The Standard - 2015 September 16 - Wednesday

VOL. XXIX NO. 216 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 wedNeSday : SePTeMBeR 16, 2015 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Kiko quits as Noy’s adviser on food

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tax cut Pressed Congressmen push reduction over PNoy’s protests

By Maricel V. Cruz and Macon R. Araneta

LAWMAKERS pressed for a reduction in personal and corporate income taxes Tuesday, despite President Benigno Aquino III’s rejection of bills calling for such changes.

Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo, an administration ally and chairman of the House committee on ways and means, said it was unacceptable that the income tax rates go unchanged.

“Despite the President’s position, we will not stop studying this measure because we feel this will work to the advantage and interest of our workers,” said Quimbo, who proposed the lowering of the rates.

“We really need to sit down [with officials from the Executive department] and see what are the points of agreement and what are the points of disagreement,” he added.

The leader of the independent minority bloc in the House, Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said Congress needs to pass the bill over the President’s objections.

“Let’s not stop finding ways to help the workers and show some compassion for them,” Romualdez said, using the Filipino term malasakit.

The Palace earlier rejected the bill to lower tax rates after Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima and Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares estimated that such a move would mean P30 billion in lost government revenues in the first year of its implementation.

The President said he was unconvinced that lowering income taxes would benefit the majority of Filipinos.

The country’s largest labor group, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, blasted Next page

Her turn. Senator Grace Poe seems to be pointing at herself in pleasant surprise in this file photo, ahead of her announcement of her political plans for next year’s elections at UP Diliman today. EY ACASIO

Grace to announce bid for the presidency today

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Grace Poe is expected to announce today that she will run for president, after a media advisory issued by her office Tuesday said she would make “an important announcement in connection with her plans for the 2016 na-

tional elections.”

Hours later, the office of Senator Francis Escudero, Poe’s choice for vice president, said he would make an announcement on Thursday, Sept. 17.

Poe will make her announcement Sept. 16 at the UP Bahay ng Alumni in Diliman, Quezon City at 4 p.m.

Escudero will make his own announcement at 10 a.m. on Sept. 17 at the Kalayaan Hall of Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.

Both camps refused to give any other details about the announcements.

While Poe and Escudero have remained mum about their re-

spective plans for 2016, their colleagues in Congress believe they will run for president and vice president.

Even Senate President Franklin Drilon, also vice chairman of the Liberal Party, said he believed Poe would seek the country’s highest elective position.

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Mar: Poe has left ‘daang matuwid’

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Roxas: Poe has left straight path “Whatever is her decision… we will respect that.

If she doesn’t want the straight path, it’s up to her,” Roxas said, after Poe’s office announced that she would make an “important announcement” today.

“She started her career as a public servant when President Aquino invited her to be part of Daang Matuwid when she was appointed as MTRCB chair,” Roxas said.

When she was tapped to run for senator even though

her ratings were low, she became part of the straight path and she joined Team Pnoy, he added.

“Well, the father of the straight path is [President Aquino]. It’s clear. PNoy pushed and started the straight path and that’s what we will continue,” Roxas said.

Roxas said he is already considering prospective candidates to join him in continuing the straight path.

“These names are not new to you already. Batangas Gov.

Vilma Santos-Recto, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo— we’ve already talked to all of them,” Roxas said.

Of the three, Santos-Recto and Robredo have said they are not interested in running for vice president. Cayetano, on the other hand, has expressed his interest in the position.

Roxas also blasted Vice President Jejomar Binay for criticizing his competence and experience over the last five years.

“You know if your’e stuck in the middle of these issues you can’t answer, you’ll grab at anything,” Roxas said, referring to the corruption charges filed against Binay.

“One thing’s clear. In 20 years, Mar Roxas has served without [being] tainted with corruption.”

Tax

cially for low- and middleincome earners.

In Iloilo City Monday, President Aquino rebuffed moves in the Senate and the House to cut tax rates, saying this would downgrade the country’s investment rating.

Angara said the administration should come up with a counter-proposal so they could find “some middle ground.”

He expressed a readiness to push back the effectivity date of his bill.

Angara said if the projected revenue loss was what was holding the government back from endorsing the tax cuts, then Congress could pinpoint “non-urgent expenditures that can be cut.”

Angara said if projected revenue loss is what is holding back the government from endorsing the tax cuts, “then we can pinpoint non-urgent expenditure areas which can be cut.”

“We cannot use more or new taxes to cover up for tax cuts. We can also reduce spending. We can attack that concern from the expenditure side. So the deal can be like this: We cut taxes by one billion. But we can cut expenses or fat in the budget by the same amount,” Angara said.

“The justification we’ve been hearing is that we need taxes to fund the budget. So if we do away with unnecessary expenditures, will you now be amenable to tax cuts?” Angara said.

The Philippines has the second highest individual income tax rate in the region at 32 percent, next to Thailand and Vietnam, which impose a rate of 35 percent.

Vice President Jejomar Binay on Tuesday expressed his support for lowering tax rates.

“Our tax system must be seen as fair—meaning, those with fat pay checks pay higher taxes than those whose pay checks are less—and inflation-adjusted tax brackets, even if they will result in a short-term reduction of tax revenues, are only just,” Binay said at the Pandesal Media Forum in Quezon City.

The Vice President noted

that according to the Management Association of the Philippines, those who earn P500,000 yearly pay 32-percent income tax, the highest in Asia.

He also lamented that despite 17 proposals to lower tax rates, none are expected to pass in Congress.

“If we don’t move to amend our tax system, there will come a day when the tax rate of teachers, policemen, soldiers and nurses are just as high as those of the millionaires,” he said.

Binay also pushed for a reduction in the corporate income tax rate to entice foreign investors to conduct their business in the country.

“We also aim to gradually reduce the current corporate income tax rate from 30 percent to a realistic and reasonable rate consistent with our Asean peers,” he said.

“We believe that lower corporate income tax will eventually draw more foreign investments, resulting in more jobs and revenues for the government,” he added.

Also on Tuesday, Internal Revenue Commissioner Kim Henares said the collection target of P2.025 trillion for 2016 was “too ambitious.”

“I don’t think we can reach that goal,” she said during budget deliberations in the Senate.

In the proposed 2016 General Appropriations Act, the BIR’s budget was raised 41 percent from this year’s P7.99 billion. Henares told the Senate the additional budget for her agency would be used to build new offices to cut the cost of paying rent.

Of the P2.543-trillion revenue target set for 2016, P2.025 trillion was expected to be collected by the BIR and the remaining is supposed to come from the Bureau of Customs.

In the latest Cash Operations Report released by the Finance Department, the BIR missed its target for the month of July, collecting P118.2 billion or 19.21 percent short of the P146.3-billion goal. With Vito Barcelo and Gabrielle Marie Consuelo H. Binaday

By John Paolo Bencito

LIBERAL Party standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II on Tuesday reminded Senator Grace Poe that she cannot run for president on her own and claim to be on the “straight path.”

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Gridlock. Thousands of commuters are forced to walk on the sidewalk on Edsa and Kamuning in Quezon City as a result of the heavy traffic. Lino SantoS

Grace From A1...

The Liberal Party—including President Benigno Aquino III—has been wooing Poe unsuccessfully to be the running mate of its standard-bearer, resigned Interior secretary Manuel Roxas II. Aquino met with Poe five times to convince her to run under the Liberal Party ticket.

The President also met with Escudero, whom Poe said would be her running mate if she seeks the presidency.

Both Poe and Escudero have said they intend to remain independent, even though the Nationalist People’s Coalition have announced that they would support them.

Escudero was a former member of the NPC. On Tuesday, Escudero lashed back at Vice President Jejomar Binay’s spokesman for political affairs, Rico Quicho, for calling the Senate a kangaroo court.

“He forgets that the daughter of the Vice President, Senator Nancy Binay, is a member of the Senate which he is calling a kangaroo court,” Escudero said.

Earlier, Quicho chided Escudero for turning a blind eye to the “kangaroo court proceedings” in the Senate Blue Ribbon subcommittee, which has held more than 20 hearings on corruption allegations against Binay.

Escudero described Quicho’s “lack of civility and respect for the Senate” as appalling and unbecoming of a lawyer.

He also said the Vice Presi-

dent chose to ignore the Senate probe instead of attending the hearings.

“He cannot claim that their camp was not given the chance to be cross-examined. They were given all the opportunities to give their side of the story in the Senate. But what did the Vice President’s camp do? They chose not to participate,” said Escudero, who had campaigned for Binay in the 2010 vice presidential race.

“It was the Vice President who turned a blind eye to all these allegations. Not once did the public—who deserves to know the truth—hear him rebut point by point these charges of corruption. Not in the Senate, not in any forum that he has attended,” Escudero said.

“A true leader respects the institution. A true leader faces his accusers because he has nothing to hide. And that’s what exactly Senator Grace showed when she attended the SET proceedings and faced her accuser,” he said.

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., vice chairman of the Liberal Party, said he might attend Poe’s announcement Wednesday.

Belmonte said he was invited by the camp of Poe “as a mere courtesy,” since he was the congressman of the area.

But a member of the administration coalition who asked not to be named said the presence of Belmonte and other congressmen who are perceived allies of the President was an indication that they are for Poe. “I don’t think it is a good idea to go there if you are identified with the Liberal Party,” the congressman said.

Belmonte said there is

nothing wrong if some House members attend to the Poe event. “This is a free country,” he said, adding a jibe at absentee lawmakers. “I am just appealing to all of them to attend sessions so we can pass the pending vital bills.”

On Wednesday, the Senate Electoral Tribunal laid down the guidelines for oral arguments on the disqualification case against Poe to be held at the Supreme Court next Monday, Sept. 21.

In an advisory issued Tuesday, the seven-member tribunal chaired by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio agreed to set only one main issue to be resolved in the hearing, which is whether or not Poe is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines eligible to run for senator in the 2013 polls.

In resolving this, the SET listed sub-issues involving the intent of the framers of the Constitution in considering foundlings like the senator as citizens of the country, conventional and customary international law applicable to the nationality of foundlings, Poe’s reacquisition of Philippine citizenship in 2006 and her renunciation of her American citizenship in 2010.

The tribunal also ordered petitioner Rizalito David and Poe to file their respective position papers on the issue Wednesday.

During the hearing to be held at the SC session hall, David and his lawyer Manuelito Luna will face the tribunal first to present their arguments before Poe and her lawyers led by Alex Poblador have their turn. With Maricel V. Cruz and Rey E. Requejo

the President for rejecting the bills outright.

“He has not provided any relief for workers who helped build a competitive economy under his administration,” said TUCP-Nagkaisa spokesman Alan Tanjusay. “If this is the legacy that he intends Filipino workers remembers him by, so be it.”

In the Senate, another administration ally Senator Juan Edgardo Angara said he would continue to seek support for a lowering of tax rates.

“I am an optimist... I think that even those who are skeptical will come around and join our cause,” said Angara, chairman of the Senate ways and means committee.

“Let us continue to convince them. If we believe that we are right, why are we going to stop?

We will be resolute in our advocacy but respectful,” he said.

Angara said he believed the President has not been given the complete picture on the proposed tax reform bills in the House and the Senate.

“I fear he was not given the right information by his economic managers,” the senator said.

During Tuesday’s budget deliberations in the Senate, Angara questioned the P50.34 billion budget proposal for the Finance Department that includes “budgetary support” for Land Bank of the Philippines and the Development Bank of the Philippines.

“I’m definitely not in favor [of that]. That’s not so urgent.

The increase in pay through a lowering of income taxes is more urgent,” Angara said.

He also questioned the allocation of P3.2 billion for the construction of new buildings for the Bureau of Internal Revenue.

“It’s disgraceful. You are depriving people who don’t earn a lot yet, we’re spending the government’s money like it’s our own personal money,” he said.

Angara is the author of the Senate version of a bill that would lower tax rates, espe-

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It’s Abad vs Abad in Batanes contest

Forum. Vice President Jejomar Binay fields questions during a media forum in Quezon City on Tuesday. Lino SantoS

Binay: Why is Gloria still not freed from hospital?

VICE President Jejomar Binay on Tuesday questioned the continuing hospital detention of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is accused of plunder, and the grant of bail to a coaccused for the same offense.

Binay told a forum in Quezon City that Arroyo must be granted bail because she was not a flight risk.

He asked why Arroyo was still being held at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center while her coaccused Jose Taruc V, Sergio Valencia, Manuel Morato and Raymundo Roquero had been granted bail over their alleged misuse of P366 million in

confidential and intelligence funds of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.

Binay said the people accused of plunder or graft must be pursued only if the charges against them were supported by solid evidence.

If elected in 2016, he said, he would be a healing President.

In August, Binay went to the wake of Arroyo’s older brother Arturo de la Rosa Macapagal and conveyed his condolences to Arroyo at the Heritage Memorial Park in Taguig City.

When asked about Senator Grace Poe’s plan to declare her candidacy for President in the 2016 elections

at the University of the Philippines on Wednesday, the Vice President said he does not see anything wrong with it.

“One’s declaration is not an issue to be questioned about,” he said.

But he believes Senator Francis Escudero, the Poe’s presumed running mate, is qualified to run for vice president.

Binay said the United Nationalist Alliance’s selection committee had trimmed down its list of vice presidential bets, but he refused to comment when asked if Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. was on the list. Rio n. araja and Junelyn olivar

THE elder brother of Budget Secretary Florentino Abad and Abad’s wife are contesting the loan district of Batanes in next year’s elections after Abad’s brother, Nicanor Abad, joined Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance to dispute the post with Henedina Abad.

Henedina is the representative of lone district of Batanes.

Nicanor Abad was sworn in by Binay as an UNA member during his visit to Batanes.

“It’s going to be head to head against his brother’s wife, Henedina, who currently occupies the post,” Binay said over a radio interview.

Budget Secretary Abad, who comes from a family of politicians and government workers, said he just wanted to have peace in the family after he was asked about his elder brother’s plan.

“I have said what I needed to say.

I just want peace in the family,” Abad told The Standard in a text message.

Batanes Gov. Vicente Gato, a Liberal party stalwart, has also joined UNA. Gato ran under the LP in the 2013 elections.

“This is a significant event, particularly after Secretary Abad’s brother joined the UNA,” Binay said after the oath-taking.

Binay is the chairman of UNA and the party’s standard-bearer in the 2016 elections.

Binay said that, with new members coming in, it would be a “victory for UNA in Batanes” considering the province was a bailiwick of the LP. He said there were LP members who had sent feelers that they wanted to join UNA. Binay said they were looking for members who shared UNA’s ideology.

“What we are looking for are leaders with the same vision and beliefs. It would be difficult if we would have different opinions,” Binay said.

Meanwhile, Abad said the majority of the incumbent officials in Batanes were now with the opposition. Vito Barcelo and Sandy araneta

Pangilinan quits as food adviser PRESIDENTIAL Assistant for Food Security and Agricultural Modernization Francis Pangilinan, who plans to run for the Senate in 2016, has resigned from the Cabinet, according to the Office of the Executive Secretary.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said Pangilinan’s resignation had been accepted by President Benigno Aquino III and that it would take effect on Sept. 30 this year.

“The President expressed his sincerest appreciation to Secretary Pangilinan for his contribution to the government and wished him the

best in his future endeavors,” Coloma said.

Pangilinan said he will make his official announcement regarding his future plans in due time.

“I submitted my letter of resignation last week effective September 30,” Pangilinan said in a text message.

“I met with the President two weeks ago to relay to him this decision for his consideration.”

Coloma said there was still no information as to who would replace Pangilinan, while Deputy Presidential Spokeswoman Abigail Valte said Pangilinan will seek another term

in the Senate.

Coloma allayed fears that the mitigation program against El Niño would be affected by Pangilinan’s resignation.

Pangilinan was sworn into office on May 6, 2014. He was a senator from 2001 to 2013 and served as Senate majority leader from 2004 to 2008.

His resignation followed that of Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo who quit to return to the private sector.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II also resigned his post recently to run as the Liberal Party’s presidential candidate next year. Sandy araneta

Visit. Former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II is welcomed by students during his visit to the Balara Elementary School in Quezon City on Tuesday. Lino SantoS

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MMDA: New boat added to ferry fleet

By Joel E. Zurbano

Benefits of industry. Benjamin Philip Romualdez, president of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines and Benguet Corp., explains the benefits of mining to local development at the opening of the Mining Philippines 2015 International Conference and Exhibition at the Solaire Resort and Casino Manila on Tuesday. KRIST JAN SEPARA

Tandag prelate slams policy vs tribespeople

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan A CATHOLIC prelate condemned the harassment and killing of tribesmen in Surigao Del Sur and blamed mining and logging activities as the root cause of the violence and displacement that has affected thousands in Eastern Mindanao.

“As priests of the Diocese of Tandag, together with our bishop, we all strongly condemn the terrorization, harassments and the killings of our lumad brothers and sisters, as well as denounce the root cause of it all,” Bishop Nereo Odchimar said in a pastoral letter posted on the website of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

The pastoral letter also called for the disarming and the arrest of the members of the Magahat-

Bagani paramilitary group that is allegedly behind the violence against tribesmen in the province.

The diocese said it firmly believes the violence against tribal folk, called lumad, is something “that has been extensively planned.”

There are strong allegations that the military “are in collusion” with big mining companies that would like to expand their operations in Surigao del Sur, the pastoral letter said.

“Our indigenous peoples who,

ever since, have been one with nature, have lived in and survived out of their land of heritage, are now victims of those who are hungry of and greedy for power and wealth,” the statement read.

“One can see and understand that only those community of lumad who firmly stand to protect the forest and reject mining activities and anything that destroys nature were obviously the ones being hounded and intimidated supposedly by the aforementioned notorious group,” the pastoral letter read.

“Gathering all these, we can say that all this could be a work that has been extensively planned.

Our indigenous people who, ever since, have been one with Nature, have lived in and survived out of their land of heritage, are now victims of those who are hungry

and greedy for power and wealth,” it added.

The diocese lamented that lumads, who are the “heroes” in protecting the environment, are now the ones in need “of our combined and continuing support.”

The church officials reiterated its call on the government to stop prioritizing supposed development projects at the expense of indigenous peoples’ rights.

The church leaders also reiterated its appeal to local authorities to dismantle the “notorious” Magahat-Bagani force tagged in the killings of lumad leaders.

Last January, an agreement was reached during a “peace dialogue” between religious groups and the local authorities to disarm and abolish the militia group.

A NEW commuter boat with 45-passenger capacity will be introduced today Sept. 16 to further promote the Pasig River Ferry system as an alternative mode of transportation in Metro Manila.

The new boat, according to Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francis Tolentino, is a fiberglass ferry capable of carrying 45 passengers, including crew, and can travel up to 12 knots.

“All in all, we now have a total of 11 operational ferries in our fleet. These will service passengers along Pasig River, which stretches from Pinagbuhatan in Pasig City up to Plaza Mexico in Manila. I am optimistic that this will further boost commuter patronage,” Tolentino said.

At present, the ferry service has 11 stations which include Pinagbuhatan, and San Joaquin in Pasig City; Guadalupe and Valenzuela in Makati City; Hulo in Mandaluyong City; PUP Sta. Mesa, Sta. Ana, Lambingan, Lawton, Escolta, and Plaza Mexico all in Manila.

The system operates from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily from Mondays to Sundays.

MMDA records showed that the total ridership of the ferry system has reached 121, 839 as of Aug. 26.

Five months ago, the MMDA opened four new terminals to accommodate more passengers. The new terminals are situated in Hulo Station in Mandaluyong City, Valenzuela Station in Makati City, and Lawton and Lambingan stations, both in Manila.

PH: China now building up

By Florante Solmerin DESPITE earlier Chinese claims that it has stopped its reclamation works in disputed portions of the West Philippine Sea, Western Command head Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez on Tuesday announced that China is still conducting construction activities in the area.

He also said that Chinese announcement of a reclamation halt last August is not true.

“They told the world that they have completed four reclamation projects [in the West Philippine Sea] but they never did announce that they have stopped their construction works. It’s just technicalities.

It’s true that they have stopped all reclamation activities but now they are conducting vertical construction activities in Mischief, Subi and Fiery Cross Reefs,” Lopez said in Filipino.

The Western Command chief expects

these facilities to be completed before the end of the year.

He said that the facilities in the above-mentioned reefs can be used for humanitarian and military use, adding that only time can tell.

Meanwhile, the Department of Foreign Affairs said it is optimistic the Philippines will get favorable decision from the international tribunal on its overlapping claims with China over the West Philippine Sea but admitted it has no enforcement power to implement the decision even if it is binding.

“That is why we need to rely on the international community to convince China to come around,” said DFA spokesperson Assistant Secretary Charles Jose Monday.

The Philippines filed an arbitration case against China in the international Arbitral Tribunal in connection with its claim in the West Philippine Sea. With PNA

Foreign investor. President Benigno S. Aquino III welcomes Leandro Rizzuto, chairman of Conair Corp., who called on the Chief Executive at Malacañang Palace’s Music Room on Tuesday. MALACAÑANG PHOTO

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‘No gag order on Mamasapano’

By Sandy Araneta and Maricel Cruz MalacaÑang did not impose a “gag order’’ on the Philippine national Police or the Special action Force pertaining to the Jan. 25 Mamasapano operation against two terrorists.

Expanding family. Suzuki Philippines Inc. holds its groundbreaking ceremony for its dealership in Biñan, Laguna led by Felix Limcaoco, president of Suzuki Shaw Motor Plaza, and Shuzo Hoshikura, general manager of Suzuki Philippines. The Biñan dealership is the latest addition to the Suzuki family. TEDDY PELAEZ

Communications secretary Herminio Coloma on Tuesday issued the statement even as the makabayan Bloc in the House of Representatives called for a renewed probe into the botched operation following the emergence of a video footage that purportedly showed a Caucasian among the fatalities that included 44 sAF policemen.

Coloma said malacañang will allow the PnP to conduct its own case review on the mamasapano incident, following President Benigno Aquino III’s statement on an “alternative version” of the incident, and that the Palace will not interfere in the investigation.

“Those conducting a ‘case review,’ we will leave it up to them to do what they have to do. And we will just wait for their report after the process is finished,” Coloma said.

Aquino said that the “alternative version” of the Jan. 25 mamasapano incident may be “totally false.”

“We are not discounting the possibility it is totally false, the alternative version.

Isn’t it that when a person is lying, he should adhere to the truth as much as possible?” said Aquino during a media interview at the Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo City.

Aquino likewise clarified that he did not say the “alternative version” of the Jan. 25 mamasapano clash “is the truth”.

“I would just like to stress, we are not the ones who said that the

alternative version is the truth,” Aquino said.

Aquino earlier said that there is an “alternative version of events,” which is “undergoing very intense scrutiny.” some 44 members of the special Action Force, 18 moro Islamic Liberation Front combatants, and at least five civilians were killed in the mamasapano bloodbath.

“There are those who are saying that there might be alternative versions. now, there is an investigation, we would like to know the truth.

The official story of the sAF, is it complete?” Aquino asked.

Coloma said that malacañang has no information on a newspaper report that an unidentified man who looked like a Caucasian was among the fatalities in the mamasapano encounter.

PnP chief Director General Ricardo marquez earlier said that the PnP would again look into the findings of the Board of Inquiry that looked into the mamasapano incident.

But instead of the BOI digging deep into the incident, it should be the House that should reopen the probe, according to Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon.

Ridon said it was shown that the people talking in video were referring to the foreign casualty as “buddy,” and at one point referred to him as an “s2” or a military security and intelligence officer.

Romualdez harps on road safety, pushes transport summit HOUsE Independent Bloc leader Rep. martin Romualdez of Leyte called on government agencies to a address the problem of road safety amid rising volume of vehicles in the streets as a factor in the growing number of road accidents.

While Romualdez is all praises for the effort being made by the PnP-Highway

Patrol Group in instilling order and discipline along the 23.8-kilometer Epifanio De los santos Avenue, other government agencies such as the metro manila Development Authority and the Department of Transportation and Communications should also focus on road safety program for drivers to lessen accidents.

Romualdez pointed out that the heavy congestion in metro manila, especially on Edsa affects the country’s productivity and it will definitely be an election issue against administration candidates if malacañang would not be able to solve it.

“Where is the compassion among our commuters? These ordinary com-

muters will ask the future leaders of the country if this kind of torture will continue,” said Romualdez.

The Leyte lawmaker also proposed for a transportation summit to push for a road safety program for drivers to lessen fatal road accidents involving public utility vehicle especially buses.

“Isulong natin ang road discipline at courtesy.

Aside from the traffic mess, let us resolve the statistics on road accidents attributed to mostly human error,” said Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association.

The PnP-HPG, which started manning Edsa

traffic on sept. 7, noted that human factor including bad overtaking, overspeeding, drunk driving and using cellphones while driving are among the major causes of the 15,572 traffic accidents recorded last year which resulted in the death of 1,252 people and injuries to nearly 10,000 others.

Florante Solmerin

Comelec targets 5-m mall voters

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan As mAny as five-million voters may be allowed to vote at accredited shopping malls, Elections Chairman Andres Bautista said on Tuesday.

“Voters to the malls? Our estimate is from two million to five million voters, but one good thing is that moving our voters to the malls would decongest the existing election precincts in public schools,” Bautista said in a press conference.

Commission on Elections has to decide which precincts are going to be moved to the malls, Bautista said. “We are not trying to move everybody to the malls, we are just trying to move some voters to the malls,” he added.

Bautista said Comelec is still identifying which malls around the country will serve as polling precincts and as soon as the precincts are pinpointed, local election officers will be the one to notify the voters whether or not they will vote in the malls or schools.

Bautista expressed hopes the plan will enhance the voting experience and enourage

voters to exercise their right of suffrage.

Eight mall chains around the country are being considered as voting precincts: sm supermalls, Ayala malls, Robinsons malls, Gaisano Grand malls, megaworld Lifestyle malls, Pacific malls/ metro Gaisano, Waltermart Community malls, and Fisher mall.

Bautista said that the Comelec has already issued a list of requirements for shopping malls to qualify as voting precincts.

Each mall is required to have at least 63 square meters space for each of the clustered polling precincts, a dedicated access route throughout the polling station, access to persons with disability, and preferably, ground floor location.

The technical requirement on the other hand, include 220 to 240 volt power source, provision for 44 to 50-watt power strips/extension cords, if floor sockets are not available; standby generator sets; closed circuit television cameras installed throughout the vicinity of the voting station; and a storage room.

Sample booth. Personnel from Commission on Elections in Intramuros, Manila inspect a sample of a voting booth that will be used during the 2016 national election. DANNY PATA

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Graft raps vs ex-governor

By Rio N. Araja

THE Office of the Ombudsman has indicted former Iloilo governor Niel Tupas Sr. and three others for graft in connection with an alleged questionable payment of a private firm for the provincial government’s unconsummated electricity of P4 million.

Also charged with graft for violating Section 3 (e) of Republic Act 3019 (Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act) before the Sandiganbayan were ex-provincial accountant Lyd Tupas, ex-assistant department head of the office of the provincial accountant Sandra Bionat and ex-general services

department head Ramie Salcedo.

The Ombudsman said Tupas and his co-accused used their positions in “conspiring with one another” to give “unwarranted benefit, advantage and preference” to Green Core Geothermal Inc. by approving the release of P4,007,111.91 to

the company from December 2009 to April 2010.

The case arose from a 2007 contract between the Iloilo government and the National Power Corp.. which was later assumed by NPC’s successor Green Core, for the bulk supply of electricity from Sept.

26, 2007 to Dec. 25, 2011 to facilitate the construction of the Iloilo multipurpose convention center.

Even if the construction of the convention center did not push through, the provincial government still paid Greencore P5.88 million for the billing period of December 2009 to

April 2010.

The Ombudsman said the actual electricity consumption of the province only amounted to P1.88 million.

“This is to certify that a preliminary investigation has been conducted in this case, that there is a sufficient ground to engender a well-founded belief that the crime charged has been committed, and that the accused are probably guilty thereof,” the Ombudsman’s complaint read.

The graft rap was raffled off to the Fifth Division of the Sandiganbayan. Tupas Sr. is the father of incumbent Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr.

Green Expressways. Manila North Tollways Corp. president and CEO Rodrigo E. Franco (second from right) and Mabalacat City Vice Mayor Christian Halili (third from right) lead a tree-planting activity with MNTC and Mabalacat City officials and employees. The activity, dubbed “The Green Expressways,” is an extension of MNTC’s “Greening the NLEX” program which aims to plant trees in all plantable areas of the 90-km expressway to promote sustainable development and provide clean air at the NLEX. Also in photo are (left): City Councilors Gerald Aquino and Roland Peña, City Administrator Rosanno Paquia and MNTC vice president for corporate communication Marlene Ochoa. The tree-planting project, in partnership with the city, was held at the Dolores, Mabalacat City Interchange. Around 1,500 Balacat and Mahogany saplings were planted by 400 volunteers from MNTC and Mabalacat City Hall as part of the company’s effort to replace the trees affected by the ongoing construction for the NLEX-SCTEX Integration.

Benhur Luy complains of exhaustion GOVERNMENT prosecutors on Tuesday said whistle-blower Benhur Luy is already getting tired with the hearings on the plunder and graft charges filed against lawmakers before the Sandiganbayan’s five divisions.

Luy through the prosecution asked the Fifth Division to be excused from the bail plea hearing of former Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives party-list representative Edgar Valdez and alleged pork barrel fund scam suspect Janet Lim Napoles because of exhaustion.

But Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo said exhaustion must not be an excuse.

He said even the court magistrates and the defense are exhausted, too.

Prosecutor Jacinto de la Cruz told the court that the prosecution panel was also getting tired.

Associate Justice Roland Jurado said the defense and the prosecution are not the only ones getting exhausted, but also the justices.

The anti-graft court is handling 2,000 cases, he added.

Associate Justice Alexander Gesmundo concurred with Jurado, citing the presence of Valdez’s medical team in the court.

Valdez, who is suffering from a heart problem, is facing plunder and graft for allegedly receiving P57.78 million in commissions from funneling his Priority Development Assistance Fund in 2004 until 2010.

He was among the second batch of lawmakers accused of plunder by the Office of the Ombudsman for the pork barrel fund scam engineered by Napoles.

Senior state prosecutor Omar Sagadal, however, said the statement that Luy was getting tired came from him, and that he just said it lightly.

Jurado cautioned Sagadal of contempt. Rio N. Araja

Party-list solon snipes at DoTC for ‘non-collection of penalty’

By Maricel V. Cruz THE Transportation department was asked to explain the non-collection of the P52.78million penalty charged on Global-APT Joint Venture on the requested sum for LRT Line 1 amounting to P7.2 billion and on the P63-billion MRT 7 Public-Private Partnership project.

Anakpawis party-list Rep. Fernando Hicap cited the recommendation of the Commission on Audit last May that the Department of Transportation and Communications should collect the P52.78 million in penalties from Global-APT Joint Venture for its inadequate service in maintaining the MRT

Line 3 or keeping a sufficient number of train coaches to operate.

Hicap, member of the House Makabayan Bloc, said this failure has caused the deterioration of service to the commuting public.

“While the penalty charged on MRT service provider Global-APT for its deficient and broken-down operation and service is still not being collected, DoTC, on the other hand, is now asking for billions of pesos for its budget that is certain will end up in the coffers of private contractors such as the Ayala in LRMC; this very system is obviously squandering the hard-

earned taxpayers’ money in order to serve private corporate interests,” Hicap said.

As for the contract between the government and the Light Rail Manila Corp., a corporation controlled by the Ayala Corp., Hicap demanded Transportation Secretary Emilio Abaya to justify its request from the Budget department of a huge amount.

“P7.5 billion is not a measly sum and, especially as this forms part of the government’s continuing unjustified compliance to a very onerous contract, Abaya and the DoTC should not play evasive but honestly answer the public’s legitimate questions,” Hicap said.

Walk-through detector. The management of Light Rail Manila Corp. tests the newly

installed walk-through metal detector on Tuesday, Sept. 15 at the LRT central station at Arroceros Street in Manila. The detector will do away with body frisks or bag inspection to guard against possession of deadly metal objects. DANNY PATA

w e d n e s d ay : s e p t e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 5

A7

news

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Security forces free Abu-held workers

By Francisco Tuyay and PNA

Units from Joint task Force Basilan yesterday rescued nine road workers earlier kidnapped by suspected Abu sayyaf Group at the outskirts of sumisip, Basilan.

Working moms. Women from Itogon, Benguet scour raw ore rocks laden with gold before heading back home to their families. DAVID CHAN

Vice mayor wants mayor, 11 others suspended BALER, Aurora—The vice mayor of this town has asked the Office of the Ombudsman to suspend the mayor, nine councilors and two municipal executives to prevent them from using the powers of their office to influence the investigation of criminal and administrative charges against them.

Vice Mayor Karen Angara-Ularan sought the issuance of a preventive suspension order against Mayor Nelianto Bihasa, Councilors Pedro Valenzuela, Danilo M. Ong, Gina T. Ritual, Reynaldo E. Mapindan, Gina Z. Agapito, Ramir D. Duaso, Meinrado C. Tropicales, Noel P.

Go and Felipe M. Friginal, municipal human resource officer Curie S. Bernardino and municipal budget officer Francisco Reopta.

Angara-Ularan had filed a complaint-affidavit against the 12 before the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon for malversation of public funds among other offenses for allegedly misappropriating funds belonging to the Sangguniang Bayan and diverting them to pay the salaries of job order employees.

She accused them of being criminally liable for malversation and fraud and administratively liable for dishonesty, neglect of duty,

gross misconduct, inefficiency, conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service and incompetence for violations of Republic Act 3019, otherwise known as the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, RA 6713 or the Code of Ethical Conduct for Public Officials and Employees, RA 9485 or the Anti-Red Tape Act, the Civil Service Law and the Revised Penal Code.

“It is most respectfully prayed that preventive suspension be imposed against the respondents so as not to unduly influence witnesses and tamper documentary evidence,” Angara-Ularan wrote in her complaint to

the Ombudsman.

The charges stemmed from Bihasa’s having allegedly taken money from the funds of the SB of which Angara-Ularan is the presiding officer, allegedly in collusion with the councilors and the two town officials.

She claimed that Bihasa declared them as savings and used them to pay the wages of Jos. In her complaint, Angara-Ularan said that prior to the taking of the funds, Bihasa wrote the SB on Oct. 15, 2014 seeking approval of a supplemental budget to augment the funds of the municipal government

and pay the Jos. In the course of the deliberations, Angara-Ularan objected since it would involve taking of the SB funds without consulting her as administrative head of the SB. Due to her objections, Bihasa did not sign the ordinance and vetoed it which the SB members did not override, and agreed to stay the veto.

However, the councilors voted to remove AngaraUlaran’s objections.

The vice mayor said that the veto having been stayed, there was no approved ordinance.

Ferdie G. Domingo

1,642 pass military school entrance test

By Dexter A. See

Eyewear vendor. A Maranao sells imitation Ray-ban and Oakley shades along a highway in Kidapawan City. OMAR MANGORSI

FORT DEL PILAR, Baguio City— The Philippine Military Academy announced recently that 1,642 applicants—7.77 percent of 12,767— passed the PMA Entrance Examination conducted last Aug. 2, 2015 in different testing centers nationwide.

Lt. Gen. Oscar P. Lopez, PMA superintendent, said that out of the 1,642 successful applicants, 1,141 are male and 501 are female.

They will now be qualified to the next phase of the selection process which is the Complete Physical Examination to be conducted at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center, Quezon City.

Lopez said the successful examinees will go through medical, psycho-

logical and physical examination to determine their fitness to undergo the four-year military training in the Academy.

After the CPE, the PMA Cadet Procurement Board will deliberate and select the most qualified candidates to compose the PMA Class of 2020, expected to report to Philippine Military Academy on April 1, 2016 for the oath-taking ceremony and reception rites.

The national government spends at least P2 million for every cadet from entrance up to graduation in order to mold him to become a future military leader. He or she is guaranteed a position of 2nd Lieutenant or Ensign in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The PMA accepts at least 350 cadets every year.

Col. Joselito Bautista of the Joint Task Group Basilan said the ASG bandits were forced to abandon the men at about 4:40 p.m. at Barangay Kaumpamatse, Sumisip town after composite troops surrounded their supposed hideouts.

The rescued workers, employees of Mace Construction Corp., were taken to the 64th Infantry Battalion headquarters in Basilan for medical checkup and then made to undergo debriefing to determine the facts of their ordeal.

The construction workers were on board a water truck while traversing Barangay Upper Benembengan when waylaid by the Abu Sayyaf Monday morning.

Bautista identified the perpetrator of the kidnapping as ASG subleader Juhaibel Alamsirul, alias Abu Kik. MACE Construction has been undertaking road and bridge projects in the area.

Barangay chief shot dead in N. Ecija

By Ferdie G. Domingo CABANATUAN CITY—An incumbent barangay chairman was shot dead by assailants on a motorcycle while he was talking to his mother in front of the barangay hall here on Monday, police reported.

Police director for Nueva Ecija Senior Supt. Manuel Cornel identified casualty as Ceasar “Amboy” Baltazar y Lopez, 50, chairman of Barangay General Luna, Cabanatuan City.

Baltazar sustained several gunshot wounds on his head and chest and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Good Samaritan Hospital here.

Baltazar was also an executive vice president of the Cabanatuan City chapter of Liga ng mga Barangay.

The victim was reportedly talking to his wheelchair-bound mother at around 6:15 p.m. Monday when two suspects, on board a motorcycle without a plate number, approached and shot him before fleeing to an unknown direction.

Scene of the Crime Operatives found empty shells of 9mm cal. and .45 cal. near the victim’s body.

Police said the motive for the killing was still unknown but they were exploring several leads.

Last February, another Nueva Ecija barangay captain was also shot dead by assailants in front of the barangay hall.

Former policeman Herminigildo Catacutan, 55, and barangay chairman of Dampulan in Jaen town, died from five gunshot wounds from a 30 cal. revolver.

W E D N E S D AY: S E P T E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 5

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

PAYING IT FORWARD

[ EDI TORI A L ]

ALTERNATE REALITY PRESIDENT Aquino opened up a can of worms this week by acknowledging that the government was investigating “an alternative version of events” surrounding the Jan. 25 Mamasapano massacre in which 44 police commandos were killed in a covert operation that he had approved.

In this version of events, the target of the mission, Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, was killed, not by Special Action Forces troopers sent to Maguindanao to hunt him down, but by his own aide, who wanted to collect the $6-million bounty.

This “alternative version,” the President said, was “undergoing very intense scrutiny.”

Curiously, the version of events that Mr. Aquino is peddling now is the same one put forward by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, whose fighters participated in the massacre of the police commandos, despite its ongoing peace talks with the government.

In suggesting that we look again into this angle, the President in effect cast doubt on several investigations that have already been conducted, including the official one conducted by the police board of inquiry, the results of which were released in March. To nobody’s surprise, he is also calling into question the findings of the Senate investigation that the President was ultimately responsible for the deaths of the 44 police commandos.

What is most puzzling about the President’s late pitch for an alternative truth is the timing and the motive.

If the President had his doubts about the findings of the official investigation, should he not have raised these earlier? Why did he wait so long? Why did he not come forward to raise this alternate version of events when the investigations were still ongoing?

Also, what does he hope to accomplish by giving credence to the MILF version of events, other than to demoralize the police force by tarnishing the memory of the 44 SAF commandos who were killed? Certainly, the question of who pulled the trigger on Marwan does not change the fact that the SAF troopers died that black day in Mamasapano while performing their duty. Nor does it exonerate the President from the ultimate responsibility for putting his friend, the suspended national police chief, in charge of a covert operation that went terribly wrong because of poor planning.

Perhaps there is some truth after all to suggestions that this President lives in an alternate world with his own version of reality.

In this alternate version of the Philippines, the trains run safely and on time; justice is meted out to friend and foe alike; commuters and motorists do not lose hours every blessed day stuck in gut-wrenching traffic; government officials do not shamelessly use public funds to promote themselves in time for next year’s elections; funds for those affected by natural disasters are not squandered or left idle in government bank accounts; and drivers licenses and license plates are issued promptly.

Sadly, this is not our reality today—and it will never be if we have a President who is so inept at coming to grips with the truth that he must create his own alternative version of it.

SCREWING THE TAXPAYER LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES A WORD of warning: The following column includes terms like income taxes, credit ratings, VAT and other stuff that has been known to befuddle even economics graduates who lucked into the highest post in the land—but who cannot understand what it’s like for an ordinary working stiff to hand over nearly half his salary to the taxman every payday.

It does appear that President Noynoy Aquino has decided.

There will be no tax relief for four million wage earners because his glowing credit ratings are the more important consideration.

There will not even be any updating (or indexing) of the current tax brackets, last set in 1997, to adjust them for inflation. And because the rates have not been reassessed in nearly two decades, middle-income wage earners are now in the same personal income tax bracket as every Filipino billionaire in the Forbes Magazine

richest list.

I’ve long suspected that the bid to revise income taxes that emanated in Congress early in Aquino’s term was not going to make any headway in Malacañang. This is, after all, an administration that has never made any bones about being insensitive to the poor, whether they be in calamity areas or just caught in traffic.

Of course, on top of all his problems, especially in the latter half of his term, Aquino didn’t need to be painted as insensitive to the ordinary wage-earner who is now paying around 32

A9

The ordinary wage-earner will have to content himself with investmentgrade credit ratings.

percent in taxes. That tax rate, by the way, is applied to millions of taxpayers even before the mandatory pension-fund and PhilHealth deductions— and excludes the 12-percent VAT that they get hit with when they spend what little remains of their take-home pay.

But now, in the twilight of his term, Aquino feels he can get away with showing his true rich-kid colors, when he said that he will not allow any reduction in personal income taxes. (Of course, Aquino also said that he would not allow any increase in the hateful VAT, but that is not even on the table as far as the proponents of the reduction in income taxes is concerned.)

The truth of the matter, as many tax-reform proponents in both Houses have long pointed out, is that the indexing of income tax rates is only going to cost P30 billion in foregone government’s revenue. And when you have a government that has racked up more than P500 billion in “savings” from unspent budget items over the past two years, you really have to wonder why they won’t give some relief to the people who have no choice but to pay their proper taxes, and who have them deducted even before they lay their hands

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-

on their money—the fixed-income workers.

And how “losing” P30 billion in revenue that will give these taxpayers more purchasing power (which means more income from VAT) is bad for our country’s credit rating, only Aquino can really say. As far as I can tell, credit ratings are only marginally dependent on tax rates—especially lowered tax rates that are generally believed to increase consumer spending and cause more economic activity.

All I know is, instead of more spend-

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

ing money to buy food and other necessities, the ordinary wage-earner will have to content himself with investment-grade credit ratings. And if he wants to dine on something fancier, Aquino can offer him a lower budget deficit to go with that. *** If you still want further proof that Aquino will just not give the ordinary working-class taxpayer a break, you have to listen to one of his other reasons—apart from protecting the Continued on A11

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

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

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

CALL this latest government caper as paying it forward. A private consortium that won the bidding for the contract of the Light Rail Transit 1’s Cavite Extension project is going to be paid P7.5 billion in fine even when the firm has not started work.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of the independent bloc in the House is demanding an explanation from the government on why it’s compensating the consortium for unfulfilled obligations as part of the concession agreement. If the penalty clause was in the concession contract signed with the consortium of Ayala Land and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., why did the government agree to it? What were these obligations on the government’s part? Normally, it’s the winning contractor who has certain obligations to fulfill and the one fined if it is not able to meet start-up timeline and the deadline to complete the work on the project.

Clearly, whoever negotiated the contract with the concessionaire failed to protect the public’s interest.

“It’s unconscionable how the government is wasting the people’s money even when the mass transport system continues to deteriorate,” said Rep. Romualdez.

When seen against President Benigno Aquino’s rejection of a proposed income tax cut for workers, Romualdez is right to question why government is paying the hefty fine. He was joined in calling for a House probe by Buhay Party List Rep. Lito Atienza, Abakada Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz and Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares who want to summon Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya to explain.

Abaya is still not over the hump for his mismanagement of the Metro Rail Transit and the deal that allowed former MRT manager Al Vitangcol to award a multi-million service contract to a firm of a relative without any experience in railway maintenance. Vitangcol was fired as MRT manager for the alleged extortion attempt of a Czech company that was bidding to supply additional carriages and upgrade systems equipment for the ailing public commuter railway. Supervision of the MRT falls under Jun Abaya’s DoTC. We are not going to speculate on whether politics is behind these two railway deals just because Abaya is acting president of the ruling Liberal Party which claims it has more than enough campaign funds for the 2016 presidential elections.

Atienza called the fine a case of “programmed default” to benefit the winning consortium which is going to make P7.5 billion ahead and apart from the cost of the lucrative deal it won.

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

W E D N E S D AY: S E P T E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 5

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO

PAYING IT FORWARD

[ EDI TORI A L ]

ALTERNATE REALITY PRESIDENT Aquino opened up a can of worms this week by acknowledging that the government was investigating “an alternative version of events” surrounding the Jan. 25 Mamasapano massacre in which 44 police commandos were killed in a covert operation that he had approved.

In this version of events, the target of the mission, Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan, was killed, not by Special Action Forces troopers sent to Maguindanao to hunt him down, but by his own aide, who wanted to collect the $6-million bounty.

This “alternative version,” the President said, was “undergoing very intense scrutiny.”

Curiously, the version of events that Mr. Aquino is peddling now is the same one put forward by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, whose fighters participated in the massacre of the police commandos, despite its ongoing peace talks with the government.

In suggesting that we look again into this angle, the President in effect cast doubt on several investigations that have already been conducted, including the official one conducted by the police board of inquiry, the results of which were released in March. To nobody’s surprise, he is also calling into question the findings of the Senate investigation that the President was ultimately responsible for the deaths of the 44 police commandos.

What is most puzzling about the President’s late pitch for an alternative truth is the timing and the motive.

If the President had his doubts about the findings of the official investigation, should he not have raised these earlier? Why did he wait so long? Why did he not come forward to raise this alternate version of events when the investigations were still ongoing?

Also, what does he hope to accomplish by giving credence to the MILF version of events, other than to demoralize the police force by tarnishing the memory of the 44 SAF commandos who were killed? Certainly, the question of who pulled the trigger on Marwan does not change the fact that the SAF troopers died that black day in Mamasapano while performing their duty. Nor does it exonerate the President from the ultimate responsibility for putting his friend, the suspended national police chief, in charge of a covert operation that went terribly wrong because of poor planning.

Perhaps there is some truth after all to suggestions that this President lives in an alternate world with his own version of reality.

In this alternate version of the Philippines, the trains run safely and on time; justice is meted out to friend and foe alike; commuters and motorists do not lose hours every blessed day stuck in gut-wrenching traffic; government officials do not shamelessly use public funds to promote themselves in time for next year’s elections; funds for those affected by natural disasters are not squandered or left idle in government bank accounts; and drivers licenses and license plates are issued promptly.

Sadly, this is not our reality today—and it will never be if we have a President who is so inept at coming to grips with the truth that he must create his own alternative version of it.

SCREWING THE TAXPAYER LOWDOWN JOJO A. ROBLES A WORD of warning: The following column includes terms like income taxes, credit ratings, VAT and other stuff that has been known to befuddle even economics graduates who lucked into the highest post in the land—but who cannot understand what it’s like for an ordinary working stiff to hand over nearly half his salary to the taxman every payday.

It does appear that President Noynoy Aquino has decided.

There will be no tax relief for four million wage earners because his glowing credit ratings are the more important consideration.

There will not even be any updating (or indexing) of the current tax brackets, last set in 1997, to adjust them for inflation. And because the rates have not been reassessed in nearly two decades, middle-income wage earners are now in the same personal income tax bracket as every Filipino billionaire in the Forbes Magazine

richest list.

I’ve long suspected that the bid to revise income taxes that emanated in Congress early in Aquino’s term was not going to make any headway in Malacañang. This is, after all, an administration that has never made any bones about being insensitive to the poor, whether they be in calamity areas or just caught in traffic.

Of course, on top of all his problems, especially in the latter half of his term, Aquino didn’t need to be painted as insensitive to the ordinary wage-earner who is now paying around 32

A9

The ordinary wage-earner will have to content himself with investmentgrade credit ratings.

percent in taxes. That tax rate, by the way, is applied to millions of taxpayers even before the mandatory pension-fund and PhilHealth deductions— and excludes the 12-percent VAT that they get hit with when they spend what little remains of their take-home pay.

But now, in the twilight of his term, Aquino feels he can get away with showing his true rich-kid colors, when he said that he will not allow any reduction in personal income taxes. (Of course, Aquino also said that he would not allow any increase in the hateful VAT, but that is not even on the table as far as the proponents of the reduction in income taxes is concerned.)

The truth of the matter, as many tax-reform proponents in both Houses have long pointed out, is that the indexing of income tax rates is only going to cost P30 billion in foregone government’s revenue. And when you have a government that has racked up more than P500 billion in “savings” from unspent budget items over the past two years, you really have to wonder why they won’t give some relief to the people who have no choice but to pay their proper taxes, and who have them deducted even before they lay their hands

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-

on their money—the fixed-income workers.

And how “losing” P30 billion in revenue that will give these taxpayers more purchasing power (which means more income from VAT) is bad for our country’s credit rating, only Aquino can really say. As far as I can tell, credit ratings are only marginally dependent on tax rates—especially lowered tax rates that are generally believed to increase consumer spending and cause more economic activity.

All I know is, instead of more spend-

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

ing money to buy food and other necessities, the ordinary wage-earner will have to content himself with investment-grade credit ratings. And if he wants to dine on something fancier, Aquino can offer him a lower budget deficit to go with that. *** If you still want further proof that Aquino will just not give the ordinary working-class taxpayer a break, you have to listen to one of his other reasons—apart from protecting the Continued on A11

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

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

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

CALL this latest government caper as paying it forward. A private consortium that won the bidding for the contract of the Light Rail Transit 1’s Cavite Extension project is going to be paid P7.5 billion in fine even when the firm has not started work.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of the independent bloc in the House is demanding an explanation from the government on why it’s compensating the consortium for unfulfilled obligations as part of the concession agreement. If the penalty clause was in the concession contract signed with the consortium of Ayala Land and Metro Pacific Investments Corp., why did the government agree to it? What were these obligations on the government’s part? Normally, it’s the winning contractor who has certain obligations to fulfill and the one fined if it is not able to meet start-up timeline and the deadline to complete the work on the project.

Clearly, whoever negotiated the contract with the concessionaire failed to protect the public’s interest.

“It’s unconscionable how the government is wasting the people’s money even when the mass transport system continues to deteriorate,” said Rep. Romualdez.

When seen against President Benigno Aquino’s rejection of a proposed income tax cut for workers, Romualdez is right to question why government is paying the hefty fine. He was joined in calling for a House probe by Buhay Party List Rep. Lito Atienza, Abakada Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz and Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares who want to summon Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya to explain.

Abaya is still not over the hump for his mismanagement of the Metro Rail Transit and the deal that allowed former MRT manager Al Vitangcol to award a multi-million service contract to a firm of a relative without any experience in railway maintenance. Vitangcol was fired as MRT manager for the alleged extortion attempt of a Czech company that was bidding to supply additional carriages and upgrade systems equipment for the ailing public commuter railway. Supervision of the MRT falls under Jun Abaya’s DoTC. We are not going to speculate on whether politics is behind these two railway deals just because Abaya is acting president of the ruling Liberal Party which claims it has more than enough campaign funds for the 2016 presidential elections.

Atienza called the fine a case of “programmed default” to benefit the winning consortium which is going to make P7.5 billion ahead and apart from the cost of the lucrative deal it won.

Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

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OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

PAGCOR CASINOS MUST BE PRIVATIZED TO THE POINT EMIL P. JURADO THIS Saturday, Sept. 19, the 365 Club, perhaps the only one of its kind in Asia and the world, without any charter, constitution, by-laws, and roster of officials, will mark 43 years in existence.

This club, an avenue for free speech, whose regulars come for breakfast or a cup of coffee or tea, came into being on the morning of the Martial Law declaration (midnight of Sept. 21, 1972) by the late Makati Mayor Nemesio Yabut, columnist Doroy Valencia, businessman Pat Dayrit, former BIR official Joe Viterbo, Yabut assistant Biding Sibug and myself.

It’s regulars are a composite group of journalists, politicians, former and incumbent government officials, professionals, businessmen and plain hangers-on who want to share their political and economic views. And of course, the latest gossip in town.

It’s so unique and one of its kind where it’s always “KKB,” unless somebody is generous enough to pick up the tab. One time, the Wall Street Journal featured it.

Every anniversary breakfast has always been through the courtesy of Hotel Intercontinental, whose management has tolerated our noise all these years. Even during the Marcos Martial Law days, it became the venue of free speech. And nobody was picked up by the military.

When Ka Doroy Valencia, who proclaimed himself chairman when it was founded, died, and everybody else among the founders passed away, I proclaimed myself as chairman, as the only living founder, and nobody dared to question it.

I have since become its Chairman Emeritus, and businessman-lawyer Boy Reyno, a regular, was voted as chairman.

We have invited Vice President Jojo Binay, who has always supported us since Makati City is his domain, to grace the occasion on Saturday. He told me he would try to squeeze it in his busy schedule.

Many of our regulars have since passed away. We honor them. But the 365

Club will continue to be an avenue of free speech and freedom of the press. *** Aseana City, the site of the country’s gaming and entertainment/ tourism industry, is in full swing with billionaire Ricky Razon’s Bloombery’s Solaire in full operation and with the entry of City of Dreams.

Soon, Japanese billionaire Kazuo Okada, in partnership with Tonyboy Cojuangco, will also put up Tiger Resorts to complement Solaire and City of Dreams.

Actually, four licenses were granted by the past management of Pagcor, with $1-billion investment each. With Resorts World in full operation in front of Naia Terminal 3, our

It should remain a regulator and leave business to the private sector.

homegrown gaming and tourism industry can give Macau and even Las Vegas have a run for their money.

Statistics show that Macau’s gaming and tourism industries are already falling short of expectation and the high-rollers of Asia are now coming to billionaire Ricky Razon’s Solaire and the City of Dreams in the hope of getting a slice of the $100-billion gaming pie.

I’m on record as a strong believer in gaming and tourism. This is the future.

I have supported Pagcor’s initiative from Day One. Now with the development of Aseana City almost in full swing, government must now consider the full privatization of Pagcor. It seems irregular and even anomalous that Pagcor, with its 35 gambling casinos, would be in competition with private enterprises.

Nowhere in the world can government be in business.

I have long advocated this.

Pagcor must remain the regulator of gam-

PSALM SHAKES DOWN SMC IS THE government through its Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. trying to shake down the Philippines’ largest conglomerate and largest corporation in revenues? Is this shakedown related to fund-raising for the 2016 presidential elections?

On Thursday, Sept. 10, PSALM filed a suit against South Premier Power Corp., the SMC subsidiary which administers the 1,200-megawatt Ilijan power plant in Batangas as its independent power producer administrator. As administrator, SPPC buys power from Ilijan and sells it to retailer Meralco, at a profit. SPPC pays PSALM a guaranteed amount every year (P36 billion a year in my estimate) whether Ilijan is operating or not, whether SPPC is making money or not.

This month, PSALM unilaterally and arbitrarily terminated SPPC’s contract as administrator of Ilijan for the SMC subsidiary’s alleged failure to pay P6.46 billion ($138 million) in contractual obligations. PSALM also confiscated SMC’s $60-million cash bond issued by a New Zealand bank.

San Miguel quickly went to court to stop PSALM from canceling its IPPA contract, arguing the termination is illegal and the claimed amounts “are PSALM’s erroneous calculations”.

PSALM’s error stems from an unusual situation sometime in 2011 when the gas producer Malampaya shut down for maintenance and thus could not feed Ilijan its needed gas to generate power. Ilijan instead shifted to diesel which is very expensive. This “liquid event price” (LEP) was an astronomical P30,710.47 per kilowatt hour (kwh). But that spike lasted only for 30 days, according to SMC officials.

In the rest of the days in the past five years (that’s 1,825 days), SPPC was getting power from Ilijan and selling it at P4.54 to P5 per kwh to Meralco.

PSALM, however, had wanted since the beginning of the dispute to apply the horrendous P30,710 per kwh price, and not this P4.54 to P5 per kwh, for a period of one year.

The price difference, in PSALM’s calculation, is P6.46 billion.

In August, PSALM got a new chief, a certain Lourdes Alzona, a 20-year veteran of the National Power Corp. (which went bankrupt) and PSALM ing like what’s happening with the Nevada Gaming Commission. Pagcor cannot continue to compete with private enterprise.

The reason why presidents, including incumbent President Aquino, cannot afford to have Pagcor remain simply as as regulator of gaming is that Malacañang gets a big slice of the revenues of Pagcor as the President’s “social fund.” Is this some sort of pork barrel? Frankly, I believe this is even against the law and should be stopped.

Perhaps the next President should consider this. *** If there were an award for being the most incompe-

VIRTUAL REALITY TONY LOPEZ vice president for finance for seven years before her promotion. Though she is PSALM chief executive officer until June 30, 2016 only, she decided to take a hard line against San Miguel.

She sued.

She collected SMC’s $60-million performance bond.

Stung, SMC went to court and got a temporary restraining order for 17 days which was extended by another 17 days. SMC president Ramon S. Ang threatened to sue Alzona for harassment and everyone behind the harassment suit.

Indeed, the PSALM collection suit is nothing but harassment. SMC had no reason to not to pay the P6.46 billion if it were a legitimate claim.

Back in 2010, San Miguel offered $871 million (P38.23 billion at the peso-dollar rate at that time) to administer Ilijan’s 1,200-mw power capacity —that is guarantee to buy its capacity and sell it to users like Meralco at the best price possible.

Part of the capacity was to be sold also to the open market called Wholesale Electricity Spot Market where sellers of electricity haggled with buyers depending on the need and the supply situation. This is how the P30,710 per kwh came about— during a period of severe shortage when no electricity was more expensive than paying a ransom price.

According to SMC officials, that period occurred only for about 30 days and apparently never occurred again. But PSALM insists that should be the pricing for Ilijan’s electricity for a year. “Do you believe there is a buyer at WESM who will pay P30,710 per kwh for electricity?,” asks an aghast Ang. The going rate now at WESM is P2 per kwh.

Aside from paying the government P38 billion for the right to manage a plant that nobody wanted in 2010, SMC has also paid the government P144 billion (up to last August), representing power SPPC procured from Ilijan and sold to Meralco in the past five years. That’s a total of P182 billion (about $4.136 billion at P44 to $1).

tent, inept and utterly insensitive to the public among the members of the Aquino cabinet and government agencies, I would nominate Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio “Jun” Abaya, and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman.

Just why President Aquino still keeps them in office, despite all the complaints by the public, is perplexing.

Abaya has mismanaged the public transport system.

Soliman has been criminally neglectful in providing relief and assistance to the victims of Typhoon “Yolanda” and other disasters, natural or otherwise.

Please note that San Miguel, on its own, could have readily built a plant of Ilijan’s size (1,200 mw) for only $1 billion. SMC paid $4 billion for a second-hand plant that should have cost SMC only $1 billion to build and own forever. Ilijan is not even owned by SMC. It is owned by KEPCO. SMC is just an administrator.

Thus, a P6.46 billion “obligations” is small change compared to the P182 billion San Miguel has given the government in the past five years. SMC has six more years to manage Ilijan or until 2022; so the government can expect SMC to pay it P36 billion per year or P216 billion in six more years.

“We do not make much money from Ilijan,” Ramon Ang winces.

“We have given the government P182 billion so far because we want to help the government,” he explains.

San Miguel is probably one of the most generous corporations, if not the most generous corporation in the Philippines.

Just a week ago, it agreed to sell a Central Luzon electric cooperative 300 megawatts per day of electricity at the unheard of concessional price of P3.20 per kwh. The 300 mw will come from a newly finished clean coal power plant owned by San Miguel in Limay, Bataan.

If you check your electric bill, you are paying anywhere from P8 to P12 per kwh. In effect, Ramon Ang has reduced electricity bill in Central Luzon by 70 percent. This makes electricity in most of Central Luzon (except Bulacan which is a territory of Meralco) the cheapest in the land.

Power is about 20 percent of production cost of a factory. If you reduce that by two-thirds so that power cost is only 7 percent of production cost, you attract investors and businesses in droves. There will be more purchasing power in the hands of consumers which means greater demand for goods and services.

RSA has also offered the same P3.20 per kwh price for electricity to an Albay electric coop. San Miguel also owns a third of the electricity provider in Olongapo.

So who is greedy?

PSALM. Why is it greedy? Think of 2016. biznewsasia@gmail.com

Even the Commission on Audit has come out with a report of the DSWD’s failure to distribute cash donations and food packs to Yolanda survivors.

It becomes worse in the case of Soliman with a CoA report of her failure to immediately distribute cash donations and food packs to Yolanda survivors. Santa Banana, how can Soliman explain CoA’s findings that P382 million in local and foreign donations for Yolanda survivors, representing a third of the P1.15 billion that the Department of Social Welfare and Development has received, have remained in the department’s bank account?

And to think that many

of Yolanda’s survivors are still living in tents and bunkhouses.

For President Aquino, his Cabinet members cannot do any wrong. He is loyal to them. He should have fired them a long time ago, but he continues to stand by them. *** The Radio Mindanao Network, with its nationwide reach, has found in it survey that Vice President Jojo Binay is now ahead of Senator Grace Poe with President Aquino’s anointed, Mar Roxas, a poor third.

I can believe it. Binay has been busy touring the country presenting his program of government if elected President in 2016.

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OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

WHAT A LADY! SO I SEE LITO BANAYO I CHANCED upon the latter part of a TV interview of Rep. Leni Robredo by broadcast journalist Karen Davila the other day.

She limited the ken of her political ascendancy to a possible seat in the Senate, but admitted that her daughters would prefer her to remain in the lower House, after just one term as representative of Naga City. Asked about the possibility of a vice-presidential candidacy in tandem with Mar Roxas, she said it was such an awesome responsibility that she may not be prepared to undertake. This, coming from a lawyer who was wife to an outstanding long-time mayor and a DILG secretary for almost three years. Such humility.

In a recent late-night TV interview where she could respond only by a “yes or no,” Robredo was asked whether she would consider Grace Poe qualified to be president if the latter had renounced her Philippine citizenship in the past, and she said “No.” But last Monday at Headstart, she explained why.

Robredo said that it was

Screwing.. From A9 country’s ratings and keeping the budget deficit in check (a likely story, given the piddling P30-billion revenue loss)—for not agreeing to lower personal income taxes. And that’s because, he said, an income tax reduction may not really benefit those who need it.

Let’s go, as they say, to the tape. Here’s what Aquino said in Iloilo the other day: “The question is, will an

Paying.. From A9

not just the legal aspect of Poe’s citizenship or residency qualifications that bothered her. That was for the electoral tribunal, and perhaps eventually, the Supreme Court to judge upon, claiming that although she was a lawyer herself, she had not pored over the documents to come up with a proper opinion. “It’s just that I don’t believe that someone who renounced her being a Filipino should seek the highest office in the land,” she claimed.

And she said it without any trace of partisanship, bias or what not. What a lady!

If she runs for the Senate in 2016, assuming the party to which she and her deceased husband have been very loyal to, support her financially, I believe she will land in the top three. Perhaps, like Grace Poe, even top it. *** Speaking of the LP “hunt” for a vice-presidential candidate to team up with their Mar, now that Leni has twice publicly stated she is not available, the focus of attention was, for about two weeks, Leila de Lima. But I am reliably told that she too has turned it down.

Now some birdie in the palace beside the dirty river told me over the weekend that a high-ranking cabinet offi-

cial, one of the pillars of the “Hyatt 10”, suggested BIR Commissioner Kim Henares for VP. Pwede! *** On the Binay camp, another birdie said they are seriously considering, and their principal agreed, to draft Ping Lacson for the Veep’s veep candidate in the coming elections.

I haven’t asked Ping about it, but I can bet he won’t bite. *** Now media and the politicians are discombobulated about a certain “alternative truth” about Mamasapano, where 44 of our finest young officers and men of the Special Action Forces, as well as 17 civilians were killed.

Coming as it did from the ruminations of President Aquino, mismo, before the editors and reporters of a broadsheet, everybody and his mother has begun to speculate, trotting out alleged witnesses, searching for incriminating photos and logs. Meanwhile, the grieving widows and families of the SAF 44, who have yet to move on because justice eludes them, are grieving even more because the heroism of their fallen is even being put to doubt.

Whatever the “truth” is, and the justice that should be rendered on its basis, will come out only after June 30, 2016.

*** I hope this advice does not come too late. I watched the bio-pic “Heneral Luna,” a brilliant cinematic unraveling of the bravery and principled life of Antonio Luna, commanding general of the revolutionary forces of the short-lived Philippine First Republic.

While the producers admitted that they had to be a little creative about the historical facts behind Luna’s life and death, it hews faithful to the written narratives about that bloody and treacherous period in the life of our nation.

Catch it in the cinema, or watch the DVDs you can buy.

Try identifying the forebears of some of the political and economic “ilustrados” who up until now inflict their self-interest over the national interest, over societal good. They hijacked our true independence, compromising with the Spaniards, and later with the Americans, in the process profiting handsomely, their “herencias,” pedigree and entitlements still enjoyed, and abused, by their successors.

The lesson of Heneral Luna, the film, is clear: “We Filipinos are our own worst enemies”.

And kudos to John Arcilla of Baler, who played the title role, as always, a truly outstanding and great artist.

income tax reduction really be beneficial to our countrymen? I’m not convinced right now... Those who will get hit may be more among those with a lesser capability to pay.” [Translation mine.]

In other words, Aquino said that an income tax reduction could actually help those who don’t need it.

Since he certainly means that these undeserving people are those among the four million Filipinos

groaning under the weight of taxes deducted “at the source,” he is not referring to those who pay no taxes at all because they have no work; neither is he referring to those millionaires who are enjoying the current tax regime because they pay the same taxes, percentagewise, as salaried workers with their inflation-unadjusted rates.

But perhaps Aquino also believes that the income-tax issue will not have any re-

percussions on him, a political lame duck. That’s what he thinks.

Those four million taxpayers will remember what Aquino did not do for them, when he had the chance.

And there will be hell to pay for Aquino’s candidates this coming May. You don’t need an economic degree from Ateneo to know that. Just a whole lot of taxes and deductions from your ever-dwindling paycheck.

#FAILOCRACY

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Chinese warships in Alaska waters News reports of Chinese warships’ intrusion into US waters off Alaska is disturbing. One newspaper headlined it as Chinese warships “wanderlust.” It’s a blatant case of trespassing. What else can you call it when a foreign vessel intrudes into another nation’s 200-mile economic exclusion zone under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea? The Chinese warships glided into Alaskan waters at a time President Barack Obama was in the northeast US territory on a visit to warn against climate change.

He should have also warned China to stay away after he had received intelligence report of the Chinese intrusion. Let’s see what China will do after the US announced its own warships will make a pass-by on Chinese-built islands on the South China Sea, a flash point of the territorial dispute between Beijing and its neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Beijing may be able to bully its smaller neighbors in the region as it advances its claim of nearly the entire South China Sea with its nine-dash line. But can it risk a confrontation with a Pacific naval power like the US whose Seventh Fleet of modern aircraft carriers are constantly patrolling the region?

How much further will China dare to push its aggression before the US takes an adequate and appropriate response? This, against the backdrop of a floundering Chinese economy. Premier Li Keqiang sought to assuage fears of an economic slowdown the ripple effect of which is already having repercussions on the world economy. A big chunk of the Chinese national budget goes into defense spending as shown by its massive military hardware displayed during the recent military parade in Beijing With the economy in a slump, will the ruling clique of President Xi Jinping sacrifice social services for its restive populace to continue feeding the Chinese war machine?

CHONG ARDIVILLA

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Another Aussie boxer die

By Ronnie Nathanielsz AustrAliAn boxer Davey Browne Jr has died in hospital three days after being knocked out by Filipino Carlo Magali in the last 30 seconds of the twelfth round of a regional title fight in sydney over the weekend. the 28 year old Browne was leading on points when he was knocked out although he appeared to have been hurt in round six and eleven.

Another Australian boxer Braydon smith who dropped a 10-round decision to Filipino John Moralde in a title fight for the WBC Asian Boxing Council Continental featherweight championship in a torrid bout in toowoomba last March 14 also died of brain injuries after he collapsed and underwent emergency surgery following smith being placed in an induced coma.

Browne's family decided to turn off the life su,pport system according to wellknown bozing promoter Peter Maniatios who s aid the fighter was breathing on his own but he regrettably passed away. reports from ringside said that "although the father of two regained consciousness after the knock-out blow, he then collapsed from his stool and was taken to liverpool hospital in a critical condition suffering from brain injuries. the president of the Australian national Boxing Federation, John McDougall, who witnessed the match, told the sydney Morning Herald the boxer had “dropped” in front of him after the Filipino hit him with a crashing punch and he was out cold before he hit the floor.”

Members of the Dragon Boat Federation pose for photographers upon arrival at the NAIA Terminal 3 after winning three gold medals in the Busan International Dragon Boat Festival in Busan, South Korea last September 11-13. Rudy C. SaNtoS

Pacman boxers dominate POC-PNG Mindanao meet PAGADIAN—Boxers backed by popular ring icon Manny Pacquiao captured most of the golds up for grabs at the close of the POC-PSC Phiippine National Games Mindanao eliminations here on Monday.

General santos pugs topped that list with four golds, led by Jhon Peter Patrick Cagumay, who scored an impressive fourth-round technical knockout win over Bayog’s roque tapayan in the junior boys bantamweight division at the Combat sports Arena inside the Provincial Government Center. rV Denega topped team PacMan’s richard

Bulacan, 2-1, in the boys flyweight division, Jayson Mama carved a unanimous decision triumph sarangani province’s rodrigo Belinggan in the boys flyweight class, regel lou Alde beat Digos City’s Jerson Bancil by a 2-1 decision in the men’s elite flyweight category for Gensan’s other victories. team Pacman took two golds with feisty Jean Minguillian dominating

Zamboanga City rosmil samson, 3-0, while rey tagulaylay proved too much for Digos City’s Jeremy Puno, 3-0, in the men’s elite light flyweight championship in the meet organized by the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine sports Commission.

Zamboanga City and the town of Guipos, Zambonga del sur secured a pair of mints each in the sportfest supported by the Zamboanga del sur provincial government led

by Gov. Antonio Cerilles, who hosted the PnG as part of the highlights of the province’s 63rd founding anniversary. rennie Boy Ferraren beat team Pacman’s

Jestine tesoro, 2-1, in the boys light bantamweight class while romer Dagoy whipped Manti’s Aljum Pelesio, 3-0, in the boys bantamweight category for Zamboanga City’ victories.

Guipos boxer sherwin Anthony Marcial overwhelmed Cagayan de Oro’s renato Victolero, 3-0, and teammate Dennis Gaan outslugged CDO’s roel Otaza, 3-0, in ruling the boys lightweight and men’s elite light welterweight championship matches, respectively. sarangani’s Dave Apolinario defeated Zamboanga City’s Archie Galvez, 3-0, in securing the boys light flyweight crown while Cabadbaran’s

Felmar Antiga vanquished Gensan’s Jan ramil Boloy, 3-0, in bagging the boys featherweight title. lutay’s Carolyn Calungsod clobbered Gensan’s roxan Capawan, 3-0, in annexing the girls bantamweight championship while Pagadian Mohammad Khader Banua subdued Cagayan de Oro’s Denmark Quibido, 2-1, in the men’s bantamweight finals for the other victories.

Cabadbaran’s Earl John Zamora, a former member of the nu varsity squad, topped the men’s standard competition in chess while Davao City’s Mary Jonah lequin took top honors in the women’s standard division.

Cabrera tops Petron karting

Cabrera in action

sEAOil karter Gabriel tayao Cabrera once again chalked up another win in the Petron Karting super series’ premier shifter Class held recently at the Clark international speedway in Mabalacat Pampanga.

Gabe marked his Clark victory as his fourth straight win which further sealed his claim for the coveted Karter of the Year title despite having two more remaining legs in the series.

Backed by DC, r’s Design Japan, Gold’s Gym and Media Magic, tayao Cabrera is well on

his way to stamping yet another first in Philippine karting history this year by being the youngest ever karter at 15 years old to earn the top Karter of the Year honor in just his debut year racing as a senior. the feat will also make him the first and only karter to have ever won successive major titles within three consecutive years—Clubman Karter of the Year , Junior Karter of the Year and senior Karter of the Year.

Prior to this, tayao Cabrera previously set a historic record in Philippine karting last

year by being the first and only junior driver to ever top all the events in the rOK junior class as well as the rOK overall class, trumping all junior, senior and veteran rOK drivers.

With the local season taking a three month break, tayao Cabrera is set to leave this week to compete in the championship leg of the Asia Max Challenge in Malaysia as well as represent the Philippines in the thailand and Macau legs of the Asian Karting Open series in november and December respectively.

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Federer shrugs off retirement talk RogeR Federer insists that he will return to the US open in 2016 despite losing Sunday’s final 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to Novak Djokovic.

Federer, who will be 35 next year, won his last title of five in New York back in 2008.

But at the presentation ceremony, he had no intention of following women’s champion Flavia Pennetta by announcing his retirement.

“I’m very pleased with where my game is at,” said Federer, who won the most recent of his 17 majors at Wimbledon in 2012.

“It feels like it has moved in the right direction. I’m back in the final for the first time since 2009. I love the sport. I’ve got a lot of passion.

“One last thing—I’ll see you guys next year.”

Federer was bidding to become the oldest champion in New York since 35-year-old Ken Rosewall in 1970.

But he failed to breach Djokovic’s formidable defensive skills, managing to convert just four of 23 break point opportunities.

The Swiss had come into the final not having dropped a set at the tournament and having lost serve just twice in 82 games.

He had also strung together 28 consecutive sets in a run stretching back to the Wimbledon final in July, which he also lost to Djokovic.

Federer, the world number two, still believes he can still punch his weight at the highest level, with his five tour titles so far in 2015 only serving to boost his confidence.

“I am very disappointed.

I had my chances on my racquet. I should never been down in the score the way I was,” said the Swiss.

“But Novak did a great Ateneo’s Tessa Bernardo (right) intercepts the ball from a La Salle player in one of the highlights of their game in the semifinals of the Philippine Federation Women’s Invitational Cup. at the Rizal Memorial Stadium. The Lady Archers won, 1-0 BROSI GONZALES

job of fending them off. It was a tough night.”

“I am playing a good year.

I’m playing good tennis. I am happy with where my level is at. I’m able to beat the best players regularly.”

Federer said his success at the Cincinnati Masters on the eve of the US Open convinced him that he still had enough left in the tank.

It was his seventh triumph in the American Midwest, achieved by beating Andy Murray and Djokovic in the semi-finals and final respectively.

“Cincinnati was a great feeling, beating the world number one and world number two in the same week. I don’t think I have done that before.

“I did win my tournaments, the ones I was supposed to. Year’s not over yet. I usually do have a strong finishes to the season, and I hope I can do that again.”

Djokovic now has 10 majors, just one shy of Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg on the all-time list.

He is seven behind Federer but is six years younger.

Federer admits that the Serb will collect many more.

“Are you kidding me? I think he’s doing really well.

He’s having a wonderful season, like in 2011 (when Djokovic also won three majors),” he said.

“He’s just really consistent. Seems like there are not many guys that can hang with him, don’t have the tools or dare to go forward, or they don’t dare to serve and volley against him because he’s so good on the return. Which he is.

NEW YORK, NY - Roger Federer of Switzerland looks on from the sidelines during his Men’s Singles Final match against Novak Djokovic on Day Fourteen of the 2015 US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 13, 2015 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. Djokovic defeated Federer 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. AFP

Chicano rules Cebu duathlon tilt FOR the third consecutive event this year triathlete John Chicano won again only this time he had to overcome cramps as well as a major challenge from Standard Insurance's prized duathlete Robeno Javier to win the championship of the National Duathlon Championships (NDC) held at Lantaw and II Corso, South Road Properties (SRP) in Cebu City this past weekend.

During the second loop of the 2nd run leg of the competitive Standard Distance (10 Km run – 40 Km bike - 5 Knrurun) Elite competition, Chicano let

the cramps settle an d made his move to overtake Javier enroute to finishing with a time one hour, 56 minutes and 30 seconds. Javier, who had an ankle problem that prevented him from pushing off in the run, arrived less than a minute later (1:57:26) for the silver.

The bronze meanwhile went to Joey Delos Reyes of Standard Insurance who timed 1:59:45.

On the distaff side of the event sponsored

by Standard Insurance, Century Tuna, Gatorade, Asian Centre for Insulation Philippines, Inc., Diamond Suites & Residence, Omega

Liniment Pro, Island Souvenirs, RaceDay, Kikay Runner, Magic 92.3 Cebu, SwimBikeRun.ph and PinoyFitness.com, national duathlete Mirasol Abad took advantage of Standard Insurance's Miscelle Gilbuena's pedal issues early in the race before cruising away alone to claim the title in 2:24:35.

Gilbuena finished second with 2:30:18 and Cebuana Elona Louise Villacin (WS Tri Team) was third with 2:43:43.

As a result of the race organized by Danao City Sports Commission (headed

by Boying Rodriguez) and

the Triathlon Association of the Philippines (TRAP) in cooperation with the Cebu City Government (headed

by Mayor Michael Rama) with Fiiinvest Land, 1L Corso and Lantaw as host venues, the coaching staff of the national duathlon team are contemplating about having the highly talented Chicano as a core duathlete in their squad.

Prior to the event Chicano (a member also of Active Health Elite Team) won the triathlon side event of the Asian Paratriathlon Championships as well as the lloilo Riverbank duathlon.

Canlubang golf tees off Oct. 7 THE Canlubang Amateur Open holds its 15th staging on Oct. 7-9 with Korean Park Min Ung tipped to return for a crack at a third straight crown in the men’s side and Pauline del Rosario expected to seek a repeat in the ladies side at Cangolf ’s South course in Laguna.

Registration is ongoing for the three-day event staged annually by the host club in its continuing effort to help develop amateur golf. Aside from the centerpiece Open to be disputed over 54 holes and the ladies division (36 holes), the event also features 36-hole competitions in Classes A (11-and-below), B (12-18) and C (19-and-above).

For details, call Cangolf ’s Makati office at (02) 897-6887 (Maite Tengco), fax (02) 8909321 or email cgcc. makatioffice@gmail.com or Cangolf ’s Laguna office at (049) 543-2670 (Fely Anillo/Ann Dublado) or (049) 543-2640 to 43 loc. 231 or email cgcc. golfandspor ts@gmail. com.

Fees are pegged at P3,000 (men’s Open), P2,800 (Classes A, B and C and ladies) and P1,000 for CGCC members, inclusive of a free practice round.

Deadline for listup is on Oct. 2.

Pa rk scra mbled w it h a t wo-u nder 70 at Ca ngol f ’s nor t h a nd pou nced on Del Monte’s

Jelber t Ga molo’s f i na l rou nd foldup to snatch a one-st roke v ic tor y over Tonton Asist io last yea r a nd reta i n t he crow n he won over top loca l player Ruper t Z a ragosa i n 2013.

This year’s title chase is again expected to go down-to-the-wire with the South layout providing a different kind of challenge especially if the wind come into play.

Meanwhile, Del Rosario is also expected to go for a second win against her teammates in The Country Club stable along with the country’s leading amateurs, including the likes of Yuka Saso, Kayla Nocum, Lois Kaye Go, Sam Bruce and Annika Cedo.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Petron blazes past Iran, Japan next 2015 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship

Tournament Director Alex Dinoy and Shell Social Investment and Performance Manager Manager Melanie Bularan (2nd and 3rd from left) meet the press during the PSA Forum at Shakey’s Remedios. With them are finalists, from right: Crissa Cañada, Jesca Docena and Marc Labog. EY ACASIO Republic of the Philippines Office of the President National Irrigation Administration (PAMBANSANG PANGASIWAAN NG PATUBIG) UPPER PAMPANGA RIVER INTEGRATED IRRIGATION SYSTEM DIVISION I-BALBALUNGAO SRIP Muñoz Science City, Nueva Ecija Office Address: Telephone Nos.: Website:

CLSU Cmpd. Science City of Muñoz, N. Ecija (044) 456-0043/ 456 73 46 www.nia.gov.ph

Telefax No. (044) 456 0043 TIN No. 005-154-569

INVITATION TO BID NO. UPRIIS-DI-BSRIP-201S-01 1.

The National Irrigation Administration- Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIAUPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, through the GAA for CY 2015 Balbalungao Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (BSRIP) intends to apply the sum of Ten Million Eighty Six Thousand Eight Hundred & 51/100 Pesos (Php 10,086,800.51) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payment under the Contract No. UPRIIS-DIBSRIP- 2015-01. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening Balbalungao Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (BSRIP).

1. a. b. c. d. e.

Package No. Project Name Location Scope of Work Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) f. Contract Duration g. Min. PCAB ARC Size Range (Irrigation & Flood Control)

2. a. b. c. d.

Package No. Project Name Location Scope of Work

: : : :

BSRIP-2015-01 Construction of Canal Concrete Cover at Lateral A and Main Canal Municipality of Lupao, Nueva Ecija Canal Concrete Cover

: PhP 2,090,778.25 : 73 Cal. Days : Small B : : : :

BSRIP-20 15-02 Construction of Lateral D, Phase II Municipality of Lupao, Nueva Ecija CBB canal lining including concrete canal structures, clearing, earthwork activities and turn-out steel gates installation

e. Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) : PhP 7,996,022.26 f. Contract Duration : 91 Cal. Days g. Min. PCAB ARC Size Range (Irrigation & Flood Control) : Small B 2.

The National Irrigation Administration - Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIAUPRIIS), Division 1, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija, now invites bids for contract on CY 2015 Balbalungao Small Reservoir Irrigation Project (BSRIP). Bidders should have completed, within two (2) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II, Instruction to Bidders.

3.

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

PHU LY, Vietnam—A stronger, more prepared Petron showed up to shock Islamic Azad University of Iran, 25-8, 25-16, 2523, to remain in the thick of the fight in the 2015 AVC Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship late Monday at the Ha Nam Competition Hall here.

The Blaze Spikers caught fire early to crush the Iranians in just one hour and 12 minutes and formally barge in the win column of this tournament which serves as a

qualifier for the FIVB World Women’s Club Championship next year.

Brazilian reinforcement Rupia Inck Furtado finally found her rhythm as she conspired with Dindin

Manabat in an early scoring and blocking blitz that broke the backs of the Iranians, who made it here after a dominant performance in the Iranian Super League.

Furtado bounced back from a dismal performance against 4.25 Sports Club of North Korea with six kills, four blocks and an ace to finish with 11 points while Manabat flashed her vintage form as she punched 10 kills and five blocks for 15 points.

“The adjustment paid

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES NATIONAL CAPITAL JUDICIAL REGION REGIONAL TRIAL COURT BRANCH 138 CITY OF MAKATI IN RE: PETITION FOR RECONSTITUTION OF SECOND OWNNER`S DUPLICATE OF TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE LRC CASE NO. M-6059 No. 219609 OF THE REGISTRY DEEDS OF MAKATI CITY CRISTITA CANTA PANGILINAN, Petitioner. x------------------------------------------------x ORDER A verified petition was filed by the petitioners praying that the Second Owner`s Duplicate copy of Transfer Certificate of Title No. 219609 under the name of the petitioner be reconstituted in accordance with law.

Petitioner likewise prays for such other reliefs and remedies, legal, just and proper in the premises.

Finding the petition sufficient in form and substance, the same is set for hearing on September 29, 2015 at 8:30 o`clock in the morning at the 33rd Floor, Makati City Hall Building, Makati City.

This Court hereby DIRECTS all interested parties to appear on said date, time and place and show cause why the petition should not be granted.

Let this Order be published at the expense of the petitoners in a newspaper of general circulation nationwide once a week for three (3) consecutive weeks, the publication of which shall be assigned after the raffle conducted by the Executive Judge of this Court.

The Register of Deeds of Makati City, the Office of the Solicitor General are furnished with a copy of this Order and the Petition for comment, the same to be filed with this Court on or before the hearing date.

SO ORDERED. City of Makati, July 31, 2015.

(SGD) JOSEFINO A. SUBIA Presiding Judge

ERRORS & OMISSIONS

In Classified Ads section must be brought to our attention the very day the advertisement is published.

We will not be responsible for any incorrect ads not reported to us immediately.

(TS-SEPT. 9,16,23, 2015)

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information and inspect the Bidding Documents from National Irrigation Administraiion - Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NlA-UPRIIS), Division l, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija from 8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., Monday to Friday.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents in the amount shown below.

PACKAGE NO.

AMOUNT

BSRIP-20 15-01

PhP 5,000.00

INVITATION TO BID

BSRIP-2015-02

PhP 10,000.00

The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) is inviting all interested and legitimate security agencies which are PADPAO members to submit bid proposals for the supply of nine (9) security guards for the period January 01, 2016 to December 31, 2017:

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of the Procuring Entity, provided that bidders shall pay the fee for the Bidding Documents not later that the submission of their bids.

6.

7.

The National Irrigation Administration - Upper Pampanga River Integraied Irrigation Systems (NIA-UPRIIS), Division l, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on Sept.

23, 2015 @ 2:00 PM at NIA-UPRIIS, Division I Conference Hall, CLSU Compound, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija, which shall be opened only to all interested parties who have purchased the Bidding Documents.

9.

Services

Approved Budget for the Contract

Pre-Bid Conference

Deadline for Submission of Eligibility Requirements and Bid Proposals, and Opening of Bids

Security Services

PHP 4,200.000.00

September 28, 2015 (Monday) 10:00 a.m.

October 12, 2015 (Monday) 10:00 a.m.

Bids must be delivered on or before October 05, 2015 @ 12:00 PM at NIA-UPRIIS, Division I Conference Hall, CLSU Compound, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

Republic of the Philippines

PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON GOOD GOVERNMENT

The complete schedule of activities is listed as follows: 1. Posting of Invitation to Bid Sept. 16 - Oct. 05, 2015 (PhilGEPS, NIA-Bulletin Boards) 2. Issuance of Bid Documents Sept. 16,2015 - Oct. 05,2015 until 12:00 PM 3. Pre-Bid Conference Sept. 23, 2015 @ 2:00 PM 4. Deadline of Submission of Bids Oct. 05,2015 @ 12:00 PM 5. Opening of Bids Oct. 05,2015 @ 1:00 PM The National Irrigation Administration- Upper Pampanga River Integrated Irrigation Systems (NIAUPRIIS),Division I, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

10. For further information, please refer to: WILFREDO C. RAMOS Chairman, Bids & Awards Committee Head, Operations Unit NIA-UPRIIS, Division I CLSU Compound, Science City of Muñoz, Nueva Ecija Fax No. (044) 456-0043 Tel. No. (044) 456-7346 Email Address: niaupriis_division1@yahoo.com

The funding of the above goods shall be sourced from PCGG’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) for FY 2016 and 2017.

Interested bidders may secure a copy of the Bidding Documents upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Php 5,000.00. Each bidding proposal must be submitted in two (2) envelopes, one marked as “ELIGIBILITY/ TECHNICAL DOCUMENTS” and the other marked as “FINANCIAL PROPOSAL”.

The Bidding Documents are available on September 16, 2015 – October 12, 2015 from Monday to Friday at the BAC Secretariat c/o Ms. Raquel S. Buñag, Third Floor, IRC Bldg., No. 82 EDSA, Mandaluyong City from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with telephone number 726-7302.

The PCGG shall use a non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria for the eligibility check in accordance with the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act No. 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”.

THE PCGG BIDS AND AWARDS COMMITTEE

Approved by:

Noted by:

(SGD) WILFREDO C. RAMOS Chairman, Bids and Awards Committee

(SGD) FREDDIE M. TOQUERO, Ph.D. Manager, Division I, NIA-UPRIIS

IRC Building, 82 EDSA, Mandaluyong City 1550, Philippines Telephone: (632) 705-1217 / Website: www.pcgg.gov.ph

(SGD) REYNALDO D. PUNO Department Manager, NIA-UPRIIS (TS-SEPT. 16, 2015)

(TS-SEPT. 16, 2015)

off,” said Petron coach George Pascua, who shifted Furtado from opposite to open spiker position to further maximize her prowess on the firing end. “I’m glad everybody showed up prepared and ready to win.”

But the celebration will be temporary as the Blaze Spikers march back to the war zone on Tuesday to face Hisamitsu Seikayu Springs of Japan —an elite squad which won the Asian crown for the past two years.

Tabuena targets OOM crown MIGUEL Tabuena tries to close in on a first Order of Merit championship with a strong finish in the inaugural Central Azucarera de Tarlac Open which gets going today (Wednesday, Sept. 16) featuring a stellar cast at the Luisita Golf and Country Club in Tarlac.

Tabuena grabbed the lead in the money race with a stirring comefrom-behind victory at the ICTSI Open Championship last week where he battled from four strokes down to beat the very player he dislodged on top of the OOM heap —Tony Lascuña.

He said he didn’t expect to win at Wack Wack with a 74 start and a third round 73, much more upend a top caliber player in Lascuña and at one of the country’s toughest courses at Wack Wack’s East.

But the 21-year-old shotmaker proved his worth, humbling his veteran rivals, who included Angelo Que and Cassius Casas, with a superb display of shotmaking and putting and a big fighting heart to clinch the win, making him the winningest player this year with three victories.

But more importantly, the victory shoved Tabuena, who also won at ICTSI Splendido and Palos Verdes, past Lascuña to wrest the OOM lead with two legs left in the ICTSI Philippine Golf Tour.

That includes this week’s P2.5 million event, sponsored by Central Azucarera de Tarlac, where a top three finish will virtually seal his bid for the first OOM crown.

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 6 DIGITS 0-0-0-0-0-0 3 DIGITS 0-0-0 2 EZ2 0-0

P0.0 M+ P0.0 M+

It’s Subterranean River in the PCSO 2YO Maiden race

Ateneo’s Alyssa Valdez (2) defies UST’s triple block defense composed of Pam Lastimosa (6), Jessey de Leon (15) and Chlodia Cortez (3) during Game Two of their Shakey’s V-League Collegiate Conference semifinal clash at The Arena. The two teams slug it out in a deciding game 3 at The Arena in San Juan City today (Wednesday).

Ateneo, UST battle in knockout game

THE Ateneo Lady Eagles and the Tigresses slug it out for the last finals berth in the Shakey’s V-League Season 12-Collegiate Conference at The Arena in San Juan City today (Wednesday).

Alyssa Valdez will load up her spikes but expect University of Santo Tomas to likewise toughen up on its defense, guaranteeing slam-bang action in the no-tomorrow, knockout game.

The Tigresses’ triple-block ploy against the league’s scoring leader worked wonders for the Españabased squad, which went on to unmask the erstwhile unbeaten Lady Eagles in the opener of their best-ofthree semifinal series last Sunday.

The 18-25, 25-16, 25-23, 25-22 scoreline spoke well of the fourthranked squad’s ability and readi-

ness to face the top seeded team head-on and came out with better execution that led to key hits and net and floor defense that foiled a number of Ateneo attacks.

How the Lady Eagles would adjust and re-impose their supremacy will be known today as they clash in sudden death for the right to face the National U Lady Bulldogs for the crown at 4 p.m.

For one, Valdez will surely go allout to double her effort after her 24hit output in Game One fell short of their target although the UAAP MVP will need to draw solid back-

up from the rest of the squad to neutralize the resurgent Tigresses.

Bea de Leon and Kim Gequillana did combine for 23 points by Jhoanna Maraguinto was limited to eight hits and Amy Ahomiro was held to a low three-point output.

“I was impressed by my players’ hustle, they went for the ball all throughout. And they must play with the same intensity to be able to beat Ateneo again,” said UST coach Kungfu Reyes.

By proving Ateneo is beatable, UST will surely cash in on its new-found strength but it will be the sky-high confidence and momentum that will give the Tigresses a crack at the seventh championship in the league sponsored by Shakey’s and presented by PLDT Home Ultera.

Reyes will again bank on the power-hitting Ennajie Laure and the gritty troika of Pam Lastimosa, Carmela Tunay and Marivic Meneses and hope to draw quality minutes from the likes of Sarah Verutiao, Jessey De Leon and libero Patrisha Rasmo the way they did in the series’ opener.

National U swept Far Eastern U in their side of the Final Four to clinch the first finals slot in the midseason conference of the league backed by Mikasa and Accel.

The sudden death can be viewed live via streaming on www.v-league.ph, according to the organizing Sports Vision.

Game today 4 p.m. • UST vs Ateneo

Sulaiman ranks Floyd among all-time greats

By Ronnie Nathanielsz WORLD Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman has ranked undefeated pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr as among the top five best of all-time in the intermediate divisions of boxing.

Sulaiman made the assessment in a WBC Internet article on Mayweather who officially retired after a lop-sided twelve round unanimous decision over former two-time champion Andre Berto who had lost three of his previous six fights.

The WBC said that last Saturday could be the last time that the best pound for pound fighter stepped into the ring saying that “the near perfect example of the art of boxing “punch and not be punched”

philosophy Floyd Mayweather said farewell.

It said the superstar of boxing knows that the time of retirement has arrived and he’ll be exalted as one of the best ever.

The internet site said “the undeniable realiy is that Floyd has been known as an ‘invincible’ handling the art of defense to brilliant perfection. A ultra smart boxer wgi deciphers his rival’s style and who maintains focus with sublime technique.”

Regarded as a master of boxing the WBC said Mayweather knows luxury and how to enjoy it and referred to him as someone who has always been “The Talk and the Topic” inside and outside the ring and excelling at what he does best…boxing.

Undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. is ranked

by World Boxing Council president Mauricio Sulaiman as among the top five best boxers all-time in the intermediate divisions.

WILBERT Tan’s filly Subterranean River outran five others to win the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office 2YO Maiden race held last Sept. 12 at Metroturf Racecourse in Batangas.

Trial race winner Cats Incredible grabbed the lead at the jumpout, followed a length and a half behind by He He He, with Most Trusted, Palatandaan, Subterranean River, and Katniss behind them.

Subterreanean River fired up close to the far turn and steadily ate up ground going into the stretch, reaching the finish line five lengths ahead of Most Trusted. Katniss placed third and Cats Incredible fourth.

The time for the 1,200-meter race was 1:11 (22’-22-26’).

Cats Incredible was excluded from the parade of horses after showing hostility upon being led to the track.

The horse suffered bilateral epistaxis during the actual race and was given a fifteen days suspension by the Metroturf Board of Stewards. *** PCSO’s next maiden race is a 2YO Open set for Sept. 26 at Santa Ana Park in Naic, Cavite. The trial for this race was held at that track on Sept. 11 and won by lawyer Narciso Morales’s filly Hotdog, followed in order by Rocking Hill, Sky Dancer, Bowties and Charms, Bainbridge, Gintong Yaman, Sharp Return, Constantinople.

Fighter in the Wind was scratched and is deemed to have come in last.

Total time for 1,200-meters was 1:14 (24’-23-26’). *** The directors of New Philippine Jockeys Association led by its president Gilbert L. Francisco will be meeting next week with exercise riders to help them set up their own association.

There are 103 exercise riders, including 30 apprentice jockeys who are considered to belong to this group until they graduate to journeyman status.

Exercise riders are subject to the same risks as jockeys. They also have health insurance but they pay the premiums on a personal basis, out of pocket or from sponsors such as horseowners and trainers.

The NPJA will guide the exercise riders in the basics of establishing and running an association similar to theirs as well as find sources of funding for their projects. *** Facebook: Gogirl Racing, Twitter: @ gogirlracing, Instagram: @jensdecember, Blog: http://jennyo.net

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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

Jomari Solano of the Letran Knights (right) battles Allwell Oraeme (10) of the Mapua Cardinals during their NCAA game at The Arena in San Juan, Tuesday, Sept. 15. Mapua leaned on the heroics of Oraeme to upset the league-leading Knights, 82-77. LINO SANTOS

Smart Gilas wraps up training in Cebu

Mapua Cardinals shock league-leading Knights

By Jeric Lopez

By Peter Atencio

THOUGH they don’t have any tune-up games lined up anymore, Smart Gilas now enters the most intensive part of their training with just a week to go before the 2015 FIBA-Asia Championship.

Gilas Pilipinas is now conducting its final stretch of heavy training in Cebu City where the team is fine-tuning its form in the lead up to the FIBA-Asia tilt next week in Changsa, China.

Right after sweeping and winning the MVP Cup last weekend, the team flew to Cebu the day after to maximize the remaining days before the big tournament and wrap its training up in hopes of getting in the best possible shape and condition by next week before leaving for China.

National team coach Tab Baldwin wants to ensure that this important last part of Gilas training helps them correct all their mistakes and get them to the level that they need to be. ‘’We’re hoping that this last part of our training can get us to where we want to get and that is to reach our peak into the FIBA-Asia,’’ said Baldwin. ‘’This is very important to us. We need to get everything on the same page and be as prepared as we can.’’

NIGERIAN Allwell Oraeme’s monster game lifted the Mapua Cardinals to an 82-77 victory over the Letran Knights yesterday in the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

Oraeme came up with 18 points and a new season’s best 30 rebounds to help carry the Cardinals to their ninth win in 14 games and their longest winning streak at five.

The Cardinals missed suspended coach Atoy Co and instead listened to instructions of Ed Cordero. They tied the count, 33-all off Josan Nimes’ basket, and began

moving away, 40-36, in the last 1:46 behind Justin Serrano.

The 6’6” Oraeme hit 10 points in the third period. The Cards began dominating the boards and pulled away by 13, 62-49, at the end of the third.

The Knights were led by Mark Cruz with 17 markers.

“Going into the second round,

coach Atoy talked when he scored Games Tomorrow to the boys and said crucial baskets at (at the Arena in San Juan) that if we work hard, endgame, sending 10 a.m. • San Sebastian vs EAC-ICA (jrs) and played as a the Heavy Bombers 12 nn • San Beda vs LPU (jrs) team, there is some- 2 p.m. • San Sebastian vs EAC-ICA (srs) to a 77-69, closely4 p.m. • San Beda vs LPU (srs) thing bigger for us. fought triumph We are improving over the College of every game,” said Cordero.

St. Benilde Blazers.

Despite the loss the Knights (11 Coach Vergel Meneses said the wins, 3 losses) stayed on top of the Heavy Bombers should not be countstandings. Trailing them are the San ed out of contention. Not yet after they Beda Red Lions (10-3), the Arellano notched their second consecutive win.

Chiefs (10-4), the Perpetual Help JRU is at sixth spot with their Altas (9-4) and Mapua (9-5).

8-6 win-loss record.

Meanwhile, the Jose Rizal Uni“Buhay pa. May pag-asa pa. Meversity Heavy Bombers are walk- dyo lumilinaw na. Pero sinabi ko ing on a tightrope. And they’re sa kanila that we need to win four counting themselves as contenders more games. I know its very hard for the Final Four semifinals. for us, but JRU is always in this Tey Teodoro made sure of that situation,” said Meneses.

Ateneo vs UST in KO game

Floyd ranked among greats

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WEDNESDAY: SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS

Women business leaders. More than 30 women business leaders gathered at the Philippine Stock Exchange to ring the opening bell on Tuesday. The bell ringing ceremony marked the country’s hosting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Women and the Economy 2015 Fora. Shown are (from left) PSE director Edgardo Lacson, Philippine Commission on Women executive director Emmeline Verzosa, Trade Undersecretary Nora Terrado, Corporate Women Directors International chair Irene Natividad, PSE chairman Jose Pardo, PSE director Amor Iliscupidez, PSE corporate secretary Aissa Encarnacion. PSE president and chief executive Hans Sicat and PSE chief operating officer Roel Refran.

Miners pin hopes on next president

By Anna Leah E. Gonzales

MINING companies are now pinning their hopes on the next administration, as investments in the sector plummeted over the past five years and fell short of the $20-billion target amid the uncertainty in government policy.

Mining investments fell 47 percent in 2014 to $693 million from $1.31 billion in 2013, a trend that started when President Benigno Aquino III issued Executive Or-

der No. 79 in 2012, data showed.

The 2014 figure was also 76 percent short of the original projection of $3 billion, the group said.

“We need to help overcome this declining trend,” Chamber of Mines president Benjamin Romualdez said at the Mining Philippines 2015 Conference & Exhibition held at the Solaire Resort and Casino Hotel in Pasay City.

Romualdez said the last five years were not encouraging for the country’s mining industry.

“Yes, we continued with our respective company activities but beyond that, there were no significant industry news except for the operation of Nickel Asia’s

PLDT still keen on GMA Network

By Darwin G. Amojelar THE Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. Group is still interested to invest in GMA Network Inc. despite failed negotiations.

“Always interested,” PLDT chairman Manuel Pangilinan told reporters in a recent interview when asked if he was still interested to acquire a minority stake in GMA Network.

The PLDT Group and GMA Network in February 2014 ended a third round of negotiations for a 34-percent stake in the network.

Pangilinan’s statement came after businessman Ramon Ang and GMA Network chairman Felipe Gozon ended a legal dispute over the failed negotiations to acquire a 34-percent stake in the network.

Gozon has returned the P1-

billion downpayment made by Ang for the purchase of a minority stake in GMA Network.

Ang earlier filed an estafa case against Gozon for allegedly terminating the negotiations and failing to return the P1-billion downpayment. The Gozon, Jiminez and Duavit families own a combined 79-percent stake in GMA Network, which operates GMA 7.

Gozon said Ang received the P1 billion, while he received a substantial amount from Ang in return.

Gozon claimed there was no basis for the charge of syndicated estafa as there was no deception or fraud employed by the Gozon group in the proposed sale of their GMA shares to Ang. Gozon said his group had the right to retain the P1-billion downpayment made by Ang, who allegedly breached the

contract to purchase a minority stake in the broadcast company.

Ang had accepted Gozon’s explanation about the non-involvement of the other members of the Gozon group in the retention of the downpayment.

Pangilinan, meanwhile, said talks with GMA Network for content partnership were still ongoing.

“I think under discussion, there was no final agreement yet,” he added.

GMA’s Gozon earlier said his company was in talks with PLDT and Globe Telecom Inc. to deliver media content.

Globe, a unit of Ayala, earlier told the stock exchange it was engaged in discussions with GMA for personal content collaboration that would complement the businesses of the two companies.

second high pressure acid leach project,” Romualdez said.

“The election of new leaders next year should give us some optimism. We hope to have a more pragmatic vision and plan for the mining industry and a doable action plan,” Romualdez said.

He said more jobs would have been generated if the government encouraged investments into the mining sector.

“The Philippines is lagging behind its Asean neighbors in terms of foreign direct investments. Had the big-ticket mining projects in the pipeline pushed through, we would have obtained almost $20 billion in investments, and thousands of people would have been employed, with more businesses established to meet the needs of these new mines,” Romualdez said.

EO 79 forbids the signing of new mineral agreements until a new mining revenue sharing scheme is passed into law.

The Mining Industry Coordinating Council last year approved a higher tax on the mineral industry, representing 10 percent of the gross sales or a 55-percent share in net revenues.

The Philippine Mining Act of 1995 currently imposes a 2-percent excise tax on mining companies operating under the mineral production sharing agreement. Mining companies under the mineral production sharing agreement and operating in mineral reservation areas are also subject to an additional 5-percent royalty.

PSe comPoSite index Closing September 15, 2015

8000 7700 7400 7100 6800 6500

7,089.01 19.83

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing SEPTEMBER 15, 2015 43.50 44.60 45.40

P46.770

46.20

CLOSE

47.00

HIGH P46.680 LOW P46.785 AVERAGE P46.743 VOLUME 483.500M

P435.00-P640.00 LPG/11-kg tank P36.00-P43.95 Unleaded Gasoline P25.05-P28.40 Diesel

oPriceS il P today

P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene P20.75-P21.75 Auto LPG Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Tuesday, September 15, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.7710

Japan

Yen

0.008324

0.3893

UK

Pound

1.542500

72.1443

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129032

6.0350

Switzerland

Franc

1.033271

48.3271

Canada

Dollar

0.754546

35.2909

Singapore

Dollar

0.711035

33.2558

Australia

Dollar

0.714286

33.4079

Bahrain

Dinar

2.655549

124.2027

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266724

12.4749

Brunei

Dollar

0.708516

33.1380

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000070

0.0033

Thailand

Baht

0.027755

1.2981

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

12.7358

Euro

Euro

1.132100

52.9494

Korea

Won

0.000846

0.0396

China

Yuan

0.157038

7.3448

India

Rupee

0.015080

0.7053

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.232040

10.8527

New Zealand

Dollar

0.632511

29.5832

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030783

1.4398 Source: PDS Bridge

WEDNESDAY: SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Tuesday, sepTember 15, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low 7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 17 30.45 2.6 890 1.01 100 30.5 91.5 137 361.2 57 180 1700 124 3.26 47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 20.6 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 17 31.8 109 9.4 0.98 241 12.5 79 3.95 4 33.9 90 13.26 293 5.25 12.98 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.86 7.34 238 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 5.28 1.3 26 2.17 0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 3.4 823.5 10.2 84 4.92 0.66 1455 7.5 76 9.25 0.85 17.3 0.71 5.53 6.55 9.66 0.0670 1.61 84.9 974 1.66 156 0.710 0.435 0.510 10.5 1.99 41.4

STOCKS

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 2.88 2.75 69.2 68 99.25 97.30 85.00 83.90 42.9 42 2.42 2.38 15.6 15.5 20.2 20.1 1.63 1.41 715.00 700.00 0.455 0.420 86 82.9 17.50 46.82 56.85 55.80 95.5 93 299 297 32.6 32.1 145 137.9 1450.00 1450.00 53.40 53.00 2.9 2.9 INDUSTRIAL 35.9 Aboitiz Power Corp.

43.3 43.45 43.2 1.11 Agrinurture Inc. 1.5 1.5 1.3 1.01 Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. 0.96 0.96 0.91 1.86 Alsons Cons.

1.62 1.63 1.56 7.92 Asiabest Group 9.25 9.5 9.25 15.32 Century Food 16.98 17.1 16.98 10.08 Cirtek Holdings (Chips) 26.25 26.25 26 29.15 Concepcion 42 42.45 41.95 1.5 Crown Asia 2.57 2.62 2.56 1.5 Da Vinci Capital 1.25 1.21 1.21 10.72 Del Monte 10.1 10.2 10.04 9.55 DNL Industries Inc. 11.080 11.240 10.96 9.04 Emperador 7.95 8.09 7.98 6.02 Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC) 5.49 5.85 5.48 8.86 EEI 7.61 7.70 7.58 8.61 Federal Res. Inv. Group 14.08 14.4 13.8 20.2 First Gen Corp.

22 23.7 22.1 71.5 First Holdings ‘A’ 66.5 68 66.5 5.34 Integ. Micro-Electronics 5.69 5.79 5.69 0.395 Ionics Inc 1.000 1.050 0.940 173 Jollibee Foods Corp.

188.20 188.80 187.00 8.65 Lafarge Rep 8.8 9 8.66 34.1 Liberty Flour 31.00 31.00 31.00 2.3 LMG Chemicals 1.86 1.86 1.86 1.63 Mabuhay Vinyl 1.9 2.46 1.83 23.35 Manila Water Co. Inc. 21.3 22 21.35 17.3 Maxs Group 21.5 21.75 21.2 5.88 Megawide 5.5 5.7 5.57 250.2 Mla. Elect. Co `A’ 286.80 293.60 286.80 3.87 Pepsi-Cola Products Phil. 4.05 4.06 4.04 8.45 Petron Corporation 7.20 7.29 7.18 3.03 Phoenix Petroleum Phils. 3.25 3.25 3.14 1.95 Phoenix Semiconductor 1.99 2.09 2.00 1 Pryce Corp. `A’ 2.27 2.31 2.26 4.02 RFM Corporation 4.02 4.06 4.03 1.65 Roxas and Co. 2.35 2.5 2.3 5.9 Roxas Holdings 5.59 5.59 5.59 161 San Miguel’Pure Foods `B’ 144.8 143 140 1.55 Splash Corporation 1.94 1.99 1.93 0.138 Swift Foods, Inc. 0.136 0.139 0.137 1.02 TKC Steel Corp.

0.88 0.90 0.87 2.09 Trans-Asia Oil 1.82 1.83 1.79 152 Universal Robina 192 194.5 192 4.28 Victorias Milling 4.6 4.69 4.6 0.640 Vitarich Corp.

0.63 0.65 0.64 10.02 Vivant Corp.

22.60 22.50 22.50 1.2 Vulcan Ind’l.

1.07 1.08 1.05 HOLDING FIRMS 0.44 Abacus Cons. `A’ 0.425 0.430 0.400 48.1 Aboitiz Equity 58.0000 58.1000 57.1000 20.85 Alliance Global Inc. 20.00 20.40 19.90 1.6 Anglo Holdings A 1.17 1.19 1.19 0.23 ATN Holdings A 0.225 0.225 0.220 634.5 Ayala Corp `A’ 749.5 750 746 7.390 Cosco Capital 6.73 6.8 6.73 12.8 DMCI Holdings 12.60 13.30 12.80 2.26 Filinvest Dev. Corp.

4.13 4.08 4.08 0.152 Forum Pacific 0.193 0.194 0.190 837 GT Capital 1257 1270 1256 5.3 House of Inv. 6.19 5.96 5.96 49.55 JG Summit Holdings 71.00 71.00 69.85 4.84 Lopez Holdings Corp.

6.4 6.46 6.25 0.59 Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp. 0.56 0.56 0.54 12 LT Group 12.46 12.7 12.42 0.580 Mabuhay Holdings `A’ 0.54 0.56 0.53 4.2 Metro Pacific Inv. Corp. 5.03 5.15 4.97 4.5 Minerales Industrias Corp. 7.79 7.95 7.8 3 MJCI Investments Inc. 4.25 4.23 4.23 0.030 Pacifica `A’ 0.0370 0.0440 0.0360 0.550 Prime Orion 1.760 1.820 1.750 59.3 San Miguel Corp `A’ 46.95 47.00 45.20 751 SM Investments Inc. 894.50 889.50 870.00 1.13 Solid Group Inc. 1.16 1.15 1.15 80 Top Frontier 67.050 67.250 67.000 0.211 Unioil Res. & Hldgs 0.2700 0.2750 0.2650 0.179 Wellex Industries 0.1800 0.1900 0.1800 0.310 Zeus Holdings 0.210 0.211 0.210 PROPERTY 6.74 8990 HLDG 6.800 6.780 6.700 0.65 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.55 0.62 0.58 30.05 Ayala Land `B’ 35.95 36.15 35.45 2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 12.02 19.6 1.02 625 0.225 78 17.8 62 88.35 276 41 118.2 1200 59 2.65

AG Finance Asia United Bank Banco de Oro Unibank Inc. Bank of PI China Bank BDO Leasing & Fin. INc. COL Financial Eastwest Bank I-Remit Inc. Manulife Fin. Corp.

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank PB Bank Phil. National Bank Phil. Savings Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Sun Life Financial Union Bank Vantage Equities

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

SHARES 10,396,573 5,849,211,805 2,002,691,331 166,412,960 160,211,586 777,984,627 8,967,336,942

2.75 68.95 97.20 85.00 42.6 2.44 15.5 20.2 1.63 700.00 0.425 82.5 16.80 56.95 95.5 297 32.05 138 1445.00 53.40 2.88

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

2.79 69.2 98.50 84.30 42.5 2.38 15.5 20.15 1.63 700.00 0.440 86 17.20 55.80 95 297 32.2 142.3 1450.00 53.40 2.9

1.45 0.36 1.34 -0.82 -0.23 -2.46 0.00 -0.25 0.00 0.00 3.53 4.24 2.38 -2.02 -0.52 0.00 0.47 3.12 0.35 0.00 0.69

68,000 15,430 3,911,990 1,118,020 46,800 21,000 5,000 31,000 24,000 110 1,580,000 2,056,760 233,000 138,350 2,900 1,140 118,700 992,540 1,540 260 28,000

43.3 1.5 0.91 1.6 9.5 17 26.05 42 2.59 1.21 10.1 11.000 8.00 5.70 7.58 14 23.7 67 5.7 0.970 187.80 9 31.00 1.86 2.17 22 21.75 5.7 293.00 4.05 7.18 3.25 2.01 2.3 4.06 2.5 5.59 140 1.96 0.137 0.90 1.79 194.5 4.6 0.65 22.50 1.05

0.00 0.00 -5.21 -1.23 2.70 0.12 -0.76 0.00 0.78 -3.20 0.00 -0.72 0.63 3.83 -0.39 -0.57 7.73 0.75 0.18 -3.00 -0.21 2.27 0.00 0.00 14.21 3.29 1.16 3.64 2.16 0.00 -0.28 0.00 1.01 1.32 1.00 6.38 0.00 -3.31 1.03 0.74 2.27 -1.65 1.30 0.00 3.17 -0.44 -1.87

1,694,000 36,000 252,000 208,000 1,300 778,300 407,600 818,300 790,000 10,000 32,100 2,247,700 1,752,700 19,137,500 259,500 195,700 4,899,900 201,830 242,000 35,912,000 157,830 61,300 100 5,000 631,000 726,300 82,900 16,100 376,800 245,000 1,092,100 57,000 354,000 191,000 279,000 306,000 1,000 5,860 315,000 1,070,000 78,000 520,000 1,379,460 2,000 117,000 800 29,000

0.430 57.5500 20.25 1.19 0.220 749 6.75 13.10 4.08 0.190 1268 5.96 70.95 6.37 0.55 12.5 0.54 5.08 7.95 4.23 0.0360 1.790 45.20 885.50 1.15 67.150 0.2700 0.1900 0.210

1.18 -0.78 1.25 1.71 -2.22 -0.07 0.30 3.97 -1.21 -1.55 0.88 -3.72 -0.07 -0.47 -1.79 0.32 0.00 0.99 2.05 -0.47 -2.70 1.70 -3.73 -1.01 -0.86 0.15 0.00 5.56 0.00

140,000 591,110 -4,125,711.00 5,735,700 -5,631,011.00 1,000 330,000 334,250 -121,402,230.00 1,707,800 1,524,874.00 11,617,400 22,847,122.00 2,000 330,000 191,955 -69,068,755.00 10,000 29,800.00 1,662,760 61,846,277.50 2,186,300 -3,891,229.00 9,000 6,461,400 -69,761,690.00 503,000 36,663,100 -46,533,617.00 3,070,300 39,600.00 15,000 1,926,200,000 19,614,800.00 832,000 -16,110.00 325,800 -11,465,680.00 91,810 15,383,305.00 9,000 4,810 -311,928.50 2,270,000 350,000 54,000.00 230,000

6.700 0.58 35.90

-1.47 5.45 -0.14

35,200 632,000 7,065,800

637,047.50 67,839,358 -57,852,326.00 -48,360.00 80,590.00 -77,150.00 105,286,358.50 -532,550.00 -3,324,324.00 -3,179,460 46,493,152.00 282,750.00

-8,092,780.00

9,492,478.00 -10,760,400 103,380.00 -263,212.00 6,844,460.00 11,593,600.00 -2,349,295.00 -1,661,018.00 -35,880,630.00 -4,297,476.50 326,600.00 3,639,763.00

-24,560.00 6,906,545.00 55,480.00 46,306,120.00 303,420.00 117,669.00 -48,750.00 4,020.00 -458,250.00 9,800.00 19,600.00

53,985,891.00 18,000.00

-3,350.00 -79,659,485.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

High

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

3.36 4.96 0.79 0.083 0.415 2.4 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13 0.090 23 22.15 1.6 15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

Belle Corp. `A’ 3.03 Cebu Holdings 4.77 Century Property 0.63 Crown Equities Inc. 0.102 Cyber Bay Corp.

0.410 Double Dragon 16.96 Global-Estate 1.01 Filinvest Land,Inc. 1.69 Interport `A’ 1.42 Megaworld 4.25 MRC Allied Ind. 0.078 Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry 21.00 Robinson’s Land `B’ 29.00 Rockwell 1.56 SM Prime Holdings 19.90 Sta. Lucia Land Inc. 0.71 Suntrust Home Dev. Inc. 0.650 Vista Land & Lifescapes 5.200

-0.33 0.63 1.59 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.99 5.92 0.70 4.00 0.00 -9.43 -1.38 2.56 0.75 -1.41 6.15 4.81

2,830,000 27,000 1,648,000 900,000 10,000 1,522,800 1,261,000 34,141,000 295,000 54,602,000 20,000 300 1,021,600 2,760,000 23,273,500 2,380,000 38,000 26,937,700

10.5 66 1.09 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 7.67 2720 8.41 1.97 119.5 12.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 12.28 3.32 3.2 95.5 1 2.46 15.2 1.040 22.8 6.41 185 22.9 3486 0.760 2.28 46.05 90.1

1.97 35.2 0.63 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 4.8 1600 5.95 1.23 102.6 8.72 0.011 0.041 1.200 6.5 1.91 1.95 3.1 0.650 1.8 6 0.37 14.54 3 79 4.39 2748 0.435 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 1.14

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

Cebu Air Inc. (5J) DFNN Inc. Globe Telecom GMA Network Inc. Harbor Star I.C.T.S.I. IPeople Inc. `A’ IP E-Game Ventures Inc. Island Info ISM Communications Leisure & Resorts Liberty Telecom Macroasia Corp.

Manila Broadcasting Manila Bulletin Manila Jockey Melco Crown NOW Corp.

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Yehey

-0.36 -0.41 -1.89 -0.60 3.23 -4.74 2.04 0.00 0.23 0.64 -0.81 -0.11 -0.18 -9.09 4.46 -2.08 2.91 -2.99 -0.47 -4.11 0.00 -2.91 1.83 -4.55 1.05 0.00 1.90 0.00 -2.41 1.69 -2.61 -0.16 0.81 -0.71 6.22 2.04 0.86 7.60

167,500 13,270 69,000 3,872,500 95,740,000 436,000 1,140,190 12,300 92,855 34,600 69,000 874,450 10,300 1,000,000 6,570,000 1,475,000 1,304,100 409,000 21,000 200 2,000 32,000 12,894,000 10,000 400 2,000 810 46,700 127,955 51,000 6,310,000 2,331,200 282,950 5,079,900 11,354,400 4,500,000 1,867,000 1,718,000

0.0098 5.45 17.24 0.330 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.022 0.023 8.2 49.2 4.27 1.030 3.06 0.020 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9

0.0043 1.72 6.47 0.236 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.013 0.014 3.240 18.96 2.11 0.365 1.54 0.012 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67

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

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

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

TA Petroleum

-1.72 6.67 2.86 5.56 -4.11 1.59 -0.34 -3.54 -1.72 0.00 0.00 -8.33 3.09 0.41 0.00 0.00 0.79 5.88 0.00 0.20 -0.72 1.01 0.00 -2.50

552,000,000 8,000 750,000 -511,540.00 3,250,000 258,000 30,000 9,400 -46,960.00 5,637,000 -3,093,900.00 20,000 3,320,000 300,000 175,500,000 5,500.00 209,000 97,500.00 2,616,500 -3,185,975.00 13,041,000 -26,970.00 304,000 176,000 11,000,000 6,000 109,000 -159,380.00 829,000 -129,800.00 7,000,000 765,720 16,235,830.00 465,000 -33,190.00

70 553 525 118 515 8.21 12.28 1060

33 490 500 101 480 5.88 6.5 997

1047 78.95 84.8

1011 74.5 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

Ayala Corp. Pref `B1’ Ayala Corp. Pref ‘B2’ First Gen F GLOBE PREF P GMA Holdings Inc. Leisure and Resort PCOR-Preferred A PCOR-Preferred B PF Pref 2 SMC Preferred B SMC Preferred C

-0.08 0.38 0.00 -6.35 -2.80 2.29 0.00 0.48 0.00 0.20 0.00 0.62

55,450 5,520 80 1,010 20 42,500 24,000 5,400 1,100 210 20,000 647,350

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

7.59

127,000

15 88 12.88

3.5 13.5 5.95

3.33 -2.05 -0.90

33,000 17,600 373,100

-907,478.00

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

0.87

4,360

11,590.00

Makati Fin. Corp.

IRipple E-Business Intl Xurpas

STOCKS

FINANCIAL 1,565.10 (up) 19.79 INDUSTRIAL 10,825.03 (up) 143.48 HOLDING FIRMS 6,584.57 (down) 4.07 PROPERTY 2,919.99 (up) 19.06 SERVICES 1,789.62 (down) 15.47 MINING & OIL 11,236.68 (down) 10.57 PSEI 7,089.01 (up) 19.83 All Shares Index 4,040.62 (up) 15.01 Gainers: 89 Losers: 72; Unchanged: 36; Total: 197

Close

5.6 5.59 1.44 0.201 0.69 10.96 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 27 31.8 2.29 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

3.05 3.02 3.02 4.86 4.77 4.8 0.65 0.63 0.64 0.102 0.102 0.102 0.410 0.410 0.410 17.18 16.66 16.96 1.03 1.01 1.02 1.79 1.70 1.79 1.44 1.42 1.43 4.5 4.25 4.42 0.084 0.078 0.078 19.02 19.02 19.02 28.95 28.05 28.60 1.6 1.58 1.6 20.25 19.84 20.05 0.7 0.68 0.7 0.690 0.660 0.690 5.480 5.220 5.450 SERVICES 8.31 8.58 8.28 8.28 60.25 60.5 60 60 0.530 0.520 0.520 0.520 6.63 6.85 6.59 6.59 0.0620 0.0690 0.0630 0.0640 3.8 3.75 3.61 3.62 88.35 90.8 89 90.15 5.00 5.00 4.66 5.00 2568 2578 2548 2574 6.25 6.40 6.25 6.29 1.23 1.22 1.20 1.22 87.9 89.9 87.55 87.8 11.42 11.42 11.4 11.4 0.011 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.157 0.169 0.156 0.164 1.4400 1.4900 1.4000 1.4100 8.26 8.50 8.10 8.50 2.68 2.80 2.60 2.60 2.13 2.15 2.10 2.12 36.50 35.00 35.00 35.00 0.600 0.600 0.600 0.600 2.06 2 1.98 2 4.92 5.09 4.91 5.01 0.440 0.420 0.420 0.420 19 19.2 19.2 19.2 4.50 4.50 4.50 4.50 105.00 107.00 107.00 107.00 18.54 18.54 18.20 18.54 2402.00 2410.00 2344.00 2344.00 0.590 0.600 0.580 0.600 1.150 1.150 1.110 1.120 32.00 32.45 31.75 31.95 68.00 68.95 67.90 68.55 5.65 5.74 5.53 5.61 6.27 6.85 6.27 6.66 0.49 0.50 0.49 0.50 3.5 3.64 3.51 3.53 2.500 2.790 2.560 2.690 MINING & OIL 0.0058 0.0058 0.0056 0.0057 2.25 2.40 2.40 2.40 4.90 5.08 4.90 5.04 0.180 0.200 0.186 0.190 0.73 0.71 0.7 0.7 0.63 0.64 0.64 0.64 5.90 5.90 5.87 5.88 1.13 1.14 1.08 1.09 0.290 0.290 0.285 0.285 0.184 0.184 0.181 0.184 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.012 0.011 0.011 0.011 1.94 2.03 1.94 2 7.38 7.6 7.38 7.41 3.01 3.05 2.95 3.01 0.5100 0.5300 0.5000 0.5100 1.2700 1.3300 1.2800 1.2800 0.0085 0.0090 0.0090 0.0090 3.78 3.86 3.78 3.78 4.97 5.030 4.970 4.98 1.38 1.440 1.350 1.37 0.0099 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 137.50 139.00 137.00 137.50 2.4 2.41 2.33 2.34 PREFERRED 60 59.95 59.95 59.95 528 530 528 530 526.5 526.5 526.5 526.5 118.1 110.6 110.6 110.6 535 520 520 520 6.11 6.25 6.23 6.25 1.07 1.07 1.07 1.07 1045 1050 1045 1050 1100 1100 1100 1100 1016 1018 1018 1018 80 80 80 80 80.75 81.25 81 81.25 WARRANTS & BONDS 3.160 3.400 3.150 3.400 SME 3.3 3.42 3.23 3.41 56 55.95 50 54.85 11.1 11.28 11 11 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 115 116 115.2 116

T op g ainerS VALUE 817,870,902.52 60,112,571,377.69 1,462,205,939.288 1,336,661,881.16 1,092,814,349.9384 184,729,610.055 65,012,537,054.1484

Low

-4,534,230.00 -120,600.00 -416,500.00 65,606.00 -136,950.00 8,311,130.00 -47,373,870.00 5,706.00 2,258,840.00 -4,387,280.00 47,733,525.00 -118,898,428.00 8,350.00 -6,144,328.00 3,700.00 17,992,367.50 -141,968,690.00 -72,000.00 15,308,467.50 -67,880.00 8,820.00 3,473,255.00

-25,344,150.00 0.00 -402,590.00 -56,983,230.00 -294,430.00 -18,414,985.00 4,275,734.00 28,000.00 -8,245,704.00 -2,005,000.00 289,540.00

-452,017.50

550,000.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

Mabuhay Vinyl

2.17

14.21

Phil. Tob. Flue Cur & Redry

19.02

-9.43

First Gen Corp.

23.7

7.73

IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

0.010

-9.09

Yehey

2.690

7.60

Manila Mining `B'

0.011

-8.33

LR Warrant

3.400

7.59

First Gen F

110.6

-6.35

Apex `A'

2.40

6.67

Alliance Tuna Intl Inc.

0.91

-5.21

Roxas and Co.

2.5

6.38

Calata Corp.

3.62

-4.74

SSI Group

6.66

6.22

NOW Corp.

0.420

-4.55

Suntrust Home Dev. Inc.

0.690

6.15

Century Peak Metals Hldgs

0.7

-4.11

Filinvest Land,Inc.

1.79

5.92

Manila Broadcasting

35.00

-4.11

Oriental Pet. `A'

0.0090

5.88

San Miguel Corp `A'

45.20

-3.73

WEDNESDAY: SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

B3

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

Zest-O to build plant in Indonesia

Alliance Global investing P96.7b

By Othel V. Campos

By Jenniffer B. Austria

BEVERAGE producer Zest-O Corp. will build a manufacturing facility in Indonesia, the company’s founder and top executive said Tuesday.

Zest-O founder and president Alfredo Yao said the company, a division of Asiawide Refreshments Corp., was set to sign a joint venture agreement with an Indonesian partner this week to set up a beverage manufacturing plant in Southeast Asia’s largest economy.

Yao, the current president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said his company had finalized negotiations for the joint venture with a listed Indonesian company.

“After this, we will build the factory that will produce two lines of beverages, initially.

Right now, we’re still exporting and distributing Zest-O products in Indonesia,” Yao said at the sidelines of the signing of a memorandum of agreement between PCCI and the German-Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Fort Bonifacio in Taguig.

Yao said he was set to fly to Indonesia within the week to seal the agreement.

He said Zest-O saw the wisdom of setting up a dedicated manufacturing plant in Indonesia because of the difficulty of exporting the product abroad due the “costly logistics of moving a low-value product.”

He said the joint venture company that would be created would manufacture Zest-O juices and a local Indonesian beverage brand.

Zest-O’s joint venture partner is a beverage and dairy company listed at the Bursa Efek Jakarta or the Jakarta Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, Yao said the company’s ongoing expansion in the US was on track after a subsidiary of US beverage firm Cott Corp. agreed to team up with the Philippines’ leading beverage producer.

Cott’s brands include Cott, RC, Ben Shaws, Stars & Stripes,Vintage and Vess soft drinks, ready-to-drink teas, sparkling and flavored waters, sports and energy drinks, juice drinks and smoothies.

Yao’s conglomerate includes Zest-O Corp., Asiawide Refreshments Corp., Solmac Marketing, Inc., Philippine Business Bank, Zest Airways Inc. and Pharma-Rex Inc. Yao said that all companies under the Yao Group would continue to expand in 2015.

ALLIANCE Global Group Inc., the holding company of tycoon Andrew Tan, is investing P96.7 billion this year to expand its property, liquor, resort and food businesses.

AGI executive director Kingson Sian said during the annual stockholders meeting the conglomerate allocated P65 billion in capital expenditures for property arm Megaworld Corp., P21 billion for liquor company Emperador Inc., P8 billion for casino and resort developer Travellers International Hotel Group Inc. and P2.7 billion for quick service restaurant unit Golden Arches Development Corp.

Sian said the conglomerate would primarily use internal fund to finance this year’s capital expenditures.

Sian said Megaworld’s reservation sales were on track to hit P90 billion to P95 billion in reservation sales this year, up from P85 billion posted in 2014.

“We are on slightly ahead of the reservation sales target because first-half reservation sales stood at P48 billion,” Sian said.

Travellers aims to have 5,000 hotel rooms by 2020, including 4,200 at Resorts World Manila and 800 in the planned Westside City Resorts World at Pagcor Entertainment City in Parañaque.

Sian said phase 1 of Westside City Resorts World was expected to be completed by 2018 to 2019.

Sian said Emperador would launch next month Andy Player whiskey, a personal blend of Tan, after a 25 year-absence in the Philippine market. A 500-ml bottle of Andy Player will be priced at P150.

Golden Arches, the local franchise holder of fast-food chain McDonalds, will likely miss the 500 stores target by the end of 2015 due to construction delays, according to Sian.

“We will likely end the year with about 480 stores, but will achieve the 500 stores target by the first half of 2016,” Sian said. As of end June 2015, there were 464 McDonalds stores nationwide.

About 60 percent of McDonalds outlets are company-owned while the remaining 40 percent are franchise stores.

Tan said he remained confident about the prospects for the company amid challenges.

“We look forward with utmost confidence and optimism that the years ahead will bring us to a new level of growth on a global scale.

We are leveraging on a significant measure of success to pursue greater goals, made more reassuring by a highly consumer-centric portfolio, contributing to the country’s economy,” Tan said.

DBP loan. The Development Bank of the Philippines approves a P271-million loan for the construction of the 1.5-megawatt Tubao mini-hydro power project in the municipality of Tubao, La Union. The project consists of the construction and operation of a run-of-river type hydropower plant at the Galiano River, a tributary of the Aringay River. Shown during the signing ceremony are (seated, from left) DBP president and chief executive Gil Buenaventura, DBP chairman Jose Nuñez Jr., former energy secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla, Tubao mayor Jonalyn Fontanilla and Tubao MiniHydro Electric Corp. president and chief executive Rafael Valdez.

Market extends gains; Security Bank, EDC climb STOCKS rose for the third day, as investors continued to look for bargains ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting later this week.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, gained 19 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 7,089.01 Tuesday.

The heavier index, representing all shares, also advanced 15 points, or 0.4 percent, to settle at 4,040.62 on a value turnover of P65 billion.

Gainers outnumbered losers, 89 to 72, while 36 issues were unchanged.

Banks led gainers Tuesday. Security Bank Corp. jumped 5.1 percent to P145, while Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. climbed 3 percent to P85. BDO Unibank Inc. advanced 1.3 percent to P98.50.

Geothermal power producer Energy Development Corp. rose 4.7 percent to P5.75. Property developer Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. picked up 4.6 percent to P5.44, while Megaworld Corp. added 4 percent to close at P4.42.

Meanwhile, Asian shares mostly slipped Tuesday as China’s economic woes keep investors on edge, while Japan’s Nikkei retreated and the yen ticked higher after the country’s central bank held off fresh measures to shore up its torpid economy.

While the China-fueled volatility that has characterized much of the past month’s trading has eased off, much of the morning’s confidence waned as investors turn their attention to Thursday’s crucial US interest rate decision.

Most of the emerging currencies that rallied in the morning were weaker in the afternoon. And the Australian dollar, given a boost by news the popular Malcolm Turnbull would replace Tony Abbott as prime minister, relinquished initial gains.

While the Bank of Japan was widely expected not to expand its giant stimulus Tuesday, there was a sense of disappointment after its announcement in which it said the economy “has continued to recover moderately”.

However, it did indicate “exports and production are affected by the slowdown in emerging economies” and analysts said further monetary easing measures were still likely to come.

Marcel Thieliant of Capital Eco-

nomics said in a client note: “The Bank of Japan’s more cautious assessment of economic conditions suggests that policymakers will announce additional monetary stimulus before too long.”

Despite more than two years of massive government spending and central bank monetary easing, Japan’s leaders are struggling to kickstart growth in the world’s number three economy with a hoped-for inflation surge also failing.

The tepid outlook comes against a backdrop of global turmoil in the wake of China’s yuan devaluation last month.

Dealers will be watching to see what bank governor Haruhiko Kuroda has to say at a news conference later in the day about its plans for the future. With AFP

B4 New PTAA headquarters.

Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez (second from left) and Philippine Airlines president and chief operating officer Jaime Bautista (left) lead the inauguration of the new headquarters of the Philippine Travel Agencies Association in Mandaluyong City.

With them during the rites are (from center) Michelle Victoria, president of PTAA and general manager of Golden Eagle Travel and Tours Inc.; Menchie Abalos, wife of Mandaluyong City Mayor Benjamin Abalos; and Maria Luisa Gomez, PTAA vie president for inbound. The new offices will also serve as the training venue for aspiring members of the association.

Hybrid rice firm plans to raise P1b

By Jenniffer B. Austria HYBRID rice producer SL Agritech Corp. plans to raise as much as P1 billion through the issuance of commercial papers.

Philippine Rating Services Corp. said it gave a rating of PRS Aa to the proposed issue of commercial papers by SL Agritech, which means the company has a strong capacity to meet its financial commitments relative to that of other Philippine corporates.

In arriving at the rating, PhilRatings said it considered the company’s good market position, despite a relatively short track record in terms of operations, strong core revenue generation and the positive prospects for the hybrid rice industry.

PhilRatings noted the company’s relatively short track record of operations.

“Except in 2011, when the company booked a substantial increase in sales returns (+192.8 percent), SLAC exhibited strong revenue generation from core operations for the period 20102014,” PhilRating said.

SL Agritech registered a compounded annual growth rate of 8.2 percent in net sales in the past five years.

Profit margins had likewise been on an upward trend since 2011 while, costs were kept at manageable levels.

SL Agritech posted a record net income of P254.4 million in the fiscal year ending May 31, 2015, up 27 percent from a year ago, while total revenues grew 48 percent to P2.1 billion PhilRatings expects the revenues of SL Agritech to remain robust with the expected growth to come from the strong performance of production of hybrid rice sees and premium rice.

SL Agritech registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a corporation in September 2000.

Its premium rice products are currently offered under two brands, namely Doña Maria and Cherry Blossom. Each brand targets a specific market segment. The company’s rice products are available through retail stores, wholesalers and dealers nationwide.

Trade assures no Apec disruptions

By Othel V. Campos

THE Trade Department on Wednesday assured the nation that no disruption will occur during the last few meetings of the Asia Pacific Economic Conference being hosted by the Philippines, after the country’s chief official and Apec point man Trade secretary Gregory Domingo resigned from his post.

“All the major work in Apec has been worked out already. Except for the women and micro, small and medium enterprises summit this week and next, the last major event in November is fully accounted for,” Trade Undersecretary Ponciano Manalo told reporters Tuesday at the sidelines of an awarding ceremony at the Midas Hotel in Pasay City.

The concluding event on Apec Economic Leader’s meeting is set on November 18 to 19, 2015.

Manalo read Domingo’s speech after the trade secretary excused himself from the event because of a sudden attack of gout the previous night.

Domingo still has a number of events to attend to but his coofficials could not say if he would

remain a “no-show” until his resignation took effect.

Manalo said Domingo, who tendered his resignation last week, cannot officially leave office pending the approval of President Benigno Aquino III of his request to resign.

“There will be no vacuum. The secretary continues minding his job at the department since, according to news, his resignation is due next month. But he still needs to discuss that with the President,” Manalo said.

Domingo said in his resignation letter that he was tired of working in the government for several years.

Domingo said in a text message President Aquino informed that many Cabinet members thought he should “stay on until Apec.”

He said he was still open to

adjusting the date of the effectivity of his resignation and would soon discuss the issue with President Aquino.

President Aquino has asked Domingo to stay on until the end of the year and finish the Apec meetings in the country.

“Well, actually, Secretary Domingo has informed me earlier that he wanted to go back to the private sector. We will be talking sometime this week. He has submitted his resignation letter but the date of effectivity is not yet confirmed,” said Aquino during a media interview Monday at the Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo City.

“He might finish the APEC [meetings] until the end of the year. But, again, we will talk this week. I have asked his recommendation on who will replace him,” said Aquino.

BSP: July remittances nearly flat due to weak peso

By Julito G. Rada GROWTH of remittances from migrant Filipino workers in July slowed to a six-month low of 0.5 percent to $2.078 billion from $2.068 billion a year ago because of the US dollar’s strength against other currencies, data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas on Tuesday show.

It was the slowest growth since the 0.5 percent expansion in January this year.

The July figure brought cash remittances in the first seven months to $14.16 billion, or 4.8 percent higher than $13.5 billion posted in the same period last year. The bulk of cash remittances were secured from the United States, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United King-

dom, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong and Canada.

Growth of personal remittances, which include non-cash items, also slowed to a six-month low of 0.5 percent to $2.29 billion from $2.28 billion a year ago. It was the weakest level since the 0.2 percent expansion in January this year.

Personal remittances in the first seven months rose 4.6 percent to $15.67 billion from $14.99 billion on year.

“Personal remittances from land-based workers with work contracts of one year or more grew by 5.4 percent while those from sea-based and land-based workers with work contracts of less than a year rose by 2.9 percent,” Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. said in a statement.

“This is partly due to the depreciation of currencies in their host countries against the US dollar, which reduced the dollar equivalent of their remittances,” Espenilla said.

Espenilla said the continued demand for overseas Filipino workers remained the key driver of sustained remittance inflows.

Preliminary reports from the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration showed that total job orders reached 526,345, of which 38.7 percent were processed, intended mainly for service, production and professional, technical and related workers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Taiwan and the UAE. The efforts of banks and non-bank remittance service

providers to expand their international and domestic market coverage through their network of remittance business partners worldwide provided support to the steady remittance f lows.

As of end-June 2015, commercial banks’ established tieups, remittance centers, correspondent banks and branches/ representative offices abroad reached 5,541 from 4,675 a year ago.

Remittances fuel private consumption and one of the backbones of economic growth. Cash remittances in 2014 posted a record $24.308 billion, 5.8-percent higher than $22.968 billion in 2013. They also accounted for 8.5 percent of gross domestic product in 2014.

W E D N E S D AY : S E P T E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 1 5

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

The Juan Tamads of government

FILIPINOS who have had the same infuriating experience as Marge Caparas, president of a non-government organization called the Community of Filipino Teachers Inc., are circulating the photo of Alejandro San Juan, assessment division chief of the Bureau of Internal Revenue-Pasig office, where it appeared he was taking a nap on his chair while a young female personnel seemed to be plucking (white) hair from his head.

Caparas, who posted the said photo on her Facebook page, went to the BIR-Pasig office early on September 10 to have some documents processed and was dismayed to find out that the people whose signatures were needed usually arrive late or worse, go on extended birthday leaves.

In her very detailed account, Caparas related the frustration she felt when, after being made to wait and then passed on to the assessment division, she was told that the person in charge—“usually” arrives after lunch. San Juan did get to work by noon (the BIR is supposed to have a “No Lunch Break” policy to make sure that public service should be continuous) but instead of getting down to work, he supposedly took his own sweet time settling down, then decided to take it easy, lolled back on his chair and got a female employee to pluck out his hair. What, the BIR office is also a beauty salon and the junior personnel are attendants?

Worse, the other person whose signature was needed, a certain Ms. Ethel (could be Revenue Officer II Etheline Villareal) had been on birthday leave since Monday. And since there is no one else who can sign for the documents Caparas needed, she just has to wait until the absent Ms. Ethel decides to show up. Meantime, work stops. Things like this make us suspect that this is one of the reasons why the BIR comes out with funny memo circulars telling people that if they receive no word on their application (for refunds for example), after a certain period of time, their application is deemed denied.

Convenient, isn’t it, since these government employees whose salaries are paid for by us taxpayers, can just continue in their merry ways, arriving late for work, sit on the documents—and we’d all be none the wiser.

The issue about San Juan has since reached the ear of BIR chief Kim Henares who sent an investigation team—but of course some of San Juan’s underlings came to his rescue, claiming that he wasn’t feeling well that day and had a migraine. So? Was it part of the young female employee’s job to relieve him of his migraine by plucking out his hair or massaging his head? Why didn’t he just go on extended leave like his colleague and spare taxpayers the frustration of seeing such a lethargic kind of service?

But then again, it’s not only in the BIR where we see Juan Tamads in government. They’re still as ubiquitous--in hospitals, LGUs, GFCs, GOCCs and other public offices. Even if they clock in at 8:00 a.m., they spend the good part of an hour taking breakfast, putting on makeup (the women) or talking bull (the men), before they start looking on the papers on their desks, doing everything in slow motion, every now and then looking at something on their cell (texting or maybe even checking the latest news feed on FB), oblivious to the growing irritation of the people waiting to be served.

A call has been issued at Trending Pinoy Videos (http:// trendingpinoyvideos.com/junk-lazy-bir-employees-an-open-letter-to-themasses/) for “a nationwide surprise audit of all government offices. And by this, we do not mean it being done by the embattled Commission on Audit. A significant fraction of the Filipino population has grown weary of the rusty system that is referred to as the Republic of the Philippines. It is about time to weed out the parasites in the government so that a new breed of leadership can take charge. Every individual who is regarded as the ‘boss’ of this administration has the capability to air out their disappointment on the dismally poor performance of a number of government employees. To set the record straight, we are not jumping into hasty generalizations.

We are calling for a revamp of personnel—a dismissal of those purposely abandoning their duties and responsibilities. The masses should have a say on who to retain and who to let go since the taxes they pay are the ones that feed these lazy employees. As if the stringent paperwork required so as to process a government issued document is not tiring enough for a client, some employees opt to prolong their bosses burden by making them wait longer than the usual, the group said.

These Juan Tamads of government should know better. Taxpayers are now armed with smartphones and other gadgets that can capture or record their misdeeds and have the same uploaded on social media networks—where it will go viral and they end up being the talk of the town. Let’sb see what the BIR investigation team will come out with.

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

B5

BSP may not follow Fed move—Tetangco

By Julito G. Rada

THE Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas does not see the need to follow the actions of the US Federal Reserve if the US central bank decides to pursue monetary policy tightening this month, Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said.

“You may ask will the BSP follow the Fed’s cue in terms of the timing and magnitude of the lift-off?... My answer, not necessarily,” Tetangco said in a recent speech.

“We won’t have to sing the same tune, but we will certainly have to sing in harmony,” Tetangco said.

He said the bank regulator was not about to reverse the course of actions it implemented last year, when it embarked on a series of monetary tightening actions.

“Fortunately, the economy was growing robustly then, and therefore there was no need to provide

any monetary stimulus. In other words, it was our assessment that the economy could withstand some tightening in financial conditions at that time,” he said.

“You will recall that in our communication then, we further indicated that the moves were also motivated by the anticipation of Fed normalization.

It was pre-emptive monetary tightening in order to help guide the domestic markets and break any tendency to under value/appreciate risks. Our concern was that an acute/unabated undervaluation of risks would create financial stability

pressures, particularly in the real asset markets,” he said.

The policy-setting Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral in March and May last year raised the banks’ reserve requirement ratios by one percentage point each to address the issue of excess liquidity in the financial system.

The board in June increased by 25 basis points the interest rates on the special deposit accounts to 2.25 percent from 2 percent across all tenors for the same purpose.

On Sept. 11, SDA rates were again increased by 25 basis points to 2.5 percent across all tenors.

The board also increased for the second time last year the key policy rates by another 25 basis to 4 percent for overnight borrowing and 6 percent for overnight lending.

The first 25-basis-point increase to 3.75 percent for overnight borrowing and 5.75 percent for overnight lending was done on July 31, 2014.

Quick claims settlement. Housewives and eight other fire victims in Barangay 65 in Pasay City receive benefits from Cebuana Lhuillier Insurance Solutions’ Alagang Cebuana Plus, a micro-insurance that gives as much as P20,000 in accidental death or dismemberment coverage and P5,000 in fire assistance. Alagang Cebuana Plus provides a four-month insurance coverage to members for a contribution of just P25. Emelita Galvez (third from left), Mary Jane Huit, Vanessa Cachero and Marivic Salvidar (starting fourth from left) welcome the financial aid provided by underwriter Pioneer and Cebuana Lhuillier.

Expert says new banknotes superior FINANCIAL authorities should not just replace the old banknotes in circulation. They should also issue new coins whose security features have been upgraded to protect a country’s currency against counterfeiters, according to Jeff Hanke, international sales director of worldrenowned Royal Canadian Mint.

Hanke, who recently visited the Philippines as part of his Asian tour, commended the move of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas to demonetize the old banknotes by January next year. This will result in the use of the new generation currency banknotes introduced in December 2010 as the single currency series in the country, he said.

Hanke said after successfully demonetizing banknotes, the monetary authority could consider issuing a new series of coins that would symbolize the Philippines’ robust economic growth.

He said “being able to prevent fraud is crucial to the integrity of a country’s currency system.”

This is the reason, he said, why a growing list of countries replaced their old alloy coins with multi-ply plated steel coins. To date, aside from the RCM, there are two other world-leading coin blank manufacturers which also actively serve central banks with multi-ply coins.

Using a technology that RCM invented, multi-ply double annealed coins have a steel core over which are electroplated three layers of metals--nickel over copper over

nickel for silver-colored coins, and brass over copper over nickel for gold-colored ones, Hanke said.

Singapore has just joined Canada, New Zealand and many countries around the world that have been using MPPS. Because of its distinct feature that produces a unique electro-magnetic signatures, Singapore is closely working with coin operated machine manufacturers as the MPPS has electro-magnetic profiles that allow vending machines to detect counterfeit coins.

About 34 nations use multi-ply plated steel for their coinage. Indonesia is also now using multi-ply coins. This, according to Hanke, validated RCM’s finding that these coins last long in the tropics.

“RCM’s multi-ply technology also allows the thickness of each alternating metal layer to be controlled to conform to a sequence which is customized to a specific denomination in a specific country,” Hanke said.

WEDNESDAY: SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

B6

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

New Davao coal plant opens

By Alena Mae S. Flores

A 150-MEGAWATT coal power plant built

by Aboitiz Power Corp. in Davao City is now ready for full commercial operations, becoming the first power facility to open in Mindanao in a decade that will help ease the electricity shortage in the region.

Companies want peace.

Representatives from various companies, Philippine Business for Social Progress and development agencies met with Moro Islamic Liberation Front chairman Al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim (front row, center) at Camp Darapanan in Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao. The business community expressed willingness to bring investments into the Bangsamoro Region and provide income and livelihood opportunities.

Manila

Standard

TODAY

San Miguel unit set to sue PSALM

Republic of the Philippines PROVINCE OF MARINDUQUE Marinduque Provincial Government Capitol Compound, Boac, Marinduque Invitation to Bid Public Bidding

Furnishing design and build, labor, materials & equipment for the improvement of Old Capitol Building/ Improvement of Roofing & SP Office-Old Session Hall, Capitol Compound, Santol, Boac, Marinduque. The Marinduque Provincial Government, through the General Fund intends to apply the sum of Six Million Nine Hundred Sixty One Thousand Seventy Seven Pesos & 48/100 Only (Php 6,961,077.48) being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Furnishing design and build, labor, materials & equipment for the improvement of Old Capitol Building/Improvement of Roofing & SP Office-Old Session Hall, Capitol Compound, Santol, Boac, Marinduque as shown in the table below. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

Contract Source of Province ABC Description Duration Fund

Marinduque

1.

General Fund

Php 6,961,077.48

Furnishing design and build, labor, materials & equipment for the improvement of Old Capitol Building/ Improvement of Roofing & SP OfficeOld Session Hall, Capitol Compound, Santol, Boac, Marinduque

150 Calendar Days

The Marinduque Provincial Government now invites bids for Furnishing design and build, labor, materials & equipment for the improvement of Old Capitol Building/Improvement of Roofing & SP Office-Old Session Hall, Capitol Compound, Santol, Boac, Marinduque in the province of Marinduque. Bidders should comply with the applicable provisions of Rule VIII Section 23-24 of the Revised IRR of R.A. 9184. A modified set of requirements integrating eligibility documents and criteria for infrastructure projects and consulting services should be adopted in accordance with Annex G. The project requirements include preliminary information/studies for design and construction. The project components include pre-detailed design, detailed design and construction.

The Design and Build Contractor must have completed similar projects in the amount of at least 50% of the proposed project in the last ten (10) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids and must have the network and resources in place to mobilize the contemplated Design and Build Services. For the Pre-Detailed Design and Detailed Design portion of the contract, the bidder is required to hire the minimum number of people (Project Coordinator, Architect, Civil/Structural Engineer, Professional/Registered Electrical Engineer, Professional/ Registered Mechanical Engineer, and Sanitary Engineer and CADD Operators). The bidder is recommended to prioritize the hiring of locally-based architects, engineers, and CADD Operators (draftsmen) especially if such have had experience and training in projects and design.

Completion of the Works required are shown in the table above. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instruction to Bidders.

2.

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

Bidding is restricted to Filipino citizens/sole proprietorships, partnerships, or organizations with at least seventy five percent (75%) interest or outstanding capital stock belonging to citizens of the Philippines.

3.

If the bidder has no experience in design and build projects on its own it may enter into partnerships or joint venture with design or engineering firms for the design portion of the contract.

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from Bids and Awards Committee and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below from Monday to Friday 8:00 a.m.-12:00 noon, 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

5.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be purchased by interested Bidders from September 16 to October 05, 2015 during office hours until before deadline of submission of bids as stated in item 7 hereof, from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee of Php10,000.00.

6.

The Marinduque Provincial Government will hold a Pre – Bid Conference on September 23, 2015, 10:00 a.m. at the BAC Office, Capitol Compound, Boac, Marinduque which shall be open to all interested parties.

7.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before October 05, 2015 , 10:00am at the BAC Office, Capitol Compound, Boac, Marinduque. All bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the following acceptable forms and in the amount stated in Rule VIII Sec. 27.2 of IRR RA 9184.

Bids will be opened in the presence of the bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

8.

Interested Bidders shall submit a Certified True Copy of Valid PCAB License for this project having the Category applicable for the contract specified.

Interested Bidders shall submit an Original / Certified True Copy of valid licenses issued by the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC) for design professionals, IAPOA No. for Architect/s, and Updated Professional Tax Receipts (PTR) of each professional.

9.

The Marinduque Provincial Government reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

10.

For further information, please refer to: EUFROCINA N. RAMENTO (BAC Secretariat Head) Tel. # (042) 332-1498, Provincial General Services Office, Capitol Compound, Boac, Marinduque.

(TS-SEPT. 16, 2015)

(SGD) ALMA C. TIMTIMAN BAC Vice Chairman

SMC Global Power Holdings Corp., a unit of conglomerate San Miguel Corp., said Tuesday it will file a case against state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. for terminating the contract to manage the output of one of the country’s largest power plants.

“We will sue PSALM management. We will pursue them until we get the justice in their harassment, on grounds that they did not honor that we won the bidding,” SMC Global chairman Ramon Ang told reporters.

PSALM, the agency in charge of privatizing the assets of National Power Corp., earlier terminated the independent power producer contract of San Miguel unit South Premiere Power Corp. for the 1,200-megawatt Ilijan power plant in Batangas.

Ang said PSALM’s action of abruptly terminating South Premiere’s contract was imbued with malice.

“It’s intentional breach of contract. After paying them P180 billion, they will just get the plant? They did this all of sudden…to prevent us from joining the other bids of PSALM,” Ang said.

South Premiere offered a bid of $870-million to manage the output of the Ilijan plant in 2010.

South Premiere also paid a total of P36 billion in fixed monthly payments as of end August and P144 billion as variable monthly generation payments.

Around P12 billion is under bonafide dispute by South Premiere due to differing contract interpretation but only P6 billion remains unresolved.

“They are insisting that we pay the P6 billion and in the middle of erroneous claim, they cancelled our contract,” Ang said.

Ang said PSALM chairman Cesar Purisima had informed him that “he will look into” the matter and said that he was not aware of the cancellation. PSALM also drew on SMC Global’s $60 million bond as a result of the alleged unpaid fees, he said.

Ang said PSALM’s actions constituted an “injustice” and that SMC Global was prepared to take the agency to court as its action constituted “economic sabotage” and affected SMC Global’s planned initial public offering.

“The new management of PSALM does not know how to honor contract,” Ang said.

South Premiere was granted a 17-day additional temporary restraining order by the Mandaluyong regional trial court that allowed the company to continue to trade the capacities of the Ilijan plant.

Alena Mae S. Flores

Aboitiz Power said in a statement Tuesday the first unit of the coal power project built by subsidiary Therma South Inc. was now fully operational, delivering 150 megawatts to Mindanao.

Aboitiz Power said the first of the two 150-MW units of the power project would begin delivering electricity on Sept. 18 to more than 20 customers, including electric cooperatives and distribution utilities all over Mindanao. “We have informed our customers and our stakeholders that we are now officially in commercial operations and supplying CYAN MAGENTA YELL Mindanao with reliable and costeffective baseload power,” Therma South president and chief operating officer Benjamin Cariaso Jr. said.

“We are here not only to help Mindanao solve the current power crisis. The Aboitiz group is committed to helping Mindanao sustain its economic growth and fulfill its potential,” Cariaso said.

The second 150-MW unit is scheduled for commercial operations in early 2016, he said.

The power plant started construction in 2012 and, at its peak, employed more than 4,500 workers, mostly from ihost communities. It is the first major power plant added to the Mindanao grid since 2006, according to Aboitiz Power.

The power plant also features the first “coal dome” in Southeast Asia – a modern coal storage facility that will ensure security of the fuel and safety and well-being of the surrounding areas.

The power plant will utilize circulating fluidized bed technology to ensure it meets government standards on health, safety and protection of the environment while operating in an efficient and cost-effective manner.

The power plant will supply power to major cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, General Santos, Butuan, Kidapawan Cotabato and Tagum.

It will also serve the provinces of Davao, Caraga, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, parts of Bukidnon, parts of Misamis and parts of Zamboanga peninsula.

Aboitiz Power president and chief operating officer Antonio Moraza earlier said unit 2 was expected to start commercial operations early next year.

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WORLD

cesar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Search on for resistant grape LIERGUES, France— Amid the bustle of a busy harvest in France’s famed Beaujolais winemaking region, a quiet effort is underway to counter one of the industry’s biggest potential threats: climate change.

As seasonal pickers set up their tents and tractors cart away bulging crates of grapes, scientists scrutinize a plot of land set aside to cultivate experimental varieties of the fruit.

Their aim is to see which types fared best during what has been an exceptionally dry year in France, which is expected to cut grape output by a quarter in this region known worldwide for its lightbodied wines like Brouilly, Morgon and Julienas.

“The ones with yellow leaves, which are missing foliage at the base of the vine’s main stem, the ones with withered grapes, we don’t want them,” said Jean-Michel Desperrier of the Beaujolais winemakers’ research center Sicarex.

He oversaw a team of experts carefully picking, weighing and sorting small bunches of grapes that could hold a key to helping protect France’s multi-billion dollar wine industry in years to come.

Since the 2003 heatwave—Europe’s hottest summer since reliable records began—winemakers have become acutely aware of climate change and its impacts on their work.

The summer of 2015 has been one more reminder, with France seeing its third-hottest July since 1900 and getting less than half the usual amount of rain.

France’s mid-summer heatwave led to grapes in Beaujolais ripening more quickly and thus the harvest, which kicked off on Aug. 24, started a full month earlier than two years ago.

For the moment, “warming has had positive effects on northern wineries like ours. It creates a prettier grape that is more mature” because it is less exposed to humidity-related diseases like mildew, said Bertrand Chatelet, director of Sicarex. AFP

B7

Australia swears in new Prime Minister Turnbull CANBERR A—Multimillionaire former banker Malcolm Turnbull was sworn in as prime minister of Australia on Tuesday, just hours after masterminding a coup against conservative leader Tony Abbott, and pledging a new style of leadership.

Turnbull is the country’s fourth prime minister in just over two years, a recent Australian political tradition the deposed Abbott slammed as a “revolving door” that was not good for

the country.

“This is the most exciting time to be an Australian,” Turnbull told reporters in the capital before taking the oath.

“This is a turn of events I did not expect, I have to tell you, but it’s one that I’m privileged to undertake, and one that I’m certainly up to.”

Turnbull, a suave former lawyer, has pledged to run a consultative government, in contrast to Abbott’s divisive rule.

“My firm belief is that to be a successful leader in 2015, perhaps at any time, you have to be able to bring people with you by respecting their intelligence in the manner you explain things,” he said Monday. “We need advocacy, not slogans.”

Abbott lashed out at the savage na-

ture of modern politics after his sudden toppling by his long-time Liberal Party colleague and rival -- who served as communications minister before making the challenge.

“The nature of politics has changed in the past decade. We have more polls and more commentary than ever before, mostly sour, bitter character assassination,” Abbott told a farewell press conference.

He won power in a general election victory in September 2013 but his first budget, with its harsh cuts to health and education, proved highly unpopular.

Abbott survived a leadership challenge in February after poor polling and a series of gaffes ignited a backbench revolt.

But he failed to turn around the polls, bolster the economy or stop damaging internal leaks, and lost the support of his party.

The new leader, with strong support from influential foreign minister Julie Bishop who the party re-elected as deputy leader with a 70-30 vote in her favor, is expected to shake up the cabinet later this week.

He is thought likely to sweep out traditional conservatives and bring in younger blood and more women.

Turnbull, whose successful career has included stints as a barrister and an entrepreneur, ruled out an early national election to cement his leadership.

He said over the coming weeks and months he would set out his economic policy, but gave no details. AFP

‘Red tourism.’ This

picture taken on Sept.

4, 2015, shows Chinese tourists as they walk in central St. Petersburg.

Drawn by its Communist past and a visa-free regime, Chinese tourists are flocking to Russia in droves as it develops new routes touting “red tourism”. AFP

INVITATION TO BID FOR THE SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF VARIOUS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT 1.

The National Transmission Corporation (TransCo), through the 2015 Corporate Budget approved by the TransCo Board intends to apply the sum of PhP 5,225,000.00 being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF VARIOUS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT Reference No. PB150907RM23. Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

Transco now invites bids for the SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF VARIOUS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY EQUIPMENT. Delivery of the Goods is required for the period of Thirty (30) days. Bidders should have completed, within the last five (5) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

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

Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE

Roxas Boulevard Corner Pablo Ocampo, Sr. Street Manila 1004

InvItatIon to BId for the SUPPLY, deLIverY, InStaLLatIon and ConfIGUratIon of varIoUS It eQUIPMent 1.

The DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE (DOF), through the Government of the Philippines under the General Appropriations Act for CY 2015, intends to apply the sum of Five Million One Hundred Five Thousand Five Hundred Pesos (PhP 5,105,500.00), being the Approved Budget for the Contract (ABC) to payments under the contract for the Supply, Delivery, Installation and Configuration of Various IT Equipment (the “Project”).

Bids received in excess of the ABC shall be automatically rejected at bid opening.

2.

The DOF, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), now invites Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) registered contractors to apply for eligibility and to bid for the Supply, Delivery, Installation and Configuration of Various IT Equipment. Bidders should have completed, within three (3) years from the date of submission and receipt of bids, a contract similar to the Project which is equivalent to at least fifty percent (50%) of the ABC for the Project. The description of an eligible bidder is contained in the Bidding Documents, particularly, in Section II. Instructions to Bidders.

3.

Bidding will be conducted through open competitive bidding procedures using a non-discretionary “pass/ fail” criterion as specified in the Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (R-IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 9184, otherwise known as the “Government Procurement Reform Act”. However, only those who have purchased the Bidding Documents shall be allowed to participate in the pre-bid conference and raise or submit written queries or clarifications.

4.

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

5.

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

4.

Interested bidders may obtain further information from the BAC Secretariat and inspect the Bidding Documents at 7th Floor EDPC Building, BSP Complex, corner Pablo Ocampo, Sr. St. Roxas Boulevard, Manila starting September 15, 2015 during office hours.

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on September 16 to October 7, 2015 from the address below and upon payment of a non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents, pursuant to the latest Guidelines issued by GPPB, in the amount of Ten Thousand Pesos (PhP10,000.00)] (Inclusive of Tax).

A complete set of Bidding Documents may be acquired by interested Bidders on September 15, 2015 at the General Services Division, 7th Floor EDPC Building, BSP Complex, corner Pablo Ocampo Sr. St., Roxas Blvd., Manila upon payment of a non-refundable fee provided as follows: Lot No. 1 2 3

Particulars Computer, workstation, set Colored Printer Laptop

ABC PhP 2,245,500.00 PhP 1,060,000.00 PhP 1,800,000.00

Non-refundable fee PhP 5,000.00 PhP 5,000.00 PhP 5,000.00

It may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) and the website of National Transmission Corporation (www.transco.ph), provided that Bidders shall pay the non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

The Bidding Documents may also be downloaded free of charge from the website of the PhilGEPS and the website of the DOF, provided that the Bidders shall pay the non-refundable fee for the Bidding Documents not later than the submission of their bids.

6.

The schedule of bidding activities is as follows: ACTIVITIES Posting of Invitation to Bid Issuance and Availability of Bid Documents Pre-Bid Conference Request for Clarification Issuance of Supplemental Bid Bulletin Deadline for Submission of Bids Opening of Bids

7.

SCHEDULE September 16, 2015 Starting September 16, 2015 September 23, 2015, 10:00 am September 25, 2015 (by email) September 28, 2015 October 5, 2015, 9:45 am October 5, 2015, 10:00 am

5.

The NATIONAL TRANSMISSION CORPORATION (TRANSCO) will hold a Pre-Bid Conference on September 23, 2015 (Wednesday) /10:00 AM at GSD Conference Room, GSD Conference Room, G/F TransCo Main Building same address below, which shall be open to all interested parties.

6.

Bids must be delivered to the address below on or before October 8, 2015 (Thursday) /10:00 AM. All Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in ITB Clause 18.

Bids must be delivered at the 7th Floor, EDPC Building cor. P. Ocampo Sr. St., Manila on or before October 5, 2015, 9:45 am. The bidders shall drop their duly accomplished eligibility requirements, technical and financial proposals in two (2) separate envelopes in the bid box located at the abovementioned address. All the Bids must be accompanied by a bid security in any of the acceptable forms and in the amount stated in the Instructions to Bid (ITB) Clause 18.

Bid opening shall be on October 8, 2015 (Thursday) /10:00 AM. at GSD Conference Room, G/F TransCo Main Building same address below. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend at the address below. Late bids shall not be accepted.

Bid opening shall be on the date indicated above at the DFG Conference Room, 4th Floor DOF Building. Bids will be opened in the presence of the Bidders’ representatives who choose to attend.

“LATE BIDS SHALL NOT BE ACCEPTED.” 8.

The DOF reserves the right to accept or reject any and all bids, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

9.

For further information, please refer to: Lilia R. Tan, Head - BAC Secretariat Department of Finance BAC Secretariat, General Services Division 7th Floor EDPC Building, BSP Complex P. Ocampo, Sr. Street corner Roxas Boulevard, Manila Telephone No.: 526-8475 Telefax No.: 525-4227 Email Address: ltan@dof.gov.ph (SGD) GIL S. BELTRAN Undersecretary and DOF-BAC Chairman

(TS-SEPT. 16, 2015)

Interested bidders may obtain further information from NATIONAL TRANSMISSION CORPORATION (TRANSCO) and inspect the Bidding Documents at the address given below during working days from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.

7.

The NATIONAL TRANSMISSION CORPORATION reserves the right to accept or reject any bid, to annul the bidding process, and to reject all bids at any time prior to contract award, without thereby incurring any liability to the affected bidder or bidders.

8.

For further information, please refer to: Ms. Rossana F. Paguio BAC Secretariat Manager, General Services Division National Transmission Corporation (Transco) Power Center Complex BIR Road corner Quezon Avenue Diliman, Quezon City Telephone 902-1520 and Fax No. 921-3306 rfpaguio@transco.ph (SGD) ATTY. LEON T. TAPEL, JR. BAC Chairperson

(TS-SEPT. 16, 2015)

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B8 Piracy may return to Somalia, says report NAIROBI—Rampant illegal fishing by foreign trawlers off Somalia’s once pirate-infested coastline is threatening economic gains in the Horn of Africa nation and could push communities back to maritime crime, a report warned Tuesday.

Somalia’s fearsome pirates often justified their attacks because they were unable to compete with foreign fishermen. Piracy peaked in 2011 when 28 vessels were hijacked, but has since dramatically declined due to the use of armed guards on ships and international naval patrols.

But the report by Secure Fisheries, a part of the One Earth Future Foundation campaign group, warned those advances could be reversed if illegal fishing was not stemmed.

Foreign industrial fishing boats have resulted in “depleted stocks, a loss of income for Somalis, and violence against local fishers” the report read, adding “it also has threatened to ignite local support for a return of piracy.”

At their peak in 2011, Somali pirates held over 700 hostages, netting millions of dollars in ransoms and threatening key maritime trade routes, including the southern access to the Red Sea and Suez Canal.

“Illegal fishing was the pretext used by criminal gangs to shift from protectionism to armed robbery and piracy,” said John Steed, Secure Fisheries chief for the Horn of Africa.

“Now the situation is back where it was, with large numbers of foreign vessels fishing in Somali waters again— and there is a real danger of the whole piracy cycle starting all over.”

Foreign boats are hauling in three times more than Somali fishermen—an estimated 132,000 metric tons of fish each year compared to Somalia’s catch of 40,000 metric tons, according to the report, based on multiple interviews and satellite evidence.

“Economically important fish stocks in Somali waters are being fished at unsustainable levels,” the report said, warning that foreign trawlers were “harvesting commercially valuable tuna stocks at maximum capacity, leaving no room for Somalis to profit from their rich marine waters.” AFP

cESAR BARRioquiNTo EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world Hungary shuts border to stem refugee influx ROSZKE, Hungary—Hungary effectively sealed its border with Serbia on Tuesday to stem the massive influx of refugees, as EU ministers failed in an emergency meeting to agree on sharing the migrants around the bloc.

The war goes on. This picture taken on Sept. 14, 2015, shows smoke billowing from the

Syrian rebel-held area of Douma, east of the capital Damascus, following a reported air strike

by Syrian government forces. The besieged area east of Syria’s capital suffered one of its bloodiest months in August, with “intense” regime bombing attacks that killed and wounded hundreds, Doctors Without Borders said. Last month, 117 people were killed in a single day of government air strikes on the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta, causing a global outcry. AFP

Budapest’s move came after Austria and Slovakian authorities followed Germany’s lead in reimposing border controls, a further blow to Europe’s cherished passport-free Schengen Zone as the continent grapples with one of its biggest migration crises since 1945.

On Monday afternoon, Hungarian police had closed the main unofficial crossing point—a 40-meter gap in a razorwire barrier for train tracks—and directed migrants to a nearby official crossing point.

But on Tuesday morning, an AFP correspondent said that this official entry point was also closed, leaving several hundred migrants queueing with no apparent hope of entering the EU member state.

“The border was shut and has yet to re-open,” said UNHCR spokesman Babar Baloch from the border.

“Our staff do not have access, and the Hungarian authorities have not let us know about any schedule they have for re-opening the border,” he added.

The closure came as harsh new Hungarian laws came into effect criminalizing “illegal border-crossing” with up to three years in prison.

Hungary, which has seen some 200,000 migrants enter the country this year, is also building a controversial fence four meters high along the 175-kilometer border with non-EU Serbia.

On Monday, Austria and Slovakia said they would copy economic powerhouse Germany—the main destination for migrants—in reinstating frontier controls.

The move caused long traffic jams on the Germany-Austria border and major disruption to rail services.

Poland said it was considering similar steps while the Netherlands said it would have “more patrols” on its frontiers.

EU states can impose temporary controls for security reasons under the Schengen treaty but there are fears the very ideal of a borderless Europe could collapse.

Meanwhile, under-pressure EU ministers failed to reach unanimous agreement on a plan to share out 120,000 refugees and ease the burden on frontline states—Hungary, Greece and Italy -- from the tide of people fleeing war zones such as Syria and Afghanistan. AFP

Taiwan investors cheated out of $77m TAIPEI—A suspected fake online marketing company that claims to have Google and Yahoo among its business partners has cheated thousands of Taiwanese investors out of a total of Tw$2.5 billion ($77 million) since last year, authorities said Tuesday.

OurPPC, which calls itself a payper-click management company, offered individuals the chance to invest in Internet search keywords, saying they could earn up to a 23-percent return within 50 days, the Ministry of Justice’s investigation bureau said.

In a bid to increase the number of investors, the group also organized a

tour to Macau in July for anyone who had put $10,000 into the scheme, and as many as 2,400 people signed up, investigators said.

“According to our information on hand, we can’t assert the company actually exists,” an official in the bureau’s economic crime department told AFP Tuesday.

He added that the amount of money obtained through the suspected fraudulent scheme could be even higher.

“The amount is our preliminary finding,” he said. “It appears the money has been moved overseas.”

So far one man surnamed Lin is being held in custody, while an-

other seven who were detained on Monday have been released on bail.

On its website, OurPPC says its core business is to help clients drive traffic to their websites by identifying keywords used in Internet searches.

It lists its headquarters in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and its CEO as a man named Peter Anderson who graduated from the Wroclaw University of Technology in Poland.

The company had turnover of $15 million in 2013, it claims.

Investors who have a membership account with the company can invest in keywords to earn a return as high as 38 percent, the website says. AFP

Unrest in Israel. Israeli police stand guard after using stun grenades to disperse Palestinian demonstraters in a street of the Muslim quarter in Jerusalem’s Old City during scuffles with Israeli riot police on Sept.

15, 2015. AFP

W E D N E S D AY : S E P T E M B E R 1 6 : 2 0 1 5

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

H OME & L I V ING

LIFE

C1

According to Mr. Chinh Dinh, they painted the exteriors yellow and the windows blue because the Vietnamese believe those colors will bring good fortune to the owners.

Shelves display old books from Hanoi.

These old and original wood panels created the accent wall for the dining area on the ground floor of Home restaurant.

HANOI: Preserving the Past Part 2 of 2

Visitors will n ot find many shopping malls or fastfood drivethroughs on the CALEIDOSCOPE 45-minute ride from WORLD the Noi Ba

BY CAL TAVERA International airport to the Old Quarter in Hanoi. Traveling from the 33.2-meter wide Nhat Tan Bridge towards my boutique hotel, the roads seem to depart from the present day and slip into the narrow, congested alleys from the 13th century. These ancient pathways, which are also known as the 36 Old Streets, are frequented by tourists from all over due to the strong ties to their cultural roots.

The label pays homage to previous trades practiced in the neighborhood centuries ago. Through the years, the trades and goods have evolved but the street names and original establishments remain.

While the historic Old Quarter continues to be one of the most visited addresses, visitors who venture outside that area will discover that the practice of protecting old homes is also valued and exercised.

In the Truc Bach area which is a kilometer from the Old Quarter, l discovered a newly restored 1930s colonial villa that the owners converted into a restaurant called “Home.”

“The idea is to promote Vietnamese cuisine globally. We feel this home best presents those values because of its French colonial details. It also pays tribute to our history,” says general Manager Mr. Chinh Dinh.

Together with a design company called New Space, the team went to work on the existing structure. According to Hanoi’s heritage laws, owners of colonial villas are not allowed to demolish their structures unless they are deemed uninhabitable. A majority of the architectural details were salvaged with minimal changes done to the exterior and brick walls. To update the interiors, the designer’s contemporary

The Cong Caphe branch on Ma May street.

Coffee plays a big part in the Vietnamese lifestyle, making Vietnam second to Brazil as the largest producer of coffee. To date, owner Linh Dung now operates 18 branches The interiors of this cafe revolve around a Communist theme, decorated with accessories from the Vietnam-American era. of Cong Caphe.

approach in exhibiting vintage accessories and materials created that global ambiance aligned with the group’s vision.

Due to the good condition of the building, the restaurant was launched after 45 days and opened in June this year. Mr Chinh Dinh reveals, “We worked around the original 80-year-old stairway that leads to the second level. We also embraced the weathered wood for our shutters, doors and other details. If I am not mistaken, these are created from ironwood that is valuable and quite expensive

The author (middle) taken with Giles Katigbak, and Home restaurant's General Manager, Mr. Chinh Dinh

if you try to purchase them today.” While this particular wood is a challenge to work with, the pieces created from them will last for centuries. They make up some of Hanoi’s temples, including the 11th century Bach Ma temple which is the oldest in the city.

Continued on C2

W E D N E S D AY : S E P T E M B E R 1 6 : 2 0 1 5

C2

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

PET PULSE

HANOI: PRESERVING THE PAST

ARE YOUR FUR BABIES EATING THE RIGHT FOOD?

From C1

W

e may not put a lot of stock in it, but reading the labels of pet foods will go a long way in ensuring the health of our fur babies because we get to know the nutritional contents to determine if we are giving them the right kind of food.

Bow & Wow, the country’s first and only all-natural pet store for dogs and cats, underscores the importance of reading pet food labels and how crucial it is to select quality meals for pet dogs and cats – and it is doing so through a series of engaging webisodes that depict the message from the perspective of a canine and a feline.

Dubbed “Let’s Talk About Pets: Reading Labels,” one webisode reminds pet owners about some pointers to keep in mind when purchasing pet food. For starters, good pet food is made of real animal meat. The first ingredients listed should be a form of high-quality protein such as chicken, lamb or venison.

When reading pet food labels, it is also best to check out the preservatives used. Synthetic preservatives like BHA (butylated hydroxyanisole), BHT (butylated hydroxytoluene) may be hard to understand, but research will reveal that these preservatives stop fats from turning rancid, thereby lengthening the storage life of pet food for about a year. Though the safety of these preservatives has been questioned by some consumers and scientists, the FDA says they may be safe at the level used in dog food.

The Green Tangerine restaurant is found in a charming colonial villa built in 1928.

A lotus decorated spiral staircase in the middle of Green Tangerine's courtyard.

Back in the Old Quarter, the old favorite Green Tangerine restaurant has been serving French and Vietnamese dishes inside a French colonial villa built in 1928. It is another home that was carefully restored, transporting guests for years to a more nostalgic era with their al fresco courtyard and colonial interiors. Refurbished houses such as these are common stories and are dotted all over the city. The reigning coffee shops in Hanoi are located in old homes or structures as well.

The popular Cong Caphe, which serves one of the capital’s best ca phe cot dua (coffee infused with coconut frozen yogurt), can be enjoyed in several of these old buildings throughout Hanoi. In an international conference held early this year, Vietnam was applauded for its valiant effort in conserving and upholding the richness of its heritage, resulting in increased support from UNESCO and other relevant organizations. Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Dang Thi Bich Lien credits the city’s heritage for increasing tourism, an important factor for Hanoi where more than a third of the city’s gross domestic products comes from the service industry. This year, Hanoi was awarded

by Travel + Leisure, a popular travel magazine, as one of the Top 10 Best Cities in Asia for the second time in a row based on the city’s culture, restaurants, landmarks, shopping and value. It also ranks fourth in Trip Advisor’s list of World’s Best Destinations.

Hanoi still needs to refine its heritage laws.

There are ongoing debates regarding the restoration of cherished landmarks such as the Long Bien bridge by Gustav Eiffel and the state of the Old Quarter due to the increasing number of tenants. Nonetheless, we should appreciate the attempts taken by both the government and the people in safeguarding their national treasures and learning from them.

Special thanks to Mr Chinh Dinh of Home Restaurant for the interview.

Sources: www.hanoitimes.com www.saigoneer.com www.theguardian.com www.talkvietnam.com Follow me on Instagram @cal_tavera

Pet owners will find the webisode educational as it also cautions against buying pet food products with bulk fillers. Many pet food companies use corn, wheat, and rice as main ingredients because they are a cheap way to fill up a bag, but unfortunately, these fillers lack nutritional value.

For the optimum health of your furry babies, opt for all-natural pet food that is more nutrient-rich to lessen the chance of pets overeating and consequently, lower chances of them becoming ill or obese.

Bow & Wow’s “pet talks” also underscore the importance of reading the expiration date on pet food labels. Reading the pet food nutrition label, just like the nutrition details on packaged food products for humans, can help improve your fur babies’ health and avoid canine or feline illnesses. At Bow & Wow,

the pet food items also indicate the life stage the food is appropriate for.

Bow & Wow webisodes are part of the company’s “Healthy Pet Food Revolution” advocacy. Help give pets longer, richer, happier lives. For tips on how to feed your pets healthy, visit: www.bowandwow. com.ph/letstalkaboutpets. Visit any Bow & Wow store today for nutritious meals, grooming items, and accessory finds for your furry four-legged friends.

Bow & Wow branches are located at Level 5 of Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City; at the lower ground floor of Greenbelt 5, Makati City; at the 2nd floor, Al Fresco, Robinsons Magnolia in New Manila, Quezon City; at the ground floor of Excelsior in Eastwood City, Libis, Q.C.; and at Level 3 at the New Wing of Ayala Center, Cebu. For more information, visit the Bow & Wow website at www.bowandwow.com.ph.

Kiddie Cookie Engineers at KidZania Manila’s Cream-O Cookie Factory

I

f you haven’t brought your kid to KidZania Manila yet, now is the perfect time to do so. Kids aged four to 14 can experience what it’s like to work in adult jobs and earn currency in the 10,000-square meter theme park. They will definitely enjoy going behind the scenes in the latest addition to KidZania, the Cream-O

cookie factory where they can be cookie engineers and learn how to work together as a team, challenging their hand-eye coordination and their ability to follow directions to create delicious and chocolatey Cream-O cookies.

Kids will get to work with childfriendly machines that are specifically designed to simulate the process of

Cream-Oholics have another reason to celebrate as the chocolate cookie brand opens its Cookie Factory in KidZania Manila. Photo shows (from left) Universal Robina Corporation (URC) Marketing Director for Bakery Chris Fernandez, Cookie Factory Zupervisors, URC President and CEO Lance Gokongwei, URC Bakery Senior Brand Assistant Benedict Ong, and URC VP and Group Head for Marketing Edwin Totanes.

making a Cream-O cookie. It features an interactive experience in cookiesandwich making while getting a brief history about cookies, and learning about the importance of hygiene procedures and safety measures in manufacturing the cookie treats.

Apart from the Cream-O cookie factory, kids can also visit establishments such as a fire station, salon, supermarket, theater, as well as an urban garden and farmhouse. They can also choose from over 100 careers and live out their dreams of becoming a singer who entertains a huge crowd, a newscaster delivering the news, and even a detective who solves mysteries.

“We’re very glad to be a part of KidZania Manila in promoting role-playing as a fun and effective way for children to learn about the real world,” said Lance Gokongwei, president and chief executive officer of Universal Robina Corporation. “The kids’ experience becomes even more enjoyable and immersive as the factories allow them to get up close and personal with their favorite brands, such as Cream-O.” Visit the Cream-O cookie factory at KidZania Manila today. For more information on ticket prices and schedules, visit manila.kidzania.com.

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C3

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

CREATING THE CITADINES LIFESTYLE WITH CYNTHIA AND IVY ALMARIO

I

n the world of interior design, the names of Cynthia and Ivy Almario are among the most pre-eminent. Cynthia and Ivy honed their home design skills in the US where they were based for 15 years, and upon their return to the Philippines, celebrities, prominent companies in the property development and hospitality industries, and even restaurants have lined up to partner with them. The sisters are known for transforming homes and projects into creations packed with class, elegance and style.

Describing themselves as “chameleons,” the Almario sisters have the knack for transforming the vision of clients into vivid reality.

No surprise there, because their experience encompasses a wide range of genres – from Asian to classic to contemporary, even incorporating fashion brands into

their work. Name it, they most likely have done it.

The Almario sisters are putting their creative prowess into designing the latest partnership project between CDC Holdings and industry leader The Ascott Limited. Divided into two components, the project will have a mixed development property under the name of CDC Millennium Ortigas and the serviced residences through Citadines Millennium Ortigas, which will be operated by Ascott.

The new Ascott-CDC Holdings partnership is the first green residential and hospitality development project in Ortigas. It is poised to welcome diverse groups from young professionals who would like to enjoy the contemporary lifestyle to the business travelers who live a cosmopolitan life and the families who are after the

Ivy Almario feels that each project they collaborate on with Elsie Chua, president and CEO of CDC Holdings, is like a meeting of the minds.

convenience of the location and comforts of a home.

The interior design gurus are thrilled at the opportunity to innovate just like any other projects they have worked on with Elsie Chua, president and CEO of CDC Holdings. Walking around the common areas or having the privilege to be in their rooms, one will get to see how they are bringing to life Citadines’ brand’s vibrant global living personality and marrying that with CDC Holdings’ brand promise of having that “at home” feeling.

“We want to make it look like an oasis. We are making it look

The Almario sisters keep the design hip and young.

fresh in the middle of the central business district. We used a lot of green elements but at the same time it has a contemporary feel,” Ivy shares.

Cynthia, for her part, described the design as being current, yet warm. “It is modern but it’s welcoming. It embraces whoever comes in and makes them feel at home. Although the wall colors are very modern, I balance it with happy colors so it’s inviting but at the same time it’s hip and young. For example, the use of grey is counterbalanced with the use of line. There’s a yin and yang,” she said.

This Ortigas proj e c t will showcase innovations incorporating eco-friendly facets and built according to the specifications of Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority’s Green Mark standards.

Cynthia and Ivy’s designs are displayed at the CDC Millennium Ortigas showroom at Ortigas Avenue corner Sapphire Road.

Information about the property is also available on www. cdcmillenniumortigas.com, or call 894-0808 to get details or schedule your visit.

ENFANT PH CELEBRATES 20TH ANNIVERSARY

A Celebrity moms (from left) Melissa Ricks, LJ Moreno Gladys Reyes and Giselle Sanchez.

Mr. Phairoj (center) of Thai Wacoal, parent company of Enfant, presents a plaque of appreciation to Enfant Philippines COO Raina Lim and president Grace Lim.

one-day expo at the Glorietta Activity Center kicked off the 20th anniversary of Enfant, a leading baby products brand in the country. Exciting surprises awaited the attendees of the free-for-all event that also offered big discounts on Enfant products, raffle draws of Enfant gift sets, and fun games for mommies and daddies.

“Parents want nothing but the best for their babies. We designed this event for the parents because we want to let them know the best quality products for their babies that are available in the market.

Enfant offers a wide array of products perfect for their babies, especially for newborns,” said Raina Lim, chief operating officer of Enfant Philippines.

The activity also featured a fashion show that highlighted four clothing lines, namely Basic Apparels, Debon by Enfant, Organic Line, and Gold. The 100 percent cotton and organic apparel are also certified non-Azo, which guarantees that they are free from any harmful chemicals suspected by the World Health Organization to be cancer causing.

Moms and babies take to the runway wearing Enfant apparel.

Moms also enjoyed hearing from OBGyn specialist Dr. Ivy B. Sevilla who gave pregnancy tips while celebrity moms Giselle Sanchez, LJ Moreno, Gladys Reyes, and Melissa Ricks shared tips on parenting, child development, and worklife balance. Enfant also introduced its newest mascots – Enzo and Ena – to the delight of the audience.

Aside from baby apparel, Enfant also offers FDA-approved Enfant gift set

pure and natural toiletries for infants and toddlers. It was in 1995 when the first Enfant branch was opened in the country through Richard and Grace Lim who recognized the potential of Enfant during one of their trips to Thailand, where it was originally established in 1984. Since then, Enfant has become the trusted name for baby apparel and toiletries in the country, following in the footsteps of Enfant Thailand which twice won the Trusted Brand Award by readers of Readers Digest Magazine in 2009 and 2011. After a successful two decades, Enfant Philippines now has nearly a hundred branches in all leading malls and supermarkets nationwide.

To know more about Enfant, visit www.enfant.com.ph and like its Facebook page ENFANT STORE or follow @ENFANTPHILIPPINES on Instagram to learn about its new products and promos.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

MIND THE GAP

[Building the Bridge Between Home and School] Why it works: There will always be people lesser than us and people greater than us, and measuring ourselves against them may result in either misplaced or injured pride. And you know what they say about pride and downfalls, right? Teaching our kids to make themselves their own yardstick as they constantly strive to do better assures them of achieving greater heights, which becomes a great gift to offer to the loving Father who has given them all that they need to do their best in all things.

LIV.E SIMPLY

BY LIV E.

I

don’t really remember much about my very first day in school, whether I walked in without a backward glance at my mom or shed copious tears as I clung on to her for dear life. But I do remember the first time I delivered each of my five boys to their school, and what I remember most is how it tore my heart to let go of their hand and watch them walk away. (Gaah!

Which mom wouldn’t be anxious and just a tad jealous, really?)

But I am glad to report that the separation anxiety (mine, not my kids’) is now a thing of the very distant past. I’ve learned that school, instead of replacing our home as the haven of our babies, is truly just an extension of it. I’ve learned that far from tearing our babies away from us, school is that trusty sidekick who helps us ensure that our kid will grow up to be the best person he can be. That is, assuming that we know how to build a great bridge between home and school.

Because it isn’t instinctive, I think. Knowing how to make the home-and-school connection work seamlessly is not stock knowledge stored somewhere inside of us, scheduled to bloom in our heads at the same time our wombs blossom with child. Rather, it’s the product of a lot of trial and error and on-the-job learning. We have no choice but to put in the hours and let experience be our teacher – and accept that we’re doing some kind of parallel learning right along with our kid.

Wouldn’t it be great, though, if there was some guidebook to help us along the way? I know I would have appreciated one when I put my first two boys through their formative years in school. Instead, for the past 20 years (and still counting), I have been engaged in bridge building. I’ve run the whole gamut, from stressing over low scores and pushing my kids to go for the gold (with my older boys then), all the way to a much less rabid preoccupation with grades and more mature focus on real learning (with my younger boys now). And,

6. VALUE THE POWER OF PRAYER.

you know, now that I’ve got all this experience schooling five kids, I’ve never been surer that I don’t know it all. But I’m just as certain that I’ve managed to pick up a few amazing tricks along the way that work.

Now I happen to think that anyone who has some insider info of this kind has a moral obligation to share it with others, don’t you agree? (That’s so funny, you and me nodding together). So here we go.

1. ESTABLISH ROUTINES.

My kids grew up knowing that studying is their job and school is their office. And because school and office work pretty much the same way, when schedules are set and order is established, it’s so much easier to work better and be more productive. So from Monday to Friday, they go to school, come home, take a bath, eat a snack, and settle down to homework for the next 2-3 hours. On the same large table in the same well-lit, spacious room. With all the materials they need on hand.

Like clockwork. Schedule and order minus the military barracks.

Why it works: Practice a good thing daily and it becomes a habit.

Good habits are virtues. And a virtuous child grows into a virtuous adult. Score!

Speaking of bonuses, here’s an additional tip: Keep to the routine of sitting down to work for at least an hour every day. Yes, even when there’s no homework, because it’s harder to re-establish routines than to keep to them. And keeping busy is always preferable to being idle.

2. HELP THEM LEARN TO PRIORITIZE.

For my boys, who adore playtime, prioritizing means that games are reserved for school weekends and summer days. School is their duty, so it comes first. If they get their work done well with extra time to spare, they get rewarded with books to read, art to create, or even a short football game outdoors. But video and computer games – being greatly distracting – must learn to wait for weekends.

Teaching kids to prioritize can be as simple as letting them order their homework activities from the hardest to the easiest (because they have more fresh energy and brain power at the start), from the most immediate due dates to the later deadlines. As they check items off their mini To-Do lists, kids learn to work toward success and savor it even in the tiniest jobs.

Why it works: Everyone knows that all work and no play are no good. But play before work isn’t a good thing either. Learning how to put what-matters-most first helps them sift through their many options and make the right choices as adults. Big chunks of triumph are born from little pieces of success, after all.

3. ADVANCE THE ADVANTAGE.

My kids set aside a little time each day, even just five minutes per subject, to scan through the next lesson and do some advance work. It gives them an idea of what’s coming their way tomorrow and helps them connect that with what happened today.

Why it works: To paraphrase a famous cliché: An ounce of preparation is worth a pound of cramming. Being prepared and ready for whatever may come equips our kids to meet unforeseen events with greater calm and better performance.

4. FORGIVE FAILURES.

I think every parent’s heart beats a little faster when a child takes home a less than stellar mark. But here’s the thing we often forget: our little kiddo’s heart is beating

just as fast as ours. Because no one – not they, not we – wants to see red on a report card. Failure hurts… but it’s also a great learning opportunity. I admit that in the distant past, a bad score was the stimulus for me to rant and rail.

Not anymore. Forgiveness is the hand that takes failure and turns it into a means to develop greater character. Instead of getting upset, I prefer to help my kid figure out what went wrong. Then together we set resolutions – short-term, achievable, measurable ones – to start making it right. Because every kid needs to know he has the power to apply corrective measures and make things better.

Why it works: I would imagine that someone who has never experienced defeat in life might possibly fall apart at the seams upon meeting it for the first time.

I think a child should never, ever have to think that failure strips away his essence as a person. In the face of disastrous times, I’d want my child to stand straight and say, “Okay, I’m not perfect but neither am I giving up. I’m going to get this right.” As a parent, I prefer to view failure as a friend who allows our child to build from its ashes an altar of strength of character, humility, and perseverance. And what a great thing to build! Because strong, humble kids don’t crumble as adults. They become resilient survivors. They become heroes.

5. JUST DO YOUR BEST.

My kids know this mantra by heart.

They know that a 99 percent grade they didn’t work hard for merits less than an 80 percent that they sweated blood and tears for. They can probably quote me word for word: Don’t measure yourself against everyone else; just do your personal best. Because the funny thing is, if you do your best all the time, that’s when the medals come.

But even if they don’t, that’s okay – because receiving honors for a job well done is awesome, but that’s just the icing on the cake. The thing that matters is that you’ve worked hard and you know more today than you did yesterday.

My kids begin and end their days with prayers on their lips, and they do it before every quiz and exam and test, too! I like to call it harnessing the power of divine intervention (wink).

Why it works: Because prayer always does, right?

7. THE PRESENT OF PRESENCE.

Be there with them. Work side by side with your kids if you can, even if it means reading a book or doing accounts or writing articles (snort) by their side.

Why it works: Actions speak louder than words, and working alongside them gives our kids a great opportunity to see us walking the talk. It also opens up avenues for communication, helping us learn more about them through their little stories as well as giving us the chance to impart some life lessons along the way.

This is by no means an exhaustive list of tips and tricks, but it’s a list of the ones that I find have helped the most, and in ways larger than the four walls of school. Because I’m convinced school is really Life, just on a smaller scale. Sure, our kids need to learn their three R’s, but it goes way beyond that. More than simply academic content, what really matters are the values and work habits that the kids learn along the way. More than polite expressions, it’s the lessons in kindness and concern for others.

More than math and reading skills, it’s the generosity of sharing knowledge, the importance of teamwork, the values of honesty, unity and responsibility. More than getting stellar grades, it’s the perseverance, the constancy of doing a job well, the rising up after a fall. These are the greater lessons that matter, and when the home and the school join hands in developing these, then we can be sure that our kids will be successful at helping make this world a better place for all. And that, to me, is the best bridge to build between School and Home, between Today and Tomorrow, between our generation and the next.

Follow me on Twitter @LivE_LiveSimply Like my page and send me feedback @ Facebook/liv.esimplywithLiv

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SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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‘taklub’ unsPools at sM cineMas today Film enthusiasts will have the rare opportunity to watch the critically acclaimed film Taklub as it begins its regular run in selected SM Cinemas beginning Sept 16. The film by world- renowned director Brillante Mendoza was in the official selection of the Un Certain Regard Category during the recent Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded a Special Commendation from the Ecumenical Jury.

Taklub is a story of three major characters – Bebeth, Larry, and Erwin, whose lives intertwine after the Supertyphoon Haiyan caused the city of Tacloban in a horrendous state – leaving the survivors in search for their dead ones, keeping their sanity intact, and protecting what little faith there might be.

Bebeth (Nora Aunor) searches for the remains of her three children that could identified; Larry (Julio Diaz) who lost his wife, consoles himself by joining a devout group of Catholics carrying a life size cross around the city. Erwin (Aaron Rivera) and his elder brother try to hide the truth about their parents’ death from their little sister.

As if grieving for the lost ones is not enough, a series of events – man made and natural – continue to test the endurance of the characters along with the rest of the people, awaiting for a time to wipe those tears Prior to the screening, Director Mendoza hosted a cast party at SM Aura Premier to thank the members of the cast and crew, as well as those who assisted them during the filming.

No less than Leyte Congressman Martin Romualdez attended the event, as did Tacloban’s First Lady and Councilor Cristina GonzalesRomualdez.

Other guests included UN Ambassador of Goodwill Gion Gounet, and members of the Tzu Chi Foundation, who have done a lot of relief work in Tacloban; while friends from the film industry came to give support: director Paul Soriano, actresses Andi Eigenmann and Mercedes Cabral; and actors Soliman Cruz and Bernardo Bernardo.

The highlight of the event was when Director Mendoza and showed the guests the Special Commendation from the Ecumenical Jury Award, drawing a standing ovation from the audience.

Taklub will be shown at cinemas at SM Megamall, SM North EDSA, SM City Fairview, SM City Manila, and SM City Sta. Mesa beginning today.

star flyer and giant ferris wheel

Director Brillante Mendoza and Tuklub writer Honeylyn Alipio proudly show the Special Commendation from the Ecumenical Jury award from the Cannes Film Festival

Mercedes Cabral and Andi Eigenmann with Taklub cast members

Taklub cast members led by Soliman Cruz, Lou Veloso, and Aaron Rivers with Brillante Mendoza and Bernardo Bernardo

Director Brillante Mendoza with Director Paul Soriano

Members of the Tzu Chi Foundation, whose work in rebuilding Tacloban was highlighted in the film

Tacloban’s First Lady and Councilor Cristina Gonzales Romualdez with Vivian Tan

John Paul Duray, Mon Confiado, Allen Dizon

star frisbee and wild river

Director Brillante Mendoza with Congressman Martin Romualdez, UN Ambassador of Goodwill Gion Gounet, and SM’s Millie Dizon

iPhotos Star City SeaSon opening

Star City, the country’s most popular amusement park goes back to full operations seven days a week beginning Sept.12.

Capitalising on the summer vacation period to institute safety checks and refurbish its facilities, the airconditioned indoor theme park guarantees all-weather accessibility to visitors, with a diverse array of thrill rides and park attractions for visitors of all ages. Ride-all-you can tickets guarantee a fun-filled afternoon beginning at 4 pm on Mondays to Thursdays, with the park opening its gates at 2 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Group tours may also be arranged. For inquiries, call 832.3248 to 49 or 333.3595 to 97.

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

REintRODUCing gEn. AntOniO LUnA niCKiE WAng Jerrold Tarog’s historical drama Heneral Luna has a disclaimer at the onset stating that the film is a work of fiction inspired by true events. His mission was clear – he wanted to highlight the ills and pains of our society including the betrayals that altered the history of our nation through his independently produced film.

In this noble effort, Tarog reintroduces a lesser known hero who fought against the United States in the Spanish-American War and was eventually assassinated (butchered as the film depicts it) by presidential guards. Portrayed by seasoned thespian John Arcilla, Tarog embroiders the character as if he’s a modern-day madman.

While history books tell us

that Gen. Antonio Luna was an Ilustrado, highly-educated (he was fluent in French and Spanish and studied literature, chemistry and pharmacy) and with an elite upbringing, Tarog took Luna as a lunatic literally to the point of appearing to be a jester rather than a man who makes absurd yet prudent decisions.

Perhaps, that’s the director’s own way of making the hero more human and relatable to present-day audience discounting the fact that an Ilustrado albeit abrasive would still project some sort of sophistication.

A hot-tempered military leader may lose his cool, becomes loud at times but not to the point that he would go rambo towards his men.

There are a few observations that confirms Heneral Luna is indeed a work of fiction. It has a pretty fair description of 19th century Filipino soldiers – they curse and have the same sensibilities of 21st century “tambay sa kanto” (take Archie Alemania’s

character as Capt. Eduardo Rusca for example). It also begs audience to believe that a Filipino war correspondent existed during Luna’s time. He is a student and a writer who worked closely with the general but was not brutally executed like Luna and his elite group of men.

This scribe lives to deliver an eulogy as implied before the closing credits appeared. In effect, it is the scribe (played

by Aaron Villaflor) who narrates the whole story though not perfectly established.

The strength of the film lies on the actors. They portrayed their roles based on what the screenplay asked for. Arcilla, in particular, is a shoo-in for any acting award and so as Mon Confiado who plays Emilio Aguinaldo. The public would revolt on social media if he doesn’t win an acting award come film award season. And the members of the support cast did an impressive job, too.

Everyone has a memorable moment but not too prom-

inent enough to overshadow the central character.

In addition, Heneral Luna, as a work of fiction, triumphed in creating an engaging film fully supported by visually arousing scenes and camera works. Disregarding its flaws, it’s a beautiful template for any local war drama because it captures Filipino witticism amid in the middle of a conflict.

Nonetheless, Heneral Luna is a perfect pitch to remind people that even after a hundred years, most of us still live in a culturally deprived environment ruled by people who thrive solely for their personal agenda.

ShOWbiZ nEWbiES gEt tOP biLLing All big things start from small beginnings. It is a cliché but very applicable to the journey of people who decided to take the showbiz route. Take young actors Ken Chan and Anjo Damiles for example.

Kapuso rising star Ken

A scene from Heneral Luna

John Arcilla as Heneral Luna

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 45 46 48 49 50 52 53 57 61 62 64 65 66 67 68

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Satchmo’s style 5 On the left, at sea 10 Litterbug 14 Baseball family name 15 Cajun’s home 16 Wanderer 17 Job rights agcy.

18 Ready to drop (2 wds.)

19 Long-legged wader 20 Instant-coffee

69 70

Labor leader I.W. — Food wrap Moo — gai pan Abrasive mineral Wall Street figure Yes, in Yokohama Spicy candy Get-together Meadows Outspoken Part of a.k.a.

Mishmash Become, finally (2 wds.)

Chapeau’s place “— Woman Blues” (Roy Orbison) Armstrong et al.

Liz and Dick or Burt and Lori

brand DOWN 22 Tawny predator 1 City near Granada 24 Elev.

2 Helm position 25 Stage prompt 3 Monkey havens 26 Blockbuster 4 Vine veggie 29 Merchandise ID 5 Toward the stern 32 Lobster pots Whey-faced 36 “— — Old Cowhand” 6 7 Toon Olive 37 Nabbed 8 Make cloudy 39 Morse syllable 9 Plato’s garment 40 Study of butterflies 10 Black eye 43 “I” trouble 11 Hoop place 44 New York lake

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2015

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Geishas’ wear Top dog Grow older Excel Signpost info Rolex rival Fog or steam Dismantle a tent Grill site Ism Mud brick “On call” device In a timid way Favorite — Geologic period Giving person Protect an ID, e.g.

Attaches a wing?

(2 wds.)

— de cologne Like tapestries Pitches in Latch onto Congolese river Eldest of the Pleiades Cornbread Fidel’s brother Holly shrub Bone, in combos Thumbs-down votes 401, to Flavius

Chan gets his big break in a daring afternoon soap, Destiny Rose, where he plays a transgender woman.

The 22-year-old singeractor is overwhelmed when he was chosen to star in the soap, more over when he learned that the character he would play was a very challenging one.

“I never thought that they would give me this project. I’m very thankful.

I always get good roles in my television projects but this assignment is just overwhelming,” says Ken during the soap’s media launch.

Ken is relatively new in the business. In 2011 he became a co-host in the latenight show Walang Tulugan until he became part of the TV series Tween Hearts.

He has also done a number of support roles in films like in Just One Summer in 2012 and in the Cinemalaya 2014 entry 1st Ko Si 3rd.

As early as now, the young actor is receiving raves on his realistic portrayal of

transgender woman in Destiny Rose. As Michael de Mesa, one of the stars in the drama, puts it: “When I saw the trailer [of the show], I didn’t see just a person who’s trying to play the role, I saw an effective actor.”

Meanwhile, another young actor has been given a big break. Star Magic artist Anjo Damiles is one of the two leading men of Julia Montes in afternoon soap Doble Kara.

Unlike Ken, who has already a few showbiz projects under his belt, Anjo is considered a showbiz newbie.

He was discovered as a commercial model and was previously featured on the hit Liza Soberano and Enrigue Gil-starrer Forevermore.

In Doble Kara, the 19-year-old actor plays the loyal childhood best friend of Julia’s character. And takes pride in his co-stars experience as he never imagine he would be entrusted with the big role amid his being inexperienced.

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Cover photo of Andrea: Road Trip

Andrea Torres poses in a variety of ways for a photo book

a sensual adventure With andrea torres

W

hat’s it like to go on an intimate getaway with GMA Artist Center star Andrea Torres?

It will be revealed in the latest photo book entitled Andrea: Road Trip featuring the sultry actress.

Andrea: Road Trip is a gravure photo book that takes readers on a sensual adventure with the dusky beauty, who made waves when she first appeared on the cover of FHM Philippines’ December 2014 issue and eventually shot to the second spot in this year’s FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World list.

Photographed by master lensman Jay Tablante, Andrea: Road Trip sees Andrea posing seductively on various locations of a secret hideaway—letting readers imagine just what a trip with her would be like.

It will be soon available at all leading bookstores and magazine

From C8

stands nationwide.

Catch Andrea as she signs copies of Andrea: Road Trip at the Manila International Book Fair, SM Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City, 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 19.

Meanwhile, Andrea is currently in GMA Network’s longest-running gag show Bubble Gang. Her first international project with Mikael Daez will be shown in Philippines soon.

HHHHH ‘Forever is not easy to aChieve’ –Chiz When Senator Chiz Escudero answered the question, if he believed in the idea of forever, asked by a student at Colegio de Dagupan in on Sept. 10, it was noticeable that he has something that reminded him of a previous relationship.

“Of course my answer is ‘yes,’ I’d be in a perilous situation if I’d say otherwise and Heart would learn

I said that,” the senator answered the student.

Added Chiz, “I believe in ‘forever’ but one has to work hard for it.”

“I belive in wagas, forever, right?

It’s easy to say wagas, but as an advice, it’s not easy to achieve forever,” Heart’s husband furthered.

Sometimes it is hard, at other times you face challenges that you must hurdle, but what is important is to hold on tight to each other’s belief that you can have forever,” added the senator.

If you recall, Heart’s parents had a difficult time accepting Chiz as their daughter’s boyfriend and eventually husband. More recently, Chiz and the Ongpaucos have agreed amicably.

In fact, Chiz is planning to hold a first anniversary of his and Heart’s wedding, some kind of renewal of vows with hear parents on Feb. 15.

Chiz Escudero hopes he and Heart would be "forever"

Paul Bettany at aPCC Manila 2015

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British actor Paul Bettany will be in Manila tomorrow

elebrity guests are coming for the biggest pop culture gathering to hit Asia.

AsiaPOP Comicon Manila 2015 (APCC Manila) reveals the latest Hollywood actor to headline the convention slated tomorrow until Sept. 20 at the World Trade Center in Pasay City is British actor Paul Bettany.

Flying to Manila to spice up the Comicon and to meet his fans, Paul Bettany, who first made waves in films like A Knight’s Tale, A Beautiful Mind, Wimbledon, The Da Vinci Code, and Dogville became a hit in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for his voice role as J.A.R.V.I.S. (Tony Stark’s artificial intelligence system) in the Iron Man movies and as Vision, an android superhero, in Avengers: Age of Ultron. In 2016, he will reprise his role as Vision in Captain America: Civil War. Bettany is just among the few actors to play more than one

character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In an interview with Business Insider, Bettany said if it wasn’t for director Joss Whedon, he might not have played Vision on the big screen.

“They [Marvel] have a rule that you’re not allowed to play more than one character in the Marvel universe. So, they broke the rules. They bent the rules slightly for me because Joss really wanted to bring the Vision into the film world, and he really wanted me to do it,” he said.

As one of the notable English actors to date, Bettany won several awards including Supporting Actor of the Year from the London Film Critics’ Circle for the film, A Knight’s Tale; Best actor from Evening Standard British Film Award for the Heart of Me; and Best British Actor for Wimbledon, to name a few.

Meet Hollywood actor Paul Bettany in person at AsiaPOP Comicon Manila on Sept.19 and 20 at

the World Trade Center. This will be his first-ever visit in Manila.

You wouldn’t want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

APCC Manila tickets are now on sale at https://asiapopcomicon. com/manila/tickets/book- tickets/. Tickets are priced at PhP500 (one-day pass), PhP800 (two-day pass), and PhP 1,000 (three- day pass) and will give the ticket holder access to stage activities, performances, and the main show floor.

In addition, there will be exclusive VIP and Experience convention passes that will offer special entitlements to its holders, such as exclusive APCC items, priority VIP seating, and photo opportunities with celebrities, among others.

For more info on ticket prices, passes, and event updates on APCC Manila 2015, please visit www.asiapopcomicon.com/ manila, like APCC Manila on Facebook (facebook.com/apccmanila), and follow on Twitter @AsiaPOPComicon.

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ Former Smokey mountain Singer direCtS horror Film Twisted charactes and plot mark the film Silong In Silong, Pascual plays a doctor

Silong with Pascual and Ramos is a thriller with a touch of romance

Piolo Pascual enjoys acting in indie movies

Rhian Ramos stars in a film directed by Hidalgo The boy who sang with the Smokey Mountain is now a movie director

Jeffrey Hidalgo (second from left) as a kid was a member of Smokey Mountain

ISAH V. RED If you were born before the nightmarish traffic on Edsa, you’d probably remember the singing group Smokey Mountain and by now its popular members Geneva Cruz, Anna Fegi, and Jeffrey Hidalgo.

Well, Cruz and Fegi are very much active in the music arena performing here and there and Hidalgo had graduated from college and is now a full-fledged TV and movie director.

Can you believe this once little boy singing his heart out along with other members the hit tune, “Kailan” is now behind the camera and calling the shots for a movie? His latest opus, not as a singer but as a director, is the film that closed this year’s Cinemalaya Film Festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

“Wow, I couldn’t believe the film would be invited to the festival,” says Hidalgo. “I was told the search committee of the filmfest was looking for something different, and they said Silong fitted the kind of film they were looking for. They said it was different from the other genres of films submitted to them in the previous years.”

Now, Silong is getting a commercial release, thanks to Star Cinema.

It begins its run today in about a hundred theaters nationwide.

Why did Star Cinema pick the movie up for a wide release? Why not when it stars ABS-CBN’s prized

‘Silong’ is getting a commercial release, thanks to Star Cinema.

It begins its run today in about a hundred theaters nationwide

talent Piolo Pascual. This is the first indie film of Papa P (Pascual term of endearment) since the hit studio film The Breakup List with Sarah Geronimo.

In this film, Pascual has a new leading lady and she’s not a fellow Kapamilya but from the other network. Rhian Ramos, Hidalgo says, is his first choice after watching her in My Kontrabida Girl (2012) with Aljur Abrenica.

“She was really funny in that movie and very good. I said to myself she could pull the part in Silong very well,” says Hidalgo.

Ramos, meanwhile, was clueless that she would be starring with Piolo Pascual who was cast ahead of her. When she was offered the part she already knew she’d be working with Pascual.

“Strangely, I like the story of the film and as I read the script I really got very interested because of the twists and turns of both the plot and the characters,” she explains.

Pascual echoed Ramos saying, “My character in the film, like the character Rhian plays, has many secrets in the past and they both try to nurture each other. In the course of the story they fall prey to their feelings of seeking comfort and safety in each other’s company.”

Silong wasn’t meant to bring the stars of two rival networks together, says Hidalgo. “I just thought that Rhian would be the perfect actress to play the role of Valerie, an abused wife whom Miguel Castro (Pascual) finds badly beaten up on a deserted country road on his way home.”

Hidalgo himself directs shows for the Kapuso network and says, joking of course, “I have yet to get an offer from ABS-CBN.” The movie has gone on special screenings after its Cinemalaya engagement, but today marks its commercial run.

Hidalgo begs us, “Please watch the film and you’ll know why Cinemalaya chose it as its closing film.

Guji Lorenzana also plays an important role in the film. “I am the best friend of Miguel,” he says not wanting to reveal much about the film. ➜ Continued on C7