problems of policing and punishment.

These problems hardly arise in well-governed countries, but they are a serious matter in third world countries. In this country, employees that religiously pay the minimum wage are the exception rather than the rule. In labor-surplus countries, employees typically sign pieces of paper indicating receipt of the minimum daily wage rather than run the risk of being terminated. Liberal economists ask: what is the point of legislatively mandating minimum wages if these cannot be implemented effectively? Another obvious objection to the involuntary setting of minimum wages is the determination of what a living wage is. Determining the amount of wages needed to assure a family of five the typical family size in the Philippines—decent daily living is a matter that government policymakers continually have to wrestle with. Is the established amount sufficient or not? And then there are the regional differences in living costs to reckon with.

Additionally, there is the issue of incidence. Who should be required to pay their workers a minimum daily wage? If SME (small and medium enterprises) are to be exempted, where should the exemption line be drawn? Here the problem is that proprietors of establishments split them up in order to become eligible for the size-based exemption.

The apparent resurgence of interest in minimum-wage legislation--the governments of Switzerland and a number of US states have expressed an intent to reexamine their positions on minimum wages--strongly suggestive of a feeling that the market place has not done a good job of achieving equilibrium between labor demand and supply and that government intervention is necessary to establish or restore that equilibrium.

Obviously, the growing impression is that whereas the managements and supervisory personnel of business establishments are continually increasing their incomes, the take-home pay of their wage-earning employees has been stagnating or even decreasing in purchasing-power terms. The media stories of excessive pay and fat bonuses and allowances for company executives—the main targets of the Occupy Wall Street movement—have done nothing to correct this impression.

Are we witnessing another sustained wave of minimum-wage agitation? Perhaps. What is beyond doubt is that government’s and corporate sector’s need to take early steps to ensure that wage-earners’ share of a nation’s aggregate income is maintained at an acceptable level.

E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com

t u e s d ay : a u g u s t 4 , 2 0 1 5

WORLD

cesar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

B7

Thank Romans for street food ROME—Grabbing something hot and tasty on the move? You have the ancient Romans to thank. “Street food” was their invention, generally enjoyed with wine, gambling or even prostitutes.

Food on the go was an integral part of daily life in the empire, from nibbling on salted peas while watching gladiators battle in the Colosseum, to grabbing a sausage or fried fish snack after a dip in Rome’s famed baths.

Feeding an empire of some 50 million people was no mean feat, as an exhibition in the Italian capital sets out to show in conjunction with Milan’s 2015 Universal Exhibition on the themes of food and agriculture, running until the end of October.

Food scarcity could trigger uprisings or even topple leaders, a risk Emperor Augustus (63 BC to 14 AD) was unwilling to take. He made importing wheat, oil, wine and other foodstuffs a top priority, changing the face of Roman dining.

A typical day kicked off with the jentaculum, or breakfast salted bread, dried fruit and eggs washed down with milk or wine.

That was followed by a quick prandium, or lunch, grabbed at the thermopolia forerunners of fast food restaurants or popinae, wine bars frequented by the lower classes where customers could grab a bite, dabble in a bit of gambling, or pop upstairs for some sex.

And after an afternoon’s work or session at the thermal baths, the rich would throw sumptuous banquets, dining on anything from peacock tongues to baked dormice.

The rest of the population supped on fresh vegetables, stews and, occasionally, meat.

“The logistics deployed by the Romans to feed themselves is fascinating,” said Orietta Rossini, curator of the Ara Pacis exhibition, emphasizing how hard it was to keep happy a capital of one million people the biggest in history before the industrial revolution hit London.

The key lay in turning conquered Egypt into the empire’s granary and ensuring wheat was transported cheaply to Rome all year round.

Private shipowners would carry up to 500 tons of wheat between Alexandria and Rome

under the strict supervision of the state in an early example of today’s partnerships between the private and public sectors, Rossini said.

This made the emperor “the sole distributor of daily bread, the only one responsible for the supply of provisions”.

Augustus boosted his popularity by distributing 35 kilos of wheat a month free to 20,000 citizens free men over 17 years old.

Egypt’s role was later passed on to the empire’s African provinc-

es, with grain shipped from Carthage in Tunisia to Rome’s Ostia port in just three days and nights. Wine, sold at rock-bottom prices, was also imported, along with oil and meat.

The wealthy may have gone out of the way to impress with exotic dishes, but the empire’s leaders were fond above all of fruit and vegetables: Emperor “Tiberius loved cucumber, while Augustus loved asparagus”, Rossini said.

Samples of carbonized foodstuffs dis-

covered during excavations at the ancient town of Herculaneum destroyed along with Pompeii by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 are on display at the exhibition, including wizened Roman-era figs.

The much-lauded “Mediterranean diet” began here: broad beans, peas, lentils and onions went in stews, with pine nuts, dates and almonds thrown in. Cumin, coriander, sesame and mint seeds were used to spice up dishes. AFP

Republic of the Philippines Office of the President National Irrigation Administration (PAMBANSANG PANGASIWAAN NG PATUBIG) UPPER PAMPANGA RIVER INTEGRATED IRRIGATION SYSTEM DIVISION I Muñoz Science City, Nueva Ecija Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Website:

CLSU Cmpd. Science City of Muñoz, N. Ecija (044) 456-0043/ 456 73 46 www.nia.gov.ph

The National Irrigation Administration- Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIAUPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, through the COB for CY 2015 Projects intends to apply the sum of Nineteen Million Nine Hundred Ninety Two Thousand Six Hundred Twenty Pesos & 26/100 (Php 19,992,620.26 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for UPRIIS-COB-CW-2015-01. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening. a. Package No. : D1-2015-01 b. Project Name : Construction of NIA-UPRIIS Div.I Administration Bldg. c. Location : Malayantoc, Sto. Domingo, Nueva Ecija d. Scope of Work : Construction of Administration Building e. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : PhP 19,992,620.26 f. Contract Duration : 272 cal. days g. Min. PCAB ARC Size Range (Building and Industrial Plant) : Small B

2.

3.

The National Irrigation Administration-Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIAUPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, now invites bids for Construction of NIA-UPRIIS Div. I Administration Bldg. Completion of the Works is on May 31,2016 with a contract duration of 272 cal. days. Bidders should have completed, within ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

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

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from National Irrigation Administration- Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIA-UPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a nonrefundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount of PhP 25,000.00.

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

The National Irrigation Administration- Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIAUPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on August 11, 2015 @ 2:00 PMat (NIA-UPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija],which shall beopen only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

6.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before August 24, 2015 @ 12:00 PMat (NIAUPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 17.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

7.

August 4 – August 10, 2015 August 4, 2015–August 24,2015 until 12:00 PM August 11, 2015 @ 2:00 PM August 24, 2015 @ 12:00 PM August 24, 2015 @ 1:00 PM

8.

The National Irrigation Administration- Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIAUPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecijareserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

9.

For further information, please refer to: WILFREDO C. RAMOS Chairman, Bids & Awards Committee Head, Operations Unit NIA-UPRIIS, Division I CLSU Compound, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija Fax No. (044) 456-0043 Tel. No. (044) 456-7346 Email Address: niaupriis_division1@yahoo.com

INVITATION TO BID IB No. GS-2015-41- A , 122, 123 T h e P r o v i n c i a l G overnment of Oriental Mindoro invites PhilGeps registered suppliers to A pply for E l i g i b i l i t y a n d t o Bid for the hereunder list of item/s.

Item/Description

1.

S u p p l y & d e l i ve r y o f H o s p i t a l / M e d i c a l Eq u i p m e n t f o r u s e o f O r i e n t a l M i n d o r o P r ov i n c i a l H o s p i t a l

2.

S u p p l y & d e l i ve r y o f C o n s t r u c t i o n Materials and Supplies for Construction of Language Skills Institute at Capitol C o m p l ex , C a l a p a n C i t y, O r i e n t a l M i n d o r o

3.

S u p p l y & d e l i ve r y o f A i r c o n d i t i o n i n g System for Installation at C o n f e r e n c e H a l l , C a p i t o l C o m p l ex , C a l a p a n C i t y, O r i e n t a l M i n d o r o

Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC)

Bid Document Fee

Source of Funding

6,620,000.00

Php 10,000.00

Tr u s t Fund ( H F E P)

5 , 9 42 , 3 4 6 . 0 0

Php 10,000.00

G e n e r a l Fu n d 2 015

2,393,039.00

Php 5 ,000.00

G e n e r a l Fu n d

The schedule of bidding activities is as follows: 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Advertisement/Posting of ITB Ø Bulletin Board of the PGOM Ø PGOM Website Ø PhilGEPS Website Ø Newspaper of General Nationwide Circulation Issuance of Bidding Documents Pre-Bid Conference Deadline of Submission of Bids Opening of Bid in sealed envelope a). Eligibility Requirements and Technical Proposal b). Financial Proposal

: : : : : : :

August August August August August August August

4, 2015 4, 2015 4, 2015 4, 2015 10 -28, 2015 14,2015 2015 at 10:00 a.m. at BAC Office 28, 2015 at 9:3 0 a.m. at BAC Office

: August 28, 2015 at 10:0 0 a.m. at BAC Office : August 28, 2015 at 10:0 0 a.m. at BAC Office

B i d d i n g w i l l b e c onducted through open competitive bidding procedures using non-discretionary p a s s / f a i l c r i t e r i o n as specified in R.A. 9184 and its IRR otherwise known as the Government P r o c u r e m e n t R e f orm Act. T h e c o m p l e t e s e t of bidding documents may be purchased at the BAC Secretariat upon payment o f n o n - r e f u n d a b l e price of bid documents indicated above.

P r e - B i d C o n f e r e nce shall be opened to all interested parties, however only those who purchased t h e B i d d i n g D o c u ments may participate in the discussion at said conference.

A l l p a r t i c u l a r s r elative to eligibility requirements and screening, bid security, performance s e c u r i t y , p r e - b i d conference, evaluation of bids, post qualification and award of contract shall be g o v e r n e d b y t h e provision of R.A. 9184 and its IRR. T h e P G O M r e s e r ves the right to accept or reject bid to annul bidding process, and to reject all b i d s a t a n y t i m e prior to contract award without thereby incurring any liability to the affected b i d d e r o r b i d d e r s.

MR. JULIO R. ICAL H e a d , B A C S e c r etariat P r o v i n c i a l C a p i tol, Camilmil, Calapan City T e l . ( 0 4 3 ) 2 8 6 - 7 120 ( 0 4 3 ) 2 8 6 - 7 447 ( TS- A U G U S T 4 , 2 0 1 5 )

( S g d .) ENGR. ELMER V. DILAY Provincial Engineer BAC Chairman

Republic of the Philippines MUNICIPALITY OF SANTO DOMINGO Province of Ilocos Sur BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE =========================================================== INVITATION TO BID The Municipality of Santo Domingo, Ilocos Sur, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites bidders/suppliers to apply for eligibility and if found eligible, to bid for the hereunder contract: Name of Contract

: PURCHASE OF MEDICAL EQUIPMEN (ULTRASOUND MACHINE) Location : MUNICIPALITY OF STO. DOMINGO, ILOCOS SUR Brief Description : TO AUGMENT MEDICAL SERVICES Contract Ref. Number : G – 15 –08 – 009 Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : PHP5,500,000.00 Source of Fund : 20 % DEVELOPMENT FUND Contract Period : 60 CALENDAR DAYS (DELIVERY PERIOD) Prospective bidders should have experienced in undertaking a similar project/contract within the last one year with an amount of at least 50% of the ABC. The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria. The BAC will conduct postqualification of the lowest calculated bid.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-bidding Conference, Evaluation of Bids, Postqualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of RA 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).

BAC ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE 1. Pre-procurement Conference JULY 23, 2015 AT 9:00 A.M. 2. Advertisement /Posting of Invitation to Bid/ AUGUST 05-11, 2015 Request for Expression of Interest 3. Pre-bid Conference AUGUST 13, 2015 AT 9:00 A.M. 4. Receipt of Eligibility Requirements BEFORE AUGUST 27, 2015 AT 9:00 A.M. 5. Issuance of Bidding Documents AUGUST 05-27, 2015; 8:00AM – 5:00 PM 6. Receipt and opening of bids AUGUST 27, 2015 AT 9:00 A.M. The BAC will issue to prospective bidder/s Eligibility Forms at the Office of the BAC Chairman upon their payment of non-refundable of Ten thousandpesos (Php10,000.00) to the Municipality of Santo Domingo Cashier.

Approved by:

Noted by:

(SGD) WILFREDO C. RAMOS Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee

(SGD) FREDDIE M. TOQUERO, Ph.D. Manager, Division I, NIA-UPRIIS

Noted by:

(TS-AUGUST 4, 2015)

BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

The schedule of BAC Activities is as follows:

The complete schedule of activities is listed as follows: 1. Posting of Invitation to Bid (PhilGEPS, NIA-Bulletin Boards) 2. Issuance of Bid Documents 3. Pre-Bid Conference 4. Deadline of Submission of Bids 5. Opening of Bids

C a mi l mi l , C a l a p a n C i t y 5 2 0 0 . O ri e n t a l Mi n d o ro

F o r f u r t h e r i n f o r m ation, please refer to:

Invitation to Bid for NIA- UPRIIS DIVISION 1 ADMINISTRATION BUILDING under ITB No. UPRIIS-COB-CW-2015-01 1.

Republic of the Philippines

PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF ORIENTAL MINDORO

(SGD) REYNALDO D. PUNO Department Manager, NIA-UPRIIS

The Municipality of Santo Domingo assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

Prepared by:Approved by:

(SGD) DR. MA. CORAZON V. TADENA BAC Secretariat ( T S - A U G . 4 , 2 015 )

(SGD) LUIS T. GONZALES BAC Chairman

t u e s d ay : a u g u s t 4 , 2 0 1 5

B8 Stocks fall as bourse reopens in Greece ATHENS—Greece’s stock exchange reopened Monday with a drop of more than 22 percent after a five-week shutdown imposed by the country’s debt crisis and capital controls, with the nation’s outflow-hit lenders leading the way.

The ATHEX plunged to 615.72 points a few minutes after opening at 0730 GMT, down 22.82 percent from its June 26 close.

Skai radio reported that 10 billion euros had been wiped out on the stock exchange in the opening 40 minutes.

It was still down nearly 20 percent during midday trade, with analysts noting that the situation could deteriorate before the market aligns itself.

“The situation in Greek equity markets will have to get a lot worse before it gets better,” said Luca Paolini, Pictet Asset Management’s chief strategist in London. “There are still critical risks to be resolved.”

The country’s main banks took a heavy blow at the opening with drops of around 30 percent.

But investors offloaded unreservedly on all the top Greek companies, including gaming giant OPAP, main electricity provider PPC, top telecoms operator OTE and leading refiners HELPE, who were also shedding between 20 and 30 percent.

“Naturally, pressure is expected, markets will not fail to comment on such an extensive shutdown,” Constantine Botopoulos, head of the capital markets commission, told Skai radio ahead of the opening.

“But we must not get carried away. We must wait until the end of the week to see how the reopening will begin to be dealt with more coolly.”

“We were not expecting something different today,” said analyst Manos Hatzidakis of Beta Securities.

“The stock exchange has not been closed for a month since 1974... This is a risk factor especially for major investors.”

“This is reflected today with great intensity... It is a sign of the insecurity that pervades the market,” he said. AFP

cesar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world Firemen battle raging wildfires in California CLEARLAKE—Thousands of firefighters battled raging wildfires Sunday in drought-parched California, where officials evacuated entire neighborhoods and closed miles of highway in the path of the inferno, which has claimed at least one life.

Onstage. Executive producer Raney Aronson speaks onstage during the ‘Frontline: My Brother’s Bomber’ panel discussion at the PBS portion of the 2015 Summer TCA Tour at The Beverly Hilton Hotel on August 2 in Beverly Hills, California. AFP

Some 6,000 homes were evacuated as 21 large fires burned in the bone-dry western US state, which is in the throes of a historic drought.

A total of 49,000 hectares of land have burned so far, according to figures provided by the state.

Governor Jerry Brown’s office said that some 9,600 people were battling the fires early Sunday.

Dry lightning strikes sparked most of the fires, while the causes of others remained unknown. But authorities said they did not suspect foul play.

Thousands of lightning bolts since Thursday caused hundreds of smaller fires throughout the state, but most of the blazes were concentrated in the north, California fire chiefs said.

“Our firefighters have been working extensively throughout the last two weeks, working hard to contain these fires. The weather has not been so kind,” CAL FIRE spokeswoman Lynnette Round told AFP. “The dry, warm windy conditions then the dry lightning hitting, it just fuels those fires.”

Brown’s office said neighboring Nevada and Colorado had also committed resources to battle the blazes.

A total of 24 homes and 26 outbuildings, which included barns and sheds, were destroyed in the community of Lower Lake, home to the picturesque Mendocino National Forest.

CAL FIRE said the Rocky Fire had grown to 46,000 acres and was only five percent contained. Its cause was still under investigation, the agency said.

Stretches of Highway 20 were closed in both directions, spelling weekend travel misery for motorists.

But late Sunday, CALFIRE had some better news on other fronts: the Lowell fire, in Nevada county, was 85 percent contained; the Wragg fire in Napa was 95 percent contained; and the Fern fire in Shasta county was 60 percent contained.

Witnesses described dramatic scenes as thick smoke from the giant fire turned day into night and flames swallowed up large tracts of woodland and forest. AFP

Myanmar rescuers race to flood zones KALAY, Myanmar—Rescuers raced Monday to help tens of thousands stranded by rooftophigh floods in Myanmar, as the UN warned that swollen rivers threateedn more areas and large swathes of Asia were hit by deadly monsoon rains.

Authorities in Myanmar said the death toll from flash floods and landslides caused by weeks of unrelenting rain rose to 46, with some 200,000 affected and villagers in remote areas forced to use canoes and makeshift rafts.

Hundreds have also perished in recent days in India, Nepal,

Pakistan and Vietnam following floods and landslides triggered by a belt of heavy seasonal rains.

Access to many towns in remote northern and western Myanmar has been severed and relief workers fear it could be days before the true extent of the disaster emerges.

“Logistics are extremely difficult. Assessment teams are having a hard time reaching affected areas,” said Pierre Peron, spokesman for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The UN was “very concerned”

by the situation, he said, adding that while flooding had begun to recede in some places, rivers were bursting their banks and inundating new areas.

Relentless downpours were last week exacerbated by Cyclone Komen, which drove fierce winds and heavy rain across the western part of the country.

Residents near Kalay, a town in the impoverished northwestern Sagaing region that remains virtually encircled by deep water, described how their homes were swallowed by the deluge. AFP

Talks over Iran deal. US Secretary of State John Kerry talks with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani before their meeting at the Diwan Palace on August 3 in Doha. Kerry is meeting his Gulf Arab counterparts for talks in Qatar as he attempts to ease the concerns of key allies over the Iran nuclear deal. AFP

T U E S D AY : A U G U S T 0 4 : 2 0 1 5

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TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNAS WRITER

life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

A RTS, CU LT U RE & T ECH

LIFE Faith Mandala

Flowers

Pickers

Serena

Dragon's Gate

CUT & PASTE: A PAPERCUT EXHIBITION From the pastillas pabalat to contemporary expressions, talented artists showcase their creations

O

ne can only imagine the painstaking effort, concentration and skill needed to create impressive works of art with just the use of scissors and paper.

Formally called psaligraphy, the art of paper cutting has been in existence since the 6th century (although some claim it began much earlier) – with each country developing their own rendition of the art form which, art aficionados say, can be a distinct reflection of culture.

The kirigami of Japan, papel picado of Mexico, the German and Swiss scherenschinitte speak eloquently of the way of life of the people who create them.

Unknown to many, the well-loved Danish author of fairy tales, Hans Christian Andersen, was known as the best paper cutter during his time – telling his stories

to a rapt audience as he cuts away – then unfolding the paper at the same time that his story is concluded.

Manipulating paper can be quite challenging. An unassuming yet stubborn medium, paper will only yield itself to a skilled and worthy master – with virtually no room for any mistake.

In the Philippines, paper cutting has also been around for centuries – finding its way into Christmas lanterns and most especially in the pastillas pabalat of San Miguel, Bulacan. The intricately cut pastillas (tiny cake or candy) wrappers elevated the stature of the simple delicacy into edible, decorative treasures redolent with images of a rustic way of life. Its makers were admired in their communities for their skill and patience.

Today, paper cutting has transitioned from folk to contemporary art, with scissors

Little Drummer

and paper providing a unique medium for artistic expression.

Prism Gallery celebrates paper cut art with CUT & PASTE, an exhibition that presents the best of paper cut art – fusing the traditional pabalat with contemporary works.

The exhibition will showcase the works of Lita Libunao, one of San Miguel Bulacan’s last remaining pabalat paper cutters, as well as the contemporary pieces of some of the best paper cut artists in the country.

DOLORES RAMOSLIBUNAO

At 81, Lita Libunao is one of the last few remaining pastillas paper cutters of San Miguel Bulacan. She learned the painstaking art of making fragile paper wrappers from her mother, transforming soft papel de japon (Japanese paper) into beautiful filigrees.

MANSY ABESAMIS

Mansy’s fascination with paper crafting started during her childhood in Pangasinan which explains her paper cutting inspiration mostly drawn from nature, with intricate designs of trees, flowers and landscapes.

PERGY ACUÑA

Drawing inspiration from passionate people she meets and moments from her everyday life, this illustrator and

craft artist from Antipolo City primarily works with paper and textile to create three-dimensional pieces.

LIZA FLORES

An award-winning illustrator, Liza has always been drawn to the potential of paper art and enjoys the challenge of the cutting process. For this exhibit, she features a collage of paper assembled like a paper tole (three-dimensional pictures).

LALA GALLARDO

An illustrator and mixed media artist, Lala began using paper cutting techniques in 2007 after being exposed to the traditional “pabalat” art in Bulacan.

She will have a solo exhibit at Altromondo Gallery in October.

BADZ MAGSUMBOL

An Advertising Design graduate of the UP College of Fine Arts, Badz Magsumbol breezed through a colorful career in the advertising and marketing industry before becoming a fulltime artist, working on commissions for select clients in painting, illustration and paper cut art. He is the founder of the Papercutters Guild of the Philippines.

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TUESDAY : AUGUST 04 : 2015

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

‘RES IPSA LOQUITUR’

Harvest 20x24, Oil on Canvas

V

Artist Rellie Liwag’s works speak for themselves

evoke memories of the homeland isual artist Rellie Liwag for Filipinos. will showcase her The Filipina artist was also pieces in an exhibit at recently commissioned by the the Philippine Center creative director of St. Ignatius press located on Fifth based in San Francisco, California Avenue, New York this September to do oil portraits for the covers 8. Titled “Res Ipsa Loquitur III” on Edith Stein (also known as St. – meaning the thing speaks for Theresa Benedicta of the Cross) and itself, the Maryknoll (now Miriam St. Giuseppi Moscati, the healing College) graduate and former model doctor. “God blessed me with described her style of painting as the passion and talent as a visual “realism” for the portraits and still artist, and painting portraits of the life that enable her to get the totality religious for book covers is a way of the characters. of returning to God the gift He Her landscapes, she says, utilize gave me as a sign of appreciation,” impressionism to give her more she says, adding that she exists as freedom in her strokes.

“The a visual artist to show everyone the works of Rembrandt and Van beauty around us as created by God. Gogh are a source of inspiration to “We can view a glass of water as me as an artist,” she says. half full or half empty. I opt to view In her upcoming second show in mine as half full, depicted through New York (which will also feature Vanessa, the Ballerina 35.5x23.5, Oil on Canvas my artworks,” the artist concludes. two other female artists), one will notice Liwag’s evolution as an artist by the use of more vibrant colors and bolder strokes in her landscapes. To know more about Rellie Liwag and her work, visit Some of the work will feature rustic scenes that will rellieliwag.com.

Faith in the Unknown 24x20, Oil on Canvas

TWITTER WILL DELETE STOLEN TWEETS...

IF YOU ASK

THE GIST

BY ED BIADO “This Tweet from @Username has been withheld in response to a report from the copyright holder,” reads Twitter’s placeholder for tweets that allegedly violate copyright laws.

The serious- and legalsounding spiel was sighted last week by hawk-eyed tweeps, particularly the people behind the account @PlagiarismBad, who reportedly were the first to spot it. Digging a little deeper, they found that Twitter’s deletion of the tweets in question was due to a takedown request by one Olga Lexell (@runolgarun), who claimed intellectual ownership of the replicated material.

Lexell’s original tweet on July 8 reads, “saw someone spill their high end juice cleanse all over the sidewalk and now I know god is on my side.” If you search those words on Twitter, results

which are displayed in reverse chronological order will show that Lexell is indeed the first person to tweet the passage. The tweets right above hers – dated July 15 and 23 – all contain the placeholder text, confirming that they are exact matches of the original.

Instantly, Lexell became the talk of the Twittersphere. Last Tuesday, she tweeted this to address concerns and explain how she got the folks at the site to agree with her copyright claims: “For everyone asking, I simply explained to Twitter that as a freelance writer I make my living writing jokes (and I use some of my tweets to test out jokes in my other writing). I then explained that as such, the jokes are my intellectual property, and that the users in question did not have my permission to repost them without giving me credit. I also pointed out that most of them were spam accounts that repost tons of other people’s jokes every day. I didn’t realize this was not something they normally did.”

However, TheNextWeb argues that this is no isolated case as “Twitter hasn’t just started applying its DMCA/copyright policy. It’s been doing that for years.” But it doesn’t happen

organically. Someone has to file a copyright complaint.

According to Twitter Help Center, the service will respond to “reports of alleged copyright infringement, such as allegations concerning the unauthorized use of a copyrighted image as a profile photo, header photo, or background, allegations concerning the unauthorized

use of a copyrighted video or image uploaded through our media hosting services, or Tweets containing links to allegedly infringing materials.” (Read more about the policy here: support. twitter.com/articles/15795.)

Interestingly, more recent reproductions of Lexell’s tweet are still visible. There is no explicit

explanation as of this writing as to why this is the case. But we suspect this is because all the attention that “high end juice cleanse” debacle is getting has turned it into a meme and Lexell isn’t complaining anymore.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @EdBiado

TUESDAY : AUGUST 04 : 2015

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

CEBUANOS GET A NEW RETAIL EXPERIENCE WITH GLOBE TELECOM

Globe’s new GEN3 Store in Cebu showcasing a world-class retail experience.

G

lobe Telecom boosts its of world-class retail experience. retail presence in the With the concept and design of Visayas region with the Globe GEN3 Store in Cebu, the recent opening of we are able to set up a space its third and largest Generation where everyone who walks 3 (GEN3) Store in Cebu, giving in can have a totally different Cebuanos a new retail experience experience and come out at par with international retail learning something new every outlets worldwide. time,” Caliro said.

The new store happens to GEN3 will also be home to one-of-a-kind innovations such as the exclusive The Globe GEN3 stores are be the telco’s first store in the Star Wars Battle Pod simulation game that customers can enjoy playing. designed by Tim Kobe, founder Visayas and so far the biggest and CEO of Eight, Inc., whose among other existing Globe GEN3 stores. custom create a screen protector for most famous work is the Apple Store in Measuring over 400 square meters, the their smartphones and gadgets. Globe New York. The store has veered away Cebu store can accommodate up to is the first in Asia to have the Zagg from the basic transactional set-up to 200 customers including personnel. It machine available for consumers. a venue where customers can discover houses four major lifestyle zones – music, “Since we introduced the GEN3 and learn new things in the digital space. entertainment, life and productivity stores last year, we have set a new Globe is set to open two more GEN3 – each one illustrating mobile and global standard in retail and customer stores at Greenbelt Mall in Makati broadband technologies as connected experience. The focus is no longer on this month and at SM Megamall in solutions featuring the latest devices, selling just another postpaid plan or a Mandaluyong by October. Globe also apps, digital connectors and services device, but on creating strong emotional earlier announced the construction that contribute to the total interactive connections between Globe as a global of the Globe Iconic Store in Bonifacio customer experience. digital brand and our customers,” says Global City with a pioneering design Globe is set to transform the retail Globe president and CEO Ernest Cu. featuring a bridge that will link two experience and enable the digital lifestyle According to Globe Head of Retail Globe stores from opposite sides. The of Cebuanos and nearby markets with Transformation and Stores Management telco is also set to convert the rest of the new GEN3 outlet. It boasts of a wide Joe Caliro, Globe has always considered its existing stores into GEN3 Stores to array of new innovations exclusively Cebu as one of the key areas in the bring the world-class retail experience offered by Globe such as top-of-the-line Philippines where the telecoms firm to more Filipinos nationwide. speakers, powerbanks, GPS watches, wanted to expand. “We are very happy interactive toys, as well as the Zagg to finally bring our world-class GEN3 Twitter: @talk2GLOBE machine, which allows customers to store here to give our customers a taste Facebook: www.facebook.com/globeph

Globe Head of Stores and Retail Transformation Joe Caliro touring guests around the GEN3 Cebu Store that features a Play Bar and the ZAGG machine.

Globe President and CEO Ernest Cu at the new GEN3 Cebu Store.

T EC H TA L K

Run to the beat of Smart B-Trainer™ from Sony

T

here are so many devices out there that help in running workout – sport watches, hand bands connected to phones, or running shoes with sensors that count your miles.

But all these gadgets add weight while running, and you also have to be connected to a phone so you can listen to music while you jog or count the miles of your run. However, a new tech is here that wraps everything in one package – the new Sony Smart B-Trainer headphones, a 16GB music player and GPS-based fitness tracker in one. It also houses fitness sensors such as a gyroscope, heartrate tracker, compass and barometer all-in-one to help you in your running workout. It can record up to 11 types of running logs – heart rate, burned calories, distance, time, speed, pace, cadence, steps, stride, running route and elevation.

The Sony Smart B-Trainer is like a Walkman that features pre-loaded songs from Sony, but you can also add music downloaded online, with the 16 GB memory that can house at least 3900 tracks. If you carry your phone with you, music can be streamed through apps like Spotify. What’s so cool about this device is that it can choose songs for you for a more effective training based

on your own heart rate. So if your heart rate is running too high, it will give you a slower music tempo so you can adjust your rhythm. It has an audio coach guide that tells you about your heart rate and running distance. It also comes with a voice memo recorder, so if you’re on your jog and suddenly needed to record something, you can do so using the device.

The design of Smart B-Trainer comes in a neckband-style housing. It is unobtrusive and fits very well while on the jog. It is also waterproof, so with the Philippines’ erratic weather, you never have to worry that your device will get soaked when it suddenly pours while you’re on a run.

This device can be connected to the Smart B-Trainer for Running app that is available on Google Play and the App Store. After your workout, the running log can be transferred to your phone’s app view so you can check the result of your exercise.

Sony Smart B-Trainer is available in select Sony Centres and authorized dealers beginning this July 2015, priced at PhP 12,999. For more information, log on to www.sony.com.ph or follow on Facebook or @SonyPHinc in Instagram and Twitter.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

ARTS AND CULTURE ROUNDUP What’s on in theaters and galleries this week

EXHIBITS INIMA III: Leonardo Aguinaldo Galleria Duemila, Pasay City August 8 to 31

VIC BALANON: And In Arcadia MO Space, Taguig City Ongoing until August 9 In a bid to reintroduce images and spark a new way of looking at scenes in this day and age where spectators have become accustomed to viewing them at an incredible speed, Vic Balanon’s latest series transforms moving images – as in film and video – into single-frame landscapes and settings that appear void of context.

The pictures, drawn with ink, are not exact replicas of film stills as they’ve been cleared of actors or characters who contribute to the illusion, but rather impressions of a place – which from being merely a backdrop becomes the centerpiece of the composition – that evoke visions of harmony and order.

For more information, visit www.mo-space.net/

From the Ilocano word inima that means hand-pressed, Baguio-based artist Leonardo Aguinaldo’s latest solo exhibition showcases woodcut and linocut prints in striking black and white: comparable to tribesmen tattoos. His latest compositions, which highlight the resistance to progress and its casualties, portray the insurgence on the imposed industrialization in the Cordilleras.

The pieces, most of which are multipart and at least three meters tall, showcase the artist’s disdain over the erosion of moral values and focus on the slow fleeting pleasures of life in the highlands. Aguinaldo’s latest series also displays his mastery in woodcut printing, a laborious practice whose process he does with such pride and tenderness.

For more information, visit www.galleriaduemila.com PSYCHIC CHASMS: Iya Consorio ArtistSpace, Ayala Museum, Makati City Ongoing until August 12

HANNA PETTYJOHN: By Land or By Air Silverlens Galleries, Makati City Ongoing until August 15 For her first show in 2015, Thirteen Artists Award winner Hanna Pettyjohn showcases 36 paintings that tackle the passage of time and the relations of looking forward and behind – a migratory mentality known to all who live away from home, like her.

Splitting her time between Texas and Manila, the art of packing and unpacking, and the anxiety of shipping her paintings into unknown hands, have become the inspiration to her current series which is as much about the journey of her art as her own journey by land or by air. Each painting refers to an absent whole featuring folds and tufts of stripes and shadows, and dripping earthen tones that run down and off the edge of the canvas, balanced by the sparseness of white backdrop.

For more details, visit www.silverlensgalleries.com

JENIFER WOFFORD: Collapse Silverlens Galleries, Makati City Ongoing until August 15 Get a glimpse of the bizarre doll dream world of Iya Consorio in her solo exhibition presented by Ayala Museum ArtistSpace and Metro Gallery. Her latest series is composed of a collection of surreal images on round canvases.

The paintings mounted in the gallery look like glass windows overlooking a strange parallel world that is the usual characteristic of this contemporary visual artist’s works. For this exhibition, Consorio narrates the story of dozen-eyed, octopus-human hybrid doll Eiko, a womanchild who stares at blank space daydreaming. Eiko serves as a representation of someone who is keen on everything with the help of her multiple eyes, yet alienated from the rest of the world.

For inquiries, dial 759-8288.

A series that started last year with a painting of a scene from the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in California, Jenifer Wofford’s latest work of large-format paintings illustrate the aftermath of seismic ruptures. But aside from literal earthquakes, each image in this series also tackles personal, political, environmental or technological ruptures.

The paintings, whose sizes range from 2x3 to 4x5 feet, feature empty and ghostly earthquake landscapes and destroyed roads which are brought to life in acrylic on canvas. The images of destruction are not only limited to the depiction of chaos but also suggest renewal as the series relates to Wofford’s theme of change and transition.

For more details, visit www.silverlensgalleries.com

WORKSHOPS CONCEPTS IN NARRATIVE FICTION AND NON-FICTION (with Tim Tomlinson) Ayala Museum, Makati City August 5, 7 and 10 New York Writers Workshop cofounder and fiction writer Tim Tomlinson is coming here in the Philippines for a three-weeknight workshop to teach the basics of fiction and non-fiction writing. Advanced writers who want to learn more about the structure and elements of these narrative forms of literature are invited to take the course where they will learn the different strategies and techniques in creating effective openings and endings, as well as a rich body that will captivate readers.

Regular rate for the course is P7,000. Discount is applicable for members and AGC employees.

For inquiries or reservations, call 759-8288 loc 35 or email education@ayalamuseum.org FOOD WRITING 101 (with Ginny Mata) Ayala Museum, Makati City August 8, 15, 22 and 29 Writers who want to learn how to write about food effectively, newbie bloggers who want to go beyond the usual restaurant reviews, and sociologists and anthropologists who plan to delve into food studies are invited to join this workshop that will tackle the basics of food writing.

To be facilitated by Ginny Mata, the workshop aims to teach the fundamental principles of writing about food (passion, precision and clarity) that will aid participants in narrating and describing experiences, tastes and textures using clear and concise language.

Regular rate for the course is P4,500. Discount is applicable for members and AGC employees.

For inquiries or reservations, call 759-8288 or email education@ayalamuseum.org

THEATER BEAUTY AND THE BEAST St. Cecilia’s Hall, St. Scholastica’s College, Manila August 7 to 9 Discover how true love blooms even from the scariest place or the scariest being as Kids Acts Philippines, Inc. stages its adaptation of Jeanne-Marie LePrince De Beaumont’s Beauty and The Beast as a season offering to audiences of all ages.

KAPI’s artistic team breathes new life to this tale about kindness and true love in this production directed, choreographed and written into play by Luigi Nacario.

Music and orchestration is courtesy of Eugene Belbis and lighting design by Iris Borgonia. The theater company’s roster of actors will portray the characters of Beauty, Beast and Prince, among others.

For inquiries and more details, call 507-3496, 0915-4478959 or 0916-4438565.

CONCERTS GUITARFEST 2015 Music Recital Hall, Philippine Women’s University, Manila August 10 to 14 Following the success of its first guitar festival, the Philippine Women’s University School of Music is staging a five-day Guitarfest featuring concerts by international guest artists Michael Nigro of USA and Meng-Feng Su of Taiwan.

The PWU Guitar Ensemble, UP Guitar Guild, UST Guitar Ensemble, QCPADFI Guitar Ensemble and the Metropolitan Guitar Ensemble will provide the local flavor at the music fest.

All evening solo concerts start at 7pm and will highlight a rich repertoire of classic pieces including “A Tribute Concert for Bayani de Leon and Angel Matias Peña” on August 12.

All festival activities are free and open to the public.

For more details, dial 465-1798or 526-8421.

T UES DAY : AUGUST 4 : 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

Sun gives subscribers the chance to watch Madonna's Rebel Heart this year in Las Vegas

Watch Madonna live for free

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hy settle on spending thousands of your hard-earned money for Madonna’s Rebel Heart concert next year when you can be among the first to catch the Queen of Pop conquer the stage again this October?

It will be an an all-expense paid trip for two in Las Vegas.

As a new and value packed treat to those who #ChooseBetter, Sun is giving away free Madonna Rebel Heart tickets and a trip to Las Vegas for two.

You do not even have to wait for next year. You can be among the first to watch Madonna’s highly anticipated concert tour at the entertainment capital of the world on Oct. 24 this year!

“Everybody knows the Queen of Pop and to see the music icon perform live is truly a memorable experience. And as a treat to our subscribers who Choose Better, we will make this a more unforgettable moment as we fly them to Las Vegas for free and catch the spectacular concert earlier than the rest of us and enjoy the music

of the Madonna live without having to spend thousands of pesos,” says Joel Lumanlan, Sun VP for Postpaid Marketing.

“The concert is creating so much buzz on the music scene and we all know Madonna, she’s unpredictable on stage and her shows are always deemed to be a larger-than-life experience,” says MCA Music Inc. Frontline Marketing Manager Haze Romawac.

“This is why it is really generous for Sun to come up with this promo to reward practical Filipinos who make intelligent choices with a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

Madonna’s Rebel Heart Concert Tour marks the Queen of Pop’s return to a worldwide concert tour since 2012. With new songs from her album Rebel Heart, fans can now watch her perform new songs like “Living for Love” and “Ghosttown,” alongside her other hits from her large repertoire of songs live.

To join the promo, Sun subscribers just need to register for free on the award winning music app Spinnr by going to the promo registration page within the app or

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at www.spinnr.ph. Raffle entries can be earned by subscribing to Spinnr’s Live Package in-app or by texting LIVE to 4067. This gives Sun subscribers 30 days of all-day music access with no added data charges for only 99 pesos. Sun subscribers can also earn more raffle entries by purchasing or gifting a Madonna song via Spinnr.

Three winners will be selected and each awarded with a free trip for two to Las Vegas for three days and two nights — complete with hotel accommodation, transportation expense, meal allowance and of course, concert tickets to Madonna’s Rebel Heart Concert at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas. Promo winners will then be notified by phone call

and registered mail.

So what are you waiting for?

Choose Better and start making your ultimate Madonna playlist!

Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the Queen of Pop live in Las Vegas for free. Promo runs until Oct. 4. Promo is also open to Smart, Talk ‘N Text and PLDT subscribers.

tiCkliNG tourists’ fuNNy boNes

The Manila Improv Festival 2015 held at the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) Theater drew an international crowd with the hilarious antics and mayhem unleashed by the wacky crew of the Silly People’s Improv Theater (SPIT) Manila and international comics from around the world.

Organized by SPIT Manila and supported by the Tourism Promotions Board (TPB), the three-day festival is now on its third year. Making the event interesting and unique is the absence of scripts or rehearsals with performers taking their cues from the audience to develop the plots and make the whole performance interactive, spontaneous and wildly entertaining.

Performing at the Manila Improv Festival 2015 were international groups from Asia, including Tokyo’s Pirates of Tokyo Bay, Singapore’s Improv Company, Beijing’s Beijing Collective, Shanghai’s People’s Republic of Comedy and Zmack,

Employees of GMA Network practice drop, cover and hold in preparation for "The Big One'

GMA Network prepAres for the biG oNe

t Comedians are a hit in the Improv fest in Manila

Taichung’s Taichung Improv; and Hong Kong’s To Be Continued, People’s Liberation Improv, 3 Dudes Improv, and Lamb Ink. Also joining were wacky troops from the US, Australia and Poland, such as Landry & Summers from Los Angeles, Impro Mafia from Brisbane and IP Show from Warsaw.

Of course, Filipino performers, like Switch Improv and One and a Half Men from Manila, Bacolod Improv Group from Bacolod, and Dulaang Atenista from Cagayan De Oro also

showcased homegrown humor.

A fun experience like no other, the Manila Improv Festival gave foreign tourists an outrageously great time. Both international performers and audience members also looked forward to another exciting improv festival next year because it’s always more fun in the Philippines!

The Manila Improv Festival 2015 is a featured event of the Visit the Philippines Year 2015 campaign. To know more of forthcoming events, check out www.visitph2015.com.

he Kapuso Network took part in the region-wide Metro Manila Shake Drill spearheaded by the Metro Manila Development Authority on July 30.

GMA is taking steps to prepare for “The Big One” through a series of seminars, drills and the dissemination of safety guidelines to Kapuso employees, which included the safety technique of ‘drop, cover, and hold,’ to further equip them in case of an earthquake emergency. Prior to the Shake Drill, the Network also recently held an evacuation drill.

With its longstanding commitment to deliver Serbisyong Totoo, the Network also continues to provide the public

with safety tips and reminders through GMA News and Public Affairs’ various programs.

Moreover, Kapuso netizens may also stay updated on the latest news, as well as tips and warning signs for impending disasters through the Network’s online public safety portal, IMReady (www.imready.ph). In partnership with Google, leading traffic navigation app Waze, and key Philippine government agencies, the portal is the most comprehensive one-stop shop online for disaster and emergency preparedness.

A mobile version of the IM Ready portal is available on the Apple App Store for Apple iOS and on Google Play Store for Android users.

T UES DAY : AUGUST 4 : 2015

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

‘SHOW ME A HERO’ On HBO

H

BO’s new six-part HBO Original miniseries, Show Me A Hero, premieres with two parts back-to-back same time as the US on Aug. 17, 8 a.m. with a same day 8 p.m. encore.

Two new parts air on subsequent Monday nights at the same time.

The miniseries will also be available on HBO GO on the same day.

Based on the nonfiction book of the same name by Lisa Belkin, it explores notions of home, race and community through the lives of elected officials, bureaucrats, activists and ordinary citizens in Yonkers, NY. David Simon and William F. Zorzi, Jr. wrote the screenplay based on Belkin’s book. Paul Haggis directed all six parts of the miniseries.

The cast includes Oscar Isaac as Mayor Nick Wasicsko; Catherine Keener as longtime East Yonkers resident Mary Dorman;

Alfred Molina as Councilman Henry J. Spallone; Winona Ryder as Councilwoman Vinni Restiano; LaTanya Richardson-Jackson as housing project resident Norma O’Neal; Bob Balaban as U.S. District Judge Leonard Sand; Jim Belushi as incumbent Yonkers Mayor Angelo Martinelli, who lost his bid for a seventh term to Nick Wasicsko; and Jon Bernthal as NAACP attorney Michael Sussman.

Lisa Belkin was a New York Times reporter in the late 1980s, when Yonkers, a city of 200,000 located just north of The Bronx and nearly 80 percent white, was suddenly confronted by a politically unpopular reality. A lawsuit undertaken by the U.S. Justice Department and the NAACP had proven definitively that Yonkers officials had used federal housing funds to purposely segregate the city for decades, and while elected officials vowed to appeal that

ruling, even the city’s own lawyers saw little chance it could be overturned on the merits.

The remedy for the civil rights violations is simple, but politically fraught: Yonkers must build 200 units of low-income housing somewhere on the white side of the Saw Mill River Parkway in East Yonkers, followed by another 800 units of affordable housing.

A committed housing expert, Oscar Newman (Peter Riegert) is determined to use a new philosophy of public housing to avoid the high-rise projects and slum conditions of previous generations, and Yonkers housing commissioner Peter Smith (Terry Kinney) and housing consultant Robert Mayhawk (Clarke Peters) stand ready to help him. But before they can do so, Yonkers officials must name the sites on which the new townhouses can be built.

Scenes from HBO's new miniseries Show Me a Hero

August is for the LittLe ones

E

A well-accessorized feline in America's Next Cat Star

A baby orangutan is being bottle fed in Meet The Orangutans

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 41 42 43 45 46 47 48 51 53 56 58 60 61 62 63 64 65 ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Fab Four member 6 Eye amorously 10 Zilch 14 Departure 15 Layered cookie 16 Racetrack shape 17 C-3PO or R2-D2 18 Draw irresistibly 20 Metro RRs 21 Diary keeper 23 Dwells 24 Wild country

25 26 29 34 35 36 37 38 39 40

Faint glows Silent flier Formal dinners Coves Sturm — Drang Look a long time Sphere of influence Drizzling — — flash Horse groomer Plantation house Baroness Karen Trevi Fountain site Dainty, perhaps Contradict Bout enders Future fern

DOWN 1 Like some steaks 2 Goddess’s statue Dry, as wine 3 Robin beaks Self-defense art 4 Onetime Prizm Cosmos maker Sultans’ cousins 5 Productions Roof topping 6 Get-up-and-go Mantra chants 7 Neutral color Consumer advocate 8 Relay race portions — Myerson 9 L-o-n-g time Grammy winners 10 See Membership fees 11 Tel — Homer 12 Bewilder Simpson’s dad 13 Stein fillers

TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2015

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Student, in Paris Language suffix Stripes Makes a lap Shish — Invisible swimmer (var.)

Out of the sack Radii parallels Hassles Blush makeup Process ore Slalom runs Put in order Took legal action Cartoon chipmunk Daddy’s sis Digestive juices Eccentric John, in Glasgow Sarcastic remarks Like limes Reflect on Kind of muffin Castle, in chess Weapon supplies Stats Roulette color “Artaxerxes” composer PC monitor Jungfrau or Eiger

very animal has something unique to offer no matter how big or small it is. This August, it is the month of the little ones as Animal Planet takes on the cutest cats and the youngest orangutans with two of its newest series.

It is never an easy journey towards becoming the best. America’s Next Cat Star follows host John Fulton as he presents some of the cutest and most charismatic kitties in the country to our panel of judges: pet expert Andrea Arden, BuzzFeed Editorial Director Jack Shepherd, and comedian and cat lover Julie Klausner. The team sifts through thousands of feline videos and photos in search of the next IT kitty.

What exactly does it take to be-

come the next feline star? Find out which of these lucky cats gets named America’s Next Cat Star as the show premieres Aug, 12, 9 p.m. and every Wednesdays thereafter.

Also, Meet The Orangutans is a window into the extraordinary daily drama at the world’s first-ever Orangutan Sanctuary where over 30 orphaned ginger terrors rule the roost. Led by Orangutan Fairy Godmother Sue Sheward, a dedicated team of vets, nurses, rangers and volunteers, they all have just one aim: to return their endangered young charges to the wild.

Take a tour of Northern Borneo’s special kind of rescue center in the new series Meet The Orangutans airing 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 24.

T UES DAY : AUGUST 4 : 2015

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

‘QuiCk rEsponsE tEam’ four yEars aftEr

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reaking news is the life and blood of GMA News TV Quick Response Team (QRT), a 45-minute newscast from where it happens, as it happens aired on GMA News TV. Jiggy Manicad, now a decorated broadcast journalist who rose from the ranks, anchors the show.

He said he pitched the concept four years ago after watching on Western news TV networks of breaking news coverage. “I was fascinated with the idea that a team is there and a reporter is breaking the news in an ongoing program,” he said. “Luckily, the concept was approved, and here we are running now for four years.

QRT stays committed to its tag line “rushing to the scene to uncover the truth”, taking its viewers to where the biggest news of the day breaks. Live interviews with key personalities and authorities giving a more comprehensive overview of stories. It is also known for fast-paced presentation of news, making the entire 45 minutes truly action-packed.

Since its premiere on August 1, 2011, QRT has maintained its thrust of being on the scene of major and breaking news both here and abroad—from tragedies and natural disasters; emergencies, accidents and crimes; political and other issues of national interest, to religious occasions and conflicts.

Among QRT’s notable coverage are Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban,

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Leyte (November 2013), Central Visayas earthquake (October 2013), Zamboanga Crisis (September 2013), President Aquino’s yearly SONA, Canonization of Pope John Paul II in Italy (April 2014), and Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines (January 2015), among others.

In April 2014, News TV Quick Response Team won the Bronze World Medal in the New York Festivals under the category, Best Coverage of Breaking News, for its live on-the-ground reportage, led by Manicad, of the Zamboanga crisis.

His reportage of Typhoon Yolanda earned for Manicad a slew of accolades including the Sangyaw Award from the local government of Tacloban in June of this year as well as the Super Journalist Award from last year’s SM Super Media Awards. This same coverage was included in the compilation of various GMA News and Public Affairs reports that won for GMA its fourth Peabody Award in 2014.

Manicad is also a multiple Outstanding Television Anchor awardee by Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption for his work in QRT on top of a special award for TV newscast. He was also recognized as the Best Male News Presenter at the 2015 EnPress Golden Screen Awards for TV, and made it to this year’s list of business magazine People Asia’s Men Who Matter.

“As a pioneering program, QRT has blazed the trail and will con-

tinue to lead in terms of breaking news coverage underscored with accuracy and responsible journalism. In our fourth year, the viewers can expect more gripping reporting straight from where the news happens, delivered via GMA’s state-of-the-art broadcast technology all in the name of Serbisyong Totoo,” shared program anchor Manicad.

QRT airs weekdays at 5:15 to 6:00 PM on GMA News TV Channel 11.

HHHHH Calamity loans disCussEd in lEgal hd In the event of calamity and when damage is more than we expected, what steps can we take to recover from it?

Know more about calamity loans.

Once an area is declared to be under a State of Calamity, its citizens are granted the opportunity to apply for a government loan without interest.

Today, Atty. Karen Jimeno is joined by representatives from the Social Security System and the Pag-IBIG Fund to talk about the application process for calamity loans, and the requirements needed. They also tackle the common problems that people may encounter when claiming a calamity loan.

Learn how the law can help you in times of disaster.

Legal HD airs Tuesdays, 9:30 p.m. and Sunday. 1 p.m. only on CNN Philippines.

Jiggy Manicad with the bronze medal he won in New York

Atty. Karen Jimeno hosts Legal HD Jiggy Manicad hosts GMA News TV's Quick Response Team now on its fourth years on the air on CNN Philippones

Manila hosts Miss Global 2015 paGeant

While Manila-based Miss Earth international pageant will go to Austria late this year, local pageant fans will still feast on about 50 foreign delegates from around the world competing in the Miss Global 2015 pageant.

The hosting rights for the 3rd edition of Miss Global pageant was given to Manila in an announcement graced by reigning Miss Global Ela Mino and pageant founder Van Pham and executive coordinator Laurie Anning.

With the two were Miss Global 2014 runners up Aizhan Lighg of Kazakhstan (3rd) and Benazir Thaha of Sri Lanka (4th), also Catherine Almirante (2nd), the reigning Miss Global Philippines who is set to crown her successor on Sept. 5.

Mino, a 23-year-old, Canadian of Albanian descent, finished a degree in Law and Society at the University of Calgary and plans to attend Law School with special interest in human rights and immigration law. A passionate

Manila will host this year's Miss Global

young woman, Mino, at a young age, had the opportunity to travel and see the cultures of countries in Eastern Europe, witnessing extreme poverty in Albania which motivated her to find a way of helping those in need. She worked as a volunteer at the Centre for Newcomers, which helps immigrants in Canada to inte-

grate into Canadian society and continues to embrace opportunities that allow her to be actively involved in the community. Mino said she was happy to have the chance to experience the Philippines and the world-renowned Filipino hospitality.

“We are honored to bring the Miss Global pageant in the

country for the first time and we look forward to putting up a spectacular coronation show which Filipino pageant fans and from all over the world will surely enjoy and appreciate,” said Pauline Laping, CEO and national pageant director of Miss Global Philippines. “This is a big challenge for us, but it makes us

proud as Filipinos and we could not wait to showcase what the country has to offer to the participating international delegates,” Laping added.

Miss Global Organization is a beauty and cultural pageant that encourages their winners to become sponsors of goodwill, trendsetter for leadership and an ambassador for beauty and cultural diversity. Miss Global differs from other international pageants with a wider age range and more diverse selection of qualified female participants between the ages of 18-35. Miss Global winner will travel the world during her yearlong reign to attend charitable fundraisers while promoting the beauty, intelligence and charm of women throughout the world.

The Miss Global 2015 coronation will be held at the City of Dreams, Pasay City on October 24, 2015, to be telecast on ABS CBN channel.

– Words and photo

by Eton b. ConCEpCion

T UES DAY : AUGUST 4 : 2015

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

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GooDbyE ‘SunDAy All StARS,’ HEllo ‘SunDAy PInASAyA’ ISAH V. RED Last Sunday was emotional for most GMA Artist Center talents as the Sunday noontime show that eventually became an afternoon show aired its farewell episode.

GMA Network announced the cancellation of the show via the introduction of its replacement last week. The show takes over the axed show on Aug. 9, Sunday, of course, and it comes in at noontime for a head-on collision with the rival’s long running noontime show.

The newest comedy-musical variety program on the Kapuso lot is called Sunday PinaSaya. We hope it would really make the audience happy as the title suggests.

Guess who will be in the show.

Oh, well, AiAi delas Alas will be the anchor comedian and around her will be the tried-andtested guys in the daily noontime show Eat Bulaga, like Jose Manalo and Wally Bayola.

Now on her second trimester of pregnancy, Marian Rivera is also in the roster of hosts. She will be working until she can, just before she drops, of course.

The program redefines the usual variety show, as it gives the viewers unparalleled production numbers featuring the hottest celebrities, comedy sketches and fun-filled games. So, the artists of GMA Artist Center still have the chance to be in the show.

Ai-Ai admits that she couldn’t wait for the show to start. “Sabi ko, parang game na ba ‘to? Kailan na ba magsisimula?’ Tapos ayan na, game na talaga. Excited ako kasi this show is comedy based.

Patatawanin muna namin kayo bago namin kayo mas lalong pasasayahin sa hatid naming mga papremyo. At marami pa rin silang dapat abangan na mga bonggang

performances mula sa kanilang mga paboritong artista.”

Marian is also excited because the program promises a new SunSun day variety show experience. “Pa“P tatawanin namin sila, magbibigay kami ng papremyo, at makikita nila ang iba’t ibang klaseng talento ng mga cast dito. At ang maganda sa Sunday PinaSaya, hindi lang kami yung makakasama nila dito dahil every Sunday ay may mga Kapuso tayo na pwedeng magguest sa show. So everybody’s welcome sa Sunday PinaSaya.”

Excep someone we all know, but I’m not saying who.

Also in the new Sunday variety show are Alden Richards, Julie Anne San Jose, Barbie Forteza, Joey Paras, Valeen Montenegro, and Jerald Napoles, who according to the people behind the new show will give Sunday PinaSaya more fun and laughter.

Believe it or not, on Sunday, over P10 million worth of prizes will be given away, all tax free.

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the program redefines the usual variety show, as it gives the viewers unparalleled production numbers featuring the hottest celebrities, comedy sketches and fun-filled games. So, the artists of GMA Artist Center still have the chance to be in the show

1 Marian Rivera 2 Aiai delas Alas 3 Barbie Forteza 4 Alden Richards 5 Julie Anne San Jose 6 Wally Bayola 7 Jose Manalo