The Standard - 2015 August 31 - Monday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 200  3 Sections 32 Pages P18  MONDAY : AUGUST 31, 2015  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Taberna goes off the air at ABS-CBN

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PROTESTERS STAY PUT ALONG EDSA

Blockade. Iglesia ni Cristo members take selfies at the intersection of Edsa and Shaw Boulevard in continuation of their protest Sunday against what they called Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s meddling in their church’s affairs. EY ACASIO

MMDA head’s failure to ease traffic scored A MILITANT labor group denounced Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino Sunday for his failure to address the paralyzing traffic congestion in Metro Manila and blamed President Benigno Aquino III for keeping him on the job for five years.

In a statement, the Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) slammed Tolentino for his “outright incompetence, his distasteful penchant to publicize his every move to make him look competent and gross negligence of duty.”

“Instead of decreasing travel time in Metro Manila from 2.17 minutes per kilometer as the Philippine Development Plan indicated, it now stands at 20 minutes per kilometer,” said the group’s chairman, Leody De Guzman.

But traffic was only one of six major services that the MMDA is mandated to provide, he added.

“Tolentino’s inability has also been evident in flood control, pollution control, urban renewal and development of slum areas, public safety and solid waste management,” De Guzman said.

Next page

By John Paolo Bencito and Francisco Tuyay

IGLESIA ni Cristo members who gathered in the thousands at EDSA and Shaw Boulevard to protest a Justice Department investigation of church officials showed no sign of leaving Sunday night despite a midnight deadline on their permit to rally.

NPC still wants to meet with other hopefuls in 2016 race

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Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos said he was certain the INC would honor the deadline but at 7 p.m., there were no instructions for the demonstrators to disperse.

“I think the Iglesia ni Cristo will abide by their word.

I believe they will follow the parameters we have set in their permit,” Abalos said in a phone interview with The Standard.

As this issue went to press, the Office of the City Mayor had not received any request for an extension of the rally permit.

“I will personally go myself to check that they will abide Next page by our parameters by midnight,” he said.

Oil prices rolled back by as much as P1.45/l

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Taberna takes leave at ABS-CBN

By Rio N. Araja

BROADCAST journalist Anthony Taberna, a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo, announced his leave of absence from ABSCBN Broadcasting Corp. Sunday, citing his inability to credibly comment on issues besetting his church.

He said his decision had nothing to do with the recent shooting attack on his coffee shop in Quezon City.

In an Instagram post, Taberna said he was leaving his regular television program “Umagang kay Ganda” and evening radio program “Dos por Dos” with a heavy heart.

“I am saddened that I have to leave because of what is happening. I, as an active member of INC, am in a situation that I may no longer be that credible to discuss the current issues beset-

ting us. I stand by my religion, but I, too, have the responsibility as a journalist,” his message read.

He said ABS-CBN immediately approved his leave until such a time that the INC crisis has subsided.

“I thank you for understanding me during difficult times,” he posted.

Before his announcement, Taberna and his wife Rossell took part in the mass action of INC members on Shaw Boulevard and Edsa in Mandaluyong City.

He appealed for sobriety and urged

the 1,700 crowd to maintain peace and order.

He also said the INC members came to join the rally voluntarily.

The religious group was on its fourth day of protests against Justice Secretary Leila de Lima’s decision to act on cases of harassment and illegal detention filed by an expelled minister, Isaias Samson Jr., a first cousin of Taberna’s mother.

Several men opened fire on Taberna’s Ka Tunying’s Cafe on August 28 at 2 a.m. No one was hurt.

Show of hands. Members of the Iglesia Ni Cristo wave at a giant television screen put up for them at the intersection of Edsa and Shaw Boulevard on Sunday. fRANciSco tuyAy

Protesters

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Police at the scene estimated the number of protesters at 13,000, most of them at EDSA and Shaw. After 5 p.m., however, some dispersed to points along EDSA, including SM Megamall and Robinson’s Galleria.

As on the previous day, the protests tied up traffic on the busy highway.

Dozens of policemen from the Eastern Police District surrounded the EDSA Shrine to prevent INC protesters from occupying the Catholic landmark.

“Tuloy tuloy kami dito hanggang bukas. Yun ang dumating sa amin galing sa Sanggunian [‘‘We will be here until tomorrow.

That’s what we have heard from the Sanggunian the church’s highest governing body”], one protester who requested anonymity said.

Among those who dropped in on the INC protest Saturday night were President Benigno

Aquino III’s uncle, Jose Cojuangco Jr., his wife former Tarlac congresswoman Margarita Cojuangco, and his long-time associate Pastor Saycon, and former Moro Islamic Liberation Front spokesman Eid Kabalu.

Mrs. Cojuangco, addressing the crowd, chided the Aquino administration for the death of 44 police commandos in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, two of whom were members of the church.

Kabalu said Muslims were sympathetic to the INC members because they can relate to the persecution they face.

“If your enemy is injustice, if your enemy is the DOJ [Department of Justice]… they are also our enemy,” Kabalu said.

At a briefing, Saycon slammed the Aquino administration for failing to act on the Mamasapano massacre, as well as scandals involving the Disbursement Acceleration Program and the Priority Development Assistance Fund.

He said the government should address these concerns

before “zeroing in on the INC’s internal affairs.”

While most politicians sided publicly with the INC, Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said the serious detention charge filed by a dismissed minister of the church against eight executives was under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department.

“It is a private crime so it is part of the job of the DOJ,” said Pimentel in an interview on radio dzBB. The complainant, Isaias Samson, said he and his family were allegedly treated as prisoners in their own house for nine days.

He said they were not allowed to go out of their own house, their lines of telephones and Internet were cut off, and the health of his wife was endangered because she had just undergone a heart operation when they were placed under “house arrest” in their townhouse in Tierre Bella, Quezon City. They were even guarded by armed men, the complaint said.

Pimentel acknowledged the

constitutional right of the INC to hold a rally in consonance with the right to the freedom of assembly, but said the proper permits should be obtained.

At the same time, he called on De Lima to hasten the investigation of all cases pending with her department such as the pork barrel cases, saying they had enough staff and prosecutors.

Also on Sunday, Samson’s lawyer, Trixie Cruz-Angeles said Senator Grace Poe could be held criminally liable for expressing her support for the INC protest against Justice Secretary Leila de Lima.

“It is an act of graft if someone asks the DOJ not to act on a criminal complaint, just as what Senator Poe did,” Angeles said.

Church members said the INC would also stage a fourday rally in Davao province to voice out their objections to what they said was the Justice Department’s meddling in their religious affairs. With Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo

MMDA From A1...

“If compared to any ordinary worker in any company, he would have been terminated by now or heavily penalized with pay cuts,” De Guzman said.

De Guzman said it was the workers who bear the brunt of Tolentino’s mess and wondered why Aquino continued to support him.

“He has not even scratched the tip of the MMDA’s targets since assuming the post and his backlog has accumulated these past five years.

“Tolentino receives a hefty paycheck of P1.8 million together with a nearly P2 billion annual budget for the MMDA that were compulsorily extracted from our payslips and purchases and yet this is the sort of service we get. We deserve better, we want our money’s worth,” he said. Sandy Araneta

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Binay camp blasts pork barrel hidden in education funds THE camp of Vice President Jejomar Binay on Sunday slammed the Aquino administration for allegedly treating education funds as its own “pork barrel” and using them to buy scholars.

“What hurts is that they use scholarships in politicking,” Binay spokesman Joey Salgado said.

He said lawmakers were now buying scholars of the Commission on Higher Education, and that lawmakers were hiding their congressional pork barrel in CHED’s “Tulong Dunong” program “This will be what the outgoing administration will leave to the public in the education sector. It’s horrible,” Salgado said.

He also slammed the Aquino administration for allegedly misleading the public and claiming there were no budget cuts for state universities and colleges.

“No matter how they try to hide the truth, the truth will always come out,” Salgado said.

Both the Commission on Higher Education and the Department of Budget and Management earlier denied slashing the budget of state universities after Binay, in his True Stateof-the-Nation Address,

criticized the administration for scrimping on education.

A hearing by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab of the House Appropriations Committee revealed the administration will indeed cut the maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlays of 59 state universities and colleges by P477.8 million.

Salgado said this only confirmed what the Vice President had said in his address.

He said students should brace themselves for tuition and other fee increases next year because the Aquino administration’s Roadmap for Public Higher Education Reform aimed to “rationalize state funding” to SUCs by asking them to generate more income and lessen their reliance on government funding.

“Give less than what is needed or proposed is the working mantra of this education blueprint. Ito na ang sinasabi sa True State-ofthe-Nation Address na bahala kayo sa buhay ninyo,” Salgado said.

“The government passed on the services that they were supposed to give to the poor. Is this not a callous and incompetent management?”

Macon Ramos-Araneta

Preparation. A caretaker in the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City cleans a rifle on a grave in preparation for National Heroes’ Day today, Monday. DANNY PATA

NPC still wants to sit down with more bets

DESPITE a third meeting with Senators Grace Poe and Francis Escudero, who are possible presidential and vice presidential candidates in the 2016 elections, the National People’s Coalition is still interested in talking to other presidential bets to give them a chance to present their platforms, a party spokesman said Sunday.

“We want to listen to the platforms and programs of action of every candidate so that we will be guided accordingly before eventually deciding on who to support [in the 2016 elections],” Quezon Rep. Mark Enverga said.

After hearing Poe’s ad-

vocacies, he said, it was time to hear the others.

“We will only select the candidates whom we believe would best represent and work for the aspirations of our people while also advocating for a clean, dedicated and transparent governance,”

Enverga said.

The NPC was formed to support the 1992 presidential candidacy of Eduardo Cojuangco Jr., its founder.

“We have already listened to the platform and programs of Senator Poe, although she has yet to make a decision whether to run for President or not,” Enverga said.

Apart from Poe, the NPC will also meet with Vice President Jejomar Binay of the United Nationalist Alliance, Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II, and presumptive presidential candidate Davao City

Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

“We are still in the process of consultation.

We will surely make use of the opinions of our members as our guide before arriving at a consensus on who should get the party’s support,” Enverga said.

An initial consultation among NPC members reportedly showed that most of them were interested in supporting a Grace-Chiz (Escudero) tandem, he said. “[But] This does not mean that the party has already made its decision to throw its support behind them.” Rio N. Araja

Poe quotes dead dad’s best lines

Tribute. Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II lays a wreath at the shrine of national hero Marcelo H. Del Pilar on the occasion of what would have been his 165th birthday on Sunday. PNA

CA BA NAT UA N—T he late Fernando Poe Jr. spoke first of his oneliner “Kapag puno na ang salop, dapat nang kalusin” in Nueva Ecija, according to his adopted daughter Senator Grace Poe. The late actor placed second in the 2004 presidential elections that was won by Gloria MacapagalArroyo, who had been accused of cheating to win.

Grace Poe said the elder Poe often said the one-liner in several movies that he shot in Nueva Ecija, where he received 300,000 more votes than Arroyo, in a speech at the Constancio Padilla National High School in San Jose City on .

Salop refers to a measuring instrument in de-

termining a kilo of rice.

Translated loosely, kapag puno na ang salop, dapat nang kalusin means everything has a limit.

Aside from “Puno na ang salop,” FPJ’s other famous one-liners were “Ang problema sa ‘yo, maaga kang ipinanganak” [the problem with you, you were born early] in a talk with Sharon Cuneta; “Sabihin mo na ang gusto mong sabihin pero gusto kong malaman mo na huwag ka munang magpaikot, hindi pa tapos ang laban (Say what you want but don’t fool me, the fight is not over yet);” “Kung sa Cavite ’di ka nagsisimba, dito sa Tondo magsisimba ka ng may bulak sa ilong [If in Cavite you don’t go to church,

in Tondo you will go to church with cotton in your nose];” “kung kayo lang ang magiging kaibigan ko, bibili na lang ako ng aso [if you are to be my friends, I would better buy a dog];” “umpisahan mo, tatapusin ko ] you start it and I will finish it]” and “buhay ang inutang, buhay din ang kabayaran [life taken, life as payment].”

During her speech, Poe said Nueva Ecija was close to her father’s heart.

She also noted that it was at the same school where the late National Artist for Film Lino Brocka, considered the greatest director the country had ever produced, finished high school. Ferdie G. Domingo

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Oil prices cut by P1.45 per liter

By Alena Mae S. Flores

The country’s oil firms will cut pump prices by as much as P1.45 per liter on Sunday to reflect the continued decline in world oil prices.

The oil companies issued separate advisories of the price cut of P1.45 per liter for gasoline, P0.90 per liter for kerosene and P0.70 per liter for diesel.

The price cut took effect starting 12:01 a.m. Sunday. Among the oil companies that announced the price cut are Petron Corp., Pilipinas

Shell Petroleum Corp., Seaoil Philippines, PTT Philippines, Phoenix Petroleum and Total Philippines.

Phoenix, one of the oil companies, explained that it “will decrease the prices of gasoline by P1.45 per liter and diesel by P0.70 per liter effective 6 a.m. of August 30 to reflect the downward movements of oil prices

in the world market.”

According to the latest monitoring report of the energy department, global oversupply and record stockpile levels have been driving the unabated downtrend in crude oil prices. it said world oil prices dipped to $40 to $45 per barrel following a report by the US energy information Administration that crude supplies rose by 2.62-million barrels in the week ending August 14.

The department also cited reports of international oil market analysts that the recent drop in the price of oil confirms the com-

mitment of global producers to maintain current high levels of production.

Traders have said that although prices may rebound in some weeks, the downward price trend will likely continue well into 2016 unless demand significantly increases or global supply is cut.

China’s sluggish economic condition also exerted downward pressure on oil prices.

Last August 25, local oil companies also rolled back prices of gasoline by P1.10 per liter, diesel

by P0.40 per liter and kerosene by P0.25 per liter.

Heroes, too. Volunteer firemen who lost their lives in the line of duty were honored Sunday at the Chinese Cemetery by Association of Volunteer Fire

Fighters of the Philippines Inc. president George Go Pen Siong and National Historical Commission of the Philippines executive director Ludovico Badoy.

DANNY PATA

Aquino extends transition body’s life

By Sandy Araneta PreSidenT Benigno Aquino iii has signed an executive order extending the life of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission (BTC) to “better facilitate an efficient transition” to the proposed Bangsamoro region. executive Order no. 187, signed August 20, 2015, amended eO no. 120 of 2012 constituting the BTC, which shall cease to operate upon the enactment by Congress of the Bangsamoro Basic Law. Under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro, a Bangsamoro Transition Authority (BTA) “will be created only upon the promulgation and ratification of the BBL.” if the BBL is enacted and ratified, there may be a gap in the intervening period between enactment and ratification within which neither the BTC nor the BTA will exist to address the issues relevant to the BBL and to the Bangsamoro as a whole, said the President in the new eO. Aquino said there is a need to further strengthen and expand the functions of the BTC to address this foreseen gap. “extending the duration of the Bangsamoro Transition Commission until such time that the Bangsamoro Basic Law is ratified, and vesting additional functions in such Commission, can better facilitate an efficient transition upon the ratification of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law,” said Aquino.

Meanwhile, Senator Bongbong Marcos said it may take six weeks before the Senate finishes discussions on the Basic Law for the Bangsamoro Autonomous region (BLBAr) or Senate Bill 2894, which he filed as a substitute measure to the Malacañangproposed BBL.

Palace condoles with DepEd exec’s kin MALACAÑAng condoled on Sunday with the family of department of education (deped) Undersecretary for Finance and Administration Francisco Varela, who died in a motorcycle accident last Saturday. “department of education Undersecretary Francisco Varela served with distinction and contributed significantly in implementing reforms in the education sector anchored upon good governance and the judicious utilization of public funds,” said Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. in a statement released by Malacañang.

“He opted to join government at the start of the Aquino admin-

istration after an exemplary track record in the academic and investment banking sectors. His untimely death is a big loss to the public service and we extend our condolences to his bereaved family,” Coloma said.

Varela died on Saturday when his motorcycle skidded while on the highway between Tanay and Baras towns. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Padilla district Hospital in Antipolo City.

The Baras police would not comment on the accident. “We’re still checking on the exact location of the accident since we haven’t received any incident report yet,” PO3 Melvin Apurungao of the Baras police station said.

The deped also expressed its condolences to the family of Varela.

“We are one with his family in this difficult time and one with the nation in mourning the loss of an extraordinary public servant,” the deped said.

According to the deped’s website, Varela was an investment banker by profession. He graduated magna cum laude with a mathematics degree from Xavier University in Cagayan de Oro City.

Varela was former chief operating officer and president of AsianBank Capital and investment Corp. He was also a former head of strategic planning and corporate communications of the AB Capital group. Sandy Araneta

Damaged corn. This cornfield is one of many planted to corn and rice that were destroyed by wind and torrential rains Aug. 28 in San Isidro, Sto. Niño, South Cotabato. AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN

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Romualdez bats for tax reduction for workers

By Rio N. Araja HOuSE independent bloc leader Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte on Sunday appealed to President Benigno Aquino III and fellow lawmakers to support the immediate passage of a proposed law seeking to reduce personal income tax rates as a show of concern and compassion for millions of Filipino workers.

Romualdez said that Aquino could request House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. to expedite the transmittal of the measure to the Senate as a matter of procedure on tax bill.

The President’s certification as urgent measure would help the immediate passage of the measure.

“That would show his concern and compassion for the workers,” Romualdez noted, stressing that as early as March 2014 the Palace had already expressed openness to the measure.

In March, Deputy Majority Leader and Valenzuela City Rep. Magtanggol Gunigundo I said members of the House committee on ways and means were in the final stage of the bill’s endorsement for plenary approval.

The bill seeks to lower individual and corporate income tax rates to 15 percent from the current 32 percent and 30 percent, respectively.

Just like Belmonte, Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, opposed the proposal of the Department of Finance to increase the value-added tax (VAT) from the current 12 to 14 percent.

Mourning. Families and friends of people who have disappeared gather in Plaza Miranda during the International Day of the Disappeared on Sunday.

DANNy PAtA

Probe rice import plan—lawmakers

By Rio N. Araja

TWO party-list lawmakers on Sunday chided the National Food Authority (NFA) over the importation of 2.1-million metric tons of rice to the detriment of the livelihood of six million Filipino farmers and agricultural workers.

Representatives Neri Colmenares and Carlos Isagani Zarate, both of Bayan Muna, filed House Resolution 2231 questioning the plan of NFA under the Department of Agriculture (DA) to attain rice self-sufficiency by way of over importation. The country’s total rice stock inventory reached 3.02million metric tons as of June.

The figure was 30.9 percent above the 2.31 metric tons in June last year, records from the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics showed.

Despite such figures, the rice importation by NFA for this year was placed at 2.1 million metric tons, Colmenares said.

The 2.1-million metric tons included 500,000 metric tons procured by the government from Thailand and Vietnam through two rounds of government-togovernment transactions, 250,000 metric tons programmed for the lean season, 250,000 metric tons as reserve volume, 300,000 metric tons delivery under last year’s min-

imum access volume and 805,200 metric tons private sector imports from China, India, Pakistan, Australia, El Salvador, Thailand, Vietnam and omnibus origin.

“Given the rice self-sufficiency figures provided by the DA, the approval and excessive importation of a total of 2.1 million metric tons in rice imports for 2015 is highly irregular and doubtful,” Colmenares said.

He cited the government’s “excessive importation” that could have “fatal” consequences to the farmers and would badly affect the consuming public.

“Even NFA admitted that the importation would cause the farm-gate price of palay to go down from its current price of

P17 per kilo,” he said.

“The Aquino administration has been marred by its incapability to distribute rice leading to overstocking, which results not only in expiration of these stocks but in potential abuse and supply manipulation as well,” he said.

“This was the case during the sudden spike in the price of rice and other agricultural products during 2014. Seemingly, the government has not learned anything from that experience.”

He blamed the Aquino administration for the slow rice distribution.

On the other hand, Zarate said the President even questioned the huge rice importation in his first State of the Nation Address.

Foundation helps Yolanda victims rebuild

Medical mission at work.

FOR the victims of typhoon Yolanda in Leyte and Samar, rebuilding their lives has not been easy. But they find comfort in the various non-government organizations and private institutions that are committed to help them move forward and overcome the trauma caused by the destruction of Yolanda.

Rebuilding the lives of the victims involves not only providing them the needed infrastructure, housing, and source of livelihood but also ensuring their health and well-being. SM Foundation in line with its health and medical programs has conducted medical missions soon after the onslaught of Yolanda not only in Tacloban but also in interior towns of Leyte equally devastated by the typhoon.

This year, follow-up medical missions in Yolanda-affected areas are among the calendared activities of SM Foundation.

These medical missions are in fulfilment of SM’s commitment to continuously provide medical and health services to the victims. From June–July, six such medical missions have been conducted.

The first follow-up Operation Tulong Express medical mission for 2015 was conducted in Abuyog, Leyte. The beneficiary barangay was Sta. Fe, one of the heavily devastated barangays identified by the Department of Health. With project partners DOH Central Office –Visayas-Mindanao Health Cluster, DOH Regional

Office VIII, Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, Provincial Health Office, Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko, and the local government office, 461 residents were served. This is SMFI’s 53rd medical mission for 2015, and the 1,072nd since 2001.

Apart from Abuyog, a followup medical mission was also conducted in Tolosa, a town heavily damaged by floods and winds.

Recall that this town was immediately visited by the SM Medical Team two weeks after the Yolanda.

At that time over 500 beneficiaries were attended to by the doctors with medicines prescribed and distributed to the patients. During the follow-up visit in June 2015, 386 beneficiaries were given medical attention.

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Customs snafu: All about trust “It’s all about trust. and right now, the administration doesn’t have it.”

Thus spoke party-list Rep. Juan Johnny Revilla of OFW Family, who stressed that the anger of OFWs directed at the Bureau of Customs (BoC) and the government after the latter announced to do random checks of balikbayan boxes was a result of years of terrible experiences at the hands of corrupt Customs men.

“Our OFWs just do not trust the BoC or this government. Even before this issue incited the collective anger of OFWs we were already made aware of the different problems faced by those sending packages to their loved ones in the country,” said Revilla.

“Families of OFWs report lost items, incidents of overcharging of duties, and unreasonable delays in the release of their boxes. These horror stories are so commonplace that you cannot blame our OFWs if they have little faith in the capacity of the BoC to stop abuses in the course of doing its job,” the legislator explained.

The solon added that the controversy brought attention to the urgent need to “bring fresh, untainted leadership to Customs and our government.”

“As long as we have leaders who are suspected of using the agency for campaign fund-raising and other shenanigans, their actions, even well-intentioned, will always be considered suspect,” Revilla said.

The OFW advocate said that at this point, “Senator Grace Poe and Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero appear to have an edge in presenting themselves as leaders our people can trust.”

“In numerous hearings at the Senate the two have shown that the only agenda they’re interested in is protecting the welfare of our citizens. People see that, which is why they are the two most trusted officials in the land,” said the solon.

According to a Pulse Asia Survey conducted in June, Poe had the high-

est approval ratings at 93 percent. Following her was Escudero with 83 percent.

In response to public outcry over the issue, the BoC has already been given marching orders by Malacañang to stop the random or arbitrary physical inspection of balikbayan boxes.

In a statement read by Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima on Monday, he explained that “Moving forward, all containers of balikbayan boxes should undergo mandatory x-ray and K-9 examination—at no cost to the sender or the OFW. Only in cases where there are derogatory findings from the x-ray or K-9 examination will there be a physical inspection of goods.”

Additionally, Purisima said that, “in the event of a physical inspection, the Bureau will request that an Overseas Workers Welfare Administration representative or a designated officer of an OFW Association be present, with provisions for CCTV monitoring of the inspection areas.”

Meanwhile, two senators took up the cudgels for returning workers, and came as one in saying the OFWs should be spared from the tedious and unnecessary procedure adopted by the Customs bureau.

Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. demanded immediate stop to the Customs imposition of onerous duties and impractical rules involving OFWs. “If the law grants certain privileges or incentives to our OFWs and athletes, the bureaucratic procedures must lean toward making it easy for them to enjpy such priveleges. Otherwise, it is no longer a privilege but a burden,” Marcos said.

Senator Cynthia Villar for her part stressed that the BoC should focus on curbing widespread smuggling which has been causing the government to lose P200-billion annually instead of going after the balikbayan boxes.

Macon Ramos Araneta

Customs examiners inspect pieces of luggage at the Naia Terminal 1 . Rudy C. SantoS

HS career aptitude test okayed

By Rio n. araja COnGRESS has approved on third and final reading a bill creating the national Career Assessment Examination (nCAE) for high school graduates seeking admission to post-secondary learning institutions.

Tarlac Rep. Kimi Cojuangco, House committee on basic education and culture chairperson, said the measure—House Bill 5895 or the “national Career Assessment Examination Act— would pave the way to a high quality of education through the regulation and monitoring of the admission of high school students to courses where they have better aptitude and potential.

According to Sorsogon Rep. Evelina Escudero, “a national career assessment examination will act as an instrument

Childfriendly terminal. A

mother and her three-yearold daughter take time out to play at the kiddie lounge of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 1 while waiting for their flight to Saudi Arabia. Rudy C. SantoS

to maintain a viable balance among the number of white collar employees, skilled manpower and entrepreneurs through a provision of career direction to secondary graduates.”

Under the measure, the created nCAE shall assess and evaluate the aptitude, skill or inclination of a student in a particular occupational field to pursue a college or university course, a technical-vocation course, or an entrepreneurial course.

The Department of Education (DepEd) through the national Education Testing and Research Center shall administer an annual nCAE to Grade 9 students in all public and private schools.

Unless otherwise previously announced, the nCAE shall be administered throughout the country on the last Wednesday of August of every year, in the place where the schools divi-

sion office is located but may establish additional examination centers in the province as may be determined by the DepEd. The results of the nCAE are recommendatory and shall not be used for any purpose other than career guidance.

The nCAE shall measure the aptitudes and skills of the student on entrepreneurial, non-verbal ability, and general scholastic aptitude such as reading comprehension, abilities on scientific, verbal, mathematical, and logical reasoning.

In addition, the nCAE shall measure the students’ technicalvocational aptitude, which includes manipulative skills, and clerical ability. nCAE also includes occupational fields of Interest, such as outdoor, mechanical, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and clerical interest.

Fertilizer price cut timely, says Chiz is no law that prohibits the putting of price cap on that farm input,” said Escudero, chairSEnATOR Francis Escudero on Sunday man of the senate committee on environment urged the Fertilizer and Pesticide Author- and natural resources.

He said this also would mean that while the ity (FPA) to initiate talks with manufacturers and distributors on the possibility of a ferti- earnings of businessmen keep on growing, lizer price rollback amid the declining price the farmers remain on the verge of poverty.

The senator noted that in 2008, fertilizer of oil in the world market.

While fertilizer prices are deregulated, prices dropped by as much as 43 percent Escudero said the FPA can pressure manufac- after the Department of Agriculture asked turers to lower the retail rates of their prod- fertilizer suppliers to bring down their retail rates to reflect the low price of oil. ucts for the benefit of small farmers.

Escudero said he s saw no reason why the “If we will not do this and just let our businessmen impose their own prices, we really FPA, which is under the Office of the Presicannot help the agriculture sector since there dent, could not make the same call now.

By Macon Ramos araneta

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Education official discovers checks for ‘ghosts’

By A. Perez Rimando

JOLO, Sulu—Many Department of Education (DepEd) field officials and teachers—considered among the most dedicated, committed and overworked public servants in spite of their meager salary—are also known for their strong belief in the slogan “Honesty is the best policy.”

Sulu schools division superintendent (SDS) Hadji Delfin Unga, who recently retired after faithfully serving the government for some 30 years, is undoubtedly one of them.

Unga’s honesty was demonstrated a few weeks before his retirement when he noticed one day on his table several bundles of treasury warrants (checks) with an aggregate total of some P1 million which reportedly came from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) regional office in Cotabato City.

He was informed that the huge amount was allocated for back wages of public elementary and secondary school teachers and non-teaching personnel— like clerks, supply officers and utility workers—assigned in several remote schools located in Jolo, Caluang, Panamao, Tongkil, Tapul, Indanan,Mambung, Parang, Talipao, Pangutaran, Panglima Takis and Luuk.

Unga immediately gathered his division office’s budget and finance personnel and asked them to scrutinize the payrolls accompanying the treasury warrants and to verify the names of teachers and non-teaching workers listed in the documents.

Unga was jolted when the budget and finance staff later informed him that the teachers and personnel listed in the payrolls “mere fictitious or non-existing.

He later summoned to his office the concerned school principals and district supervisors from the affected schools and displayed to them the payrolls intended for their respective teachers and personnel. He inquired from them if they knew or had seen the said mentors and personnel in their respective stations.

Unga said the concerned field school administrators denied knowing any of the teachers and workers listed in the payrolls, prompting him to suspect that the supposed recipients of the almost P1-million checks “were indeed non-existing.”

Hiring ghost mentors and employees in non-existing remote schools was a “malpractice allegedly perpetrated by some previous ranking ARMM DepEd officials in connivance with some field school administrators “or financial considerations.”

Belter. Women International

Boxing Association reigning flyweight division Jujeath Nagaowa works out at the Highland Boxing Gym in La Trinidad, Benguet, Jujeath has questioned the Customs bureau who slapped duties amounting to P5,800 on her belt. DAVE LEPROZO

Shabu couple asks not to be detained for children’s sake

By Alvin T. Guanzon

BUTUAN CITY—A couple arrested for peddling shabu in Butuan City has requested authorities not to detain them because no one will look or take care of their eight children, the oldest of which is only 11 years old.

But Butuan City Chief of Police Senior Supt. Romy Palgue said criminal charges have already been filed against the couple suspects.

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group operatives from CIDG Caraga regional office here accompanied by some operatives from Butuan Police Office identified the couple as

Aragasi and Nora Camid, 33 and 32 years olds respectively. Both are native of Lanao del Norte but are now residing at Purok 11, Barangay Ong Yiu, Butuan City. The area is known as shabu tiangge in this town.

Joint CIDG and police operatives went to the suspected drug den and caught the two with eleven sachets of shabu, all hidden in

Mrs. Camid’s underwear.

Also confiscated by the police operatives were marked money of 500-peso bills a total of P1,540.00 cash and drug paraphernalia, including a Honda XRM motorcycle suspected to be used in the illegal drugs transactions.

According to the couple, they are also into DVD/CD and other merchandise business.

They are new in the shabu trade, having started only two months ago.

They said they were very poor and could not find any jobs.

Last week, a 67-year-old man was also arrested during a buy bust operation. The old man also claimed poverty forced him to become a drug pusher.

Zamboanga del Norte: Shelters nearly complete

By A. Perez Rimando

Star Tollway president and CEO Manuel Bonoan launched the Greet and Smile campaign during the company’s 14th anniversary celebration last month.

DIPOLOG CITY, Zamboanga del Norte—The provincial government has announced recently the near-completion of at least 15 evacuation centers in 13 coastal and mountainous municipalities and two cities.

The shelters, constructed in areas prone to earthquakes, tidal waves and landslides, have an aggregate cost of P45 million.

Gov. Roberto Uy said the construction of the evacuation shelters, which started early last year, was fast-tracked by the Provincial Engineer’s Office in coordination with local government unit officials and concerned civic groups.

Engineer Christopher Soza, action officer of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, told media some of the evacuation areas still lack additional lavatories and latrines which are expected to be completed within few months.

“These facilities are necessary to ensure comfort and proper sanitation of evacuees,” Soza said, stressing that each evacuation center, similar to multi-purpose covered courts, could accommodate as many as 300 families.

The places where the evacuation shelters were put up, Soza said, included Dipolog and Dapitan cities and the towns of Liloy, Rizal, Polanco, Sergio Osmeña, Gutalac, Siocon, Salug, Sirawai, Labason, Tampilisan, Pinan, Sibutad and Manuel Roxas.

M O N D AY : A u G u S T 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA eDitOr

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

HEAVy TRAffIC plumbline

[ EDI TORI A L ]

paStOr apOllO quibOlOy

Special treatment For the first time in recent memory, members of the Iglesia ni Cristo have taken to the streets in protest. Church officials said the demonstrations and vigils at the Justice Department office in Ermita, Manila and along the main thoroughfare of Edsa were aimed at defending their religious freedom, after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima announced that she would investigate a complaint filed by an ousted minister, Isaias Samson Jr., charging the INC’s highest administrative council of harassment, illegal detention and coercion.

The INC demands that De Lima resign for showing an “inordinate interest” in the Samson case, at a time where so many more serious cases are pending in her office, including the January massacre of 44 police commandos in Mamasapano.

The INC protests and the government’s response thus far are rife with examples of how selectively justice is applied and how special treatment is the order of the day. on the one hand, INC critics accused the influential church of bullying the government into dropping what might be a legitimate case against its officials. This, in itself, is an example of a powerful group seeking special treatment.

In the face of the INC’s political influence, the government has bent over backwards to assure church leaders that it would not take “an adversarial position” against them. “[The] government’s duty is to ensure that the laws of the land are complied with and does not wish to interfere in the internal affairs of any legitimate organization,” a spokesman said Friday. “[The] government is not taking an adversarial position against the INC whose contributions to national development and demonstration of civic consciousness are duly acknowledged,” the spokesman added.

Thus protests along Padre Faura Street in Manila and Edsa were allowed to tie up traffic in those areas, even though no rally permits were issued.

The kid-gloves treatment is in sharp contrast to the way the government routinely uses water cannon and other anti-riot tactics to break up demonstrations by leftist groups.

Certainly, there is a double standard at work here.

At the same time, there is also a double standard at work at the Justice Department, which, as the INC correctly observes, has been remiss in pursuing major cases such as the Mamasapano massacre, in which no charges have yet been filed, or the misuse of billions in government funds through the now discredited Disbursement Acceleration Program.

Given De Lima’s apparent intention to run for the Senate next year, her motives for taking on the INC are suspect, to say the least. Given the INC’s propensity for block voting and its reluctance to back the administration ticket next year, De Lima’s move might be seen as a bid to sow discord among members and to break up the church’s political influence. or, she could simply be playing to the crowd to gain extra publicity and to project an image of a public servant who is unafraid of confronting the powerful.

Given De Lima’s track record, however, that ship sailed a long time ago, when she turned a blind eye to her own boss’ decision to absolve all his friends and allies of wrongdoing in the disgraceful Luneta hostage crisis of 2010.

Since those fateful days, De Lima has shed her facade as an independent upholder of the law, and has eagerly taken on the role of President Benigno Aquino III’s faithful attack dog, pressing cases against his political opponents while dragging her feet on pursuing charges against his friends and allies. reacting to the firestorm of protest from the INC, De Lima said she is “only doing her job.”

We beg to differ. If De Lima truly did her job and dispensed justice evenly, none of this would come back to bite her today.

WHAT IS SO VEXATIOUS ABOUT THE CROWD AT EDSA? penSéeS fr. ranhiliO callangan aquinO Cory Aquino was propelled to the presidency by a humongous gathering at Edsa that made that artery of traffic impassable for several days. In many ways, Manila was paralyzed. It was the same thing when Senate refused to open the celebrated “second envelope” and the

A9

crowd once more milled around the Edsa Shrine to demand for Erap’s ouster. Again, that part of Manila was closed to traffic and to the everyday affairs of those who held office or resided in its environs. But nobody was talking about “nuisance” then. And it cannot be protest of government action in which the difference consists. The first time people trooped to Edsa, they were protesting what was widely perceived to have been the perversion of the

electoral process. The second time, they gathered to install Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and they were there to object to a procedural decision of Senate in the lawful exercise of its duties as a court of impeachment.

Both at Edsa I and Edsa II however, there were serious doubts if not outright rejection of the claims of the government in power to legitimacy. of course, it was a matter of numbers likewise. Whoever denies the relevance of numbers

it is the posturing of inc as an alternate repository of power that most reject.

is being naive. Towards the end of the Marcos presidency, the number of defections—so dramatically instantiated by Air Force officers dispatched to strafe the streets but who landed their aircraft instead on Crame grounds—made it clear that the Commander-in-Chief was no longer in command. It

was not too different with Erap.

When one high ranking official after the other announced his resignation and the Army made known its withdrawal of support of the President, then it became clear that “incapacity” did not mean only serious physical or mental impairment, but included the incapacity to

execute the laws. No matter the many and justified complaints against the Aquino administration, there is no doubt that the nation accepts it as the legitimate government of the republic of the Philippines.

That is why, there is gnashing of teeth at the sidelines, and there are millions more at the sidelines then there are picking up the refrain of chants and cantillation supposedly in defense of religion. For now, what the INC members have against them is not

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-

government intransigence, nor really an assault on religion—a charge more imagined than real. What stands as some unsurmountable buffer against the numbers they can amass is the general conviction that they are on the wrong side of the law.

This should make it clear how important it is that the government itself uphold the law and educate the nation in the ways of a government of laws and not of men! But this government has trifled with the law on

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

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several occasions. It should now see what a dangerous game that is and how tenuous its hold on power—and its ability to maintain national cohesion —when it does not place a premium on the legitimacy of its actions and its very existence.

It is the prospect of one sect, subject to a central command, importuning itself without even the decency of subterfuge that is most offensive to many. The grumbling is not directed at Continued on A10

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

For P2,000, one can take home a sack of rice —or a brand-new motorcycle.

That is how low the downpayment for a China-made two-wheeler has gone down in the provinces these days.

A friend told me that one brand even has a regular piso sale, but done in small towns where everyone knows one another, and where it is everybody’s business to know each other’s income.

This does away with the need for credit investigation.

So it is no wonder our roads are full of motorbikes. The speed by which they are sold it seems is dictated by this rule: when a moveable object is given an irresistible price, they fly off showrooms fast.

I once listened to two friends argue if the explosion in the bike population was triggered by demand or by supply. I tend to believe that it is caused by both.

When streets are clogged and public transport full, a minimum wage-earner has no choice but to seek other ways of going to work. He knows that if he sticks to his routine of catching unpredictable rides, his tardiness may cost him his job.

So pushed to the wall, he hies off to the nearest bike store, forks over a couple of thousand pesos, and the commuter scoots home a motorist.

No one I know is a natural-born biker.

In a land where road accidents are among the top ten causes of deaths, the motorbike is not the ride of first option but of last resort. But when his work is on the line, the breadwinner puts his life, literally, in the balance daily.

If only mass transport were not a mess, no one would want to ride a bike to work through Manila’s dangerous streets. If you’ll notice, motorcycle companies don’t hire celebrities to sell their products. Government’s incompetence is already doing it for them.

So the next time you want to blast your horns at a workingman put-putting in his scooter, please view him not as someone who has a death wish, but on a kinder light as a father wanting to be home while his children are not yet still asleep. of course, affordability is a major draw. A public school teacher can buy a motorbike out of three months’ worth salary. If he opts for an AUV, he must save all he will earn for three years to buy it.

The downside is that the explosion in the number of motorbikes, or for that matter all kinds of vehicles, is causing the number of accidents to spike. you don’t need a traffic expert to explain the surge in mishaps —they’re evident on the streets, from unlicensed adolescents who treat streets as racing 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

M O N D AY : A u G u S T 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA eDitOr

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

HEAVy TRAffIC plumbline

[ EDI TORI A L ]

paStOr apOllO quibOlOy

Special treatment For the first time in recent memory, members of the Iglesia ni Cristo have taken to the streets in protest. Church officials said the demonstrations and vigils at the Justice Department office in Ermita, Manila and along the main thoroughfare of Edsa were aimed at defending their religious freedom, after Justice Secretary Leila de Lima announced that she would investigate a complaint filed by an ousted minister, Isaias Samson Jr., charging the INC’s highest administrative council of harassment, illegal detention and coercion.

The INC demands that De Lima resign for showing an “inordinate interest” in the Samson case, at a time where so many more serious cases are pending in her office, including the January massacre of 44 police commandos in Mamasapano.

The INC protests and the government’s response thus far are rife with examples of how selectively justice is applied and how special treatment is the order of the day. on the one hand, INC critics accused the influential church of bullying the government into dropping what might be a legitimate case against its officials. This, in itself, is an example of a powerful group seeking special treatment.

In the face of the INC’s political influence, the government has bent over backwards to assure church leaders that it would not take “an adversarial position” against them. “[The] government’s duty is to ensure that the laws of the land are complied with and does not wish to interfere in the internal affairs of any legitimate organization,” a spokesman said Friday. “[The] government is not taking an adversarial position against the INC whose contributions to national development and demonstration of civic consciousness are duly acknowledged,” the spokesman added.

Thus protests along Padre Faura Street in Manila and Edsa were allowed to tie up traffic in those areas, even though no rally permits were issued.

The kid-gloves treatment is in sharp contrast to the way the government routinely uses water cannon and other anti-riot tactics to break up demonstrations by leftist groups.

Certainly, there is a double standard at work here.

At the same time, there is also a double standard at work at the Justice Department, which, as the INC correctly observes, has been remiss in pursuing major cases such as the Mamasapano massacre, in which no charges have yet been filed, or the misuse of billions in government funds through the now discredited Disbursement Acceleration Program.

Given De Lima’s apparent intention to run for the Senate next year, her motives for taking on the INC are suspect, to say the least. Given the INC’s propensity for block voting and its reluctance to back the administration ticket next year, De Lima’s move might be seen as a bid to sow discord among members and to break up the church’s political influence. or, she could simply be playing to the crowd to gain extra publicity and to project an image of a public servant who is unafraid of confronting the powerful.

Given De Lima’s track record, however, that ship sailed a long time ago, when she turned a blind eye to her own boss’ decision to absolve all his friends and allies of wrongdoing in the disgraceful Luneta hostage crisis of 2010.

Since those fateful days, De Lima has shed her facade as an independent upholder of the law, and has eagerly taken on the role of President Benigno Aquino III’s faithful attack dog, pressing cases against his political opponents while dragging her feet on pursuing charges against his friends and allies. reacting to the firestorm of protest from the INC, De Lima said she is “only doing her job.”

We beg to differ. If De Lima truly did her job and dispensed justice evenly, none of this would come back to bite her today.

WHAT IS SO VEXATIOUS ABOUT THE CROWD AT EDSA? penSéeS fr. ranhiliO callangan aquinO Cory Aquino was propelled to the presidency by a humongous gathering at Edsa that made that artery of traffic impassable for several days. In many ways, Manila was paralyzed. It was the same thing when Senate refused to open the celebrated “second envelope” and the

A9

crowd once more milled around the Edsa Shrine to demand for Erap’s ouster. Again, that part of Manila was closed to traffic and to the everyday affairs of those who held office or resided in its environs. But nobody was talking about “nuisance” then. And it cannot be protest of government action in which the difference consists. The first time people trooped to Edsa, they were protesting what was widely perceived to have been the perversion of the

electoral process. The second time, they gathered to install Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and they were there to object to a procedural decision of Senate in the lawful exercise of its duties as a court of impeachment.

Both at Edsa I and Edsa II however, there were serious doubts if not outright rejection of the claims of the government in power to legitimacy. of course, it was a matter of numbers likewise. Whoever denies the relevance of numbers

it is the posturing of inc as an alternate repository of power that most reject.

is being naive. Towards the end of the Marcos presidency, the number of defections—so dramatically instantiated by Air Force officers dispatched to strafe the streets but who landed their aircraft instead on Crame grounds—made it clear that the Commander-in-Chief was no longer in command. It

was not too different with Erap.

When one high ranking official after the other announced his resignation and the Army made known its withdrawal of support of the President, then it became clear that “incapacity” did not mean only serious physical or mental impairment, but included the incapacity to

execute the laws. No matter the many and justified complaints against the Aquino administration, there is no doubt that the nation accepts it as the legitimate government of the republic of the Philippines.

That is why, there is gnashing of teeth at the sidelines, and there are millions more at the sidelines then there are picking up the refrain of chants and cantillation supposedly in defense of religion. For now, what the INC members have against them is not

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-

government intransigence, nor really an assault on religion—a charge more imagined than real. What stands as some unsurmountable buffer against the numbers they can amass is the general conviction that they are on the wrong side of the law.

This should make it clear how important it is that the government itself uphold the law and educate the nation in the ways of a government of laws and not of men! But this government has trifled with the law on

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

several occasions. It should now see what a dangerous game that is and how tenuous its hold on power—and its ability to maintain national cohesion —when it does not place a premium on the legitimacy of its actions and its very existence.

It is the prospect of one sect, subject to a central command, importuning itself without even the decency of subterfuge that is most offensive to many. The grumbling is not directed at Continued on A10

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

For P2,000, one can take home a sack of rice —or a brand-new motorcycle.

That is how low the downpayment for a China-made two-wheeler has gone down in the provinces these days.

A friend told me that one brand even has a regular piso sale, but done in small towns where everyone knows one another, and where it is everybody’s business to know each other’s income.

This does away with the need for credit investigation.

So it is no wonder our roads are full of motorbikes. The speed by which they are sold it seems is dictated by this rule: when a moveable object is given an irresistible price, they fly off showrooms fast.

I once listened to two friends argue if the explosion in the bike population was triggered by demand or by supply. I tend to believe that it is caused by both.

When streets are clogged and public transport full, a minimum wage-earner has no choice but to seek other ways of going to work. He knows that if he sticks to his routine of catching unpredictable rides, his tardiness may cost him his job.

So pushed to the wall, he hies off to the nearest bike store, forks over a couple of thousand pesos, and the commuter scoots home a motorist.

No one I know is a natural-born biker.

In a land where road accidents are among the top ten causes of deaths, the motorbike is not the ride of first option but of last resort. But when his work is on the line, the breadwinner puts his life, literally, in the balance daily.

If only mass transport were not a mess, no one would want to ride a bike to work through Manila’s dangerous streets. If you’ll notice, motorcycle companies don’t hire celebrities to sell their products. Government’s incompetence is already doing it for them.

So the next time you want to blast your horns at a workingman put-putting in his scooter, please view him not as someone who has a death wish, but on a kinder light as a father wanting to be home while his children are not yet still asleep. of course, affordability is a major draw. A public school teacher can buy a motorbike out of three months’ worth salary. If he opts for an AUV, he must save all he will earn for three years to buy it.

The downside is that the explosion in the number of motorbikes, or for that matter all kinds of vehicles, is causing the number of accidents to spike. you don’t need a traffic expert to explain the surge in mishaps —they’re evident on the streets, from unlicensed adolescents who treat streets as racing 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

A10 WANTED: NEW HEROES FOR 117 years now, the Philippines has been independent of foreign subjugation, RITA LINDA thanks to the selfV. JIMENO sacrifice, bravery and heroism of our heroes. Yet, even as we commemorate National Heroes Day every year, most Filipinos take for granted, even forget, what our national heroes have given up and what they have sacrificed for.

In fact, most of us do not even know what the name “Filipino” meant to our forebears who fought the colonizers and lost their lives. While the name Filipino originally referred to the Espanoles-Filipinos and to the Spaniards born in the Philippines, the name was cleansed of its racial bias and elitism as the elite ones became the outspoken leaders of the Philippine revolution. The native population began to consider themselves as Filipinos with a country of their own, the Philippines. For Andres Bonifacio, the term “Filipino” meant racial equality, human dignity and love of country in its purest form.

For all that our heroes have sacrificed, the We have been modern-day Filipinos do not subjugated by a new even remember breed of colonizers Dr. Jose P. Rizal’s who are themselves moving last words, “I die without Filipinos but wield seeing the day power other citizens do dawning on my not enjoy. country. You who will see it, greet it, and forget not those who fell during the night.” Our heroes restored our freedom, liberties and human dignity which we lost for over 400 years as we were enslaved in our own land. More than a century since we regained our freedom as a people, are we freer and happier?

Former Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos said in his speech before the Philippine Constitution Association that we have had three foreign colonizers and have a fourth one—the homegrown kind. In so many words, he said that the problem with our present democracy is the unequal or selective treatment of Filipino citizens which he attributes to a complex web of factors ranging from entrenched dynasties, to crony capitalism, and to political patronage. How did we get to this state and where should we go from here?

According to the former president, the presidential system of government handed down to us by the Americans may be working for the Americans but is not working for us. This system he said, is too centralized and makes for gridlock and deadlock between the executive branch and the legislative branch. This system of checks and balances has become the very hindrance to development.

I am in complete agreement with the former president’s analysis and venture further to say that our system has fomented graft and corruption.

For instance, when the Chief Executive desires to accomplish something that needs legislative action or the cooperation of the Senate and House of Representatives acting as, say, an impeachment court and prosecution, respectively, the Chief Executive can use money to produce the desired outcome.

Thus, we have become subjects of a new colonizer, the homegrown kind as former president Ramos calls it. By subtle means, whoever gets to power by popular elections can enrich himself and his family and perpetuate themselves in power. We elect our president on a nationwide vote and vest too much power on him, leaving hardly any authentic autonomy to local government units. In contrast, in the US, while the president is elected at large, too, the individual

OUT OF THE BOX

M O N D AY : A U G U S T 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

SUITCASE STORIES (1) First of two parts FORMER real estate executive Jim Ayala has several suitcases in his office. These samples come in blue and yellow. No, they don’t contain clothes for an upcoming trip; the units, manufactured by We Care, are called solar suitcases and contain solar panels, sealed lead acid battery, charge controller, headlamps, a phone charger, and a battery charger.

The blue ones are meant for schools. The yellow ones, intended for clinics, specifically birthing clinics, also come with a fetal doppler, the tool used to put a baby’s heartbeat from inside the womb on speaker.

Mr. Ayala is chairman for Asia of Stiftung Solarenergie, or Solar Energy Foundation. He has a lean (but mean) team supporting his advocacy of providing power to communities outside of the national grid which have no hopes of being electrified anytime soon.

The foundation’s ideals are not new. It stemmed from various earlier attempts to provide electricity to underserved places in the Philippines. Right now, Stiftung Solarenergie operates in clusters, specifically in Region 12, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Palawan and Eastern Visayas.

These places were identified on the basis of information on electrification, and on data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development on the poorest communities, those lacking in social services, geographically isolated, and beset with peace and order problems.

Changing a mindset Ayala and the foundation’s executive director, Bambi Reyes, say at the onset that they are not in the business of “donating” or “doling out” to underprivileged communities.

“We’re doing a bit more

CHASING HAPPY ADELLE CHUA than that. We are adopting a development approach that considers sustainability and empowerment. This project has a governance component, and we do not push through with the installations unless we are sure the community can do its part,” Ayala says.

The communities that wish to have the solar suitcases, after learning about it through various channels, signify their intention to be part of the program and then submit themselves to an application process. They submit necessary documents.

The Solarenergie team then reviews these documents, and then if they are clear, a validating team proceeds to the community and meets its principals and stakeholders.

For schools, the stakeholders are parents, teachers, the students themselves and civil society organizations, if any, that operate in the area. For clinics, there are fewer, usually the midwives and other health workers.

Solarenergie is now focusing on birthing clinics, recognizing that it is extremely difficult to ensure the safety of women giving birth if there is no light.

“Childbirth is excruciating as it is; we want to help make it more bearable if only through lights that would help midwives assist them better,” says Reyes.

The solar suitcases, properly handled and maintained, have a shelf life of 25 years. Thus, a key element in ensuring the success of the program is training the people to use them properly, troubleshoot them, and know where spare parts are available.

WHAT IS SO... From A9 the INC and its doctrinal positions. It is directed at the use of force—even if it be the still relatively benign force of choking Manila’s thoroughfares — that is not sanctioned by law. In fact, it is the posturing of INC as an alternate repository of power that most reject.

What these intimations of a crisis in national life suggest is not the need for the exercise of the sostates have vast autonomy and powers because the US has a federal system of government. Each state has the power to generate its own revenue and determine how to use it to develop itself as well as provide social services to its citizens.

According to former President Ramos, unwittingly, because of our faulty unitary presidential system of government, we have been subjugated by a new breed of colonizers who are themselves Filipinos but wield power other citizens do not enjoy simply because our Constitution has allowed it.

“We’ve all heard stories about solar-powered lights that were bought for a low price but were not useful for long because they conked out right away and people didn’t know how to repair them,” Ayala says. “We want to avoid that.”

A crucial part of the process is securing the commitment of the community. “This is a partnership,” Reyes says, “not a charity project. They have to assume responsibilities that would ensure the solar lights will be useful for a long time, and that they would have accountability to the people for whatever happens to it.”

“It’s a mindset, actually,” adds Ayala. “Even if you’re talking about communities is far-flung places, they should have the governance and operational systems to support the project, and make it run for a long time.”

Works in progress Reyes, who has spent years as a Solarenergie volunteer before assuming her post, has many stories to tell.

For example, the solar lights in schools are not only used for classrooms. They are also used for night classes, under the Alternative Learning System where adults who have not had the chance of finishing basic education in their younger years catch up.

“The lights also power the teachers’ workstations and living quarters so they can stay up late to check papers and work on their lesson plans,” says Reyes.

“Many of these schools are in areas which are very difficult to reach. What the teachers do is stay there during the week and then only come home to their families on weekends,” Ayala adds.

Continued next Monday adellechua@gmail.com

called “calling out powers”. That would be alarmist.

More demanding yet but ever so vital to the life of the nation is education in the ways of the law, a schooling of which the government itself by its unconditional submission to the rule of law should be the supreme pedagogue! rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@yahoo.com For one, he said, political dynasties will always reign because while the Constitution prohibits political dynasties, it has abdicated to Congress the power to pass a law to define what a political dynasty is, and to what degree of consanguinity or affinity should be covered by the prohibition. Thus, our struggle for freedom and equality continues until our very Constitution is changed or until new heroes emerge to make way for real change.

Email: ritalindaj@gmail.com Visit: www.jimenolaw.com.ph

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Spooked WhEn the ghosts “come marchin’ in”, to parody an old favorite, you wouldn’t want to be “in that number.” Else, you get spooked.

Spooked is what happened to doJ’s leila de lima, on her birthday at that. She was born august 27, so many moons ago, and a party was laid out for her at the doJ office in Padre faura.

The day before, she appeared on a television talk show, where she said she was going to announce her political plans “tomorrow,” which coincides with her umpteenth birthday.

The birthday girl was so happy, ecstatic even, that she sang a duet with her fellow Bicolana, singer imelda Papin. Madam leila belted out the words: “Kung liligaya ka, sa piling ng iba…” oh my god! outside the happy moments inside the doJ, a thousand or so members of the iglesia ni cristo massed up, shouting for her head, decrying supposedly biased attention by the doJ secretary on what the “kapatiran” called meddling in their internal religious affairs.

They did not only spoil her celebratory mood. They spooked the would-be senator, blocking her “tuwid na daan”, from “Point J (that’s for Justice department) to Point S (that’s for the Senate), as

she proudly beamed in her speech before her subalterns, spiced up by a “Macarena” performance on stage.

Hindi po ninyo kayang magTwerk? or nae-nae? *** Spooked likewise was Senadora grace, who traveled to her adopted father’s home province, Pangasinan last week. reacting to “this” rizalito david, who went to the Senate Electoral Tribunal to question her citizenship and residency in this land of the benighted, she drew a parallelism to a case filed against the late Jesse robredo, the dilg Secretary who was “beatified” by the liberal Party after his plane crashed into the Masbate sea in 2012.

The suspected minions of louie villafuerte, then the political kingpin of camarines Sur, once challenged the good Jesse’s citizenship, on account of his having a supposedly alien father, and his sisters having alien certificates of registration.

Senadora grace’s parallelism drew a rather terse statement from widow, rep. leni robredo: “there should be no comparison between Jesse’s case and hers”, and added, “My husband never renounced his filipino citizenship to embrace another country’s”.

heavy... From A9 slaloms to helmetless adults who do the same.

The sad part is when these daredevils figure in an accident, they leave a big dent in the already low resources of public hospitals. When a helmetless drunk gets brain contusions, the public hospital suffers financial hemorrhage.

But the main culprit remains a road system which has surpassed its safe carrying capacity and a transport infrastructure which provides no reliable alternative. alas, traffic is no longer a Metro Manila disease. it is being felt in other major cities. in Baguio, a friend lamented that the scent of pine trees has been overpowered by diesel fumes. in various social media, cebuanos rail against traffic jams. davao is also feeling the awful side effects of the automobile

#failocracy

So I See LIto banayo *** Meanwhile, the ghosts moved in to the Bureau of customs.

Whatever got into Bert lina, that he had to announce that his agents would henceforth open and inspect the contents of balikbayan boxes?

They can do random checking anyway, why the need to announce it like it was a “new, improved” program to raise revenues?

That caused a howl of protest from Kazakhstan to Saudi to almost every family in the land. and Bert’s televised reaction?

“Aba, eh yan ang batas!” as if that were not enough, Bert’s agents taxed a championship belt won by a filipina boxer in Macau. diyos ko po naman! May nagiisip pa ba sa Boc? and again, when asked for his reaction, Bert, hands akimbo, face as smug as ever, intones: “Aba, eh yan ang batas”, Then added that the woman boxing champion can always go to cesar Purisima’s department of finance and get a certified exemption.

What ghosts came marching into their being? ***

culture. once-sleepy towns are now inaugurating to misplaced hoopla two vestiges of the car age: the traffic light and pedestrian overpass. They’re mistakenly hailed as signs of progress when in fact they’re stop-gap solutions to a growing problem. car sellers predict that in 10 years, vehicle sales would reach 500,000 a year. We’re just hitting half that number and it’s already carmageddon in the capital region. Past data point to worrying trend. a dozen years ago, there were only 4.7 million vehicles of all types. By december 2013, it reached 7.7 million. in the words of one car blogger, we put three million more on the road in 450 weeks. and the new cars and motorbikes and SUvs and buses did not ply ncr roads alone. case in point: There were 175,000

and then comes another. My friend francis Tolentino, heckled by one and all for the impossible traffic, and heckled even further by broadcast journalist Ted failon for traipsing all over the benighted land in search of support for his senatorial dream (and survey numbers), does a traffic-aide stunt, complete with towed-in media. and gets heckled even more for such a publicity stunt. no, not just heckled, but truly booed by irate citizens of the gridlocked metropolis. Spooked indeed. *** The chinese are told to be “uber” careful during the seventh month of the lunar year. This year, the ghost month started on the 14th of august, and ends on the 13th of September. The worst days of the ghost month, feng shui experts say, are those closest to the 28th of august, the middle, also the peak presence of restless souls they call ghosts. look at all those events spooking highly visible personalities, impacting thereby on the chances of the candidacy of the “anointed”. and to think the public pollsters, Pulse and SWS, are now likewise roaming the streets of the randomly selected barangays to get a snapshot of people’s voting preferences.

Que horror, as the yellow donas

registered vehicles in the davao region in 2004. in december 2013, the lTo count was 331,000.

Southern Tagalog added half a million motor vehicles in nine years. calabarzon was already home to almost a million a year and half ago.

Even island provinces are reporting increases in Mv registration. central visayas, which includes that sliver of a land that is cebu, saw its number of motor vehicles shoot up from 470,000 in 2004 to 652,000 in 2013. ilonggos are snapping cars by the thousands a year. from 261,000 units in the year fPJ and gMa tussled, the number in region vi, according to the lTo database, rose to 377,000 in december 2013.

But nowhere is the rise more phenomenal than in the number of motorbikes. from 1.9 million in 2004, it is said to have breached the 5-million-

would exclaim! *** Everybody but a few expected rodrigo duterte to come up with a declaration last august 28, when a volunteer caravan of supporters converged in davao’s rizal Park to egg the feisty mayor to run for president.

But duterte sidestepped the issue, without offending his legion of supporters. “give me time to talk to my family, who are against my running for president”, he said. leaving his supporters hopeful but giving no categorical statement. The ghosts of the lunar seventh must have whispered into his ears, “dili pa karon” (not yet). *** My usually unerring sources tell me that Senadora grace y su Queso will make an important announcement on September 16, at high noon kuno, in the historic club filipino, a stone’s throw away from Presidentealcalde Erap’s casa grande. That’s after the ghost month. Para nga naman hindi na “spooked”.

But as i write this, word came to us that the iglesia ni cristo leaders, in the Sunday “samba,” directed every single one of their brethren to mass up towards Edsa, and stay there, perhaps until kingdom come?

My, are we all truly spooked.

mark in mid-2013. That’s a growth of 3 million more in under a decade. in 2013, 1.1 million units were sold, a great portion in rural areas where a helmet is seen as a fashion inconvenience and bikes double as hair-dryers.

The question now is, using this historical data, would Southern Tagalog, for example, be able to absorb two million motor vehicles, a milestone it would reach in seven years, according to one projection? What about cebu? or davao? non-Metro Manila residents may question the forecast. But there is one urgent task they must not shirk from, and that is to address the problems now, and prevent a repeat of the Manila experience when solutions came too late and too little.

The road sign is clear. it says: heavy traffic ahead. Take preventive action. now.

chong ardivilla

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Day, Bae share Barclays’ lead EDISON—PGA Champion Jason Day and Bae SangMoon jumped on the birdie bandwagon on Saturday, both firing seven-under-par 63 to share the 54-hole lead at the Barclays.

Australia’s Day, who captured his first major title at Whistling Straits two weeks ago, had six birdies and an eagle with just one bogey as he joined playing partner Bae on 11-under-par 199 at Plainfield Country Club.

Bae, who birdied four of his first seven holes, finished with nine birdies and two bogeys for his share

of a one-stroke lead over two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson.

Watson, who held a one-stroke overnight lead, carded a threeunder-par 67 for 200, giving him sole possession of third place, one stroke in front of British Open champion Zach Johnson (67), Sweden’s Henrik Stenson (67) and Ryan Palmer (65).

Day said Bae’s hot start -- with birdies at the first, third, fifth and seventh, helped him get going, too.

“It was a good day,” he said. “To be able to have Sang-Moon get off to a good start, he hit it great all day.

We’re kind of feeding off each other, drafting off each other there today.”

Day said he knew that good scores were to be had after Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz went out early and posted an eight-under-par 62 and England’s Justin Rose fired a 63.

The 27-year-old Aussie, who started the tournament battling nagging back trouble, rolled in a

17-footer for eagle at the 16th and after promptly giving a stroke back with a bogey at 17, birdied the last.

“There’s still 18 holes to go,” Day said. “It’s going to be very difficult tomorrow.

“I’ve just got to keep pushing, because the moment that you’re satisfied with a score is the moment that you mentally kind of take a break and you start making mistakes.”

Bae ended a run of three straight birdies at 14, 15, 16 with a bogey of his own at 17, but like Day he capped his round with a birdie. AFP

Jason Day of Australia walks across the 17th green during the third round of The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. AFP

Jaguars end 1st round with a win

By Mikey Izumi CEBU CITY—The University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars ripped the hapless University of Southern Philippines Foundation Panthers, 86-80, to end their firstround assignment on a winning note in the 15th season of Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. Basketball Tournament at the Cebu Coliseum on Saturday..

The Jaguars began by firing on all cylinders and clamped down on the Panthers as they posted a 23-5 first quarter score. The five points that USPF scored were the lowest by any team this year.

In the second period, the Panthers slowly came back to life as Kimo Bajamunde and Mhike Patalinghug combined for 8 points in the last two minutes of the period and eventually cut the lead to 15, 38-23 at the half.

The Jaguars came up firing again at the start of the second half and never looked back as they forced the Panthers into a series of turnovers and turned on their fastbreak-style of play until the final buzzer.

Ralph Jude Dinolan, who was named “Best Player of the Game” by Viva Sports TV panelists Rico Navarro and Sandi Grumo, finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, while last year’s Mythical Five member Kevin Villafranca had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 1 steal.

Ricky Peromingan, Jaybie Mantilla and Miguel Gastador combined for 37 points for the Jaguars, who ended the first round with a 2-4 slate.

CDO-Foodsphere holds Run for Odyssey CDO-Foodsphere Inc., the company behind the CDO, San Marino and Highlands food brands, is holding a fun run to support its cause for children nutrition and as a part of its 40th anniversary celebration.

Thousands of CDO Foodsphere employees, industry partners, loyal customers and supporters are expected to join the fun run on Nov. 8, at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

The event dubbed “CDO @ 40: Run for Odyssey” will have 5k, 10k, and 21k groups for both male and female categories. It is sponsored by CDO, San Marino Tuna and Highlands Corned Beef.

Registrations are held at Chris Sports outlets in Glorietta, SM North Edsa, SM Megamall, SM MOA, SM BF Homes and Market Market.

“We wish to cap off this year’s celebration through a meaningful activity that signifies our thrust of continuously nourishing the lives of Filipinos,” said Jules Burton, Senior Manager for Human Resources Department of CDO-Foodsphere.

The run for a cause aims to support the social advocacies of Odyssey Foundation Inc. , the corporate

Company officials of CDO-Foodsphere Inc. and Leadpack race organizer officially launched the “CDO @ 40: Run for Odyssey” on Aug. 26 at the 100 Miles Restaurant in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. They are (from left) Teresa D. Runes, Executive Assistant, Office of the President of CDO-Foodsphere, Inc.; Julius L. Burton, Senior Manager, Corporate HRAD of CDO-Foodsphere; Dr. Lyndon A. Cosico, Race Director of Leadpack and Jinoe M. Gavan, Founder of TAKBO.PH blogsite.

social responsibility arm of CDOFoodsphere.

“Proceeds of the sports event will go to the supplemental feeding programs of the OFI,” Burton said.

OFI has served over 1.2 million meals to over 18,000 thousand malnourished children through supplemental feedings, which

have been administered from Sta. Ana Cagayan in the north to Jaro, Leyte in the south.

“When you run for Odyssey, you not only get up to the challenge of proving yourself in your chosen run category but you also help nourish the lives of thousands of undernourished children in the country,” says Burton.

Triple Crown champion Pharaoh stunned NEW YORK—American Pharoah, US racing’s first Triple Crown winner in 37 years, was stunned in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday by Keen Ice. The Bob Baffert-trained colt was unable to take his winning streak to nine races as he was overtaken in the finishing straight by a horse he had beaten in the Haskell Invitational on August 2.

With Victor Espinoza again aboard, American Pharoah broke well and took the lead, digging deep to get back in front after he was headed by Frosted.

But Pharoah had nothing left when jockey Javier Castellano brought Keen Ice from the pack to claim the win in the 1 1/4-mile, $1.6 million race on a Saratoga track dubbed the Graveyard of Champions.

Only one of the four Triple Crown winners that ran there -- Whirlaway in 1941 -- has won the Travers. The great Secretariat faltered at Saratoga -- losing in the Whitney there in 1973.

“He dug in today, he just didn’t bring his A-game,” said a disappointed Baffert. “He looked like he was done early and he kept trying.” AFP

Cambodia rips PH XI

By Peter Atencio CAMBODIA pounced on an error by Michael Cangco Agong to post a 1-0 win over the Filipinos and improved their chances of moving to the semifinals of the Asean Football Federation Under-19 Championship at the National Sports Complex Stadium in Vientiane, Laos.

Chreng Polroth let loose a shot in the 40th minute. Agong bent down to collect the ball, which bounced off him into the goal.

The defeat ended the Philippines’ quest to reach the semifinals, even though they still have one more game against Laos.

This leaves Cambodia and Laos battling for the remaining semifinal slot.

Cambodia, with one win and a draw in the bag, moved to the top of the group with seven points.

Thailand is second with six points and can reclaim the top spot if they hurdle Brunei.

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Delos Santos tops Milo race

About 11,500 runners conquered the main roads to reach the finish line in the 39th National MILO Marathon in Lucena.

Belief powers Nishikori’s bid NEW YORK—Japanese fourth seed Kei Nishikori, last year’s US Open runner-up, makes another bid to become the first Asian man to win a Grand Slam singles title starting Monday.

The 25-year-old winner of 10 ATP titles will begin his run Monday morning at Louis Armstrong Stadium against Benoit Paire, having beaten the Frenchman in both prior meetings, most recently in the third round at the 2013 French Open.

“I believe in myself,” Nishikori said. “This past four, five years I try to believe myself to be top 10 and now I’m top 10. So little by little I try to claim this big challenge. I’m very proud I’m number one in Asia right now and I hope I can keep going.”

Nishikori faces a potential quarter-final rematch of last year’s US Open final with Croatian ninth seed Marin Cilic, who won his first Grand Slam title with the victory, and could meet world number one Novak Djokovic of

Serbia in the semi-finals.

“I’m feeling pretty good,” Nishikori said. “From last year at this time I stepped one up and I raised my level, so I’m very happy with everything this year.”

Nishikori has won titles this year at Memphis, Barcelona and Washington. Last year after his US Open final run, Nishikori won titles at Kuala Lumpur and Tokyo.

“It was really disappointing to lose in a final but at the same time it was a great experience and I learned a lot of things from last year’s US Open,” he said. “I won two tournaments in a row right after. I very much appreciate this time last year and I played really well after that.”

- ‘A big challenge’ Nishikori avenged his US Open

final loss to Cilic in a rematch on his way to the Washington title earlier this month but he knows the US Open this year is a whole new challenge and last year is but a nice memory.

“It’s going to be a big challenge for me to play this year again, but I’m very confident,” Nishikori said. “This is a new US Open. I know how to go tough in final again, so I’ll try to play one match at a time and focus on myself and what I have to do on the court.”

Nishikori is hoping for luck to repeat itself so he’s changing as little as possible from his 2014 US Open routine.

“I’m staying in the same hotel with the same team again. I think it’s very important to do the same things like last year,” Nishikori said. “I was doing really well last year so I try to prepare like last year and just play good tennis.

“There are some new things.

But on the court it’s all the same.

I have to play good tennis to beat those strong guys, especially top10 guys. Pretty tough.”

LUCENA—Two-time MILO Marathon Queen Mary Grace Delos Santos once again proved her athletic mettle and clinched the top spot in the 21K female race category of the 39th National MILO Marathon in Lucena on Sunday. About 11,500 runners swarmed the city streets, including Lucena City Mayor Roderick Alcala, and celebrities Joross Gamboa, Katya Santos, Jaycee Parker, Jamille Obispo and Zara Lopez who ran in the 5K race.

Delos Santos, a member of the Philippine Air Force, bested her rivals with the time of 01:13:23. Janice Tawagin (01:38:56) secured her spot as the second placer, while Jeanyrose Hari (01:47:39) followed as the third placer.

In the male division, Ruel Suazo took the top spot of the podium as the 21K

male winner with the time of 01:13:23. Alley Quisay (01:15:49) followed in second place, while Nimrod Cesar (01:19:26) finished in third. MILO Marathon regular Suazo was last year’s third placer in the National Finals of the 2014 National MILO Marathon.

Both Delos Santos and Suazo have secured their slots in the National Finals, and each took home the top prize of P10,000 in cash and a trophy. Both will go headto-head with the country’s best runners at the National Finals in Angeles on Dec. 6, where the MILO Marathon King and Queen titles are up for grabs. This year’s King and Queen will be sent by MILO to the USA on all-expense paid trips, for a chance to run in the prestigious 2016 Boston Marathon.

Black holds basketball clinic in Cagayan de Oro

By Robbie Pangilinan CAGAYAN DE ORO—Norman Black, one of the Philippine Basketball Association’s greatest coaches, held a free basketball clinic in Cagayan De Oro City during its annual Higalaay Festival, a week-long celebration with colorful, culturally-rich and fun events for the city’s patron saint, St. Augustine.

Twenty-two young participants attended SKIL’s Free Basketball Clinic on Aug. 29 at the Limketkai Center in Lapasan National Highway, Cagayan de Oro City.

The free training is part of Skil’s projects and sports advocacy in the country that brings its endorser Black to the provinces to teach children not only basketball skills, but sportsmanship, confidence, pride, and determination as well.

“Our partnerships with our regional retail partners enable us to connect with more people across the country,” said Martin Valenzuela, Bosch Marketing Head and Skil Brand Manager.

Also present to give support were Skil’s Marketing Supervisor Marie Faller, Em Alviso and Dean Ang,

owner of Valiant Hardware, a partner of Skil.

“For 36 years, it has been my advocacy to teach kids to play basketball whenever I get the chance,” said Black, the latest member of the 500win coaching club.

It was Black’s 14th time at the tourism hub of Mindanao; he first visited in 1983.

“I’m glad to be back. The kids who trained with us today are good. They all have great basketball skills,” said the coach, who trained the participants on shooting mechanics, footwork, ball handling, passing skills, offensive moves, moving without the ball, and defensive principles.

Black became a household name in 1989 when he led the San Miguel Beermen to a PBA Grand Slam. He is already third in the PBA’s all-time list among the league’s winningest coaches, next to Tim Cone and Baby Dalupan.

Meanwhile, the Higalaay Festival has grown not only as the customary day of thanksgiving but also as a rallying point for a campaign to promote Cagayan de Oro City and the surrounding areas globally as an investment and tourism destination.

Fernandez bows to Kazakhstan’s Yeraliyev BANGKOK—Bantamweight Mario Fernandez gave his all against his top-seeded foe from Kazakhstan, but fell short Sunday, bowing out of contention in the ASBC Asian Boxing Championships here.

Fernandez put up a decent fight and did well with his left hooks. But he couldn’t take full control of the fight, allowing Kairat Yeraliyev to run away with a unanimous 3-0 victory.

But Yeralivez, who defeated Fernandez in their first meet-

ing in 2013, suffered cuts right and left, on the left eyebrow as a result of the Filipinos’ left hook right in the first round.

The second cut on Yeraliyev’s left eyelid was caused by an accidental headbutt in the closing seconds of the second round, and the ring physician had to check on him.

The southpaw from Kazakhstan won on all three scorecards.

“Tumatama talaga ‘yung mga hook ko (My hooks were landing). Pero maganda din ang straight niya (But he had a good

straight),” said Fernandez.

Fernandez kept on apologizing to Filipino team officials after the loss, saying he felt he did enough to win the bout.

“It was close and when it’s close it can always go either way,” said Association of Boxing Alliances executive director Ed Picson.

It was the second straight day that the ABAP-PLDT Philippine team lost to Kazakhstan, following the stunning loss of lightweight Charly Suarez to Zakir Safiullin Saturday evening.

Twenty-two young participants attended SKIL’s Free Basketball Clinic conducted by multi-titled coach Norman Black at the Limketkai Center in Lapasan National Highway, Cagayan de Oro City.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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m o n day : augus t 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

2 rookies idolize Pingris, De Ocampo

By Jeric Lopez

Ginebra Kings celebrate World Gin Day with fans. Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings, led by Greg Slaughter and Mac

Baracael, recently led their die-hard fans in celebrating World Gin Day via a grand fans day. The events were held simultaneously in three different venues – Obeertime, Makati; Bellagio Square, Manila; and Quattro, Quezon City. Limited edition Ginebra San Miguel merchandises and autographed basketballs were given to lucky fans. World Gin Day was founded by British blogger Neil Houston in 2009. What started out as a day of celebrating and drinking gin with friends has grown into a global celebration. Aside from the Philippines, World Gin Day events were also held in the UK, Australia and the US, among others. Like the official Facebook fanpage www.facebook.com/barangayginebra or log on to www.ginebrasanmiguel.com.

Reluctance in Taiwan PINOY basketball fans have started to feel good about our national team training pool now that they have embarked on at least two tournaments the last two weeks.

After a few games in Estonia, the Gilas Pilipinas squad is now campaigning in the prestigious William Jones Cup tournament in Taipei.

In Taiwan, the Nationals coached by American-Kiwi mentor Tab Baldwin will be facing few of the top national squads in Asia that will also see action in next month’s FIBA Asia tournament in China.

With that in mind, Baldwin has been open about being unenthusiastic in playing in this annual basketball gig.

For Baldwin, playing in the Jones Cup has to be on a case-to-case basis and should not be a regular destination when it comes to foreign exposures for the Nationals.

“I would think that this would be something that we would want to leave off of our annual calendar or at least pick the years that we want to go there,” said Baldwin.

“We’re going to be exposing our players and systems to the very teams that we’re going

to be competing against and there’s some flawed thinking in doing that.”

While Baldwin has serious reservations about the event, he sees no problem joining this year’s tourney.

“When the original campaign was put together, I was not in favor of going to the Jones Cup but there was an existing agreement that we would attend, that we would have a team there,” admitted Baldwin.

“But the fact is we’re going to be attending it and we need to get games. From that standpoint, it’ll be a positive for us to get out on the floor and compete.”

The 57-year-old veteran internationalist assures all the players he will tapping to play will surely give their best despite his openness about being reluctant in this latest Gilas campaign.

“I’m sure that you’re going to get 100% commitment from each player to play in those games for every minute they’re playing. But we’re not going to overuse players we’re not going to overexpose systems in the Jones Cup in order to win games,” said Baldwin.

From the current training pool will come the country’s final 12 that will compete in the FIBA Asia tournament in China where only the gold winner will get the lone ticket to next year’s Rio Olympics.

“I have great respect and empathy for the

Philracom requires clubs to submit updated results IN RESPONSE to a clamor from horseracing aficionados, the Philippine Racing Commission required the three racing clubs to submit updated race result information for the use of the accredited publishers of racing programs.

Last July 22, the Commission instructed Manila Jockey Club, Philippine Racing Club, and Metro Manila Turf Club to immediately provide the publishers of racing programs with the “comprehensive summary on the lineup of horses at the finish line [sic]” after the “daily race schedule.”

On Aug. 17, Philracom met with the owner of Economic Press, the publisher of racing program “Dividendazo,” a mainstay of track aficionados since 1934, to discuss this and other related issues.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Philracom Chairman Andrew A. Sanchez said that this move “is to ensure that the racing programs will contain accurate, timely, and reliable information” for racing fans to use in their enjoyment of the sport.

Racing programs contain not only information on the races to be run on a particular day -- including race start times and the lineups of entries and their corresponding jockeys, trainer, and owners, and handicap weights but also data on past race results and individual performances that aid the racing fan in picking winners.

On its Facebook page, Philracom thanked aficionados for bringing the matter to their attention and promised to be responsive in acting on their concerns.

players that really believe would love to be part of the national program but aren’t. But the fact is we can’t continue to focus on that one. We have to focus on the players that we have. We have to move forward,” adds Baldwin.

NLEX’S ALAS. Team manager Ronald Dulatre of the NLEX Road Warriors sounded optimistic about their chances in the upcoming season of the PBA. Now entering their second year, the Road Warriors bolstered their line-up by acquiring incoming sophomore combo guard Kevin Alas in a three-team trade that also involved Talk ‘N Text and Mahindra.

While NLEX had to give up dependable wingmen Aldrech Ramos and veteran Nino Canaleta to get Alas, Dulatre believes they still have a formidable cast that can lead them to a better season.

Dulatre said rookie picks Garvo Lanete and Glen Khobuntin would surely fill the void that will be created by the departure of Canaleta and Ramos.

“Maliit nga lang sila ng konti in terms of height pero in terms of skills, sa tingin ko hindi malayo ‘yung dalawang nakuha namin,” said Dulatre.

The NLEX Road Warriors will also set up a training camp in Cagayan de Oro weeks before the PBA opening which is set on Oct. 18.

Mosley wins. Shane Mosley throws a left hand at Ricardo Mayorga of Nicaragua at The Forum in Inglewood, California. Mosley won via a 6th-round stoppage. AFP

FOR the past decade, National team mainstays Marc Pingris and Ranidel De Ocampo have been two of the premier big men in the Philippine Basketball Association.

They became household names through the years and have kept their stars shining by being a force for their respective teams. They helped their PBA teams win championships along the way and represented the country quite well in international play.

No wonder, two of the top incoming PBA rookies want to have careers just like those two superstars in the pros.

No. 2 overall pick Troy Rosario, now of Talk ‘N Text, and No. 9 pick Art Dela Cruz of Blackwater, two young and promising big men in the country, are looking ahead to their PBA stints. Both are hoping to shine just like their idols.

For the two, Pingris and De Ocampo are the measuring sticks of forwards who want to thrive in the PBA. The two rookies believe their games can be likened to the style of the two star forwards.

The 6’6” Rosario, who was coveted by a lot of teams given his talent and skill set as an agile big man, wants to mirror the effectiveness of both his idols as he introduces his own brand of play to the PBA come the new season.

“For me, si Marc Pingris and Ranidel De Ocampo talaga ‘yung mga hinahangaan ko sa PBA,” said Rosario. “Kasi all-around players sila and ang galing nila na big man. I’m hoping na kahit paano maging kagaya nila ako sa PBA. Sobrang successful talaga kasi ng careers nila.”

Rosario is privileged to be learning from both of his idols. He practices with Pingris and De Ocampo regularly in the Smart Gilas pool as they prepare for the FIBA-Asia Championship.

He said that he is learning a lot from them given that he is getting first-hand experience of what it’s like to play with them.

“Marami talaga akong natututunan sa kanila lalo na ‘yung mga advice nila kung paano magiging effective sa PBA,”he said.

With his size, athleticism and skills, Rosario is projected to be a future star in the PBA. It is up to him if he can live up to the hype and expectations.

As for the San Beda star Dela Cruz, who is currently in the mix for the Most Valuable Player award in the ongoing NCAA season, he sees himself in the same mold as Pingris and De Ocampo.

He promises to work hard, continue to improve and eventually prove himself in the PBA. “Sila Marc Pingris and Ranidel De Ocampo ‘yung mga influences ko talaga,” said the 6’4” Dela Cruz, who is expected to play heavy minutes for the Elite once he’s eligible to join the team in November after the NCAA season.

Just like Rosario, Dela Cruz is hopeful that he can follow in the footsteps of De Ocampo and Pingris. He believes that he can do that if he keeps improving and working hard on his game.

M O N DAY : AUGUS T 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Arellano University won’t file protest

By Peter Atencio

IN the interest of sportsmanship, Arellano University won’t be pushing through with its plan to protest its 112-114 double overtime defeat to Jose Rizal University.

Peter Cayco, Arellano’s representative to the National Collegiate Athletic Association, informed the National Collegiate Athletic Association Management Committee of the school’s decision.

He said the decision came from no less than school president Francisco Cayco.

“I was ordered by my president not to put the game under protest in the spirit of sportsmanship and in the interest of the NCAA,” said Cayco.

He added that “Jose Rizal University had nothing to do with the errors of game officials.”

With the decision, the Heavy Bombers will preserve their sixth victory against four defeats in the ongoing 91st NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

JRU has the same record held the Chiefs and they share the no.

4 spot.

Letran and San Beda still lead the league with identical 9-2 (win-loss) slates while Perpetual Help is at No. 3 with a 7-3 mark.

Earlier, the Arellano side argued that the referees downgraded a late triple by Jose Rizal’s Tey Teodoro a little too late.

This forced Jio Jalalon to foul Gio Lasquety with a little over a second remaining knowing the Chiefs were trailing by a point.

Lasquety eventually hit his two charities that sealed the win.

Meanwhile, Art dela Cruz is keen on ending his collegiate career with an MVP award and another championship for San Beda.

Dela Cruz came up with near

triple-double performances recently to power the Lions to a pair of victories and into a share of the lead with the Letran Knights. This earned him this week’s ACCEL Quantum/3XVINCAA Press Corps Player of the Week honors.

He dropped 30 points and had 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals on Emilio Aguinaldo in a 96-84 win last Tuesday.

De la Cruz made 17 points, had 10 boards and seven assists in an 89-63 rout over the College of St. Benilde Blazers, Thursday as San Beda improved to 9-2.

“My goal is, of course, to give the school another championship before I leave them,” said dela Cruz, who was drafted seventh overall by Blackwater in this year’s PBA rookie draft.

The Philippines’ No. 2-ranked light flyweight Jaysever Abcede displays his WBO belt.

Abcede wins vacant WBO title in Thailand

By Ronnie Nathanielsz THE Philippines’ No. 2-ranked light flyweight Jaysever Abcede has won the vacant World Boxing Organization Oriental minimum weight title with a stunning 11th-round TKO over favored Thai veteran and world No. 1 rated Pigmy Kokietgym in Bangkok, Thailand.

Abcede was focused on winning in Thailand, where beating Thai fighters is a tough ask, but the young Filipino was more than equal to the task.

Abcede nailed Pigmy with a short, snappy right cross to take the favored Thai out at 2:10 of the penultimate round.

With the win, Abcede improved his record to 10-3 with 6 knockouts, while Pigmy dropped to 57-8-2, with 23 knockouts.

The 20-year-old Filipino registered his fifth stoppage in a row, with his last win being a third-round TKO of Charles Canedo on July19.

Donaire Sr. not worried of son’s British opponent

Igan Cup. Broadcaster Arnold Clavio welcomes actors Monsour del Rosario and Jon Estrada to the 14th Igan Cup at the Eastridge Golf and Country Club. TEDDY PELAEZ

THE father/trainer of five-division world champion Nonito Donaire is confident his son can beat World Boxing Association super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg in a title showdown set for Nov. 21 in Manchester, England.

Dodong Donaire, who leaves for Las Vegas next Thursday to open his son’s training camp said: “I’m not worried about this guy Quigg. He may be heavy-handed, but he is not really strong, he’s easy to hit and he’s slow compared to Nonito.”

The father/trainer noted that Quigg “has no one-punch knockout power, unlike Nonito.”

However, the elder Donaire conceded, “it should be a good fight,” indicating they would have to watch out for Quigg’s overhand right.

“The priority is how to put him away. As long as Nonito trains hard, maintains his focus and has no family

Cambodia squeaks past PH eleven in Laos tilt

By Peter Atencio CAMBODIA pounced on an error by Michael Cangco Agong to post a 1-0 win over the Filipinos and improved their chances of moving to the semifinals of the Asean Football Federation Under-19 Championship at the National Sports Complex Stadium in Vientiane, Laos.

Chreng Polroth let loose a shot in the 40th minute. Agong bent down to collect the ball, which bounced off him into the goal.

The defeat ended the Philippines’ quest to reach the semifinals, even though they still have one more game against Laos.

This leaves Cambodia and Laos battling for the remaining

semifinal slot.

Cambodia, with one win and a draw in the bag, moved to the top of the group with seven points.

Thailand is second with six points and can reclaim the top spot if they hurdle Brunei.

The Philippines could have taken an early lead. But striker Mathew Custodio, who broke

away from the defenders, was unable to get his shot in.

Cambodia had another chance to score but Sath Rosib’s shot was blocked by keeper Agong.

In last minute of the first half, fans of the Philippines were on their feet but Kenneth Atoc Dizon’s attempt missed the target and bounced off the left post.

or other problems in camp, he should be fine,” said Donaire Sr. The former champ, himself told The Standard he is excited to get back to training camp and was looking forward to the fight and a chance to demonstrate his skill before British fans.

In a conversation with The Standard/boxingmirror.com, Donaire said he feels good, insisting he’s back.

“With the right strategy, the fight (against Quigg) will be easier,” said Donaire. “The champion is strong and this fight is going to be great.”

Donaire is coming off easy backto-back wins, the last being a secondround TKO over former European champion Anthony Settoul of France, whose corner threw in the towel when he was dropped for a third time in the fight with a thundering right hand, after being decked twice in the opening round in Macau last July. Ronnie Nathanielsz

LOTTO RESULTS

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

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK m o n D AY : A u g u s t 3 1 , 2 0 1 5

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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

x 10 cm

How do you ant your news erved today?

NU’s Jaja Santiago (3) soars for a kill against UST’s Ennajie Laure, Jessey De Leon and Chlodia Cortez during their Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference clash at The Arena in San Juan yesterday.

GT Academy winner to race in Silverstone

ww.thestandard.com.ph

International Race Camp winner Matthew Simmons.

There were five other Filipinos who JOWARD Policarpio, the first Filipino to win the Nissan GT Academy went with him to Silverstone. They Asia, returns to the Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom this week. are Luis Cachero, Daryl Brady, Joel The 26-year-old Policarpio will un- beat Indonesian Andika Rama and Indian Agojo, Terrence Lallave and Rafael dergo a three-month, intensive driver Akshay Gupta after taking the lead in the Lesaguis. development program there. fifth for the victory last Aug. 20.

Policarpio got a chance to go to Sil“What I accomplished, all the hard Joward is the son of former rally rac- verstone when he was chosen from hunwork. It was all worth it,” said Policar- ing champion Jose “Boyet” Policarpio Jr. dreds of thousands of Gran Turismo pio, who leaves today, Monday.

Because of his accomplishment, Pol- gamers which entered the competition Policarpio, who quit his job as a icarpio will receive world-class train- throughout Asia via a simulator. call-center agent, will be there for ing from Nissan.

Throughout the camp, a series of chalthree months. He will join12 circuit This will prepare him for his debut lenges involving races and physical acraces and earn points which will give in endurance racing in Dubai in Janu- tivities cut the gamers down to a final ten. him an international racing license. ary, 2016.

“It was a great experience. It was He will be part of the same driver unlike anything I experienced before,” “I quit my job because this is more important right now,” said Policarpio, who lineup in Silverstone, which included said Policarpio.

By Peter Atencio

5 col x 14 cm

How do you want your news served today?

www.thestandard.com.ph

Lady Bulldogs turn back Tigresses, nail no. 2 position Games on Sept. 5 12:45 p.m. – Ateneo vs NU 3 p.m. – UST vs FEU NATIONAL University held off University of Santo Tomas in a tight first-set duel, came from behind to snatch the second frame then dominated the third to carve out a 25-22, 25-23, 2511 victory yesterday and gain the No. 2 spot in the Final Four of the Shakey’s V-League Season 12-Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Lady Bulldogs operated on their combination plays and running attacks anchored on Dindin Santiago-Manabat and bucked some erratic plays to subdue the Tigresses and complete a 73-minute sweep that primed them up for what could be the preview of the championship with the Ateneo Lady Eagles next Saturday.

NU improved to 5-1, next to unbeaten Ateneo’s 6-0 mark with the Lady Bulldogs settling for No. 2 in the crossover semis even if they get past the Lady Eagles.

“We committed a lot of errors,” said NU coach Roger Gorayeb, referring to their 26 miscues. “We can’t win games if we commit as many mistakes.”

UST, which also made 27 errors, dropped to joint third with Far Eastern U at 4-2 with the two teams disputing the No. 3 seat also next Saturday.

Arellano, the reigning NCAA champion, is at 3-3 and hopes to force a playoff for the last semis berth with a victory over ousted St. Benilde next Sunday.

Santiago-Manabat uncorked a 13-hit game, including 10 on kills, while Myla Pablo added 11 points and Jaja Santiago and skipper Jorelle Singh came through with 10 markers apiece for the Lady Bulldogs, who overpowered the Tigresses, 37-23, in spikes and imposed their height advantage and produced nine blocks as against their rivals two.

Put on pins and needles by the tough fighting UST side, 20-21, in the opening frame, the Lady Bulldogs took four of the last four points with Santiago-Manabat wrapping up the set with a running attack.

The Tigresses came out strong in the second, posting leads of 13-9 and 18-12 but cracked in the face of the Lady Bulldogs strong comeback.

Santiago scored on a block to a spark a five-hit NU run that closed the gap at 17-18.

Pam Lastimosa scored on a kill to make it a two-point game but the Lady Bulldogs took the next two points to draw level and won six of the next 10 points to steal the set.

MONDAY: AUGUST 31, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

PSe c omPoSite

BUSINESS

index

Closing August 28, 2015

8500 8000 7500 7000 6500 6000

7,098.81 76.72

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing AUGUST 28, 2015 42

P46.735

43

CLOSE

44 45 46

HIGH P46.640 LOW P46.760 AVERAGE P46.704 VOLUME 676.600M

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

o

il P PriceS today

P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene P23.70-P24.40 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Friday, August 28, 2015

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

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.7050

Japan

Yen

0.008265

0.3860

UK

Pound

1.540400

71.9444

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129029

6.0263

Switzerland

Franc

1.036699

48.4190

Canada

Dollar

0.757174

35.3638

Singapore

Dollar

0.714898

33.3893

Australia

Dollar

0.716486

Bahrain

Dinar

2.657666

124.1263

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266617

12.4523

Brunei

Dollar

0.712352

33.2704

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000071

0.0033

Thailand

Baht

0.028058

1.3104

UAE

33.4635

Dirham

0.272287

12.7172

Euro

Euro

1.125300

52.5571

Korea

Won

0.000852

0.0398

China

Yuan

0.156121

India

Rupee

0.015155

0.7078

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.236373

11.0398

New Zealand

Dollar

0.646412

Taiwan

Dollar

0.031036

7.2916

30.1907 1.4495 Source: PDS Bridge

B1

Govt, UAE okay additional flights

By Darwin G Amojelar

THE Philippines and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to increase flight entitlements between the two countries, on the condition that Middle Eastern carriers will also fly to Clark or Cebu.

Civil Aeronautics Board executive director Carmelo Arcilla said the Philippines and the UAE signed on Friday night a new memorandum of understanding on air services that enhanced the exchange of traffic rights between the two countries.

Arcilla said the parties had agreed to increase the maximum number of flights per week for each country from the current 28 flights to 35, subject to the condi-

tion that the UAE carrier mounting additional flights to Manila would also operate separately to Clark or Cebu within a year of signing the agreement.

“This condition is in line with our open skies policy in our developmental gateways outside Manila, and forces UAE airlines to invest in our developmental gateways,” Arcilla said.

Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific earlier opposed the addi-

tional flights between Manila and UAE due to alleged unfair competition and overcapacity in the route.

The local airlines also challenged UAE and other Middle Eastern airlines “to put up direct flights to emerging new gateways in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao,” instead of further saturating the already congested Ninoy Aquino International Airport.”

Arcilla said the Philippines also obtained on a unilateral basis additional fifth freedom traffic rights to the United Kingdom, the US and Saudi Arabia.

“This means that our carriers can fly from Manila to UAE and onward to any country including the UK, US and Saudi Arabia.

This will improve Philippine connectivity and also the commer-

cial viability of our routes to the UAE,” he said.

Manila and UAE agreed on coterminalization.

“This means that an airline from one country can fly to a city in the other country and onward to another city in that country without picking up passengers in the domestic leg. This also improves connectivity and viability,” Arcilla said.

“Overall, the talks is a success for Philippine connectivity and network development,” he said.

Arcilla said the Philippine air panel and local airlines view the exchange as “more or less fair.”

Cebu Pacific and PAL earlier said the grant of more flights would provide undue advantage to the government-owned and state-subsidized UAE carriers.

Lenovo Introduces VIBE ON, A New Campaign Platform for its Smartphones LENOVO (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) today announced the launch of VIBE ON, a new and vibrant campaign identity aimed at strengthening awareness of its smartphones globally. VIBE ON is an extension of Lenovo’s overarching master brand position, predicated on the belief that life rewards those that never stand still.

Targeted predominantly at millennials, the VIBE ON brand promise aims to empower individuals to go their own way, by providing smartphones with the latest technology and features that they care about, at a price they wouldn’t expect.

“Consumers nowadays are increasingly savvy and price conscious. Most of them are discerning enough to trade “good-to-have” features for products that offer outstanding value,” said Dino

Romano, Country Lead, Lenovo Smartphones, Philippines. “The VIBE ON promise emphasizes our belief in making cutting-edge technologies with innovative designs but a price that is not expensive and exclusive.”

The design philosophy behind Lenovo’s VIBE series of smartphones is embodied across three main product pillars – a seamless camera experience, enhanced multimedia capabilities, and an adaptive VIBE user interface. A great example is the latest Lenovo VIBE Shot, which offers the best of both worlds by combining a premium 4G smartphone with a high-performance camera that incorporates advanced “prosumer” hardware and features that budding and seasoned photographers will love.

Today, Lenovo also introduced the official

VIBE ON campaign ambassadors for Philippines, Monika Sta. Maria and Alyssa Valdez. Monika was recently part of the top 3 in Asia’s Next Top Model while Alyssa is a multi-awarded athlete from Ateneo De Manila University and considered as best col-

legiate volleyball player in the Philippines today. Both ambassadors are successful in their chosen fields and an inspiration to millennials today.

The bold and lively VIBE ON branding will be integrated end-to-end for the

smartphone business to provide a seamless consumer experience – from advertising to packaging and accessories to the VIBE UI. Watch the VIBE ON brand anthem video here: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=BqjAjkXmQLE.

MONDAY: AUGUST 31, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS Weekly STockS revieW STOCKS

AUGUST 24-28, 2015 Close Volume

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. Inc. Bright Kindle Resources Citystate Savings COL Financial Eastwest Bank Filipino Fund Inc. First Abacus I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl Reinsurance Corp.

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

2.58 68 98.50 84.60 42.5 2.51 1.34 10.1 15.66 20.8 7.25 0.74 1.63 725.00 0.405 83.75 0.96 18.68 25.00 60.00 93.5 300 35 131.9 1435.00 54.00 2.92

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

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

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

Lafarge Rep Liberty Flour Mabuhay Vinyl Corp.

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

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phil H2O Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

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

Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

43.25 1.53 0.99 1.68 9.85 50.1 90.00 17.1 126 48 27 44 2.75 1.22 10.9 11.400 8.55 6.00 8.33 1.71 13.22 23.35 70 13.60 13.10 5.77 0.500 191.50 10.2 28.00 1.7 49.90 22.6 22 5.9 284.00 3.94 4.39 7.91 3.83 11.50 3.35 2.14 2.38 4.08 1.7 5.74 149 4.25 1.81 0.138 1.08 1.83 194 4.22 0.69 22.50 1.02

Abacus Cons. `A’ Aboitiz Equity Alliance Global Inc. Anglo Holdings A Anscor `A’ ATN Holdings A ATN Holdings B Ayala Corp `A’ Cosco Capital DMCI Holdings F&J Prince ‘A’ Filinvest Dev. Corp.

Forum Pacific GT Capital House of Inv. JG Summit Holdings Jolliville Holdings Keppel Holdings `B’ Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Minerales Industrias Corp.

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

0.435 55.1000 19.80 1.09 6.70 0.230 0.235 738 6.95 11.38 3.1 4.18 0.194 1270 6.00 71.00 3.61 6.76 0.57 13 0.56 5 7.28 3.5 0.0430 1.080 1.760 2.79 52.00 2.52 878.00 1.18 0.65 140.00 69.500 0.2800 0.1810 0.249

8990 HLDG Anchor Land Holdings Inc. A. Brown Co., Inc. Araneta Prop `A’ Arthaland Corp.

Ayala Land `B’ Belle Corp. `A’ Cebu Holdings Cebu Prop. `A’ Centennial City City & Land Dev. Cityland Dev. `A’ Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Double Dragon Empire East Land Ever Gotesco Global-Estate

6.780 8.40 0.66 1.170 0.203 35.95 3.09 4.72 6.5 0.72 1.00 1.04 0.115 0.405 13.8 0.830 0.169 1.09

Value

FINANCIAL 899,710.00 12,515,072.50 3,220,562,998.00 1,289,408,465.50 18,691,470.00 2,663,830.00 361,670.00 9,889.00 925,454.00 32,021,333.00 113,151 81,490 106,370.00 238,500.00 156,500.00 1,667,913,942.50 891,930.00 22,585,890.00 2,252,875.00 66,109,487.00 1,041,707.00 82,729,378.00 94,091,200.00 700,215,427.00 685,240.00 26,105,741.00 931,770.00 INDUSTRIAL 19,926,600 838,055,510.00 136,000 191,320.00 304,000 275,430.00 17,463,000 27,193,550.00 72,200 711,393.00 220 11,028.00 1,150 106,335.00 4,607,000 77,772,588 850 110,210.00 100 4,800.00 1,798,300 47,883,795.00 2,899,900 129,435,060 15,017,000 37,746,240.00 1,584,000 1,982,720.00 1,096,000 11,903,180.00 38,842,400 411,482,494.00 9,452,300 80,880,957.00 125,850,600 736,637,670.00 3,252,100 26,220,235.00 13,000 21,960.00 162,900 2,008,630.00 17,659,100 402,570,760.00 2,867,060 198,852,744.00 83,700 1,080,454.00 893,300 11,394,324.00 4,083,800 22,000,151.00 280,000 136,150.00 4,160,490 769,162,463.00 2,900,800 29,457,374.00 14,000 392,000.00 275,000 467,320.00 165,520 8,176,762.50 7,320,300 159,180,320.00 3,005,600 65,914,490.00 15,534,900 86,144,259.00 6,589,130 2,101,243,066.00 57,000 206,280.00 16,707,000 67,464,630.00 12,725,800 98,386,841.00 45,000 177,450.00 52,900 578,568.00 1,769,000 5,681,280.00 2,641,000 5,350,560.00 6,918,000 16,556,000.00 11,847,000 48,291,740.00 210,000 360,410.00 18,200 105,054.00 608,170 87,131,308.00 13,000 54,140.00 1,084,000 1,917,280.00 9,000,000 1,192,400.00 358,000 330,080.00 8,593,000 15,114,820.00 19,559,020 3,615,431,094.00 542,000 2,282,100.00 2,935,000 1,861,760.00 11,300 259,250.00 597,000 608,740.00 HOLDING FIRMS 2,030,000 853,650.00 15,980,480 850,660,029.50 75,681,000 1,482,832,162.00 398,000 407,560.00 61,200 411,363.00 2,480,000 555,250.00 1,410,000 339,630.00 3,784,450 2,715,189,365.00 23,168,500 155,468,593.00 51,983,000 570,306,700.00 894,000 2,565,900.00 298,000 1,249,480.00 1,140,000 209,680.00 2,832,225 3,386,929,790.00 154,200 934,086.00 15,436,580 1,045,577,002.00 42,000 163,220.00 19,626,400 120,812,588.00 2,098,000 1,227,270.00 99,472,400 1,260,056,886.00 2,445,000 1,282,050.00 238,127,800 1,144,212,927.00 3,278,500 23,886,874.00 3,000 10,500.00 2,118,490,000 102,030,190.00 5,000 5,400.00 48,153,000 84,472,610.00 258,000 692,720.00 1,652,600 86,019,612.00 41,000 93,780.00 2,375,950 2,044,585,950.00 479,000 571,020.00 1,095,000 701,060.00 30 4,200.00 104,320 7,507,275.00 14,040,000 3,878,150.00 1,730,000 282,250.00 3,510,000 797,280.00 PROPERTY 8,021,200 50,900,052.00 14,100 109,866.00 1,496,000 949,760.00 280,000 323,890.00 590,000 111,370.00 133,096,600 4,604,652,925.00 23,770,000 72,925,920.00 10,549,300 52,684,724.00 11,200 72,754.00 37,439,000 25,388,830.00 5,336,000 5,336,170.00 5,073,000 5,071,880.00 37,280,000 4,067,810.00 3,650,000 1,485,850.00 17,588,500 220,220,014.00 336,000 266,310.00 1,730,000 282,500.00 12,986,000 13,790,530.00 363,000 189,160 34,160,270 15,106,460 446,900 1,103,000 273,000 1,000 59,800 1,686,900 15,700 118,000 63,000 330 420,000 20,383,840 944,000 1,215,800 89,900 1,153,200 11,860 276,160 2,590,700 5,505,370 470 479,980 308,000

Close

AUGUST 17-20, 2015 Volume Value

2.88 69 98.95 89.95 42 2.50 1.35

3,530,000 138,540 10,644,830 5,038,830 655,000 59,000 503,000

10,217,100.00 9,540,757.00 1,060,406,290.50 455,428,928.00 27,792,075.00 146,540.00 698,240.00

15.94 19.8 7.87 0.66 1.75 755.00 0.385 83.5 0.97 19.20 26.00 60.80 93 300 38.7 137 1520.00 56.45 3.24

66,400 1,175,600 3,400 28,000 327,000 280 380,000 6,983,350 49,000 4,524,700 200 194,790 3,570 17,480 1,435,900 2,698,530 1,085 46,440 96,000

1,067,392.00 23,601,331.00 25,046 18,480 558,200.00 213,350.00 148,650.00 584,723,259.00 47,890.00 84,719,582.00 5,170.00 11,927,744.50 326,509.00 5,246,792.00 55,672,825.00 360,419,347.00 1,628,775.00 2,630,834.00 311,210.00

43.9 1.44 0.97 1.72 10.02

7,410,700 35,000 3,725,000 4,338,000 35,300

321,586,025.00 48,730.00 3,496,680.00 7,598,560.00 361,852.00

93.00 17.5 170

10 2,551,100 420

930.00 45,180,842 67,843.00

26.75 46.5 2.8 1.45 11.4 11.240 9.24 6.32 9.10 1.85 12.98 23.75 73.5 13.30 13.10 5.73 0.460 185.90 10.14 30.00 1.7 52.00 23.65 23.8 5.8 282.00 3.62 4.35 8.19 4 11.68 3.35 2.13 2.6 4.12 1.83 6.25 155 4.49 1.9 0.138 1.10 1.89 192.5 4.2 0.69 23.00 1.10

1,676,600 1,471,000 19,364,000 1,883,000 183,700 32,623,700 2,598,100 58,149,300 734,900 51,000 177,000 7,693,600 663,270 4,900 318,100 2,245,300 730,000 1,737,880 3,008,900 900 41,000 18,910 1,703,600 1,041,700 841,200 1,954,640 86,000 10,368,000 4,415,600 63,000 18,300 441,000 2,265,000 16,355,000 3,627,000 60,000 500 56,870 3,000 5,018,000 12,700,000 70,000 10,604,000 7,607,350 2,017,000 1,404,000 20,300 408,000

45,622,720.00 67,991,125 54,558,000.00 2,715,160.00 2,151,828.00 357,400,578.00 24,603,059.00 374,450,715.00 6,764,828.00 92,820.00 2,342,336.00 188,070,825.00 49,699,699.00 65,170.00 4,190,400.00 12,933,043.00 348,700.00 327,424,341.00 30,476,954.00 16,200.00 69,700.00 965,397.00 40,635,740.00 25,458,160.00 4,911,009.00 562,209,092.00 323,500.00 47,161,920.00 36,213,813.00 252,000.00 209,642.00 1,456,940.00 4,807,210.00 42,287,660.00 15,082,830.00 109,800.00 3,105.00 8,848,894.00 13,470.00 9,269,200.00 1,733,280.00 78,990.00 20,402,140.00 1,448,046,236.00 8,471,400.00 934,240.00 461,770.00 454,170.00

0.450 57.5000 20.15 1.15 6.85 0.240 0.24 755 7.15 11.60 3.2 4.28 0.185 1264 6.50 69.30 3.65 6.63 0.61 13.72 0.56 5.03 7.93 3.61 0.0570

250,000 5,694,980 49,523,400 37,000 26,107 4,700,000 500,000 680,960 11,409,800 25,977,500 1,064,000 130,000 1,440,000 1,086,260 126,600 7,946,250 2,000 8,468,600 348,000 8,592,800 1,395,000 106,671,800 3,457,200 3,000 1,419,300,000

111,000.00 379,047,656.50 1,039,421,480.00 42,650.00 185,472.00 1,157,930.00 121,670.00 519,297,685.00 83,745,525.00 193,916,976.00 3,059,310.00 557,450.00 271,230.00 1,398,190,530.00 813,849.00 544,579,386.50 7,300.00 57,128,529.00 219,470.00 120,755,486.00 765,660.00 529,907,556.00 27,490,185.00 10,830.00 72,124,690.00

1.910 2.6 56.00 2.20 897.00 1.21 0.66 140.00 77.600 0.2900 0.1690 0.245

48,478,000 607,000 661,460 65,000 847,400 284,000 201,000 80 11,940 10,300,000 3,070,000 2,040,000

99,677,730.00 1,698,850.00 36,580,544.00 143,030.00 761,169,520.00 343,320.00 133,390.00 11,200.00 927,684.50 3,017,600.00 510,660.00 504,950.00

7.100 7.80 0.70 1.200 0.220 37.10 3.2 5

1,442,100 400 518,000 122,000 800,000 32,343,800 8,154,000 606,500

10,045,402.00 3,120.00 348,990.00 149,410.00 176,410.00 1,212,555,505.00 26,127,030.00 3,023,683.00

0.77 1.03 1.00 0.112 0.435 12.8 0.830 0.170 1.15

11,141,000 28,000 168,000 12,080,000 7,620,000 3,178,400 331,000 1,540,000 16,643,000

8,704,590.00 31,340.00 169,290.00 1,342,380.00 3,271,550.00 40,085,122.00 274,690.00 261,700.00 19,365,670.00

STOCKS

AUGUST 24-28, 2015 Close Volume

Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Keppel Properties Megaworld Corp.

Megaworld Prop.

MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

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

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

1.79 1.40 3.20 4.3 4.33 0.083 0.2600 0.3700 19.20 7.41 29.00 1.6 3.25 19.50 0.7 7.16 0.660 5.830

2GO Group ABS-CBN Acesite Hotel APC Group, Inc. Asian Terminals Inc. Berjaya Phils. Inc. Bloomberry Boulevard Holdings Calata Corp.

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

Discovery World DFNN Inc. FEUI Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Grand Plaza Hotel Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. Imperial Res. `A’ IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Jackstones Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Lorenzo Shipping Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown MG Holdings NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

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

Philweb.Com Inc. PLDT Common PremiereHorizon Premium Leisure Puregold Robinsons Retail SBS Phil. Corp.

SSI Group STI Holdings Transpacific Broadcast Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

8.89 60.9 1.09 0.530 11.5 27 7.02 0.0610 4 89.45 9.51 1.81 4.60 920 2576 6.29 17.10 1.20 92.95 6.00 11.42 0.012 0.171 1.3500 2.18 7.69 2.50 1.27 2.10 35.00 0.600 2 6.01 0.305 0.420 19.2 4.65 2.8 8.65 100.00 18.48 2518.00 0.640 1.250 31.70 69.50 4.84 7.26 0.56 1.47 4.02 0.310 2.370

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

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.0048 2.25 4.57 11.86 0.200 6.2000 7.2000 0.71 0.7 5.98 1.16 0.295 0.182 0.204 0.012 0.012 2.32 8.05 3.28 0.5400 1.3600 0.0090 0.0090 4.01 5.10 1.67 0.0099 128.00 2.84 0.0080

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen F First Gen G GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure & Resort Pref.

MWIDE PREF PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 SMC Preferred A SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C Swift Pref

63.5 524 527 118.1 116 520 5.95 1.06 108 1045 1140 1020 75.7 81.5 80.06 1.82

Leisure & Resort Warr.

3.270

Makati Fin. Corp.

Ripple E-Business Intl Xurpas

4.51 56.95 10.76

First Metro ETF

116.2

Value

Close

210,464,000 372,590,300.00 5,738,000 7,700,540.00 2,200 7,040.00 220,917,000 925,167,370.00 109,191,000 439,013,580.00 8,790,000 748,590.00 1,470,000 374,000.00 310,000 114,700.00 200 3,840.00 301,700 2,204,297.00 33,149,900 765,876,160.00 1,869,000 2,811,890.00 131,000 420,500.00 154,127,100 2,940,449,678.00 7,574,000 5,117,130.00 4,800 33,152.00 1,103,000 765,480.00 72,695,100 434,806,368.00 SERVICES 4,620,600 39,717,030.00 467,720 27,532,046.50 282,000 293,970.00 2,544,000 1,292,870.00 266,800 3,318,816.00 300 8,100 80,521,200 545,112,968.00 108,290,000 6,629,880.00 2,859,240 147,728,206.50 7,683,130 674,586,674.50 5,000 47,840.00 130,000 211,150 656,000 2,801,930.00 4,100 3,822,005.00 778,475 1,942,197,030 2,098,000 12,918,804.00 400 6,840 1,141,000 1,353,780.00 11,125,570 1,047,870,878.00 1,500 9,170 1,900 21,728.00 32,200,000 347,500.00 13,370,000 2,133,920.00 2,926,000 3,833,280.00 52,000 107,940.00 8,398,700 61,914,735.00 2,887,000 6,832,230.00 31,000 37,500.00 378,000 745,550.00 1,500 52,500.00 263,000 166,010.00 263,000 522,090.00 8,708,700 32,928,794.00 110,000 33,000.00 190,000 79,150.00 35,100 661,962.00 163,000 731,040 360,400 59,000 510,850.00 1,450 144,269.00 784,300 14,203,290.00 1,294,120 2,654,908,100.00 7,898,000 4,786,950.00 76,277,000 92,426,530.00 20,041,700 620,989,335.00 10,879,620 745,069,312.50 26,553,100 124,839,227.00 40,794,100 265,026,505.00 25,559,000 14,472,290.00 45,000 69,360.00 19,593,000 79,347,510.00 1,910,000 584,670.00 1,266,000 2,938,170.00 MINING & OIL 7,081,000,000 34,565,400.00 101,000 231,900.00 2,776,000 9,942,900.00 3,500 37,720.00 40,000 7,780.00 74,600 370,014.00 26,900 177,540.00 8,115,000 5,300,980.00 2,542,000 1,687,220.00 347,300 2,045,400.00 53,067,000 59,733,380.00 3,840,000 1,092,600.00 53,960,000 9,981,360.00 1,230,000 236,640.00 202,100,000 2,342,500.00 364,700,000 4,374,600.00 2,385,000 5,319,660.00 84,635,400 591,224,805.00 4,798,000 15,710,230.00 264,000 148,810.00 4,966,000 6,759,080.00 108,000,000 911,000.00 27,600,000 254,390.00 2,780,000 11,040,800.00 3,829,200 19,478,390.00 6,717,000 10,155,120.00 332,000,000 3,174,260.00 5,039,200 623,103,184.00 11,990,000 31,285,230.00 27,000,000 200,000.00 PREFERRED 988,210 56,424,940.50 31,350 16,365,550.00 10,550 5,566,230 20 2,362.00 57,320 6,634,010.00 32,540 16,923,530.00 6,297,400 37,872,919.00 6,585,000 7,050,870 117,030 12,632,145.00 5,690 5,917,700.00 710 768,875.00 7,645 7,781,330.00 343,190 24,991,475.00 42,620 3,361,726.50 276,560 22,361,751.50 12,000 22,130.00 WARRANTS & BONDS 1,293,000 4,062,060.00 SME 26,500 136,459.00 770 43,851.00 12,165,700 122,623,861.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 375,490 42,266,720.00

AUGUST 17-20, 2015 Volume Value

1.89 1.30

75,981,000 3,390,000

145,485,160.00 4,363,310.00

4.29

146,511,000

638,339,620.00

0.092 0.2750

6,950,000 1,200,000

654,070.00 334,500.00

7.35 28.70 1.63 3.25 20.00 0.72 7.16 0.800 6.800

356,200 6,529,100 1,663,000 45,000 46,754,600 3,627,000 35,100 161,000 13,858,200

2,610,686.00 188,436,325.00 2,690,390.00 146,310.00 935,935,227.00 2,558,540.00 248,452.00 123,690.00 93,687,528.00

9.53 60 1.15 0.560 12.88

5,244,600 229,840 300,001 2,593,000 900

52,877,271.00 13,934,650.50 405,000.00 1,483,110.00 11,274.00

7.18 0.0690 4.04 90.05 9.88 1.85 4.85 920.5 2624 6.45 17.20 1.22 101.5 5.40 11.88 0.011 0.177 1.3300 2.25 8.30 2.18 1.20 2.05

97,648,600 48,950,000 10,920,000 4,773,930 2,100 53,000 233,000 1,840 215,230 414,400 300 1,722,000 2,916,090 13,000 4,200 33,500,000 22,930,000 4,542,000 97,000 5,188,800 3,548,000 3,000 60,000

701,962,056.00 3,463,900.00 43,710,570.00 430,958,281.50 20,208.00 86,550 1,130,450.00 1,698,855.00 562,745,350 2,694,788.00 5,128 2,159,420.00 298,683,172.00 64,350 49,176.00 369,800.00 3,998,600.00 6,084,250.00 214,850.00 43,028,231.00 8,016,630.00 3,600.00 124,720.00

0.630 2 6.3 0.300 0.430 19.98 4.90 3

248,000 200,000 4,363,200 430,000 40,000 8,400 366,900 11,000

158,600.00 399,100.00 27,088,156.00 126,900.00 37,400.00 165,012.00 1,835,678 32,900.00

98.10 18.60 2750.00 0.630 1.280 33.95 71.50 5.14 6.80 0.62

29,710 1,857,900 431,020 3,354,000 44,771,000 8,936,900 3,579,460 39,923,600 39,411,500 4,479,000

3,009,972.00 33,898,018.00 1,179,172,500.00 2,122,800.00 58,711,730.00 308,243,230.00 261,580,553.50 196,678,615.00 276,515,804.00 2,799,880.00

4.7 0.325 2.470

7,575,200 630,000 836,000

36,376,774.00 202,950.00 2,048,200.00

0.0058 2.50 4.70 11.50 0.210 6.5000 7.2000 0.63 0.69 6.33 1.24 0.300 0.192 0.204 0.013 0.013 2.55 8.18 3.6 0.5800 1.6000 0.0091 0.0110 3.99 5.10 1.46 0.010 128.90 2.73 0.0080

2,388,000,000 117,000 540,000 100 1,230,000 1,000 16,300 7,655,000 986,000 70,400 23,217,000 1,350,000 19,910,000 8,210,000 141,700,000 72,200,000 5,474,000 21,239,300 9,086,000 113,000 1,018,000 76,000,000 191,000,000 106,000 3,135,800 4,332,000 190,700,000 4,746,030 35,637,900 69,000,000

13,905,200.00 282,100.00 2,546,500.00 1,150.00 241,920.00 6,500.00 116,689.00 4,784,210.00 672,690.00 459,031.00 28,699,140.00 398,550.00 3,812,500.00 1,655,140.00 1,703,000.00 938,600.00 13,561,280.00 172,922,123.00 32,022,750.00 65,900.00 1,716,820.00 689,700.00 2,101,000.00 424,870.00 15,310,165.00 6,421,730.00 1,901,380.00 597,451,705.00 105,963,781.00 556,640.00

59 525 530 110.5 116 520 6.57 1.09 108 1046 1085 1018 75.4

692,200 13,440 20,710 50,000 16,680 70 2,130,900 112,000 154,540 5,020 3,605 14,325 364,850

41,498,479.00 7,091,540.00 10,977,800 5,525,000.00 1,934,900.00 36,400.00 14,044,916.00 123,100 16,717,720.00 5,246,620.00 3,904,090.00 14,590,520.00 27,533,681.50

80

52,760

5,420,953.50

3.520

629,000

2,181,490.00

5.12 64 10.9

5,600 1,840 3,658,100

34,457.00 112,809.50 39,816,358.00

118.7

46,530

5,565,106.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining Pacifica `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Philodrill Corp. `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Megaworld Corp.

Filinvest Land,Inc. Manila Mining `A’ SM Prime Holdings Ayala Land `B’

VOLUME 7,081,000,000 2,118,490,000 364,700,000 332,000,000 238,127,800 220,917,000 210,464,000 202,100,000 154,127,100 133,096,600

STOCKS Ayala Land `B’ Universal Robina GT Capital Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. SM Prime Holdings Ayala Corp `A’ PLDT Common Mla. Elect. Co `A’ SM Investments Inc. Globe Telecom

VALUE 4,604,652,925.00 3,615,431,094.00 3,386,929,790.00 3,220,562,998.00 2,940,449,678.00 2,715,189,365.00 2,654,908,100.00 2,101,243,066.00 2,044,585,950.00 1,942,197,030

MONDAY: AUGUST 31, 2015

B3

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

SMC pursuing P33.5-b share sale

By Jenniffer B. Austria

PSE official resignation just coincidental THE Philippine Stock Exchange claimed it was purely coincidental that its board of directors accepted the resignation of chief technology officer Emmanuel Caintic on Wednesday, after the local bourse suffered three trading halts over the past two weeks.

PSE chief operating officer Roel Refran said Caintic’s resignation was in no way connected to the trading halt caused by technical issues.

“Mr. Emmanuel Caintic’s resignation came at an inopportune time and we want to clarify that his resignation was in no way related to the events in the past days pertaining to the trading halt.

We would have wanted for him to continue to help us even in other capacities, but we also have to respect his decision,” Refran said.

To prove there was no connection between Caintic’s resignation and the technical glitch, Refran said Caintic’s resignation was included in the board’s agenda as early as Aug. 24, or two days before the PSE board meeting which took place on Aug. 26.

The PSE, however, could not blame people from speculating over the timing of the disclosure. The initial PSE disclosure on Caintic’s resignation also did not explain why he was leaving.

It was only the following day (Aug. 27), when PSE issued an amendment to the disclosure, saying that Caintic cited “personal reasons for his resignation, expressing his desire to move on to other ventures.” Jenniffer B. Austria

SAN Miguel Corp. is proceeding with a P33.5-billion preferred share sale, despite the current volatile conditions in the financial market, sources said over the weekend.

Sources said the conglomerate was confident it would raise the entire P33.5 billion from the sale of 446.447 million series “2” preferred shares at an issue price of P75 apiece.

World markets plunged on Aug. 24 after China stocks crashed.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index dropped 487.97 points, or 6.7 percent, to 6,791.01 on Aug. 24, the steepest one-day drop since June 13, 2013, on concerns over Chinese yuan devaluation.

BDO Capital and Investment Corp. president Eduardo Francisco said in a text message the offering period began on Aug. 24 and would end on Sept. 11. List-

ing date was set on Sept 21.

The conglomerate also conducted two investors’ briefings for qualified institutional buyers last week, which generated strong interest from investors.

San Miguel plans to use proceeds from the preferred shares issuance to partially redeem the outstanding sub-series “2- A” preferred shares of San Miguel worth P54.07 billion, which are callable on Sept. 21, 2015.

The dividend rate for the preferred shares, which will be issued in three sub-series, are 5.9431 percent per annum for the subseries 2-D, 6.3255 percent per annum for the sub-series 2-E and 6.8072 percent per annum for the

sub-series 2-F. San Miguel earlier hired nine banks to handle the transaction.

These are BDO Capital, BPI Capital, China Bank, HSBC, ING, PNB Capital, RCBC Capital, SB Capital, and Standard Chartered Bank.

San Miguel is one of the largest conglomerates in the Philippines by revenues and total assets, with sales of about 6.2 percent of the Philippine gross domestic product in 2014.

The conglomerate is broadly exposed to the Philippine economy through its diverse range of businesses spanning the beverage, food, packaging, fuel and oil, energy, infrastructure, telecommunication, property, and banking industries.

San Miguel said it was wellpositioned for significant future growth as established businesses in beverage, food and packaging continued to provide stable cash flow, while new businesses enabled the company to expand its ability to generate higher returns.

Govt quits school-based HPV vaccination

US pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co. Inc., known for its trade name MSD, has recently suffered a setback in the Philippines, after the Health Department quietly abandoned a school-based free vaccination program against the cancer-causing human papilloma virus.

In April and May this year, Health Secretary Janette Garin actively announced an HPV vaccination program, with an initial target of having 300,000 female Grade 4 students in the 20 poorest provinces vaccinated to protect them from HPV virus. Another 300,000 students were supposed to be covered in other provinces.

The school-based HPV vaccination is an initiative spearheaded by the Health Department, MSD and the Education Department.

Quietly, the Health and Education Departments had abandoned the program, apparently after several sectors, including the Catholic Church, opposed the initiative for allegedly promoting promiscuity.

Just like that, the department ended a multi-million-peso contract with MSD over the controversial school-based HPV vaccination campaign in a country where 12 Filipino women reportedly die due to cervical cancer each day.

Instead of teaming up with the Education Department, Garin said the agency tapped the Interior and Local Government Department to support the community-based immunization program against HPV, where females aged 9 to 10 years (in contrast to the word students) can receive vaccines.

The department said instead of receiving the vaccines at schools, the young females could now get them at health centers in poorest provinces. “The immunization will be given to students with parental/guardian consent,” Garin said. Roderick T. dela Cruz

Maybank not interested in local acquisition

Not all foreign banks entertain the idea of teaming up with a Philippine lender to widen their presence in the country. Last week, the chief executive of Malaysia-based Maybank Group, the parent company of Maybank Philippines, shrugged off the idea of acquiring a local bank to strengthen its domestic presence, saying it preferred “organic growth.”

“As of now, we don’t have plans [to acquire any local bank],” Datuk Abdul Farid Alias, chief executive of Maybank Group, said in a news briefing in Makati City.

Alias said Maybank would rather increase its branches, from the current 80-plus scattered across the Philippines.

Maybank Philippines president and chief executive Herminio Famatigan Jr. earlier said the bank was poised for further growth, as the sizable infrastructure investments and aggressive expansion done in the previous years were about to start paying significant dividends.

As of end-2014, the bank had 79 branches nationwide, of which 30 were in Metro Manila and the rest strategically located in key cities of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The bank had 94 offsite and on-site ATMs nationwide. MPI is a member of the Maybank Group, Malaysia’s regional financial services leader with an international network of over 2,200 offices in 20 countries.

The group offers an extensive range of products and services, which includes commercial banking, investment banking, Islamic banking, stock broking, insurance and asset management. Maybank is ranked as the fourth largest bank in asset terms in the Southeast Asian region. Julito G. Rada

Land management. United Nations Development Programme Philippine country director Titon Mitra (standing) and Bureau of Soils and Water Management director Silvino Tejada seal the deal for the implementation of the sustainable land management practices to address land degradation and mitigate effects of drought. The project with a total cost of P292,658,288 is expected to improve the land productivity and socio-economic well-being of small farmers.

Stocks seen to sustain rebound SHARE prices are expected to move sideways this week, with an upward bias after the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index bounced back above the 7,000-point level last week despite volatile trading.

Analysts said the 30-company index might have already reached the bottom when it fell to 6,791.01 on Aug. 24.

“Chartwise, the index fell to the 6,600 level but managed to bounce back to the support— turned-resistance 7,000 mark.

Expect the market to range between the 6,900/7,200 levels in the week ahead. A close above 7,250 could signal a near-term bottom at 6,600,” BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment stragist Jonathan Ravelas said.

Regina Capital Development Corp. managing director Luis Limlingan said he expected the shares

prices to sustain the rally this week, with the possibility of the index testing the 7,100 to 7,200 level.

“But keep in mind that the recent breakdown put a lot of selling pressure and together with high volatility readings, taking a very cautious approach is advised during this weeks’s trade,” Limlingan said.

The PSEi lost 2.24 percent last week, as the four-day rally was not enough to offset the 6.7-percent decline on Aug. 24.

RCBC Securities said foreigners played a pivotal role in the week’s sell-off as net foreign selling amounted to a staggering P11.2 billion.

“The past week was a rollercoaster ride as global investors were rattled by the swings in the Chinese market. Thankfully, both Wall Street and the local bourse recovered from Tuesday onwards

on the greater likelihood that a US Fed rate hike will not happen in September and by the strong second-quarter GDP number in the US and the neutral GDP result for the Philippines,” RCBC Securities said.

The PSEi managed to go back to the 7,000 level on Friday but was still down 1.82 percent since the start of the year.

Top gainers last week were San Miguel-owned Liberty Telecoms Holding Inc., which climbed 14.7 percent to P2.50; Seafront Resources Corp., which rose 14.5 percent to P2.52; and Philex Petroleum Corp., which jumped 14.3 percent to P1.67.

San Miguel on Friday confirmed it was in talks with Australia’s biggest phone company Telstra for a possible wireless joint venture in the Philippines.

Jenniffer B. Austria

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Outstanding Holcim dealers. Holcim Philippines Inc., one of the leading cement companies in the Philippines, honor over outstanding 100 dealers nationwide in a testimonial dinner at the Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel in Pasay City. Shown (from left) are Christopher Ramos, regional head of South Mindanao; Benjamin de Guzman regional head and officer-in-charge, Central Luzon,; Ann Claire Ramirez-Tecson, marketing head; gold awardee siblings Krishelle Dianne and Jaron Andrew Seng of Tenny Enterprises Inc.; William Sumalinog, vice president for commercial; Paul Dennis Oraa, regional head and OIC, National Capital Region; and Eduardo Yatco, regional head of southern Luzon.

CoA warned vs. Malampaya tax

By Alena Mae S. Flores THE Energy Department warned against imposing P53.14 billion in taxes to the contractors of the Malampaya gas and power project in northwest Palawan, saying it will create havoc on the petroleum industry.

Energy officer-in-charge Zenaida Monsada said the department appealed the ruling of the Commission on Audit slapping P53.14 billion in taxes to the Malampaya contractors.

The CoA ruled in May that the payment of income taxes by service contractors for the Malampaya project was apart from the government’s 60 percent share The SC 38 contractors are composed of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., Chevron Malampaya

LLC and state-owned PNOC Exploration Corp.

The department said in a 30page appeal the CoA decision “sent a very wrong signal to the existing and future petroleum exploration investors in the country.”

The department said petroleum exploration, especially offshore, carried great risk, huge capital and high technical capability. It said foreign investors decide where to put their money based on “the certainty and sta-

bility of investment rules and regulatory regime of a country.”

It said the CoA decision totally wreaked havoc on the pledge of the government to investors to honor and respect the sanctity of contracts and agreements.

“The trust and confidence of foreign investors in the stability and certainty of our investment laws and regulations that the government, for a long period of time, has painstakingly built and nurtured, has been greatly damaged,” it said.

The department said the Philippines had been lagging in terms of number of exploration fields drilled, oil and gas discoveries, and volume of gas produced compared with other Southeast Asian countries, like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Philippines in 2009 drilled only one exploratory well compared with 72 in Thailand, 70 in Indonesia, 29 in Malaysia and 19 in Vietnam.

“In the face of this tight competition with other countries for foreign investors, the Philippines, if it is to achieve its aim of energy security and incidentally, overall economic progress, needs to discover other Malampayas by intensifying the exploration and production of its indigenous petroleum resources,” the department said.

It said a stable and sufficient supply of energy was one of the primary requisites to attain sustainable economic development.

“What the Philippines needs is a continued investment in petroleum exploration and development and convince those already

existing investors in the country to remain and stay for the long haul, notwithstanding the domestic difficulties and challenges they have to face,” it said.

The department said the CA decision will do more have than good to the country over the long-term.

“Right now, it has created anxiety, uncertainty and overall negative attitude towards the country not only in SC 38 contractors and stakeholders but in other existing and prospective investors,” it said, The department said if CoA did not reverse the ruling,”it will send shockwaves to the international community resulting in the dire repercussions and consequences to the ability of the country to attract foreign capital as far as petroleum exploration is concerned.”

Govt debt payments Early construction of Calax road seen rise by 10% to P324b By Darwin G Amojelar

By Gabrielle H. Binaday GOVERNMENT debt payments increased 9.8 percent to P324.81 billion in the first six months of the year from P295.62 billion a year ago, Treasury data showed over the weekend.

The Bureau of Treasury said interest payments contributed P156.12 billion while principal amortization accounted for P168.69 billion of the total debt services in the first half of the year.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said the increase in debt services in the first semester indicated the ability of the government to pay its obligations.

“The better gauge is to look not only at the magnitude of debt and debt service but to the proportion of debt to GDP [gross domestic product] and debt service to budget. These proportions indicate capacity to pay. In both, the ratios are falling, indicating greater capacity to pay,” Abad said in a text message.

Data showed debt interest payments declined 2.3 percent from P159.12 billion in the January-to-June period last year, while amortization jumped 24 percent from P135.88 billion in the same period a year ago.

Debt services in June stood at P23.87 billion, virtually flat from last year’s.

THE tollway unit of Metro Pacific Investments Corp. may start constructing the Cavite Laguna Expressway, or Calax project, ahead of government schedule.

“We have started convening the technical working group with the Department of Public Works and Highways. We are finalizing the alignment together with them. Once that is final, we will going into detailed engineering,” Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. president Ramoncito Fernandez said.

He said the government had two years to resolve the project’s right-of-way issues with MPCALA Holdings Inc. “Hopefully, we can work together to squeeze the right-ofway acquisition timetable. We

hope in one year they can finish it,” Fernandez said.

Conglomerate Metro Pacific Investments Corp. may sell at least 20 percent of its equity in the new tollway unit that will operate the Calax.

The construction period will cover July 2016 to July 2020, while operations and maintenance is set from July 2020 to July 2050.

MPCala, a unit of MPIC, which won the P35.4-billion Calax project, was searching for a partner to develop the four-lane, 47-kilometer closed-system toll expressway connecting ManilaCavite Expressway and South Luzon Expressway.

MPCala submitted a premium bid of P27.3 billion for the 47-kilometer toll road, beating the P22.2-billion offer by San Miguel Corp.’s Optimal Infrastructure Development Inc.

MPIC president and chief executive Jose Ma. Lim earlier said a number of local and foreign banks approached the company to finance the Calax project.

He added the total amount of borrowings from banks would depend on the projected traffic of Calax.

Other DPWH projects under PPP that had been awarded were the P15.5-billion NAIA Expressway and the P1.96-billion Daang Hari-SLEX Link.

The government is also bidding out the P122.8-billion Laguna Lakeshore Expressway Dike project, which aims to provide a high-standard highway to speed up traffic between the southern part of Metro Manila and Laguna, as well as a dike that would mitigate flooding in the western coastal communities along Laguna de Bay.

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

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Peza investments down 19%

By Othel V. Campos INVESTMENTS in industrial zones administered by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority fell 19 percent to P103.15 billion in the first seven months of 2015 from P127.5 billion year-on-year, as the likelihood of another possible port congestion spooked investors.

The agency said the concern outweighed all other factors that could have encouraged investors to put in more money for expansion and other investments. The number of projects approved

by Peza rose 6.8 percent to 360 from 337 on year.

“We are still expecting those

that did not expand last year to try to tell their mother [units] that as far as main problem last year, it has already been solved.

But in their minds, they also see that this problem could last a long time before they are able to gain their confidence back,” said Peza corporate communications

manager Elmer San Pascual.

Employment increased to 1.209 million in the January-to-July period from 1.1 million a year ago, while exports inched up to $21.48 billion from $21.03 billion.

San Pascual noted that investor confidence did not easily recover from the port congestion problem.

“We’re telling them that national government will no longer allow such a situation to occur and they themselves can see how the national government acted at that time. But the problem is that damage is there already,” he said.

San Pascual said port operations were much better now than they were before February

of last year.

The agency, he added, had been getting reports from North and South harbors about the improving operations The agency expressed concern of possible unserved demands with the upcoming holiday season.

Peza noted that the last four months of the year were traditionally the busiest with the advanced placements and the unusual bulk of orders.

“Of course their orders will jack up in the fourth quarter, so hopefully the international situation will be cooperative. That is what we are waiting from our investors, to increase their ac-

tivities and investments as well in time for the holidays,” San Pascual said.

“There must be some time before they will be able to convince their mother companies that those problems won’t recur. There was an increase in the number of projects... but of course the bigger expansion and bigger projects are still out there,” he added.

San Pascual said Peza expects expansion projects in 2016 “because we still have to prove to them that the ports are okay and they have orders that cannot be supplied by present capacity, so they will have to decide to expand.”

TI allots $10m for expansion in Clark CLARK FREEPORT—Texas Instrument Philippines Inc., the biggest semiconductor company in the Philippines, is set to infuse an additional $10 million for expansion in the Clark Freeport Zone, its top official said.

TI president and managing director Mohammad Yunus announced the additional investment in the product distribution center during the groundbreaking ceremonies for the expansion project on Aug. 27.

Yunus said the “groundbreaking of the new facility is a celebration of a result of what government agencies and industry when they are partnering together can achieve not only for success of corporate enterprise but also for the success of the country.”

Yunus said TI initially had planned to ship 1.5 billion semiconductor units every quarter when it first constructed the company.

“Our current product distribution center is overflowing, we do not have enough space do an efficient job on distributing,” Yunus said.

“It [the product distribution center] is designed to be a state-of-the-art storage retrieval system with high levels of automation and it is designed to be the highest best workplace ergonomics,” he said.

Yunus said TI shipped 1.5 billion semiconductor units in the second quarter and would export about 1.9 billion units in the third quarter.

“We are currently looking on the 2 billion units which could be a new record for any Texas Instrument sites anywhere in the world,” Yunus said.

Inclusive business. Trade Assistant Secretary Rafaelita Aldaba joins government officials and members of the private sector in the Asia-Pacific region in learning more about inclusive business. Aldaba is one of the resource speakers at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Investments Experts’ Group Public-Private Dialogue on Inclusive Business on August 27, 2015 at the Marco Polo Plaza Cebu Hotel in Cebu City.

Employment outlook for Q3 improves—BSP survey

By Julito G. Rada THE employment outlook for the third quarter this year improved from a quarter ago, meaning more workers will be hired by expanding companies in the last quarter of 2015, results of a Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas survey over the weekend show.

The Business Expectation Survey of the Bangko Sentral showed the employment outlook index for the third quarter increased to 22.3 percent from 20.7 percent for the previous three-month period.

“This indicates expectations of an overall increase in the number of new employees to be hired for the fourth quarter of the year,” the Bangko Sentral said.

Companies in the services and

wholesale and retail trade were more upbeat, while those in the construction and industry sectors were less optimistic in their hiring intentions.

Despite the lower employment outlook for the industry sector, the percentage of industrial firms with expansion plans increased to 32.9 percent from 29.1 percent in the last quarter.

Agriculture, fishery and forestry recorded the strongest expansion plans, followed by electricity, gas and water, mining and quarrying and manufacturing sub-sectors.

The survey also showed that companies expect better financial conditions and access to credit in the third quarter. The financial condition index reverted to the positive territory at 1.1

percent from -0.2 percent in the previous quarter.

“This means that firms that expected better financial conditions outnumbered those that said otherwise. Firms were also of the view that their financing requirements could be met through available credit...,” the survey said.

The survey showed the major business constraints identified by the respondents for the third quarter were domestic competition (cited by 55.4 percent of the total number of respondents), followed by insufficient demand leading to low sales volume. The latter was cited by 29 percent of the total number of respondents.

The business confidence outlook declined in the third quarter this year from a quarter ago

due mainly to the expected lower demand during the rainy season and lower crop production caused by El Niño.

The business outlook on the economy turned less optimistic in the third quarter at 41.4 percent compared with 49.2 percent a quarter ago.

Other reasons cited for the less buoyant outlook were the closed fishing season in Davao Gulf from July to September and lower consumer spending in view of increased expenditures on education.

However, business outlook for the fourth quarter turned more upbeat to 53.1 percent from 47.3 percent in the previous quarter.

The survey was conducted among 1,515 companies nationwide from July 1 to Aug. 17, 2015.

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BUSINESS business@manilastandardtoday.com extrastory2000@gmail.com

PH growth seen fastest in Asean Turn the collection of receivables upside down BUSINESS is alive when money consistently flows through the buying, selling and collection processes. JOE-SANTOS B. BISQUERA Mounting suppliers’ bills and poor servicing of bank loans indicate a financially “sick” organization.

Basic business model Bannered with a famous “brand,” the company’s copiers dominate the corporate jungles and government. The customer gets billed for actual documents reproduced. The “cost to own” (the machine) and the “cost to operate” (for supplies and parts) plus profits are in the invoiced price per ‘click’ charge. A collector meter reads the usage, invoices and collects the customers’ checks.

Customers acknowledge the high quality of their reproduced copies while appreciating our unparalleled, quick response on calls for customer service.

The money spent for the copier, installed at the customer’s premise, needs to continuously flow to pay for the ‘delivery, meter reading, billing and collection’ cycle so that the machines, parts and supplies are available whenever the customer needs them. Bank loans and suppliers’ credit provided the additional funds for the receivables and inventories.

Receivables – the cash flow bottleneck Past due collectibles stand out in the receivables aging schedule. Weekly meetings, by senior corporate management, on sales and collections, solicited commitments that are, most often, not met.

The aging schedule is a management nightmare because the precious cash inflows were not coming in, despite the week-after-week of cajoling, pushing and endless scolding of line managers.

Money from the “new” receivable as valuable as from the “old” balances In a “no-holds-barred” meeting with the Metro Manila collectors, my opening salvo was to bring in the cash collections to fund our payroll, our operating expenses and our maturing bank loans. The collectors’ apathy was deafening because they heard, in the past, my ‘archaic’ litanies.

One collector took the courage to speak, for his fellow collectors, about their continuing burden in collection—the client (s) classifies our invoices as low-priority in their equally tight schedule of payments. Pressed to pay, the customer(s) would demand copies of “old” invoices, statements of accounts and the needed reconciliations. The collector’s best option is to move on to his other 300 accounts, hoping he will find some checks for pick-up.

The badly needed cash was there, staring at us, right in the aging schedule.

Intuitively, I threw a rhetorical question as to whether “the cash we collect from the “aged” collectibles is more valuable than the cash coming from our current billings?”

To their ambivalent smiles, I ventured to offer the alternative of “whether it is easier to collect, say, P 1,000 from the more recent billings than from our “aged” receivables? My coup-de-grace to their confused reaction was “Then, why don’t we change our target collection into the more recent billings?” My collectors were silent as they were second-guessing what hassle I was really up to.

The labor union president broke the silence in defiance, saying: “Sir, even when you order us to collect our most recent billings, we will not do it! Top management ordered us to collect the “old” accounts for us to earn any incentive. Current billings receive no collection incentive!”

Invert the collection incentive pyramid When I offered to give incentives to the collection of current billings, under the inverted collection incentive pyramid, the collectors were ecstatic with hope, the first positive reaction. But most demanded I get top management to approve, in writing.

They overlooked that they were interacting with the executive vice-president and chief finance officer (second in the corporate command) and part of top management. They had only very few occasions to talk directly to their senior executives.

Despite the defiance of the union president, our collectors accepted me as their new ally in management, with the paradigm shift we shall try together.

Have fun in rewarding great performances and success stories Our collection effort was not an overnight success. We made use of Pareto’s “80-20” rule as a major “attack” weapon to allocate the large accounts among the collectors. We spoon-fed them on how to map the customer’s payment process.

On our first monthly meeting under the new collection scheme, the “achievers” remained standing to personally receive from me the incentive checks, individual free chicken sandwiches and free canned soft drinks—five collectors, out of 50, who met their target. After I praised our “heroes”, we did a snappy and crispy “CLAP” in unison, our unique way of recognition.

Our collectors slowly evolved to be the month’s “heroes,” with free sandwiches and canned soft drinks, incentive checks and the crispy “CLAP” of recognition, personally orchestrated by their cheerleader—me. Twelve collectors were “heroes” for the second month’s meeting.

On one meeting, only AVP Nonong and I had to do the crispy “CLAP”. All Collectors were standing “heroes”, including the union president, for meeting their individual collection targets.

I cherish the fun with our “heroes.” Serious work became everyone’s wonderful game. My people, initially were apathetic, but became a strong team who delivered our most valued resource – cash.

Our bankers and suppliers benefited from our fun, when we started paying them on time.

In the most trying times of corporate existence, motivated people make things happen. Changing the traditional ways may bring about encouraging results never before tested.

Innovation with courage is imperative in the battlefield of the corporate business jungle.

GREEN LIGHT

Dean Bisquera teaches Financial Management in the MBA program of the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business. He is the incumbent Dean, UM Business Administration & Accountancy. He previously held senior management positions at FujiXerox, Motorola, FMC, SK&F, Meralco, Delbros & Petron.

The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of De La Salle University, its faculty, and its administrators.

By Julito G. Rada

THE Philippines will remain the fastest growing economy in Southeast Asia this year, despite the slower-than-expected expansion in the first half, British bank Barclays said in a report over the weekend.

Barclays said the Philippines was expected to achieve a fullyear growth of 5.5 percent in 2015, down from its previous forecast of 6.5 percent after data showed that actual growth in the first half reached only 5.3 percent.

The government announced last week the gross domestic product of the Philippines grew 5.6 percent, bringing to 5.3 percent the first-half average, below the government’s target of 7 percent to 8 percent.

“Overall, despite the cut in our growth forecast, we expect the Philippines to continue to outperform the other Asean economies, with the country set to be the fastest-growing economy among the major Asean economies for

a third consecutive year in 2015,” Barclays said.

It said as a proof of its continuous belief on the strong potential of the Philippine economy, the bank retained its 2016 growth forecast at 6 percent.

Economic growth recovered in the second quarter, posting a 5.6-percent expansion, higher than the revised 5 percent a quarter ago.

However, the second-quarter number was significantly slower than the 6.4 percent growth in the second quarter a year ago.

GDP grew 6.1 percent in 2014.

Barclays said while Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas continued to sound cautious on rising market volatility, the bank regulator would not “deliver any policy eas-

ing, as domestic activity remains resilient despite poor external conditions.”

“We recently pushed back our rate hike forecast to the third quarter of 2016, which would be after the presidential election in May 2016,” Barclays said.

Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. earlier said there was no need to tweak the current monetary policy settings especially after the economy expanded 5.6 percent in the second quarter.

Tetangco said the higher second-quarter GDP number relative to the first quarter was supported by solid domestic aggregate demand, particularly consumption and capital formation.

“With this outturn, there may be no need for any immediate recalibration of monetary policy settings,” Tetangco said.

Tetangco said Bangko Sentral would continue to coordinate with other agencies of the government on the assessment of El Niño dry spell and its potential impact on output and prices of vital goods and services .

World Bank mission. Agriculture Undersecretary and Philippine Rural Development Project national project director Emerson Palad (second from left) and PRDP Luzon B cluster director Shandy Hubilla (second from right) show World Bank Rural development specialist Samik Sundar Das (right) some products on exhibit during the Luzon B cluster leg of the first World Bank implementation support mission for the PRDP, a P27-billion project funded through a loan from the World Bank. The mission aims to assess the progress of, and address issues and concerns on the PRDP’s implementation in the Calabarzon, Mimaropa and Bicol regions. Assisting them in the exhibit tour is Palawan Governor Jose Alvarez (left).

Group wants data privacy enforced

By Othel V. Campos A GROUP of foreign investors has asked the government to enforce the Data Privacy Act of 2012 to sustain the growth of the information technology and business process management sector.

The Joint Foreign Chambers of the Philippines said more than two years after the passage of the law, the government had yet to create the National Privacy Commission that would draft and issue the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 10173.

“We therefore call on the Aqui-

no administration to create the National Privacy Commission under the Office of the President or under the DOST [Department of Science and Technology] now,” the group said.

It said the IRR was needed to provide clear guidelines on dealing with data breaches, establishing data breach policies and response protocols and crafting safety standards.

The National Privacy Commission is supposed to implement the Data Privacy Law until the Information and Communications Technology Department is established.

JFC said without the IRR, the law remained a piece of paper and “it has remained in this sad state since September 8, 2012.”

The Data Privacy Act of 2012 is the Philippines’ first data privacy law, which aims to protect individual personal information in information and communications systems in the government and private sector.

It mandates the creation of a National Privacy Commission to administer and implement the provisions of law, and to monitor and ensure compliance with international standards for data protection.

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WORLD

CESAR BARRIOQUINTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

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Chinese tourists still touring SINGAPORE—China’s currency devaluation and slowing economy have caused enormous turmoil in world financial markets, but they have not really bothered tourists like Henry Lee. Not yet, at least.

“I don’t even know what the exchange rate is,” the 36-year-old technology entrepreneur from Beijing admitted.

“We’re just here to relax with our kids. We’re not making any big purchases.

I bought a Tumi bag, and I got a Tiffany bracelet for my wife,” said the father-of-two during a visit to Singapore’s Merlion Park, which faces the massive Marina Bay Sands casino complex, a favorite destination for Chinese visitors.

Lee is among tens of millions from China’s growing middle class who travel across the globe every year for leisure.

A record 117 million Chinese traveled overseas in 2014, according to the Sydneybased Center for Asia-Pacific Aviation CAPA—more than double the 57 million in 2010—and experts expect that trend to continue.

“The short-term outlook for Chinese outbound visitors remains strong and the long-term is bright,” CAPA said in a report issued Thursday.

Beijing’s surprise devaluation of its currency on August 11, which is now trading at a four-year low against the dollar, has sparked fears China’s bigspending tourists will start staying at home.

Shares in tourism-linked businesses such as hotels across Asia have tanked, while Cathay Pacific’s chief executive has been forced to reassure investors the airline’s future was secure.

Businesses on the ground,

however, say more relaxed visa policies and the strength of the yuan against Asian currencies mean Chinese tourists will remain not only the most numerous, but also some of the biggest spenders.

“It’s not uncommon for a Chinese VIP player to gamble well over a million US dollars per trip,” said Aaron Fischer, regional head of consumer and gaming research at brokerage and investment group CLSA. “There’s probably 5,000 of them.”

The financial clout of China’s travelers can be eyepopping.

According to China’s state news agency Xinhua, Chinese tourists spent $164.8 billion in 2014, a four-fold increase compared to 2008. A whopping 88 percent of that was on shopping, it said, citing the China Tourism Academy, a government agency.

Japan alone saw more than 550,000 visitors from China in July, a figure more than double the same period a year ago, and the average Chinese tourist spends around $1,100—about twice as much as the next-highest spending cohort—according to the Japan Tourism Marketing think-tank.

Fischer predicted that the yuan’s depreciation would not hinder Chinese from traveling but some may become more cost-conscious, particularly when it comes to luxury items.

It is precisely that concern that is worrying organizations like the Indonesian Association of Travel Agencies. AFP

Desctruction. A boy walks past houses destroyed by a mudslide caused by the rain from Tropical Storm “Erika” in Montrouis, Haiti, on August 29, 2015. Erika left at least 20 people dead when it swept over the tiny island nation of Dominica, officials reported, as the system barreled through the Caribbean threatening Haiti. Witnesses in Montrouis report one person was killed because of the mudslide, but there is no official confirmation. AFP

Victims of ‘Katrina’s’ fury remembered NEW ORLEANS—New Orleans remembered the dead and celebrated its painstaking comeback from disaster on Saturday, a decade after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the “Big Easy” leaving devastation and chaos in its wake.

City leaders placed wreaths at a memorial to Katrina’s scores of unknown victims, marking the hour that the Category 5 storm struck with catastrophic force, overwhelming the Louisiana port’s system of levees.

More than 1,800 people were killed across the US Gulf Coast when Katrina made landfall on August 29, 2005. A million people were displaced and the financial toll topped $150 billion.

New Orleans was plunged

into a nightmarish scene of death and looting after Katrina barreled her way through and government help was painfully slow to come, something which still rankles in the city.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu, at a solemn ceremony attended by about 400 people at Charity Hospital Cemetery in the Mid-City neighborhood, struck a defiant tone.

“New Orleans will be unbowed and unbroken. We’re still standing after 10 years,” he declared.

“We have risen and we will rise again, but we can only do it if we hold each other up and we don’t leave anybody behind.”

The memorial to the unclaimed Katrina victims holds the remains of bodies

which were never identified or claimed.

“We know that even as New Orleans is rebuilding, there are those who are grieving the deaths of their mothers, their fathers, their sisters. I want those families to know that our thoughts are with them,” Governor Bobby Jindal said.

The wreath ceremony gave way to parades, marches and partying, capping a week of remembrance that included a visit from President Barack Obama.

Barbecue smoke and music filled the stifling New Orleans air, as brass bands and revelers celebrated the recovery of a city synonymous with Dixieland jazz and the raucous Mardi Gras.

Gwen Truhill, a local from

German media, celebrities rally for refugees BERLIN—Germany may have witnessed violent anti-refugee protests this week, but the message from the country’s media and celebrities is a loud and determined welcome for people fleeing the horrors of war.

“We’re helping,” Germany’s Bild newspaper splashed in large letters on its front page on Saturday.

The tabloid, which has launched a high-profile charity campaign to assist refugees, added: “The whingers and the xenophobes don’t speak in our name.”

Germany is expecting an unprecedented 800,000 asylumseekers this year as Europe grapples with its biggest migration crisis since World War II. While many believe that Germany’s wealth—combined with the dark legacy of its Nazi

past—mean it has a unique responsibility to provide safe haven to the persecuted, not everyone has been happy to see refugee centers springing up across the country.

Far-right protesters have targeted migrants and their accommodation with arson attacks, violent demonstrations and assaults—particularly in the former communist east, which still lags behind the west in terms of jobs and opportunities a quarter-century after reunification.

The eastern town of Heidenau has become a symbol of Germany’s struggle to absorb the huge wave of arrivals, with dozens injured in clashes last weekend between police and extreme-right activists opposed to a new local refugee center.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, visiting the center this week, was booed by a crowd who called her a traitor.

In the media, though, many outlets have added their voices to Bild’s in calling for refugees to be welcomed.

The news magazine Der Spiegel ran two different covers this week: the first, titled “Dark Germany”, showing a refugee center in flames; the second, titled “Bright Germany” bearing a message of hope, with migrant children releasing balloons into the sky.

“It’s up to us to decide how we’re going to live. We have the choice,” the magazine said.

In Munich, the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper offered its readers a practical guide for how to donate clothes and food to the new arrivals.

A slew of celebrities, too, have come out to show support for people seeking new lives in Germany.

“Dear refugees, it’s good that you’re here,” German Real Madrid player Toni Kroos said in comments reported by the press, “because it allows us to test our values and show respect to others.”

The actor Til Schweiger is among the most prominent pro-migrant voices in German showbiz, while rock singer Udo Lindenberg is hoping to organize a major Berlin concert against anti-migrant hate, slated for October 4.

This is not the first time Germany has seen a spate of racist incidents—nor the first time it has witnessed an outpouring of calls for tolerance in response. AFP

the Ninth Ward, said: “We’ve come a long way, but yet still so far to go.

“It’s good to see everybody come together and remember what happened, to see that people are still in good spirits. It’s still kind of bittersweet.”

Neighborhoods and cultural centers held parties and parades before former president Bill Clinton spoke at an evening commemoration, with performances by a number of Grammywinning musicians.

Some 80 percent of New Orleans was swallowed up by floods which rose as high as 20 feet (six meters) after the low-lying coastal city’s poorly built levee system burst from the pressure of a massive storm surge. AFP

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION Notice is hereby given that the Board of Directors of PINOY CNG-FUEL CORPORATION in its annual meeting on March 30, 2014 at Brgy. Tubigan, Biñan, Laguna unanimously approved to its resolution to dissolve/close the operation of aforesaid corporation effective May 31, 2014 for the reason that its intended business did not push through.

(Sgd) Jane A. Lim, Corporate Secretary (TS-AUG. 24, 31 & SEPT. 7, 2015)

NOTICE OF DISSOLUTION Notice is hereby given that the Board of Directors of AMICO CNG TECH, INC. in its annual meeting on March 30, 2014 at Brgy. Tubigan, Biñan, Laguna unanimously approved to its resolution to dissolve/close the operation of aforesaid corporation effective May 31, 2014 for the reason that its intended business did not push through.

(Sgd) Jane A. Lim, Corporate Secretary (TS-AUG. 24, 31 & SEPT. 7, 2015)

MR. JESSOM LABAMSAM Please contact Jennelyn Sales at 0999-4833769 or echo.poon@isshk.org<mailto:echo.poon@isshk.org> For discussion on the welfare of a child born in Hong Kong on 25.6.2014.

MR. ARTHUR TOMAD Please contact Jennelyn Sales at 0999-4833769 or echo.poon@isshk.org<mailto:echo.poon@isshk.org> For discussion on the welfare of a child born in Hong Kong on 22.2.2010.

Doc. No. 0783 Page No. 0163 Book No. 1102 Series of 2015

(TS AUG. 29,30,31 SEPT. 1, 2015

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B8

ceSAr bArriOqUiNTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world

Showcase. Indian Bollywood actress Malaika Arora Khan showcases a creation by designer Arpita Mehta (center left) during Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2015 in Mumbai on August 30, 2015. AFP

Malaysians’ protests continue Justice sought in deadly Bangladesh-India border DEBIGANJ, Bangladesh—As thousands of Bangladeshis and Indians celebrated the end of one of the world’s most intractable border disputes, Fatema Khatun was quietly hopeful of finally seeing justice.

Fifteen years after Khatun’s husband, Badshah Mia, was hacked to death and his body dumped on a canal bank near their home along the border, no one has been charged with his murder.

But the mother of six is praying that this month’s historic land swap between the two countries along their frontier—sparking wild celebrations—means the case will at last be investigated.

“There were 15 to 20 attackers... they hacked him repeatedly, cutting open his skull,” the 45-yearold said, wiping away tears.

When the attack occurred,

Khatun lived in what was then the enclave of Dahala-Khagrabari, a small island of Indian land locked inside Bangladesh.

The case fell under India’s jurisdiction. But it has always been too difficult for Indian police to gain permission to cross the border into Bangladesh to investigate.

For almost 70 years, some 50,000 residents like Khatun living in a string of enclaves struggled in stateless limbo, cut off from their national governments and unable to gain access to vital services like hospitals, schools and police.

The isolation meant criminals acted largely with impunity, resulting in scores of grisly murders, rapes and looting, while precious farmland was grabbed from villagers by more powerful ones, without recourse. AFP

KUALA LUMPUR—Thousands of Malaysian demonstrators turned central Kuala Lumpur yellow for a second straight day Sunday with a rally demanding the prime minister’s resignation over a corruption scandal, as the government threatened action against organizers.

The two-day rally, one of Malaysia’s largest in years, has been mostly incident-free even though police declared it illegal, blocked the organizers’ website and banned their official bright yellow T-shirt and logo.

Thousands awoke from a night camping out near the capital’s Independence Square and were soon joined by tens of thousands more as a carnival-like mix of speeches, singa-longs, prayer and ubiquitous selfies resumed.

The numbers did not quite appear to match Saturday’s, when organizers—electoral-reform activist group Bersih (the Malay word for Clean)— said 200,000 turned out,

while police put the number at 29,000.

“We are hoping to have as many people as yesterday to send the message to this government: they have been lying and stealing and bullying for far too long and the public won’t take it anymore,” said Simon Tam, a lawyer.

Deputy Prime Minister Zahid Hamidi, who also is home minister in charge of domestic security, warned organizers face possible charges under assembly, sedition and other laws.

“We also follow every word they say, we know the actions taken by them,” he was quoted saying by state media.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is

under fierce political pressure after the Wall Street Journal last month published Malaysian documents showing nearly $700 million had been deposited into his personal bank accounts since 2013.

His cabinet ministers have called the transfers “political donations” from unidentified Middle Eastern sources. But the accounts have been closed and the fate of the money is undisclosed.

Najib denies all wrongdoing, alleging a “political conspiracy” to topple him.

With smaller anti-Najib rallies held in several other locations around the country, state news agency Bernama reported 12 people were arrested in the city of Malacca for wearing Bersih shirts.

All were later released, it said.

It was not clear what charges they would face.

The Kuala Lumpur rally got a boost late Saturday when 90-year-old former premier Mahathir Mohamad made a brief appearance. AFP

Death truck suspects claim innocence KECSKEMET, Hungary—Four suspected human traffickers said they were innocent Saturday as they appeared in a Hungarian court over the decomposing bodies of 71 migrants found in a truck in Austria, marking a sickening new low in Europe’s migrant crisis.

They were remanded into custody as Hungary, where the truck originated, said meanwhile that it completed a razor-wire barrier along its 175-kilometer frontier with Serbia in an effort to prevent thousands of migrants entering the European Union country.

Europe is struggling to find a co-

herent approach as its governments face a record influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict in the Middle East and Africa.

Police believe the suspects who appeared in the court in Kecskemet Saturday are low-ranking members of one of the numerous, unscrupulous people-smuggling gangs that transport migrants in return for sometimes exorbitant amounts of money.

They were arrested after the truck was discovered abandoned by an Austrian motorway on Thursday. Police said the victims, believed to be mainly refugees flee-

ing the war in Syria, may have been dead for up to two days.

The court remanded the three Bulgarians aged 29, 30, 50 and the 28-year-old Afghan in custody until September 29.

Their appearance came as three “severely dehydrated” children were recovering in an Austrian hospital a day after they were rescued from a second van packed with 26 Syrians, Bangladeshis and Afghans.

The van was pulled over by Austrian police after a short chase early Friday near the German border. AFP

Festival. A woman flies a kite during a kite festival at a park in Moscow on August 29, 2015. AFP

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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

life @ thestandard.com .ph

WRITER

@LIFEatStandard

E AT, DRINK , T R AV EL

LIFE

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Asian Bowl features a modern rustic design that evokes an inviting and relaxing atmosphere for student diners. All fixtures and furniture are custom-made and the walls are painted by commissioned artist Jappy Agoncillo.

ASIAN BOWL:

THE NEW CHINESE RESTAURANT ON THE BLOCK

BY BERNADETTE LUNAS PHOTOS BY SONNY ESPIRITU

M

any were saddened when Hong Kong Roast permanently closed down its two branches in Makati. It was one of the few restaurants that served authentic Chinese and Hong Kong cuisines, so when it shut its doors to the dining public, patrons scrambled to find a new place for their Chinese food fix.

But after its hiatus, HKR returns with a new flavor. From the owners of the well-loved Chinese restaurant comes Asian Bowl in Taft Avenue, Manila.

Asian Bowl is the hip and younger version of Hong Kong Roast as it is owned and operated by the HKR owners’ eldest child, 17-year-old Sean Matthew Calubad.

“We closed HKR down because my mom couldn’t handle it anymore and she couldn’t leave it to anyone reliable because I was 15 or 16 years old then,” relates Sean.

According to Sean, his mom, Mary Chan, became busy with their other businesses (a printing company and a payment system) so she decided to give up the restaurant. But since Sean has “grown older” and is currently

Sean Matthew Calubad

taking up BS Entrepreneurship at De La Salle University (right in front of Asian Bowl), Mary thought it was about time that her son learned the ropes of running a business.

“When people hear that he already has his own business, they’re amazed, but what they don’t know is it’s a huge pressure for him,” shares Mary.

But it was a pressure that Sean is aware of – watching his parents run several businesses – and wanted to experience first-hand. When he graduated from high school, his parents gave him two gift choices: A car or a business. And while Sean is not driving a brand spanking new car yet, he looks forward to buying it with the money he will earn from his restaurant.

Mary and Sean went back and forth to China and Hong Kong and enrolled in cooking classes and seminars to make sure that Asian Bowl offers the authentic flavors of Chinese and Hong Kong cuisines.

They then taught the restaurant’s Filipino head chef everything they learned from books and the streets so that “we can get as close as possible to the flavor over there,” says the teen restaurateur.

Asian Bowl took the menu from HKR and gave it a modern twist to

Beverage options: Fresh Iced Lemon Tea, Iced Milo Dino and Iced Horlicks Malt Milk

Dimsum Bowls

appeal to the students’ palate, who are their target market in the new area. “Like if you taste the Cha Siu, which was HKR’s bestseller, then and now, they’re two different things. And I’m hoping it’s more friendly to the palate of students,” shares Sean.

Aside from the bestselling Cha Siu (roast barbecue pork) that launched HKR’s reputation, Asian Bowl also serves Sweet and Sour Pork, Roast Chicken, Baked Chicken, Salt and Pepper Squid, Spinach with Treasure Egg, Beef Hofan, Birthday Noodles, Yang Chao Fried Rice, Seafood Polonchay, and Roast Barbecue Pork Noodles, among others. Their beverage list is an interesting mix of Fresh Iced Lemon Tea (made of freshly brewed tea), Iced Horlicks Malt Milk (imported from Hong Kong), Iced Milo Dino, Hot Milk Tea, and Hot Ginger Coke (made of boiled Coke with lemon and ginger).

“Basically if you think Chinese, we probably have it,” affirms Sean.

French Toast

Sweet and Sour Fish

Perhaps, for someone who’s not acquainted with Chinese and Hong Kong food, the most intriguing item on Asian Bowl’s menu is the French Toast. What is a French Toast doing in a Chinese restaurant? According to Mary, when they went to dining establishments in Hong Kong, it was actually a usual dessert option, so they thought of bringing it in. And it was one of their best decisions.

Save for the Horlicks that they purchase in Hong Kong, all of the ingredients are locally sourced. “I want to show people that you don’t have to get fresh food from other countries because it’s all available here,” declares Sean.

Growing up cooking (he started working in the kitchen at age nine) and observing how to manage a restaurant, Sean makes sure that every single food that comes out of his kitchen is fresh, because he says freshness, as with flavor and color, is important in Chinese food. “Bad Chinese food

Hot Ginger Coke

Pork Chop with Vegetable Rice and Stir fry Noodles

is Chinese food that is not fresh and the flavor is lacking.”

That’s why “everything here is made to order. The second you order it, we cook it,” he says.

Being a college freshman/ entrepreneur running a business in an area that abounds with students looking for good food, Sean ensures that Asian Bowl is a place he himself would love to hang out in.

Most of the dishes served at Asian Bowl are priced at around P200 but each serving is intended for sharing between two to three diners. For solo visitors, they have Short Meals, complete with a main entreé, Vegetable Rice, stir fry noodles and tea, for P180.

They’re also coming up with Dimsum Bowls “for students in a hurry.”

“Although it might seem expensive, we believe you really get what you pay for. It’s fresh quality food that is meant for sharing,” guarantees Sean.

“I want the flavors and portions (to be) good because I want the students to get what they paid for.”

As for the general look and feel of the place, Sean and his parents designed the restaurant in such a way that is inviting, modern, and a place “where guys can chill out and hang out.”

“I hang out with friends and this is how I imagine a place where we hang out for a while to catch up and eat delicious food,” he beams with pride.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Chili and spices are the main ingredients of Szechuan dishes

@LIFEatStandard

Asian station highlights Szechuan Authentic Chinese Cuisine

FIERY HOT SEPTEMBER IN THE CAFÉ

Hyatt City of Dreams Manila’s Szechuan Fair until September 6

T

he colder weather definitely calls for hot and spicy tastes to tickle the palate and warm your tummy. There’s something about spicy food that makes you want to eat more and more after each spoonful, and what better way to do it than dine in a buffet where your options never seem to end? Today until September 6, get your taste buds ready as The Café’s guest chefs from Hyatt Regency Chongqing, Chef Zhang “Clark” Xiangyang and Chef Wu “Vincent” Tiantan prepare fiery authentic Szechuan dishes in Hyatt City of Dreams Manila’s main dining space.

Not for the faint of tongue, Szechuan dishes are known for

Szechuan Spicy Cold Chicken

Wok-fried Sweet & Sour Prawns, Gong Bao Style King Crab Szechuan

being hot and spicy, and when you say spicy, think chili as the main part of the dish. Start off with the mild spicy, sweet and sour Szechuan Noodles to get your tummy warmed up, then follow it Wok-fried Sweet & Sour Prawns, Gong Bao Style – let the slices of chives, chili and cashew

nuts tickle your taste buds for a spicier dish. Moving on to a higher grade spicy red, try the Traditional Beef Tonge and Tripe, Wokfried Fragrant Pork Leeks with Chili Sauce, and Crispy Chicken with Numbing pepper chili and peanuts. Your plates will definitely make for art predominant with the

color of scarlet. Make sure to pair everything with rice as it balances the fire, and it would help to order a vanilla milkshake to cool you down after spoonful of dishes.

One of the hottest dishes on the buffet spread is Szechuan Spicy Cold Chicken and King Crab Szechuan!

Don’t complain when you get a bite

of chili because these dishes are swimming with them. Everyday, the spreads will be changed so there’s always something new to try. Other dishes that will be served are Poached Grouper in Hot Chili Sauce, Poached Free-range Chicken, Wok-fried Shredded Pork Loin with Sweet and Sour Sauce, and Wokfried Lobster in Hot Chili Sauce.

Limited seating is available in The Café so advance reservations is recommended. The Café’s lunch buffet prices start at P1,340 net, while dinner buffet prices start at P1,840 net. For more information, call +63 2 691 1234 ext. 1149, or visit codmanilahyatt.com.

Eat, Drink, and Escape Manic Monday’s Traffic

Catch New World Manila Bay Hotel’s August dining promotions until tonight!

I

The Fireplace' Brick Oven open kitchen

Enjoy live music at The Lobby Lounge

Million Dollar Salad

August’s signature cocktail for the month – Bellini made of Prosecco and peach juice or Rossini with a tangy twist of Prosecco and strawberry juice, with the free sheep plush toy.

Chocolate soup with vanilla cracked pepper ice cream

f you’re tired of braving the traffic priced at PhP 2,650 net per person. But if going North and craving for a you opt to order a la carte and try other good dinner and drinks tonight, pairings, Mayura Wagyu beef dishes head to New World Manila are also available a la carte.

Bay Hotel. Extended ‘til tonight, For non-meat eaters, Manic partake of The Fireplace and Monday can be cured by Million The Lounge promotions.

Dollar Salad fresh greens with Walking in to The Fireplace mushrooms, scallops, prawns, can already get anyone excited topped with foie gras. For main for dinner as it welcomes you entrée you may also try the with its brick oven open kitchen.

Salmon, Seafood plate (scallops, The atmosphere smells of freshly fish, prawns with cherry tomatoes baked bread and you can request and asparagus). Before you forget this while waiting for your entrée. dessert, you have to try the hot The availability of the Australian Mayura chocolate soup with vanilla cracked full-blood Wagyu beef is extended until Salmon topped on a pepper ice cream; it will surely melt all tonight so make sure you put that on your bed of green beans and the Monday blues away. order. Mayura Wagyu is highly prized by cherry tomatoes After a feast-like dinner, head on to The gourmands and chefs worldwide for its reputation as Lounge and order August’s signature cocktail for the “one of the best quality beefs with excellent marbling.” month – Bellini made of Prosecco and peach juice or If you’re a hungry Monday worker, best to enjoy Rossini with a tangy twist of Prosecco and strawberry wood-fired grilled Mayura Wagyu Beef Signature juice – and listen to live music. Every signature Cube Roll, highlight of the promo. It is a set menu cocktail of the month comes with a cuddly plush that includes an Amuse Boucher – Slow Roasted toy, so don’t forget to take home August’s sheep toy.

Bone Marrow with Red Onion Jam, Tabbouleh and Lemon Confit; Double Beef Consommé with Catch the last day of August promotions. For inquiries Oxtail Ravioli and Chives; White Truffle and White and reservations, please call telephone +63 2 252 6888 Chocolate Parfait with Red Pepper & Mayura Sauce; or e-mail dining.manilabay@newworldhotels.com, or and served with coffee, teas and herbal infusions, visit newworldhotels.com

M ONDAY : AUGUST 31 : 2015

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

JEWEL WITHIN THE WALLS Intramuros has always been a fascinating destination for me.

Even before MERCURY RISING I became a Manila

BY BOB ZOZOBRADO resident, visits to this section of the city were always something I looked forward to. It is probably the wealth of history within these walls, or the cobblestoned roads, or the quaint restaurants in old houses, or the fact that this is where Manila started, that continues to make this “city within the city” of interest to me.

That’s why when the opportunity to work inside this “walled city” came along, I grabbed it and, for the past seven years, I have been enjoying every single day of being closely in touch with our country’s heroic past and distinct culture. It’s also reassuring to know that, at its peak, Intramuros was the standard against which all other lifestyles in the rest of the country were judged.

However, for the past so many years, what has been sorely missing in the area was a place that offered luxurious accommodations for regular tourists who preferred to immerse themselves in our rich historical past, the same way I do. For decades, these tourists did not have much of a choice. Either they had to go to that luxury hotel – a historical

The Bayleaf Intramuros all aglow at nighttime

Ed Vitug, general manager of The Bayleaf Intramuros

icon itself – fronting Luneta Park which may have been too much for their pockets, or to the smaller run-down hotels in nearby Ermita district, which meant lower quality accommodations and a 45-minute walk to Intramuros. Not very good choices, either way, for a standard tourist.

Four years ago, the Laurel family, owner of the Lyceum of the Philippines University, opened The Bayleaf Intramuros, a beautiful boutique hotel right next to their Intramuros campus, to cater to tourists who do not want to spend too much just to get a glimpse of our country’s 400-year old history, and yet have the conveniences of modern and luxurious living. Also, the university, having grown to become the biggest Tourism and Hospitality Management (T&HM) school in Asia, and the only one in the country with T&HM programs that are internationally accredited, found the need for a research facility for its T&HM students.

The Sky Deck, with a breathtaking view of the city

Almost immediately after it officially opened, the three-star hotel became a favorite of many. Since then, it has been running an average occupancy rate of 90 percent yearly, the reason for its General Manager Ed Vitug’s perennial smile of satisfaction. Foreign tourists who wanted to savor the interesting tales of events that took place in Intramuros, and those who discovered the convenience of the next-door golf course made this “jewel within the walls” their favorite home-away-fromhome. Locals have also been yearning for accommodations that offer a scene different from the usual commercial and business hubs, and this hotel took care of that. They rave about the breathtaking 360-degree view of the city and the famous Manila Bay sunset from the al fresco Sky Deck, while having their favorite cocktails or comfort food.

As for me, I am happy and contented with the panoramic view of the city from the penthouse, inside the air-conditioned all-day dining 9 Spoons, although I also frequent Raffaele, the wood-fired pizza place on the 3rd floor which offers a soothing view of the golf course, and

A typical standard room of the hotel

Cioccolata at the ground floor, where their churros-con-chocolate is to die for.

I guess my appreciation of the hotel and its facilities, especially its food and beverage outlets, is shared by many. The Bayleaf Intramuros has been Trip Advisor’s coveted Travelers’ Choice Awardee for three years now since 2013, and received the prestigious 2013 Certificate of Excellence for the same three-year period. In 2012, Agoda gave the hotel its Gold Circle Award.

So, now, The Bayleaf Intramuros is here for visitors who want to be right at the center of this three-mile long circuit of massive stone walls where Manila started, to learn more about the historical events that took place centuries ago.

What’s more, the hotel has bragging rights to having the perfect harmony of rich history, unique culture, modern efficient facilities, and convenience, all the ingredients one needs for a memorable holiday. Rajah Sulayman would have treasured this “jewel”… and Miguel Lopez de Legaspi would have had another reason to fight for supremacy in the area.

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE:

Raffaele has a refreshing view of the Intramuros golf course

“I hope you didn’t take it personally, Father,” an embarrassed woman said after a Sunday Mass, “when my husband walked out during your sermon.” “I did find it rather disconcerting,” the priest replied. “It’s not a reflection on you, Father,” insisted the churchgoer. “Christopher has been walking in his sleep ever since he was a child.”

A Look at Wine Openers SIP BY SIP

I

(Part 2)

BY SHERWIN A. LAO

n Part 1, we discussed about wine openers and how each one functions in removing the cork that protects and preserves wine, and introduced the Winged Corkscrew a.k.a. Butterfly Corkscrew; the Waiter’s Friend Corkscrew; and the The `Ah-So’ a.k.a. TwoProng Cork Puller. (You may read about it at http://manilastandardtoday.com/2015/08/23/ a-look-at-wine-openers-part-1-/).

BELOW ARE THE THREE OTHER WINE OPENERS:

4. The “Rabbit Ear” or “Bunny Ear” Wine Opener There is a mounted and an un-mounted version to this brilliant piece of mechanical

ingenuity. The screw/spiral bit from the rabbit ear penetrates through the cork and pulls the entire cork out in one swift motion. After the wine is opened, the second motion from the rabbit ear opener releases the cork. I used this quite a lot when I was operating a wine bar several years back, and my mounted Rabbit Ear also looks quite aesthetic.

My only “beef ” with this opener – and this same argument applies on the next two openers succeeding this one – is that the spiral bit touches the wine as it penetrates the cork to pull the entire cork out. As a wine purist, I hate that my wine gets touched by anything foreign. The un-mounted version

The mounted version of the Rabbit Ear Wine Opener is fast and aesthetically appealing

costs around P1,000.00 each, while the mounted version can be more expensive.

5. The Screwpull Opener Screwpull is a trademark created in conjunction with its wine opener in 1979 by owner- designer Herbert Allen of Hallen International Inc. The company and its very successful Screwpull line of wine openers and accessories was sold in 1991 to French cookware and kitchen tools company Le

The Creuset Travel Screwpull – effective, easy-to-use and compact

Creuset. Screwpull openers are designed to hold and cover the neck of wine bottles and feature Teflon coated screws/spiral bits that easily pierce and penetrate through the cork until the cork is thoroughly released.

I bought my first Screwpull in the mid 1990s, and until now I still marvel at this simple, yet extremely efficient wine opener.

The model I got is the Le Creuset Travel Screwpull that has a removable and extendable handle, aside from its compact size.

Continued on C4

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

A NEW AGE FOR THE PHILIPPINE BAR SCENE TIPPLE TALES

BY ICY MARIÑAS There is a rousing energy presently felt in the Philippine bar scene. The Philippines has been turning heads in the international bartending competitions for a few years now.

Some of the best bartenders in the world come from the Philippines.

This may come as a surprise to you, dear imbibers, but not to passionate personalities in our growing and exciting industry. After all, we have a long, rich history connected to alcohol. From the Spanish, we were taught how to make cerveza or beer. Also, we can’t deny the great influence Americans have had in our culture. They brought the cocktail culture here (in army bases they had officers’ bars) and most likely taught Filipinos how to make cocktails the way they do. They passed on the skills and knowledge to Pinoy bartenders.

The Prohibition (from 1919 – 1933) did not extend to the Philippines, thankfully. And of course the Americans living and stationed here during that time were able to take full advantage of that. They introduced us to the cocktail club and Nightclub culture. Another important cocktail history that Filipinos are a part of is the Tiki Bar movement which started as early as the 1930s in America. During that time, in a famous bar called Don The Beach Comber (Los Angeles), celebrities like Charlie Chaplin were regulars. If you ordered a Martini or an old fashioned in this bar, they would make it for you in plain sight. But if you wanted to have one of their “talk of the town” tropical concoctions, it would emerge from a hidden back bar. Guests never saw who made them; today we know them as the Don’s “Four Boys,” and one of them is the legendary Filipino American bartender named Ray Buhen.

Fast forward to the present. The past few years have seen some major developments in the bar and cocktail

culture. Now is the dawn of a new era. New and exciting bars and restaurants are opening left and right, offering varied yet polished drinks to suit every mood. Bartenders are the new chefs (liquid chefs), the new superstars in the F&B world; they are the rock stars, celebrities in my eyes. Today, Filipinos need not hide while preparing a cocktail.

Now, we are present at front, the stage is now set! The Philippines has sent representatives to international competitions and are making quite an impressive dent in the bartending realm. One of the rising talented Filipino bartenders who is making a name in the field is Kenneth Bandivas of ABV Bar. He is the Philippines’ representative to the 2015 Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender of the Year Finals in Cape Town, South Africa.

well over 60+ signature cocktails!

(Ken, here’s and idea… turn it into a book already! I’ll take my cut, okay?

LOL) Apart from touching base with a variety of methods of making cocktails (stirred, shaken, etc.), as well as different flavor profiles (spirit forward, sweet, sour, etc.), his game plan is to be prepared. He has been practicing and preparing for this for months. Having the honor of representing the country has not gotten into his head. Like his favorite cocktail, the Old Fashioned, Ken is simple, straightforward, confident.

One of the challenges is to concoct a cocktail that will pay homage to the participant’s country. The first drink he presented was his entry for this category: The Bitter Felipe.

This is special to him because it contains an ingredient that he hated when he was younger: the dreaded

Go Ken!

my attention, like an old fashioned but with a deeper complexity.

Notes of the bourbon, has hints of caramel, vanilla, smoky, taste of citrus, wood, just the right amount of bitterness from the ampalaya to complement the bourbon. To me, Bitter Filipe was a perfectly balanced drink that has definitely left a “Better” taste on my tongue!

The next cocktail he prepared was the Heart and Soul, meant for the final showdown with the last top six contenders of the completion who will be advancing to the finals. Made with Kettle one vodka as base with paprika, homemade ginger syrup, lime, sage and egg whites. This to

Heart and Soul

Happy Ken

Elgin Bridge

The Diageo World Class is the most prestigious and respected mixology competition in the world.

Fifty of the best bartenders from the finest establishments in the world come together to put their skills, technique and knowledge to the test, and duke it out in five days (August 31 to September 4) of what can only be described as a cocktail bonanza (each contender will have to make 23 cocktails in several challenges). I met with Ken at ABV to talk to him about the competition and to sample some of the cocktails he will make during the competition.

Ken is the embodiment of the Boy Scout. (I think I may have just given his nickname…) Motto: Always be prepared! He prepared

ampalaya (bitter gourd, for those not from around here; I’m sure you can tell from the name alone why this vegetable is an acquired taste). “It represents Filipinos in general,” he says. “We can turn something negative into something positive.” He makes the best out of a bad situation, so to speak, by making his own ampalaya liqueur by macerating (soaking a fruit or any object to soften and extract flavor) it in sugar and Ketel One vodka. Added to Bulleit bourbon, lime juice, and Palawan honey (for added local flavor), the Bitter Felipe is a creative twist to the whisky sour.

I took a long whiff to experience the nose of this original cocktail.

The fresh zest of the lime first got

me was a beautiful symphony of flavors; fresh, savory, spicy. Shaken to perfection, resulting in a lovely foam that provided this libation a very smooth mouth feel. This drink was such a delight I could hear Tchaikovsky’s “The Nut Cracker” playing in the background!

He moved on to his favorite drink, the Elgin Bridge. It’s an intense, spirit forward drink that pairs well with something heavy, like meat. He uses something that isn’t something you normally see in cocktails: homemade cigar liqueur. Using local Tabacalera Coronas. He extracted the cigar flavor by macerating it, resulting in a bittersweet, intense flavor. It’s mixed with Bulleit bourbon, chocolate absinthe liqueur,

and poured over a Marasca cherry (instead of a sugar cube) into a glass smoked with bourbon barrel chips; isn’t this drink exciting?! I was so excited to try this drink! I was getting thirsty just watching him make it! But to my surprise, “MY” drink was stolen from me! It did a Houdini! Seriously, whoever took my drink knew what he was doing.

I turned to Ken and he said with much empathy that that’s the last drink he will be doing as he has to save the rest for the competition. If I were a guy, I would be claiming blue balls! I will still be expecting to try this drink when Ken returns.

Whatever the results of the competition are, Ken, you already make us proud!

We may be lagging behind in the bar and cocktail industry, but something is definitely brewing.

That our bartenders are making a mark in the international scene is certainly a sign of great things to come. You can see it in all the restaurants and cocktail bars mushrooming all around town. You can taste it in the more complex and sophisticated drinks being offered.

New premium liquor brands are coming here because they can see that the market is ripe and ready for what they have to offer. You can feel the momentum of something forming, emerging, evolving. It’s a privilege for me to be part of it, a witness to it and to be surrounded by this energy. Sure, we’re trailing behind other countries. We are 5th in Asia right now, but hear this – this energy in Manila presently is comparable to the horse races. Like each owner is getting their horses to enter the gates, just waiting for that bell to ring! Exciting, isn’t it? World, we are knocking on your door! To all my fellow imbibers, Manila is a great place to be right now. Let’s all raise our cocktail glasses and drink to a bright, exciting cocktail scene in the Philippines! Cheers!

Follow me on Instagram @sanvicentegirl

A LOOK AT WINE OPENERS From C3

I rarely use my Screwpull now (as mentioned previously, I do not like my wine being touched by the screw), but I still show it to my classes when I conduct my wine seminars as an example of a very good kind of wine opener. The Travel Screwpull costs around P1,500.00 to P2,000.00 each.

6. The Electric Wine Opener There are now many electric wine openers, and they actually all function similarly. The one I have experience with is the Oster brand of rechargeable electric wine opener. This is very convenient and easy to use. It even comes with a foil cutter. After removing the top foil and exposing the cork in the wine, the Oster electric

wine opener is simply release the cork from placed on top of the the electric opener. It wine bottle and with is a wonderful gadget two control buttons, to show off to your the cork is removed friends. It is slightly hassle free and in noisy however with seconds. To uncork the the drilling sound, wine, the downward but the feeling of button is pressed opening something to force the built-in electronically is still spiral bit through exhilarating. the cork. The electric The Oster wine opener automatically The Oster Electric Wine Opener is a very cool high-tech opener is cordless, but wine opening device stops when the cork needs to be recharged is completely released from the wine bottle. after every 30 bottles of uncorking. You need After this, the upward button is pressed to not sweat it out just to open your favorite wine.

You can ask your local Oster distributor if this is available in the country. The Oster electric wine opener retails at around $40.00 in the US. While the wine openers are merely means to an end, opening wine in comfort and style is probably as important, too, in preparation for wine appreciation. Why stress out before distressing?

For comments, inquiries, wine event coverage, and other wine related concerns, please e-mail me at protegeinc@yahoo.com. I am a proud member of the Federation Internationale des Journalists et Ecrivains du Vin et des Spiritueux or FIJEV since 2010. You can also follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/sherwinlao.

M ONDAY : AUGUST 3 1 : 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

Ejay Falcon as Tonio

C5

Alex Gonzaga as Penelope

‘I Heart Kuryente KId’ today From C8

ISAH V. RED Kapamilya stars Alex Gonzaga and Ejay Falcon team up for the first time in the newest series of ABS-CBN’s award-winning fantasy-drama anthology Wansapanataym in the special titled “I Heart Kuryente Kid.” The series premieres tonight.

“I am very excited and happy to be a part of this Wansapanataym special because I get to work with Alex and because we will be able to bring joy to a lot of kids through “I Heart Kuryente Kid.” This is a dreamcome-true for me because I have always wanted to portray the role of a superhero,” said Ejay who will give life to the role of Tonio, a young man who will gain superpowers after getting struck by lightning.

“TV viewers will surely enjoy watching our Wansapanataym special because of the story,” said Alex. “I am going to play the role of Penelope, a reporter searching for Kuryente Kid, who, unknown to her, is her childhood friend Tonio.”

Joining Alex and Ejay in Wansapanataym Presents “I Heart Kuryente Kid” are Miguel Vergara, Malou Crisologo, Fourth Solomon, and Tirso Cruz III. It is written by Philip King, and directed by Andoy Ranay.

HHHHH KatHryn Bernardo x PrImadonna Primadonna, a lifestyle footwear brand is known for carrying the latest trends for women’s shoes.

It caters to a variety of personalities and has a strong reputation for tasteful fashion while exuding style and confidence.

Primadonna started with three stores in 2007. With an intense commitment to carry the season’s latest must-haves, it has now grown into a retail force of over 50 vibrant and dynamic stores nationwide. This remarkable leap can only be attributed

to Primadonna’s vision to cater to women’s various lifestyle needs.

The brand has been providing ladies of all ages with footwear that is up-to-date with the latest international designs, while making it more accessible to the local market. Ladies who wear Primadonna are young and fashionable, who love expressing themselves through what they wear.

A perfect fit for the brand’s young and dynamic personality is their newest endorser, Kathryn Bernardo. Known as the “Teen Queen” of Philippine show business, Bernardo is a Filipina actress who has inspired the brand’s upcoming pre-holiday collection. Kathryn’s style has greatly evolved from her younger days in the business.

Now, she is regarded as one of her generation’s fashion icons. “I love playing around with my outfits. I love how quick Primadonna is when it comes to picking up what’s uso. So if I see Taylor Swift wearing something na gusto ko, I run agad to Primadonna because I’m sure they have what I’m looking for!” says the new brand ambassador. Primadonna, like Kathryn, is a brand that welcomes constant change, as it enables them to keep their product offerings current, staying true to their commitment to provide their market with the season’s must-have footwear.

Primadonna’s pre-holiday collection is composed of 20 styles reflecting the latest “Sports Luxe” trend, first set by the likes of Alexander Wang and Helmut Lang. It features chunky platforms, thicksoled kicks, and “man repeller” slides, which have been seen on some of most stylish people both locally and in Hollywood. Primadonna has made these pieces more accessible, with their price points ranging from P 1,299.95 to P 2,999.95.

With the latest in footwear trends made readily available by Primadonna, Filipinas can now easily step foot in the world of high-class fashion.

Primadonna’s pre-holiday 2015 collection is now available.

Primadonna's newest endorser, Kathryn Bernardo

Raymond Gutierrez, Primadonna Owners Vivian and Robert Tanchip, and Kathryn Bernardo

Raymond Gutierrez, with Valerie Tanchip Lim, Primadonna Marketing Director, and Denise Reyes, Primadonna Managing Director

Denise Reyes, Managing Director of Primadonna

Jake Cuenca

LJ Reyes and Paolo Contis

LJ Reyes, and Bettina Carlos

Miguel Rodriguez, Jess Connelly, Raymond Gutierrez, Ella Pangilinan, Paolo delos Angeles

M ONDAY : AUGUST 3 1 : 2015

C6

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Will Tom Rodriguez show his physique in Marimar?

TV5 airs Japan’s ‘amaChan’

O Alden Richards and Maine Mendoza are the new love team to beat

ChaLLEngED tO PLay SERgiO SantibañEZ JOSEPh PEtER gOnZaLES Tom Rodriguez knows that bagging the role of Sergio Santibañez in the grand reboot of Marimar entails a huge responsibility.

“For one, it’s an iconic part and that Dingdong Dantes really endeared the character to the viewers when it had its maiden remake on local television way back in 2007.

I just hope that people would also give me the same warmth and support they extended Dingdong then as the latest Sergio Santibanez. I really pray that they would give me a chance to breathe life and do my own interpretation of the famous character,” he states.

People are curious if the new version is exactly the same as the first remake, which propelled Marian Rivera to stardom.

“Oh, our story line is different from theirs. There are various twists in the plot but the original theme of true love defies all odds remains.

I promise that the public will also like our offering because

not only is the story exciting, we are also supported by a great cast,” he relates.

The latest remake of the famous telenovela features a stellar cast that includes Alice Dixson, Jaclyn Jose, Carmi Martin, Ina Raymundo, Zoren Legaspi, Ricardo Cepeda, Frank Magalona, Dion Ignacio and Nova Villa.

“Of course, this is also Megan Young’s grand launch as a premiere female lead. I think it’s enough reason for the viewers to get excited with our offering,” Tom enthuses.

This early, many ask if he is ready to show his good physique in the soap opera just like Dingdong then.

“All I can say is my team and I made sure the public will like what they’ll see in me for this show. Of course, I wanted my body to be visually enticing since the role calls for it. In fact, I had to undergo a different workout for Marimar. My trainer ensured that for this project, I had to sport well-toned abs and muscles and still look healthy sans the haggardness which I experienced when I did a fashion show for a well-known clothing brand previously.”

Tom reveals that during that time, he was under pressure to achieve the ideal body for the fashion event. he had to be in shape for two weeks. In effect, he got sick and needed to be hospitalized.

Apart from the rigorous workout routine, he was just eating sweet potatoes even though his schedule was packed doing a game show and a soap opera that time.

Clearly, his body system bogged down.

“Now, my trainer prepared a different program for me.

I can do workouts without starving myself. I can actually eat anything in considerable portions. I don’t want to undergo the same ordeal again. At least at this point, I feel healthier and much better which is beneficial to my portrayal of the male lead in Marimar,” ends Tom. HHHHH Alden Richards admits that his career has tremendously zoomed up because of his phenomenal love team with Maine Mendoza tagged as “AlDub” in the top-rating noontime show Eat Bulaga.

“Yes, I’m really thankful for such development,” he avers. “Before AlDub, I can say my career was already

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 45 47 49 50 53 55 57 61 62 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Truck mfr.

4 Zen master’s poem 9 Tarzan’s kid 12 Jetty 13 Burns’ partner 14 Colo. acad.

16 Lamb’s alias 17 Make purchases 18 Luigi’s dollar, once 19 Popular fundraiser (2 wds.)

21 Flood

23 25 26 29 31 32 33 37 38 41 42 44

Delicate hue Soup or salad Boss, slangily Athabasca and Titicaca Ivan of tennis Past the deadline Seed cover California fort Soap opera unit Bradbury of sci-fi He loved Lucy Carpenter’s tool

“The Kiss” sculptor Odd job Planet with rings Relax (2 wds.)

Spring melt Leaves hastily Like the Cyclops (hyph.)

Hot rum drink Wooden horse saga Tilt Patrick’s domain — Jean Baker Igneous rock, once Naval off.

Aquatic birds Source of iron

DOWN 1 Large lizard 2 Golda of politics 3 Inched along 4 Pester 5 — Centauri 6 Ait, on the Seine 7 Superman alias 8 Put to sea 9 Cattail 10 Basket willow 11 Adventure tales 12 Delt neighbor 15 Kismet 20 Grocery section

MONDAY, AUGUST 31, 2015

22 24 26 27 28 30 32 34 35 36 39 40 43 46 48 49 50 51 52 54 56 58 59 60 63

Fish eggs Social ranks Clump of dirt Dog-owner’s shout Tackles’ neighbors Surmounting “Pants on fire” guy Karachi language Bear’s pad Cartoonist — Johnston Bracing Blank a tape Glacial outbreaks (2 wds.)

Desdemona’s love Croon Fountain favorite Sharpen Cliffside abode Look down on Fertile soils Gin-fizz flavor Wine label info Gutter locale Spiral molecule High dudgeon

doing fine. I had projects and I was visible on screen.

But it’s really different when I entered EB and AlDub came into being. My career took a 360-degree turn, so to speak. It’s in full flow at the moment,” he told the press in a recent interview.

Due to their immense popularity at present, showbiz kibitzers opine they are the biggest threat to the screen tandem of Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla or KathNiel. Some even say they have already edged the Kapamilya duo when it comes to popularity.

“Oh, I don’t think so!

That’s not true. Personally, I don’t want to compete with KathNiel or any other love team out there. I believe we all have our respective supporters. Maine and I are just happy that we are able to entertain the viewing public with our antics,” he said.

Alden is just grateful for the unparalleled support they get from fans, and its the main reason why they are doing their best to make them swoon and laugh in their daily boob tube viewing. But it’s a fact that of late, they are the hottest thing on social media. Almost every day, AlDub is trending.

ne of Japan’s highest-rating drama shows in 2013, Amachan, finds its way into Philippine television, after local channel TV5 signs an affiliation agreement with Japan Broadcasting Corporation, NHK, to telecast the said series.

TV5 representatives, including CEO Noel Lorenzana, and Japan International Broadcasting Inc. President and CEO Yoshihiko Shimizu participated in a Japanese traditional sake toast ceremony, during the contract signing at The Palace Pool Club to celebrate the newly-forged partnership. Representatives from both parties also carried out the symbolic floating of sea urchin lanterns in connection to the major elements used in the drama-comedy series.

Amachan is an upbeat drama with moments of comedy about the journey of Aki, played by popular Japanese actress Rena Nōnen, in pursuing her dreams of becoming an “ama”, a Japanese traditional free-diver of seafood, particularly of sea urchins in the series, and a pop idol. The series is set in the Tohoku region of Japan, which endured the biggest blow of the devastating tsunami disaster in 2011.

The series was an instant hit in Japan, becoming one of the top-rated morning dramas in Japan.

Newcomer actress, Nōnen, even won a Best Actress trophy in Japan’s 17th Nik-

kan Sports Drama Grand Prix for her role in the series. Amachan not only won the hearts of Japanese viewers, the production of the series in the Tohoku region was also seen to have contributed in efforts to restore the region.

The hit drama-comedy earned Japan’s prestigious Galaxy Award for best television program in 2013, and will soon hit Philippine television – making Amachan the only Galaxy Award Gran Prix winner drama series to air in the country.

In addition to that, a live variety show, Hallo Hallo Café, hosted by seasoned comedian Yachang, will also pilot alongside Amachan as an after-show component. Hallo Hallo Café, presented and sponsored by Hallo Hallo Inc. and the Cool Japan Shop, will not only feature fun games but also give viewers a chance to win thousands of prizes. Viewers simply have to register for free on hallohallo.com to become eligible for the prizes up for grabs as seen in the after-show. Registered hallohallo.com users can also earn up to 10 million points by simply watching the show and being on the lookout for the daily keyword, which equates to points that can eventually turn into prizes.

Amachan premieres October on TV5 with a 30-minute episode, Monday to Friday, with fresh episodes in the morning and a replay at night.

M ONDAY : AUGUST 3 1 : 2015

C7

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Alfe Marie Natahnile Dagle Uy finished second in Miss Asia 2015

Divine Ezrha Canaceli bagged third place in World Beauty Queen 2015

Pinay beauties snag runner uP wins

w

ithout much fanfare, two Filipina beauties recently competed and nearly walked away with the crowns in a pair of newly organized beauty pageants abroad proving once again that the Filipina beauty will always be a force to be reckoned with.

Alfe Marie Nathanile Dagle Uy, a 25-year-old, 5-foot-7, trading company personnel manager in Dubai, UAE, was named first runner-up in Miss Asia 2015 held in Kochi, Kerala, India. Local bet Kanika Kapur from New Delhi, a 20-year-old, student of Journalism and Mass Communication bested 12 other contestants from the region including Miss Azerbaijan Djeyla Quliyeva, a 23-year-old, model who finished second runner up.

Uy was a former varsity volleyball captain in Siliman University and

ambassador of Philippines Youth Green Army Foundation. She reigned as Miss Teen Philippines International in 2007 and was first runner-up in Miss Fil-Independence Dubai 2015. She is presently involved in community works to help fellow Filipino-OFWs in UAE. Miss Asia, organized by PEGASUS and sponsored by Manappuram Finance Lmt., the highest credited rated gold loan company in India, should not be confused with the Manila based-Miss Asia Quest (now Miss Asia-Pacific International), considered as the first and oldest beauty pageant in Asia when it began in 1968. The Miss Asia finals concluded sans the usual bikini round with the girls competing only in national costume, black cocktail and white gown.

Meanwhile, Divine Ezrha Canaceli, an 18-year-old, student taking up Travel Management

at Our Lady of Fatima University-Quezon City, placed second Runner-Up at the inaugural edition of World Beauty Queen 2015 contest at Tiger Beach, Incheon, Korea on Aug. 22. Kazune Oshima of Japan became the first World Beauty Queen title-holder beating Veronika Stafanova of Bulgaria, first Runner-Up, Natalia Janoszek of Poland, third Runner-Up and Elizabeth Mishina of Russia, fourth Runner-Up. Canaceli, a 5-foot-7 resident of Caloocan and Top 10 finalist in Miss Bikini Philippines 2015, was earlier named among the Top 5 in the swimsuit event. The World Beauty Queen pageant which looks for the most physically attractive beauty as winner, got just about a dozen contestants who spent two weeks of pre-pageant activities in the famous Korean city.

– eton b. ConCePCion

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With it’s two yummy flavors of Tropical Fruit and Fruit and Vegetable Mix, Oishi Great Lakes gives your palette an assortment of fresh flavors from carefully selected fruits and vegetables. With Oishi Great Lakes, you can always expect the highest quality of taste. The punch of flavors is a great and convenient way to drink your fruits and vegetables. Show us how you keep healthy and refreshed with Oishi Great Lakes along with the hashtag #WholesomeRefreshment.

Great Lakes' juice variants

Marco Masa and Jollibee mascot

Bonding Between nathaniel’s MarCo Masa and MoM

F

or a few months now, Marco Masa has been delighting the audience with his heartwarming portrayal of an angel sent back to the world to restore man’s faith in God in Nathaniel. In this primetime fantasy drama series, eight-year-old Marco enjoys spreading his wings beneath the limelight along with imbibing the lessons and good morals that come with his role.

As Nathaniel, Marco exemplifies the kindness, obedience, and playfulness of a Filipino child, endearing him to fellow children and entire families.

This time, the promising young actor is taking on a new role as Jollibee’s newest brand ambassador, partnering with his ultimate favorites—Jolly Spaghetti and his mom, Sol Masa.

Jollibee’s cheesiest, meatiest, and spaghettiest offering is something that Marco and Mommy Sol both love. With the perfect blend of rich tomato sauce, juicy hotdog and ham bits generously topped with cheese, Jolly Spaghetti is truly the preferred choice of Filipinos and there are no better ambassadors to represent it than the primetime superstar angel and his mom.

“We really love Jollibee, so when we were chosen (as brand ambassadors), we felt very proud,” said Mrs. Masa, who is sharing the limelight with her son for the first time in their Jolly Spaghetti commercial. According to her, Jollibee has always been close to their hearts, especially now that her children are growing up.

When asked about his favorite food, Marco couldn’t contain his excitement over his mother’s home-cooked meals and his favorite Jolly Spaghetti. “Cheese, maraming maraming cheese with the sauce and meat,” he said when asked about what he liked most about Jolly Spaghetti.

Mother and son also make sure to spend quality time with the rest of the family. “Tapings for Nathaniel are during Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, so Tuesdays and Thursdays are his school days while the weekends are for our family time,” shared Mommy Sol. And just like any other family, “It can be tough, but we make sure we have time to bond as a family especially on weekends to go to malls, play badminton, go biking, and of course, enjoy our favorite Jollibee treats,” she said.

But at the end of the day, it all goes back to the simple joys, “Pinakapaborito ko po ‘yung pagkatapos ng mahabang taping tapos may Jollibee po, lalo na ‘yung spaghetti na maraming cheese at sauce at meat po,” Marco explained. He also expressed his joy about being part of the growing Jollibee family, “Natuwa po ako ng sobra at excited rin po ako sa mga mangyayari.”

Aside from Marco, Jollibee ambassadors include Popstar Royalty Sarah Geronimo, Bamboo, The Voice Kids Season 1 top four Lyca Gairanod, Darren Espanto, Juan Karlos Labajo and Darlene Vibares, Nadine Lustre, James Reid and Zoren Legaspi, Carmina Villarroel-Legaspi and their twins Mavy and Cassy.

M ONDAY : AUGUST 3 1 : 2015

C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

From Left, Junjee Marcelo, Curve’s Vic Valenciano, Mossimo’s Adamson Bactat, Zsaris Mendioro, Callalily’s Front Man Kean Cipriano, André Alvarez And Mossimo’s Rene Go

one-woMAn bAnd wins At MossiMo Music suMMit GMA and Avon continue fight against breast cancer

ISAH V. RED Zsaris Mendioro was the very first winner of the Mossimo Music Summit 2015 at the grand finals on Aug. 21 at the Trinoma Activity Center.

The 27-year old musician from Laguna received the P200,000 cash grand prize plus P300,000 worth of Mossimo gift certificates after garnering an amazing score of 93.75 percent for both her performances that evening.

Loop artist Zsaris had the crowd clapping and singing along with her as she performed her first song,“Happy” by singer-producer Pharrell. She later gave a goose bump-inducing cover of legendary Pinoy band Rivermaya’s “Himala,” prompting a judge, Curve Entertainment’s Vic Valenciano, to call the rendition “perfect.”

She showcased her superb vocal chops, musicianship, and raw talent that had the audience’s jaws dropping the whole time. Armed with her guitar and amazing talent, Zsaris proved in both performances that she needed absolutely no help in showing the world her credibility and brilliance as an artist.

One of the Mossimo Music Summit 2015’s big four was lounge singer Kristel Herrera who performed first for both rounds of the finals.

Each performance she gave stunned

all four judges, first performing a strong cover of Beyonce’s “Halo.”

The 22-year old belter from Sampaloc channeled her inner Queen Beyonce with her on-point head banging. She showed her ability to switch genres in her cover of OPM rock song “Bonggahan” by Sampaguita. Herrera proved that the Mossimo Music Summit would not be the last we’d see her in contests.

From Pampanga, 20-year old Mark Francis Reyes wowed the judges with his unique ability to switch between male and female keys in mid-song. He took the crowd back in time with The Corrs’s “Breathless” and gave a truly soulful performance of Yeng Constantino’s hit ballad “Ikaw.” Reyes convinced everyone that night that he needed no frills, no gimmicks in his performances. His talent shone effortlessly through when he sang.

The fourth and last but certainly not the least of the finalists to perform were the acoustic trio OTM -

Jenz on vocals and percussion, Matthew on vocals and violin, and Kaye on vocals and guitar. They took the stage with an acoustic cover of summer anthem “Geronimo” by Australian indie pop band Sheppard. For their last song they sang and harmonized to Eraserheads classic “Alapaap,” which further exhibited their individual vocal and instrumental strengths and at the same time their chemistry as a group.

The judges included Valenciano, MYX channel head Andre Alvarez, composer and hit song-maker Jungee Marcelo, and Callalily frontman Kean Cipriano.

Callalily, now celebrating 10 years as a band, was among the evening’s roster of performers, with a five-song set that ended with them playing old favorites “Magbalik” and then “Stars.”

One of the guest performers for the finale was singer-actress Hazel Faith, who wowed everybody with a strong cover of EDM hit “Clarity” by

Zedd featuring Foxes. Another performer for the night was rock band Red Letters with “Superheroes” by the Script featuring a dance performance by Rizal Underground.

Aside from the four finalists, dance groups and models also graced the stage after two weeks of castings for both. The event’s hosts were MYX VJs KA Antonio and Chino Lui Pio, who kept the audience alive and excited throughout the night.

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GMA And Avon continue fiGht AGAinst breAst cAncer GMA Network, Inc. and Avon Philippines signed another year of partnership for “Kiss Goodbye to Breast Cancer.” KGBC is AVON’s global CSR program that promotes breast cancer awareness and supports the development of a cure for the disease. Sealing the partnership are GMA Chairman and CEO Atty. Felipe L. Gozon (second from left) and

Avon Philippines Country Manager Emie Aguilar-Nierves (third from left) with GMA AVP for Corporate Affairs Ma. Teresa Pacis (left), and Avon Philippines Head for Legal Errol Palaci (right). Standing at the back are Kapuso stars Rocco Nacino (center), Coleen Perez (second from right) and Denice Barbacena (left), with Rocco’s mom Linda Nacino (second from left) and Avon Philippines Head for PR and Communications Faith Fernandez-Mondejar (right). Rocco and Mommy Linda, herself a breast cancer survivor, together with award-winning Kapuso actress Jennylyn Mercado (not in photo) are this year’s KGBC ambassadors. ➜ continued on c5

Loop artist Zsaris had the crowd clapping and singing along with her as she performed her first song,“Happy” by singer-producer Pharrell. She later gave a goose bump-inducing cover of legendary Pinoy band Rivermaya’s “Himala,” prompting a judge, Curve Entertainment’s Vic Valenciano, to call the rendition “perfect.”