The Standard - 2015 September 21 - Monday

VOL. XXIX NO. 221 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 mONday : SEPTEmBER 21, 2015 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

UPlb slams television network

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vAt Hike blASted ‘Plan will defeat purpose of income tax reduction’

By Christine F. Herrera and Macon Ramos-araneta

OPPOSITION lawmakers on Sunday rejected a Palace proposal to increase the value-added tax from 12 percent to 14 percent, saying this would defeat the purpose of providing relief to ordinary workers by lowering their income taxes.

Finance officials earlier suggested increasing the VAT to offset lost government revenues from a lowering of income tax rates that Congress is pushing.

But Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said any revenue losses would be minimal and could be offset by a more aggressive campaign against tax cheats

and smugglers.

“If the government will focus on apprehending big-time smugglers, the possible loss of revenue as an offshoot of lowering income taxes will be addressed,” Romualdez said.

Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian also rejected raising the VAT on products and services.

“Increasing the VAT rate will

definitely have a negative effect on the purchasing power of the poor, who are always the first to bear the brunt of price hikes of basic commodities and utilities,” Gatchalian said.

Gatchalian slammed as “antipoor” the Finance Department proposal to use a higher VAT rate to offset losses from lower income taxes.

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Welcome sight. Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo, who is being eyed as the vice presidential running mate of Manuel Roxas II, waves to her Bicolano friends from the terrace of her ancestral house in Naga City during last weekend’s celebrations in honor of Our Lady of Peñafrancia. Danny Pata

House asks Palace to give SAF 44 top honors

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Chiz: Lacierda must leave Malacañang

By Macon R. araneta and Sandy araneta SENATOR Francis Escudero on Sunday said presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda should resign and join the campaign team of Liberal Party candidate Manuel Roxas II if he wants to engage in

politicking.

Escudero, who announced he would run for vice president alongside Senator Grace Poe, who is seeking the presidency, was reacting to Lacierda’s statement that Poe’s campaign jingle was confusing because it suggests a new direction while embracing the

administration’s “straight path” platform of governance. Did Poe want change or continuity, Lacierda asked.

“Before I answer that question, I will ask Secretary Lacierda— what does he really want? Does he want to be the spokesperson Next page

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Most Poe kin support Palace bid

By Macon r. araneta

A YOUNGER brother of the actress Sheryl Cruz said Sunday that contrary to the stand of his sister, other family members support the presidential bid of their cousin, Senator Grace Poe. “Our whole family is behind Senator Grace Poe as she embarks on this new journey in her life,” said former actor Renzo Cruz.

Cruz is a son of former actress Rosemarie Sonora, the younger sister of actress Susan Roces, Poe’s adoptive mother.

He said the first-term senator has the heart to be a great president.

“And I am saying this not because I am her cousin but I have seen how she has been serving the country these past five years,” he added.

He admitted though there are differences in their family, but described these as “healthy.”

“We have disagreements but at the end of the day, blood is thicker than water, and as we have done so in the past, will resolve it within the family,” he added.

Sheryl Cruz has been vocal about her opposition to Poe’s bid, saying she should give way to more experienced candidates such as former Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II or Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Also on Sunday, Senate President Franklin Drilon said the Senate Electoral Tribunal should expedite its hearings and come out immediately with a decision on Poe’s eligibility to run based on her citizenship. If questions about Poe’s status remain unanswered, Drilon said, this would only confuse the voters.

Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, meanwhile, said the presidential race next year will eventually be between Roxas and Poe, and said he expected Binay to get knocked off because of the corruption charges hounding him.

In an interview on radio dzBB, Recto said there are only three prospective candidates for president because Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte earlier announced he was not running.

Recto also denied rumors that he would seek reelection under the Nationalist People’s Coalition because of his close ties with Poe and Escudero.

“I am a Liberal Party member. I am very close to Grace and Chiz who both have good hearts and are capable... But, I will stay with the LP,” he said.

Recto said Poe and Escudero will need a political party and the machinery to run their campaign.

He likened a political party to a sales force that will sell a candidate. “But we also need a good product because no matter how good the sales person is, if the product is weak, it would be nothing. I saw that in the previous elections,” he said, without elaborating.

Coastal cleanup. Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada leads a coastline cleanup initiated by International Coastal Cleanup Philippines near the US Embassy in Manila on Sunday. Manny PalMero

Chiz...

VAT...

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of Secretary Roxas and the Liberal Party or the spokesperson of President Noynoy Aquino?” Escudero said in an interview over radio dzBB. Escudero said he was among other taxpayers shouldering the cost of Lacierda’s salary so that he could be the President’s spokesman.

“It’s not his job to engage in politicking. If he wants, he should resign and be a part of the campaign team of Secretary Roxas,” Escudero said.

Responding to Lacierda’s query, Escudero said: “We should be open to continue the good things [from the Aquino administration] and change only the bad things.’’

Lacierda shot back at Escudero.

“There is already Supreme Court jurisprudence on Cabinet secretaries as alter egos and Senator Escudero is well aware of it,” said Lacierda in a text message to The Standard.

“I would humbly encourage Senator Escudero to focus on the bigger issues that confront a campaign instead of focusing on an individual,” he added.

When she announced her candidacy for the presidency last week, Poe said no one person or political party has a monopoly on the straight path.

“The reduction in the income tax rates will not be felt by the poor because their incomes are already exempted from taxation,” he said. “The poor, however, will be adversely affected by an increase in the VAT rate.”

He added that under the Finance Department plan, the poor would be forced to allocate a greater proportion of their already meager incomes on utilities, fuel and other basic goods and services.

Earlier, President Benigno Aquino III rejected proposals to lower the income tax rate, saying this would jeopardize the country’s credit rating with international rating agencies.

Finance officials added that a law lowering income tax rates could result in government losses of P30 billion in the first year of its implementation.

The proponent of lower taxes in the Senate, Senator Juan Edgardo Angara, said the government should put the interest of Filipinos first instead of focusing on generating more revenue.

He added that the government had the fiscal capacity to grant lower taxes, considering it is seeking a budget increase for the Finance Department that is bigger than the expected P30 billion in projected revenue losses.

“It would appear that these agencies have been asking for a 224-percent increase in their budget.

If they believe the government is capable of giving them these huge funds, there is no reason why they cannot accede to the appeal for lower taxes,” Angara said.

But Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto said any lowering of taxes will not happen before the end of the year.

He added, however, that members of Congress are generally supportive of proposals to reduce the burden on four million to five million taxpayers.

A militant labor group on Sunday called on other allied organizations to rally behind the proposed lowering of income tax rates by Marikina Rep. Miro Quimbo and Angara.

“The proposed tax exemptions would result into a much-needed increase in take-home pay for wage and salaried workers who earn more than the atrociously-low minimum wage and are not covered by the orders of the regional wage boards since their creation in 1989,” the BMP said in a statement.

It added that it was “the height of injustice” for the government to grant billions in tax breaks and incentives to multinational companies but refuse to grant workers tax relief.

The group also blasted the Aquino administration for having “the gall to complain” about P30 billion in lost revenues.

“The proposals would not cause a big loss in the tax base for the Bureau of Internal Revenue since the increase in take-home pay will spur consumption and increase the collections for the valueadded tax,” Leody De Guzman, BMP chairman, said.

De Guzman said the proposals in Congress were a step towards the reform of the regressive taxation system, which operates under the principle: “those who have less in life should have more in taxes.”

Under the present structure, the tax burden is carried more by workers whose wages have automatic deductions for withholding taxes than by corporations that have access to various legal means of tax avoidance, he said.

The group added that workers deserve a reprieve from almost six years of hardship under President Aquino.

“As long as billions of state funds are lost to corruption, taxpayers—especially the working class who are the most tax-compliant sector of Philippine society—have every right and reason to call for less taxes, or even for a tax revolt,” De Guzman said. With Sandy araneta

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Experts: Poe not eligible despite case’s dismissal THE dismissal by the Senate Electoral Tribunal of the disqualification case against Senator Grace Poe does not establish her eligibility to run for President in 2016, according to legal experts.

Former Deans Pacifico Agabin of the University of the Philippines College of Law and Amado Valdez of the University of the East Law School, and litigation expert Raymond Fortun, said the tribunal’s decision on Sept.

11 dropping the residency case of petitioner Rizalito David against Poe could still be raised once Poe formally files her certificate of candidacy for President in next year’s elections.

The experts made their comments even as the House Minority became as deeply divided as the majority in supporting Poe’s presidential bid, with its members questioning her track record and allegiance to the Philippine flag.

Rep. Arnel Ty said not all members of the minority bloc would back House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora in supporting Poe. Rep. Carol Jane Lopez said she was inclined to support the Liberal Party’s standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II. Rep. Neri Colmenares said the seven-member Makabayan bloc preferred Poe even if the bloc had been belittling Roxas’ Tuwid na Daan platform.

Agabin and Fortun said the tribunal dropped the residency issue only in relation to Poe’s eligibility in the 2013 senatorial elections, which was the subject of the disqualification case, and that there was a higher residency requirement for a presidential candidate.

For the presidency, the Constitution requires a presidential candidate to have been a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years immediately preceding the presidential elections.

The law experts believe that the residency issue could again be raised when Poe files her certificate of candidacy next month after her declaration last week to seek the presidency.

“Later on, after Poe files her [candicacy] next month, the residency issue against her can once again be revived, and no longer for her senatorial bid but for her presidential bid,” Agabin said in a text message.

Valdez agreed, saying the residency issue when applied to Poe’s senatorial and presidential eligibility should be treated separately and differently.

“Even if the [tribunal] has dropped the residency issue on the present case, her [Poe’s] presidential bid is still left hanging because of another possible disqualification case that could be filed against her next month,” Valdez said.

“It will be a new disqualification case once she files her certificate of candidacy for President.”

Valdez said Poe, who migrated to the US as a college student and earned citizenship there, still must prove that she had been a resident of the Philippines for at least 10 years before the May 2016 elections.

“The residency must be in the concept of having domicile in the Philippines. She cannot have two domiciles, one here and another in the US,” Valdez said.

“It is only when she abandoned her US citizenship that she could be considered a resident in the Philippines for purposes of the elections.”

Fortun said Poe had the burden to establish the doctrine of “animus revertendi,” or the intention to permanently return to his or her domicile.

He said he expected the case to reach the Supreme Court.

“The big question is: What was her unequivocal act in April or May 2006 to convince the Commission on Elections and the Supreme Court that she had the desire to reacquire residency in the Philippines?” he said.

“It can’t be a simple ‘I buried my father’ while on a Philippine tourist visa. It can’t be ‘I visited and enrolled my kids’ while on a Philippine tourist visa.” Rey E. Requejo and christine F. herrera

Tourism Week. The baking of 15,000, seven-flavored cupcakes representing the Philippine Islands were one of the main events during the celebration of the 12th Hotel and Restaurant Tourism Week in Baguio City. DAviD chAn

‘Robredo will win the Bicolano vote’ ALBAY Gov. Joey Salceda said Sunday he was confident Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo would win the “Bicolano vote” over Senator Francis Escudero, a fellow Bicolano, should Robredo decide to run for vice president under the Liberal Party.

“It’s not in the nature of a Bicolano to fight over another fellow Bicolano, but I’m confident that Congresswoman Leni can win here in Bicol. Leni can win in Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur,” Salceda, a member of the ruling Liberal Party, told dzMM radio.

“Of course, Escudero hails from Sorsogon—they’ll definitely vote for him in the polls since he’s their former representative. [But] I’ll rally

for Leni here in Albay.”

The region’s politicians are divided on who to support for the 2016 elections as two of Bicol’s prized politicians are on the verge of facing each for the vice presidency.

While some provinces may be expected to vote for LP standard-bearer Manuel Roxas II, this may not be true of the vice presidential post.

Robredo’s Liberal Party in Bicol holds control over Camarines Norte, Albay and

some parts of Camarines Sur. Should the Nacionalista Party join forces with the Nationalist People’s Coalition to back Escudero in the elections, the groups may have the support of the provinces of Sorsogon, Masbate and some parts of Camarines Sur. Sorsogon had earlier indicated its support for Roxas but promised to vote for Escudero.

“In Albay, even if we’re sandwiched between the two, I’ll fight for Leni here,” Salceda said.

“Even if we’re not as big as Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte, ilalampaso pa rin ni Leni dyan si Chiz.”

John Paolo Bencito

UP-Los Baños students slam ABS-CBN, deny heckling Binay By christine F. herrera

Protest. Members of cause-oriented groups protest in Quezon City on the eve of the 43rd anniversary of the establishment of Martial Law. Ey AcAsio

THE University of the Philippines-Los Baños University Student Council has denied that the campus’ 12,000 Iskolar ng Bayan heckled Vice President Jejomar Binay, prompting a television network to apologize for its erroneous reporting.

UPLB University Student Council chairman Ronald Gem Celestial posted an open letter through various social media accounts to ABS-CBN denouncing its “misleading, inaccurate and unethical reporting.”

Celestial took exemptions to the network’s portrayal of the UPLB students as “unmannered and of low breeding” in its articles about Tuesday’s forum, where Binay had been its guest speaker.

“It is insulting and unacceptable for the part of the Iskolar ng Bayan to be wrongly portrayed by ABS-CBN’s recently published articles,” Celestial said.

He denied that the members of the Iskolar ng Bayan chanted “trapo” and heckled Binay before his speech.

The Standard also reported the alleged jeering in its Sept. 16 issue during the open forum because of the sharp questions thrown by the students, but no chanting of “trapo” was

reported.

ABS-CBN News apologized to the UPLB students on Sept. 19.

“ABS-CBN News expresses its sincerest apologies to the students of UP Los Baños for the errors committed by ABS-CBNnews. com in two articles about the forum of UP Los Baños students with Vice President Jejomar Binay last September 15,” the station said.

“In our effort to provide a more comprehensive coverage of the forum, one of our writers mistook the word ‘sample’ for ‘trapo.’ We immediately corrected this right after we were alerted about the mistake on September 16, 2015.”

The station also vowed it would be “taking disciplinary steps against those responsible for the oversight.”

On Sept. 15, Celestial said Binay visited the UPLB to speak at a forum hosted by the Department of Social Sciences of the College of Arts & Sciences.

It was in this forum inside the DL Umali Hall, Celestial said, that Binay discussed transparency and good governance.

Several news agencies covered the forum, eventually publishing news articles and releasing reports the following hours and days, he said.

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MMDA to reopen Edsa crossing

By Sandy Araneta

The Metro Manila Development Authority will implement a “big adjustment” to help ease traffic by reopening the Quezon Avenue-Edsa intersection to left-turning vehicles.

MMDA assistant general manager for operations Emerson Carlos said during a radio interview that the agency will install traffic lights on the intersection to control traffic flow in the area.

For his part, MMDA traffic engi-

neering center head Neomi Recio said that based on the plan, the intersection will be opened to southbound vehicles coming from Elliptical Road turning left to Edsa and northbound vehicles, heading toward Trinoma and SM North areas

from Araneta Avenue, both coming from Quezon Avenue.

But Recio said vehicles coming from both sides of Quezon Avenue will still not be allowed to cross Edsa using the intersection.

She said affected vehicles will pass under the Quezon AvenueEdsa flyover.

Based on the MMDA’s data, at least 4,000 vehicles per hour are using the two U-turn slots under the Quezon Avenue-EDSA flyover.

Recio said that it will take weeks before the MMDA can open the

intersection.

It would take at least a week to install the traffic lights and more time will be needed to remove other traffic-control features at the intersection.

Last week, the Philippine National Police’s Highway Patrol Group closed the U-turn slots in front of SM North Edsa and Trinoma malls.

Vehicles that usually use the Uturn slots to get to the nearby malls and North Avenue are now forced to use a single U-turn slot under the Quezon Avenue flyover.

Houses on stilts. Residents secure their ‘floating houses’ between the Malabon and Navotas Rivers near C5 Road after the rains. ANDREW RABULAN

Rufo, 45

AWARD-WINNING journalist Aries Rufo died of cardiac arrest on Saturday. He was 45.

Rufo started his career as a journalist with the Manila Times in the early 1990s before joining The Standard (then the Manila Standard).

He spent a decade with Newsbreak covering the church, the judiciary and politics.

Rufo last worked for Rappler as a senior investigative reporter.

He is the author of the groundbreaking book Altar of Secrets: Sex, Politics, and Money in the Philippine Catholic Church, which was published in June 2013.

Rufo was also a recipient of the Jaime V. Ongpin Award in 2004 for his work “Sins of the Father” and the Lorenzo Natali Award in 2008.

Congress demands medals for SAF 44

By Rio N. Araja LEADERS of the House of Representatives on Sunday urged the Aquino administration to fast-track the conferment of the Medal of Valor on the 44 members of the PNP Special Action Force troopers who were killed in and who survived the Jan. 25 clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao right after Malaysian bombmaker Zulkifli bin Hir, alias Marwan, was neutralized.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, House independent bloc leader, said giving the highest award of the PNP to the SAF members for their act of heroism would boost the morale of the entire police force and show that the government is looking after their welfare.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. and Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo and Alfred Vargas agreed with Romualdez.

“Let us show our concern and compassion for them.

We must rally behind giving some, if not all, SAF members who were killed and survived the Mamasapano clash the Medal of Valor,” Romualdez said.

Romualdez, who is also president of the Philippine Constitution Association, reiterated that the SAF troopers killed Marwan, not his aide.

“We should give them the award,” said Belmonte, who is also vice chairman of the ruling Liberal Party.

“I agree that the greatest honor we can bestow upon the SAF 44 is to give them the highest accolade. They sacrificed their lives so others may live,” said Castelo, chairman of the House committee on Metro Manila development and an LP member.

Esmael Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, dies

By Florante S. Solmerin and Francisco Tuyay SULU Sultan Esmael Kiram II died of kidney failure last Saturday and his younger brother, Datu Rajah Mudah Phugdal Kiram, has been named his successor.

“He passed away last night at 6 p.m. at the Zamboanga Peninsula Hospital because of a kidney problem,” sultanate spokesman Abraham Idjirani said Sunday in a phone interview.

He said Kiram’s health started to deteriorate two months ago after he suffered at least three successive strokes.

“His remains will be transported to Maiming, Sulu,

where he will be interred in the ancestral graveyard of the Kiram family,” Idjirani said.

The sultan was born on Nov. 9, 1939 in Maimbung, Sulu and ascended to the throne on March 12, 2001.

The sultan was 76 and his brother-successor is 72.

“Datu Rajah Mudah Phugdal Kiram will be formally announced as the rightful successor of the late Sultan after the burial,” Idjirani said.

Idjirani said the Kiram’s brother is a public school teacher who holds a degree of Bachelor of Science in education.

“He taught in elementary schools until his retirement. He was also a professional referee in the Basketball Association

of the Philippines,” Idjirani said.

Idjirani said the late sultan had refused to be taken to the hospital but his family insisted on it.

Kiram’s brother Rajah Muda Agbimudin Kiram led 100 fighters of the sultanate’s Royal Security Force who were mostly killed in the March 2013 attack in Lahad Datu, Malaysia.

Kiram succeeded his brother Ismail Kiram III who died in October 2013 at the height of the Sabah standoff.

Rajah Muda along with 300 fighters of the RSF sailed to Lahad Datu from Simulul Island in Tawi-Tawi on the eve of Feb. 11, 2013 to assert the sultanate’s territorial claim over Sabah.

In town. One of the most successful singing groups of the 80s, Spandau Ballet, arrives Sunday at the NAIA Terminal 2 from Singapore. The band will play their hits at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City Monday night. RUDY C. SANTOS

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Trapped OFWs in Saudi seek amnesty

By Ronald o. Reyes A gROUP of undocumented overseas Filipino workers has urged the Aquino administration to help them return home and obtain amnesty from the oil-rich Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

“The OFW Undocumented for Legalization and Amnesty was formed with an aim of uniting all undocumented OFWs in Saudi Arabia to appeal to the host government to grant an amnesty and thus will give undocumented a chance to correct their status,” said Nely Natividad, OFWULA vice chairperson.

Natividad, in a statement, said at least 60 undocumented OFWs issued an appeal to the host government for their legalization and repatriation through amnesty.

While another 65 stranded male OFWs staying at the so-called ‘Tent City’ in exit 8, Riyadh, have pleaded for repatriation as they “wished to be home with their families during the Christmas season.”

“Many OFWs were forced to run away from their employers due to labor issues, abuses and maltreatment and upon expiry of their residence visa they became undocumented,” the statement added.

The group disclosed there were 188 undocumented OFWs in its list since its formation in July 2015, adding its number is growing.

“Join and help us in our appeal…undocumented OFWs need the assistance of Philippine officials in Saudi Arabia,” said Natividad, adding they have sought help of another Filipino migrants rights group Migrante International for their letter appeal to the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Mining Summit. Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. (right) shares issues on mining with Chamber of Mines of the Philippines president Philip Romualdez (left) and Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. in the recent three-day COMP’s Mining Philippines from Sept. 15 to Sept. 17 at the Solaire Resort and Casino in Parañaque City. The event is the biggest annual international mining conference in the country, a platform where local, regional and national leaders meet with international mining players.

Manila may take on war refugees

By Sandy Araneta The Philippines cannot take more refugees than it can handle, Malacañang said even as the Department of Foreign Affairs has expressed the country’s willingness to accept refugees under its commitment to the United Nations.

“We just want to make sure that we can manage it properly, that we don’t take on more than what we can handle,” President Benigno Aquino III had said as cited by Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. during an interview over state-run dzRB. Coloma quoting Aquino’s statement said the “vast majority of our people are still living in poverty. We would like to deploy or use our resources to better the lives of

our people and do our fair share,” Coloma also said quoting Aquino’s statement.

Coloma said, that even though the Philippines wants to help, the ‘fair share’ must be considered, as well as the resources of the Philippines must be a basis for its giving help to the refugees.

He said the government has other priorities to attend to such as the rehabilitation of areas stricken by Typhoon “Yolanda,”

the earthquake-hit Bohol and the pathizes with the terrible plight of siege of Zamboanga City where the migrants and would welcome thousands have been displaced them to the Philippines anytime, by fighting between state troopers the general welfare of the Filipino and Moro rebels. people remains a priority.

Coloma said in the government’s “The history is there, the culture commitment to helping Vietnam- is there. We just want to make sure ese refugee, the country will only that we manage it properly, that we serve as a transition or transient don’t take more than what we can point, and reception area, before handle,” Aquino said.

Aquino noted the country’s their transfer to another country.

Aquino earlier said the country history of accepting migrants is open to accepting Syrian refugees such as the Vietnamese refuto the Philippines, but this is only gees who became known as ‘boat under the particular circumstance people’ decades ago, the Jewish that the number should be limited who were taken in by President to a number the government can Manuel Quezon at the height of properly manage and handle.

World War II and the Uighurs Citing meager government re- from Rohingya just recently—all sources, Aquino said in a forum proof the Philippines is ready to that while the government sym- assist these people.

Apec panel has ‘say’ on flights

Love locks. Couples revisit their ‘love locks’ near the Baclaran Church in Parañaque City.

Borrowed from a French tradition, the practice has spread among Filipino lovers, mostly residents of Metro Manila. Ey AcASio

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THe “no-fly zones” as guide Transportation and Comfor arriving dignitaries of the munications, the Civil AviaAsia-Pacific economic Co- tion Authority of the Philipoperation in November, must pines, the Manila Internabe tackled by the APeC tional Airport Authority, and National Organizing Com- airline companies, as well as mittee before the summit, other stakeholders.

Malacañang said on Sunday Just like what the governin reaction to a proposal from ment did during the visit of Senator Ralph Recto.

Pope Francis last January, Communications Sec- the advisory will be done in retary Herminio Coloma advance, and that proper noJr. during an interview tification for the public will over state-run dzRB, said be made. the Philippine government Recto said the authorities through the APeC NOC, should advise the public to which is in-charge of organ- expect disruptions in flight izing events of the APeC schedules when world leadeconomic Leaders’ Meeting ers begin arriving for the in November, is coordinat- APeC summit in November. ing with the Department of Changes in flight sched-

ules when 21 world leaders arrive for the summit are likely, Recto said, adding that when Pope Francis visited the country in January, the air space over the Ninoy Aquino International Airport was off limits for almost half a day.

Among those expected to attend the November summit are US President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

While information about possible flight delays and nofly zones might be embargoed for security reasons, Recto said the government could still help Filipino travelers affected by such changes. Sandy Araneta

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De Lima urged: Solve Palawan slay

By Rey E. Requejo Thousands of sympathizers of murdered journalist dr. Gerry ortega have signed a petition paper urging Justice secretary Leila de Lima to expedite the prosecution of former Palawan Gov. Mario Joel Reyes, his brother, former Coron Mayor Mario Reyes who have been accused of masterminding the crime.

Accompanied by running priest Fr. Robert Reyes, the Ortega family went to the Department of Justice in Manila on Friday to submit the petition paper to the Office of the Justice Secretary.

The number of signatories to the petition rose to at least 30,000, and more than double the number that Fr. Reyes earlier promised to collect appealing to De Lima to bring justice to the family of Ortega who was gunned down on Jan. 24, 2011.

Ortega was a vocal critic of local officials for their alleged misuse of funds derived from the operation of the Malampaya gas field in Palawan.

In a statement, Patty Ortega, wife of the victim, pointed out that it has been five years since the killing but until now authorities have yet to determine the whereabouts of the Reyes brothers.

The two accused have reportedly left the country following the filing of murder charges against them before the DoJ. Patty also lamented that its pending petition for review seeking the reversal of the resolution issued by the first panel of prosecutors in 2011 that junked the murder charges against the Reyes brothers has remained unacted upon by De Lima.

The Ortega family is asking De Lima to resolve its pending petition for review before she steps down from office and seek a senatorial post in next year’s election.

“Batid po namin na sa mga araw na darating ay magbibitiw na sa kanyang tungkulin bilang kalihim si Secretary Leila de Lima upang maghanda para sa kanyang pagtakbo bilang senador. nais po naming hilingin kay Secretary De Lima na bago man lamang siya magbitiw ay resolbahin na niya ang aming nakabimbing Petition for Review sa resulta ng preliminary investigation ng unang DoJ panel na nagimbistiga sa kaso, “ the statement read.

Patty added that her family remains hopeful that De Lima would keep her promise to be fair in resolving the case despite that the ex-governor was her former client during her stint as an election lawyer.

The Court of Appeals issued a ruling in October 2014 directing De Lima to resolve the petition for review filed by the Ortega family.

It junked the petition filed by the former Palawan governor seeking to prohibit the Office of the Secretary of Justice from conducting further proceedings in a preliminary investigation in connection with the case.

Reyes wanted De Lima to inhibit from resolving the petition for review following her statement alleging that his camp employed “foul tactics and illicit means” in order to get a favorable decision from the appellate court.

He also cited De Lima’s statement saying that her office “is readying a contingency plan-resolution” of the pending petition for review of the Ortega family following the CA’s ruling which nullified the creation of a second panel of prosecutors and its subsequent finding of probable cause to hold him liable for murder.

Appreciation tokens. Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office vice chairman and general manager Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II (third from

right) and directors Mabel V. Mamba and Francisco G. Joaquin III receive tokens of appreciation from Ilocos Sur Gov. Ryan Luis Singson (second from left) and Ilocos Sur Rep. Eric Singson (left) (2nd district) during the turnover ceremony of 18 PCSO ambulances to the provinces of Ilocos Sur, Ilocos Norte and La Union at the Provincial Capitol in Vigan City on Sept. 18. JOSEPH MUEGO

Filipino from HK returns home ‘richer’ by P15m

By Eric B. Apolonio CUSTOMS officials at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 seized some 259 pieces of expensive jewelry valued at P15 million brought in by a Filipino traveler Saturday night.

Customs X-ray project supervisor eric Macaombang identified the Filipino as Rosemarie Clemente of Tandang Sora, Quezon City who faced charges of smuggling for not declaring the pieces of jewelry in her possession.

Macaombang said that his

group in coordination with the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Service and the Customs police received information from their foreign counterpart that a certain Filipino will bring in expensive jewelry onboard a Tiger Air that will arrive from Hong Kong around 11:20 p.m. Saturday.

Macaombang said he alerted the Customs examiners onduty and Customs police to intercept the cargo.

Clemente was asked by Customs examiners if she had “something to declare but she replied nothing.”

Customs examiners then asked Clemente to open her hand-carry luggage and found expensive items such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings and other jewelry inlaid with diamonds, pearls and precious stones. Her pieces of jewelry weighed a total of 2.1 kilos, Customs said.

Clemente had only one check-in luggage and two hand-carry items.

Clemente said that she went to Hong Kong to meet her fiancé who had a layover flight.

She said she met a certain Lydia Cheung at the departure terminal and asked her to

bring the trolley bag containing the pieces of jewelry back to Manila.

Clemente said that Cheung allegedly instructed her to meet another person in Manila to turn over the trolley bag. Clemente said she agreed on Cheung’s promise that she would receive a cellphone in exchange for the favor.

Customs said they would file a complaint on Monday before the Pasay City Prosecutors Office for smuggling while the jewelry had been placed in the BoC vault for safe keeping.

SSS’ five-year campaign nets P1.6 billion THe Social Security System has sued over 7,000 employers over the past five years for failure to report employees for SSS coverage and refusal to remit the monthly contributions of workers, bringing in P1.6 billion in collections from overdue SSS obligations.

As a result of the campaign, 24 people were sentenced to jail.

Lawyer Voltaire P. Agas, SSS chief legal counsel and senior vice president of Legal Services Division, said the SSS has charged a total of 7,072 employers since 2010, of which 5,452 or 77 percent have settled their overdue contributions and penalties by paying in full, by installment, or through “dacion en pago” or payment in kind.

“The 24 employers convicted by the court were ordered to serve jail terms of up to 12 years. These convictions should serve as a reminder that the SSS is committed to running after erring employers. As much as they have a business to operate, they also have an obligation to fulfill their duties under the Social Security law,” said Agas.

Civil liabilities that consist of unpaid con-

tributions, penalties and fines from the 24 court convictions amounted to P24.32 million. Nearly eight out of every 10 employers sued by SSS have agreed to an out-of-court settlement that allows them to pay their delinquencies in cash or through property.

“Instead of enduring long and tedious litigations, SSS and employers can agree to a settlement that ensures payment of the delinquency through various means in line

with existing SSS policies. This benefits the SSS, the employers, as well as the employees, since no party aims to force companies into bankruptcy, shut down their operations and leave the workers jobless,” said Agas.

Under the SSS charter, employers must report their new employees to the SSS within 30 days from start of employment and remit the correct amount of SSS contributions every month on time to avoid a 3-percent monthly penalty.

Agas called on employees to file a complaint if their employer is found delinquent in its SSS obligations at the nearest SSS branch, and to present proof of employment such as company IDs and payslips which the SSS can use in investigating the case.

“While our account officers and lawyers have been working hard to ensure employers’ SSS compliance, we also urge members to monitor their own SSS contributions and to report to us at the earliest possible opportunity if there are any non-remittances or under-remittances done by their employers,” he added.

m o n D AY : s e p t e m b e r 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A7

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Two nabbed in Baguio for suspected Ponzi scam

By Dexter A. See BAGUIO CITY—Two persons whose investment company was able to dupe over 130 Cordillerans for a total amount of over P300 million through a suspected Ponzi scheme were arrested by detectives of the Criminal investigation and Detection Group-North Central Luzon along Lubac Road in this city Thursday night.

Senior Superintendent Jimmy Catanes, CIDG-NCL regional commanding officer, identified the arrested operators as Villamor Begsing Balawag, 42, a resident of Itogon, Benguet, and Genevive Gantas of Ambiong, Baguio City.

The two will face charges of large-scale estafa.

Balawag is listed as the fifth most wanted person in the province of Benguet.

Balawag was the manager of PC Wellness which held office at Petersen Building KM 4, La Trinidad, Benguet, Catanes said.

Gantas was one of the employees of the company who implemented the alleged Ponzi scheme, promising returns of at least 35 percent to investors and collecting money from them.

Catanes added that company started its operation in October 2014 and lasted for six months, closing in March this year.

“We are elated over the successful operations of our detectives against those who continue to dupe willing individuals in placing their hard-earned money in high-risk investments without guarantee of return,” Catanes stressed.

PC Wellness is one of the 53 firms in the Cordillera region identified by the Anti-Investment Task Force as using the Ponzi scheme. The Securities and Exchange Commission defines a Ponzi scheme as one where a promoter recruits an investor to invest an amount with the promise to repay the principal amount plus interest within a specified period of time.

Work hazard. A

man installs telephone lines in Baguio City, unmindful of the danger he faces. DAVE LEPROZO

Pure devotion. Thousands of

Catholic devotees flock to the annual procession of Our Lady of Peñafrancia in Naga City on Saturday. DANNY PATA

Mt. Province to prohibit smoking in govt premises

By Dexter A. See BONTOC, Mountain Province—The provincial government here is set to implement a provincial ordinance prohibiting smoking within its offices and premises in a bid to enhance a healthy working environment, safeguard public safety and ensure the well-being of its employees and its clients.

Provincial Ordinance No. 218, known as the “Anti-Smoking Ordinance of Mountain Province”, will take effect after it is published in a newspaper of local circulation.

Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan said there is a need to protect their constituents from the dangers and hazards of smoking.

Cigarette smoking has been cited as one of the causes of non-communicable or lifestyle diseases, which are among the top causes of

death among Filipinos.

The ordinance will hold liable not only the person smoking within the identified premises but also the department head or the officer-in-charge who knowingly allows, abets and/or fails to report violators to the Anti-Smoking Task Force or its deputized enforcers.

The task force will be created to implement, monitor and enforce the ordinance.

It will be chaired by the provincial admin-

istrator with the following officials as members: provincial security officer, provincial health officer, chairman-SP committee on health, provincial information officer, the chief of hospitals of Barlig, Besao and Paracelis District Hospitals and others who may be designated by the governor.

Smoking will only be allowed in designated smoking areas which are open, outdoor spaces and at least 10 meters from the provincial offices and its premises.

Violators of the ordinance will be issued citation tickets which indicate the violation and the corresponding administrative penalty.

The ordinance is in support of the Civil Service Commission’s Circular No 17, S. 2009 which prohibits smoking in government offices, and Department of Health Administrative Order No. 10 S. 2009 which calls for an absolute smoking ban in DoH offices and encourages local government units to do the same in their health facilities and offices.

Zamboanga offers P200,000 for arrest of bombing suspect THE Zamboanga City government is offering a cash reward of P200,000 for the swift arrest of the suspect behind Friday’s bombing of a passenger bus here.

A bomb exploded at around 2 p.m. on Sept. 18 killing 14-year-old Fatima Imbraida of Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte. Thirty-three others were injured.

The D’Biel Transport bus had just arrived from a 36-kilometer journey from Barangay Labuan when the bomb exploded at a terminal on Tomas Claudio Street, Barangay Zone 1.

Mayor Maria Isabelle Climaco-Salazar said the bombing was “an act of injustice to innocent civilians.”

She added that the police and the Task Force Zamboanga are leading the investigation to bring justice to the victims of the blast. “We call on all bus companies and other public vehicles to strictly enforce inspection and other security measures,” she added.

The D’Biel Transit Co. is owned by the family of Councilor Luis Biel III. PNA

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

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA editOr

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

libraries plumbline pAstOr ApOllO quibOlOy

[ EDI TORI A L ]

A disgrAceful stAnd The campaign of terror against the lumad or tribal communities in Mindanao puts the aquino administration squarely on the wrong side of a situation that pits naked power against human rights.

Despite a condemnation of the killings and forced evacuations by the Commission on human Rights, the Palace insisted that reports of abuses against tribesmen in Surigao del Sur were not true and even reiterated military claims that most communist rebels are indigenous people called lumad. “a crime happened there. It’s a law enforcement issue,” presidential spokesman edwin Lacierda said of the summary execution of three lumad leaders by militiamen linked to the armed Forces.

The presidential spokesman offered no basis for refuting eyewitness accounts of the executions other than to say that the armed Forces had denied any involvement and that “General hernando Iriberri [the armed Forces chef] said so.” earlier, the chairman of the ChR, Chito Gascon, denounced the killings and called for “government attention” to the plight of the lumad.

“There have been horrendous atrocities and crimes perpetrated by persons who should be identified,” Gascon said.

Gascon said it is clear that the killings were actually executions.

“It is clear to us, from the photos alone, that these were extra-judicial killings. and we condemn it,” he said.

Officials from the National Commission for Culture and the arts issued a similar condemnation, declaring that “the murder of our indigenous people is the murder of our people.”

Last week, the Department of Foreign affairs also admitted that it had taken no action to invite special rapporteurs from the United Nations to investigate the killings, despite a request from a human rights group that they look into allegations that lumad leaders are being killed by a paramilitary group working for the army in Mindanao.

UN special rapporteurs can conduct a country visit only if there is a formal invitation from the state.

Karapatan, a human rights group, had sent a request to the UN special rapporteurs to investigate the lumad killings and urged the aquino administration to allow the envoys to visit.

But a spokesman from the Foreign affairs Department said no such invitation has been issued to the UN. The question is, why not? If indeed there were no truth to allegations that the paramilitary groups were organized by the armed Forces, what is the harm in having UN envoys verify this? We would think the administration would welcome the opportunity to clear itself and the armed Forces of any wrongdoing in the lumad killings. That it has not done so is disgraceful indeed—indicating that the administration has something to hide, after all.

‘Presidentiables’ pensées fr. rAnhiliO cAllAngAn AquinO ThaT is another term we owe to our national proclivity for titles. One has to have a title to fit into an orderly scheme of things and to count. a candidate for president is a “presidentiable,” no matter what Merriam-Webster may say, and no matter that the computer underscores the word with a dotted, angry red. One who loses the presidential race is not an “ex-presidentiable.” he is

simply a “natalo” or “talunan” and no matter what a giant of a person he may be, she has no title. (The deliberate mix of pronouns is a concession to political correctness!)

I have asked the permission of the Rector-President of San Beda College to organize in the Graduate School of Law at Mendiola a debate for presidential candidates. at the moment, that means three persons: Vice President Jejomar Binay, former DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Senator Grace Poe. I have sent feelers to the candidates through persons known to me and known to them. I will soon send them

formal invitations. I am minded to invite such persons as retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno, former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, former Secretary Benjamin Diokno, archbishop Soc Villegas, my father, Justice hilarion aquino and the Rector-President of San Beda College, Fr. aloy Maranan, OSB as members of the Panel of Interpellators. The candidates will in fact answer questions put to all three by the members of the panel. at this stage, beyond intimations sent the candidates through friends and the permission of the RectorPresident this event, that I hope will be exciting to all, is still very

the real from the dross—that is what rationality is all about.

much on my mental drawingboard! But this, I hope, will be the contribution of San Beda’s Graduate School of Law to the needful task of sifting grain from chaff, the real from the spurious.

Things tend to get muddled as candidates rev up their

A9

respective machineries for the elections. The slur campaign against Vice President Jejomar Binay started a long time ago, because he was an obvious candidate who had, early on, made clear his intention to make a dash for Malacañang.

When it was suspected that

Senator Bongbong Marcos had his sights set on the presidency as well, there were early attempts at slurring him. But then again, of course, one must distinguish between real issues and counterfeit claims. Just as it is wrong to indulge in gossip and to ventilate the idle talk of wags, it is as wrong—and pernicious to the cause of an enlightened electorate—to sweep real issues beneath a blanket of praise and adulation spun by well-placed and noisy supporters.

Jojo Binay has to deal with the issue of trustworthiness, because that seems to

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-

be the single biggest hurdle in his way.

There is no way, however, that you can convince anyone who does not wish to be convinced and who has decided, even before he has heard you, that you deserve consignment to the farthest reaches of the underworld. That is how it is with many Binay detractors. But a good number of citizens are rational, and can be convinced. Whether he fleeced Makati or the national coffers for his personal profit is a real issue.

But since these matters are now before the courts of law (or so I have been informed), then it is an issue that

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

must now be resolved according to the standards and requirements of proof in judicial proceedings. Still he has to face the electorate and take up the gauntlet hurled by his detractors. For now, I do not consider dynasties a real issue against him because Congress has refused, despite the clear policy of the Constitution, to define what a dynasty is.

What Grace Poe felt towards the United States at some time in her life is a non-issue. That she may have entertained the idea of residing there Continued on A10

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

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

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

The movie The Book Thief was on cable the other day and it transported me back to the time when I would burrow myself in the town library for hours to read books and dog-eared, three-dayold newspapers.

In that gaslight era when TV was eons away, the library door was the portal to the outside world. The books were few but enough to represent the catalogue of civilization and the diaries of humankind.

Once I leafed through a book, I felt that I was being catapulted back to distant times or hurled to faraway lands. and like all pre-teeners, illustrated books, especially glossy atlases or National Geographic magazines, were visual feasts that left me enthralled.

I may have lived in the boondocks but to quote a writer, a “young man has his Rome, his Florence, his whole glowing Italy, within the four walls of his library.” To be a library patron at that time was to be connected. It provided free entertainment and allowed one to indulge in mental travelogue and to earn mileage points without leaving home.

Of course, libraries, being book depots, were the best place to do a school assignment. The librarians I encountered had book titles filed in their heads. helpful, they were the original search engines.

In those days, a library was proof that there was intelligent life in a community. and the more books it had, the more enlightened the populace was. It was a watering hole in the desert of ignorance where people go daily to drink.

But as ink on paper gave way to pixels and bytes, and high-definition screens begin to trump the fine print, libraries ceased to be the village’s fountain of knowledge. as information can be had on demand, and newscasts stream on phones thinner than a pocket book, the library it seems, in this part of the world, is no longer the information central.

The relegation is reflected on public money spent on libraries. I texted a teacher of Jose Maria College how much government spending was for libraries. he said that in this age of the P3-trillion budget, the National Library of the Philippines, the mothership of public libraries gets a pittance. It will get P270 million in 2016, half of what a congressional subsidiary—the Commission on appointments—will get next year.

When a 25-man legislative body that most often mechanically greenlights some but not all presidential appointments gets twice as much as the Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

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

A8

opinion

ADELLE chuA editOr

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

opinion

libraries plumbline pAstOr ApOllO quibOlOy

[ EDI TORI A L ]

A disgrAceful stAnd The campaign of terror against the lumad or tribal communities in Mindanao puts the aquino administration squarely on the wrong side of a situation that pits naked power against human rights.

Despite a condemnation of the killings and forced evacuations by the Commission on human Rights, the Palace insisted that reports of abuses against tribesmen in Surigao del Sur were not true and even reiterated military claims that most communist rebels are indigenous people called lumad. “a crime happened there. It’s a law enforcement issue,” presidential spokesman edwin Lacierda said of the summary execution of three lumad leaders by militiamen linked to the armed Forces.

The presidential spokesman offered no basis for refuting eyewitness accounts of the executions other than to say that the armed Forces had denied any involvement and that “General hernando Iriberri [the armed Forces chef] said so.” earlier, the chairman of the ChR, Chito Gascon, denounced the killings and called for “government attention” to the plight of the lumad.

“There have been horrendous atrocities and crimes perpetrated by persons who should be identified,” Gascon said.

Gascon said it is clear that the killings were actually executions.

“It is clear to us, from the photos alone, that these were extra-judicial killings. and we condemn it,” he said.

Officials from the National Commission for Culture and the arts issued a similar condemnation, declaring that “the murder of our indigenous people is the murder of our people.”

Last week, the Department of Foreign affairs also admitted that it had taken no action to invite special rapporteurs from the United Nations to investigate the killings, despite a request from a human rights group that they look into allegations that lumad leaders are being killed by a paramilitary group working for the army in Mindanao.

UN special rapporteurs can conduct a country visit only if there is a formal invitation from the state.

Karapatan, a human rights group, had sent a request to the UN special rapporteurs to investigate the lumad killings and urged the aquino administration to allow the envoys to visit.

But a spokesman from the Foreign affairs Department said no such invitation has been issued to the UN. The question is, why not? If indeed there were no truth to allegations that the paramilitary groups were organized by the armed Forces, what is the harm in having UN envoys verify this? We would think the administration would welcome the opportunity to clear itself and the armed Forces of any wrongdoing in the lumad killings. That it has not done so is disgraceful indeed—indicating that the administration has something to hide, after all.

‘Presidentiables’ pensées fr. rAnhiliO cAllAngAn AquinO ThaT is another term we owe to our national proclivity for titles. One has to have a title to fit into an orderly scheme of things and to count. a candidate for president is a “presidentiable,” no matter what Merriam-Webster may say, and no matter that the computer underscores the word with a dotted, angry red. One who loses the presidential race is not an “ex-presidentiable.” he is

simply a “natalo” or “talunan” and no matter what a giant of a person he may be, she has no title. (The deliberate mix of pronouns is a concession to political correctness!)

I have asked the permission of the Rector-President of San Beda College to organize in the Graduate School of Law at Mendiola a debate for presidential candidates. at the moment, that means three persons: Vice President Jejomar Binay, former DILG Secretary Mar Roxas and Senator Grace Poe. I have sent feelers to the candidates through persons known to me and known to them. I will soon send them

formal invitations. I am minded to invite such persons as retired Chief Justice Reynato Puno, former National Treasurer Leonor Briones, former Secretary Benjamin Diokno, archbishop Soc Villegas, my father, Justice hilarion aquino and the Rector-President of San Beda College, Fr. aloy Maranan, OSB as members of the Panel of Interpellators. The candidates will in fact answer questions put to all three by the members of the panel. at this stage, beyond intimations sent the candidates through friends and the permission of the RectorPresident this event, that I hope will be exciting to all, is still very

the real from the dross—that is what rationality is all about.

much on my mental drawingboard! But this, I hope, will be the contribution of San Beda’s Graduate School of Law to the needful task of sifting grain from chaff, the real from the spurious.

Things tend to get muddled as candidates rev up their

A9

respective machineries for the elections. The slur campaign against Vice President Jejomar Binay started a long time ago, because he was an obvious candidate who had, early on, made clear his intention to make a dash for Malacañang.

When it was suspected that

Senator Bongbong Marcos had his sights set on the presidency as well, there were early attempts at slurring him. But then again, of course, one must distinguish between real issues and counterfeit claims. Just as it is wrong to indulge in gossip and to ventilate the idle talk of wags, it is as wrong—and pernicious to the cause of an enlightened electorate—to sweep real issues beneath a blanket of praise and adulation spun by well-placed and noisy supporters.

Jojo Binay has to deal with the issue of trustworthiness, because that seems to

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-

be the single biggest hurdle in his way.

There is no way, however, that you can convince anyone who does not wish to be convinced and who has decided, even before he has heard you, that you deserve consignment to the farthest reaches of the underworld. That is how it is with many Binay detractors. But a good number of citizens are rational, and can be convinced. Whether he fleeced Makati or the national coffers for his personal profit is a real issue.

But since these matters are now before the courts of law (or so I have been informed), then it is an issue that

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

must now be resolved according to the standards and requirements of proof in judicial proceedings. Still he has to face the electorate and take up the gauntlet hurled by his detractors. For now, I do not consider dynasties a real issue against him because Congress has refused, despite the clear policy of the Constitution, to define what a dynasty is.

What Grace Poe felt towards the United States at some time in her life is a non-issue. That she may have entertained the idea of residing there Continued on A10

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

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

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

The movie The Book Thief was on cable the other day and it transported me back to the time when I would burrow myself in the town library for hours to read books and dog-eared, three-dayold newspapers.

In that gaslight era when TV was eons away, the library door was the portal to the outside world. The books were few but enough to represent the catalogue of civilization and the diaries of humankind.

Once I leafed through a book, I felt that I was being catapulted back to distant times or hurled to faraway lands. and like all pre-teeners, illustrated books, especially glossy atlases or National Geographic magazines, were visual feasts that left me enthralled.

I may have lived in the boondocks but to quote a writer, a “young man has his Rome, his Florence, his whole glowing Italy, within the four walls of his library.” To be a library patron at that time was to be connected. It provided free entertainment and allowed one to indulge in mental travelogue and to earn mileage points without leaving home.

Of course, libraries, being book depots, were the best place to do a school assignment. The librarians I encountered had book titles filed in their heads. helpful, they were the original search engines.

In those days, a library was proof that there was intelligent life in a community. and the more books it had, the more enlightened the populace was. It was a watering hole in the desert of ignorance where people go daily to drink.

But as ink on paper gave way to pixels and bytes, and high-definition screens begin to trump the fine print, libraries ceased to be the village’s fountain of knowledge. as information can be had on demand, and newscasts stream on phones thinner than a pocket book, the library it seems, in this part of the world, is no longer the information central.

The relegation is reflected on public money spent on libraries. I texted a teacher of Jose Maria College how much government spending was for libraries. he said that in this age of the P3-trillion budget, the National Library of the Philippines, the mothership of public libraries gets a pittance. It will get P270 million in 2016, half of what a congressional subsidiary—the Commission on appointments—will get next year.

When a 25-man legislative body that most often mechanically greenlights some but not all presidential appointments gets twice as much as the Continued on A11 Rolando G. Estabillo Jojo A. Robles Ramonchito L. Tomeldan Chin Wong/Ray S. Eñano Francis Lagniton Joyce Pangco Pañares Adelle Chua Romel J. Mendez Roberto Cabrera

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

Emil P. Jurado Chairman Emeritus, Editiorial Board

A10 TRUE NORTH PURA Sumangil was having lunch with some civil ADELLE society colleagues CHUA at the Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas compound when she was asked to retell the beginnings of the Concerned Citizens of Abra for Good Government, which she serves as chairman.

It was just two days after the CCAGG received the first Citizenship Award by the Galing Pook Foundation, alongside two other organizations from Mindanao. She came to Manila to accept the recognition.

The 74-year-old Manang Pura gladly obliged to the request. She hurriedly finished her meal and sat at an outside table, recounting how the organization began in the days after the Edsa Revolution.

“We metamorphosed from Namfrel. After our group’s participation in the 1986 elections, we did not want to stop our involvement. We also wanted to participate in the development of Abra, which was a very poor province at that time.”

And indeed in the 1980s, Abra was included as priority for integrated area development because of its low level of resource utilization, social amenities, infrastructure development and popular participation which had resulted in apathy and political unrest.

In 1987, the newly installed administration of Corazon Aquino launched the Community Employment and Development Program to pump prime the economy.

With a budget of P3.9 billion, it financed smallHere’s how a citizens’ scale, labor-intensive i n f r a s t r u c t u r e group from Abra began. projects. The idea was to employ project beneficiaries so they could augment their farming income.

A unique aspect of the project was the involvement of a non-government organization to monitor the program’s implementation.

For Abra, CCAGG was that group. In January 1987, it signed a tripartite agreement with the National Economic and Development Authority and the thenMinistry of Budget and Management.

“The change was euphoric at that time,” Sumangil recalled. “It was like people had new lenses.”

CCAGG’s members looked at their participation as a challenge, an opportunity to fight graft and corruption which they felt was causing poverty in their province. They looked at the financial and physical implementation of the project but also at the benefits derived by the community. They engaged a local radio station and a community newspaper for disseminating information.

But the Ministry of Public Works and Highways put up some resistance, dismissing the group as “simply laymen who did not understand technical matters.” Programs of work were difficult to obtain.

The members were met with indifference, at best, when they raised concerns. Some local officials said they only caused destabilization and disunity, and hindered development.

All too soon, the MPWH in Abra said that projects being monitored in the province were already finished.

The CCAGG was aghast; many of the projects had not been even started yet.

They wrote a letter to then-Minister Vicente Jayme who received them warmly and committed to send an audit team to inspect the projects in the province.

The team was able to gather documents and interview residents before receiving death threats—bullets in their service vehicles.

The team’s findings resulted in administrative charges against several members of the province’s engineering district. As the cases were being heard, smear campaigns and physical threats on the lives of CCAGG personalities were noted. There was also intervention

CHASING HAPPY

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

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

WHAT CUBANS CAN GAIN FROM FRANCIS’ VISIT Bloomberg editorial POPE Francis’ critics are right: This weekend’s papal visit will not bring an end, or even much of a pause, to the paranoid repression that marks the Castro regime. That doesn’t mean it’s not worthwhile, however—far from it.

Over the last few decades, the Catholic Church has become one of the most respected institutions in Cuba. Emerging from the shadows of state repression, it now provides meals and care for the poor, education, training for entrepreneurs, and libraries with access to foreign books and magazines. Catholic lay organizations have opened a space for a cautious political dialogue, and church leaders have played a key role in getting some dissidents released. President Barack Obama’s diplomatic opening would not have succeeded without the involvement of Francis and his advisers.

Yet for all that, Cuba remains a country where the state brooks little dissent and routinely does bad things to good people. Last year, for instance, Cuba subjected nearly 8,900 people to short-term, and often violent, detentions to prevent independent political activity or free assembly—up from about 6,400

such instances in 2013. A ridiculous “potential dangerousness” law allows up to a four-year detention of individuals before they commit a crime. The government controls the press. It restricts freedom of movement, not to mention routine economic transactions.

Such continuing abuses and restrictions have cast the pope’s outreach to Cuba in a darker light in the eyes of some dissidents, who warn that the church is in danger of colluding with the regime.

It’s worth noting then that the church’s mission is to spread the gospel, not topple despots.

Sometimes, of course, the one leads to the other. Indeed, it will ultimately be the rising aspirations and expectations of ordinary Cubans that set their country free.

The task before those who want to promote freedom in Cuba is to encourage that bottom-up process, which is already forcing change visible in the growing freedoms Cubans have to run businesses or travel abroad. In that regard, Friday’s announcement by the Obama administration that the US will ease restrictions on travel, telecommunications and remittances is a huge step in the right direction.

Cuba is not China or Vietnam—

‘PRESIDENTIABLES’... From A9 for good, even as a naturalized American is, as I see it, also a non-issue. Whether or not she fulfills the constitutional requirements for the office of president is, however, a real issue, no matter the popularity of FPJ. So it is that it must be determined whether or not she is natural-born, and whether or not she lost her natural-born status. Likewise, it has to be settled whether or not she meets the residency requirements set forth by the Constitution. These are real issues, because they are constitutional requirements for the office of President. Once more however, it seems that these are matters already pending before a relevant tribunal.

Provided that the SET does not dismiss the action on one procedural ground or other (locus standi, for example, or the personality of the petitioner to file a petition for quo warranto), we should have an answer when the tribunal renders its decision. And whether an adverse holding would be prejudicial to many OFWs or not is likewise a non-issue. If we want the legal regime to be different, let us first amend our Constitution and our laws.

What Mar Roxas had to do with the bungling that has hounded the present administration is a real issue for him, because it has to do with his capacity to lead, to direct and by powerful politicians. But there was also tremendous support from the people and the church.

Because of the relentless attention by the CCAGG, the MPWH decided to establish an office called the Complaints and Action Center. In February 1988, the decision on the administrative cases was handed down, finding the 11 officials guilty of falsifying certificates of completion and suspending them as a result of their conduct.

Three weeks after, President Corazon Aquino presented to CCAGG the Presidential Plaque of Appreciation for Outstanding Community Service.

Since then, the CCAGG has kept at its mission. In 2002, it partnered with the Commission on Audit for a reform project which involved citizens in the audit of government projects, specifically road projects of the DPWH and the DENR. This project, generically called “participatory audit,” gave way to Citizen Participatory Audit project that was begun again in earnest under the administration of former chairperson Maria Gracia Pulido Tan. The CPA eventually gained for the Philippines the Bright Spots Award in the 2013 Open Government Partnership forum in London.

to name two communist countries that have used their size and location to blunt calls for political and social reform. It is a tiny island 90 miles off the coast of the world’s superpower, with a creaky economy and a population of 11 million. By normalizing ties and loosening restrictions, the US has already weakened the Castros’ claim to revolutionary legitimacy while strengthening its own hand.

And the US is not the only power with leverage: Cuba is engaged in its first human rights dialogues with the European Union as well as the US Unburdened by the weight of historical and economic grievances, a few European nations are providing quiet, critical support for some of Cuba’s most effective reformers. That’s a division of labor that both partners should seek to strengthen. It’s also one very much in keeping with the pope’s mission to Cuba this weekend.

OUT OF THE BOX RITA LINDA V. JIMENO Atty. Jimeno’s column will resume next week.

to execute. He has to explain exactly what he did in the wake of Yolanda, and why it is that so much that came from generous hearts and hands was left to rot in warehouses due to official ineptitude. Mamasapano is likewise an issue for him, because as DILG secretary, he was very nearly at the top and surely well within the chain of authority (I will avoid the controversial “chain of command”). Whatever people might feel about Korina Sanchez is a non-issue, and so too is it a non-issue that he did not tell on the President’s mishandling of the Mamasapano affair. I would have had less regard for him had he back-stabbed the person on whose cabinet he served. And then, it is also a non-issue that he lost in local elections and for other offices that he had eyed. He is entitled to change his mind; so is the public.

The real from the dross—that is what rationality is all about. And that is why we need the crucible of debate and national discourse. Should our plans the Graduate School of Law of San Beda College come to fruition, this will be one contribution to a necessary national exercise! rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph rannie_aquino@yahoo.com *** Soon, Manang Pura said she had better get back to her colleagues. They would be returning to Abra that afternoon, and it looked like it was going to rain. One wondered where a woman of her age gets the energy and the enthusiasm to plod through from day to day, traveling great distances, meeting with people from all levels and working up the gumption to do the same thing all over again.

She seemed a lot less eager to talk about herself as she was about talking of CCAGG. Few would know, for instance, that in 2005 she was one of 1,000 women worldwide nominated by the Nobel Committee in recognition of their efforts to build peace in the homes, communities and countries. She holds a masters degree in development management and has presented papers at international governance conferences.

Then again, that may be how it is with genuine leaders.

It’s not about their own person. It’s the people they move their peers to become, the causes they inspire them to champion—and yes, the results they make happen. adellechua@gmail.com

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

The movie in her mind ThE big news of the week that just passed was the coming-out party of Senator grace Poe at the Bahay ng alumni of the premier state university, followed a day after by her Senator francis Joseph Escudero, this time at club filipino.

When she foisted her blue and white colors at the University, i wondered aloud, why ateneo colors at the university of the plebeian (well, supposedly) which flies maroon? My daughter corrected me as we watched television; that’s “Marian” blue and white, not elite arrneow. okay, so the symbolism is all about her being “immaculate”.

But then El Queso had to have his touch of red, and, exactly as he said when he renounced his party affiliation (nPc) in 2009, in the same club of the northern elite (just as Manila Polo club is to the elite residing south of the murky Pasig), he postulated the merits of their “partido”— Pilipinas kuno.

Serge osmeña dismissed the “partido” Pilipinas ek-ek as cheap political gimmickry; my reaction was simply “old hat.” i heard the same words from the same politician in

libraries... From A9 national library system, then there is something wrong with the way we allocate funds. of course, budgets for school libraries are embedded in the depEd allocation, and those for college libraries are tucked in the budgets of their schools. But even if we factor them in, which won’t amount to much, the footprint of libraries in the budget would still be too minuscule to meter.

To its credit, depEd once had its library hubs project, where a central library would serve

the same hall in September 2009. “ropa vieja”, my grandaunt called her potage of yesterday’s left-overs. old script, as in “bumenta na ‘yan.” ah…the movie on their minds. The legacy of fPJ, alive once more in her adopted daughter’s mind.

“Puso” as qualification, as contra-distinguished from the “utak” of his mortal opponent in 2004, gloria Macapagal arroyo.

Ayun, na-utakan tuloy. Sad. But this time, Senadora grace comes as one with enough “utak” (show scenes of her handling of the Mamasapano hearings, her excoriation of alan Purisima’s persona in the Senate), and with enough “puso” (show scenes of her riding the decrepit MrT like a suffering commuter; her privilege speech about hungry children; most of all, her maiden family name, her brand—“Poe”.

She enumerated her “vision” at the once-upona-time scholastic haven of the plebeian, all of 20 points. if i remember right, Pnoy enumerated a ten-point program in 2010. Kita n’yo, dinoble pa? it was a recitation of

satellite libraries. But i haven’t heard of this project in recent years. hopefully, it has not suffered the fate of the devalued libraries which litter our landscape. i can’t imagine a school without a well-stocked library.

Without the latter, it forfeits its credentials as a learning institution. for poor students also, a library is not only the place where they can study but the only place where they can access free books. in short, it is not just a barn full of the printed word but a bastion of egalitarianism. it is a great equalizer. “no place

#failocracy

so i see lito banayo everybody’s seminal experiences, or “mis”experiences in this land of the benighted. Were there any doable, measurable, timebound solutions to these 20 problem areas?

Well, there was the department of Emergency Management, forgetting to mention that it was not such a new-fangled idea: there is a bill pending in congress, authored by rep.

Martin romualdez, whose province, leyte was the worsthit by Typhoon yolanda (still remember haiyan?). and yes, there is that promise of an olympic gold medal as the vision for sports.

Everybody and his mother knows we’ve only had a couple of silvers. as if we were watching a telenovela unfold before us, Senator grace said she would provide the details, the “road map” (to borrow from Pnoy’s economic managers favorite solution), as the campaign unfolds. a friend wondered, would

is so totally democratic as a library,” goes one quote. “The only entrance requirement is interest.” in the coming weeks, presidential hopefuls would roll out their platforms but i guess none would care to include the improvement of public libraries, not even as small splinter in the tiniest plank.

This is ironic because these wannabes, when they were students, probably spent days hunkered down in libraries to soak up the knowledge which propelled them to where they are now.

They’re in the position to

we need a P9-trillion annual budget to make all her dreams come true? note that Pnoy will end his term with P3 trillion. ah…the movie in her mind. her real political party (never mind those gaggle of trapos who strutted their “support” at Bahay alumni and club filipino, and then the Bougainvilla upon new Manila address of the nPc boss), is aBScBn, the media giant which banners every squeak and nuance from their “favored” presidential candidate. and will by the end of the month, strut their coco Martin upon the viewing “masa” as the reincarnation of the legendary fPJ, and make his “propoor” cinematic persona as “real” as could ever be— “ang Probinsyano” who defied the well-heeled urban establishment conspiring with the scum of the earth. how will Mar roxas fight cinematic glory with his Marangal message, his wife Korina (also a celebrity as a broadcast journalist) and his ever-sniping spokesman Egay Erice? how will the “dis-graced” Jojo Binay, his rico Quicho, Jv Bautista and Mon ilagan react against

the “immaculate” grace?

There’s so much “abangan ang susunod na kabanata” in the narratives we see unfolding. and enough twists and turns to make it a sure-fire political telenovela.

What will the “villains” like rizalito david hatch? (remember, it’s a movie in her mind). What about those “character” actors who comprise the Senate Electoral Tribunal? and fast forward to october 19, the Monday after the deadline for the filing of her certificate of candidacy as the “next president”, what new “villains” will obstruct her 20-point “quete”?

(Background musical score: languid strains like “To dream the impossible dream…”). Who will be the new character actors in the comelec? and then, to prolong the movie’s appeal in the public mind (como una novela para television), enter the dragon from davao—digong duterte, like a political phoenix rising from the “ashes” of his self-inflicted political “demise.” at the very least, the next eight months leading to May 9, 2016, will be exciting.

reverse the official amnesia on libraries. They should know that libraries are our forward detachments in the fight against illiteracy and in honing our human capital to be worldclass.

But for libraries to do their part, they need a makeover. not just of the aesthetic kind, but on what they offer. inventories are no longer confined to what shelves carry within the four walls of the library.

Thus, libraries should function as internet stations, as Wi-fi hot zones where readers can access what the wide world web of knowledge can offer.

information technology multiplies a library’s portfolio at the least cost.

To do this, they need champions in government.

Better if the next Palace occupant styles himself or herself as the librarian-in-chief of this nation of readers. if that happens, libraries will no longer be the small footnote in the fine print of the national budget. and don’t forget about salaries of librarians, too. if libraries offer brain food, they are the ones who serve them. or as one writer said, “the librarian is the gas station attendant of the mind.”

chong ardivilla

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Unstoppable Day leads by 6 CHICAGO—Jason Day continued his march to try and claim the world number one ranking, stretching his lead to six shots after the third round of the BMW Championship on Saturday.

The 27-year-old Australian remained on course for a wire-to-wire victory as he fired a two-under 69 to reach 20-under 193 in the third of four tournaments in the USPGA Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs.

“I am still trying to push forward and stay aggressive,” Day said. “I had some mental errors out there today.

“So with how I played and to shoot 69, and expand lead to one more shot, was nice.”

Day has a six-shot cushion over Americans Scott Piercy (67) and Daniel Berger (70) who are tied for second at the Conway Farms Golf Club.

World number one Rory McIlroy

birdied three of the last four holes for a four-under 67 and is in sole possession of fourth, seven shots back of Day. Day wobbled down the stretch, making two of his four bogeys on the back nine after making just two in the first two rounds.

But Day, who opened with rounds of 61 and 63, grinded it out and capped his third round by draining a long birdie putt on the last.

Rickie Fowler said Day is in a league of his own.

“Look at Jason, he is in control,” said Fowler. “I don’t worry about him. There is another tournament going on. Playing the way he is there

is not a lot we can do unless the tournament goes seven, eight, nine, 10 rounds.”

Day, of Forest Lake, Queensland, could get to world number one if he claims his fifth title of the season on Sunday. He is trying to join Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh as the only players in the last 20 years to win five or more tournaments in a season.

McIlroy will stay number one if he wins Sunday.

Jordan Spieth, who shot a 72 and is tied for 11th, can also claim number one with a win but was 10 shots off the pace.

Day began his round with back to back pars before making birdie on the par-four third. He played the final four holes of the front nine by offsetting two bogeys with a couple of birdies.

He had two bogeys in a five-hole stretch beginning on 13, but he managed to right the ship by draining a 25-foot putt on the par-five 18th for his sixth birdie of the day.

Day is aiming for his fourth title in his past six tournaments, a stretch that includes his first career major win at the PGA Championship and the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, The Barclays.

“I am going to try and trust myself a little bit better tomorrow. I hope it happens,” Day said.

He also has an opportunity to pass reigning US Open and Masters champ Spieth for player of the year honors.

Fowler had six birdies in a 66 and was in a tie for fifth with Dustin Johnson, who had a 68, and Kevin Na, who birdied the last two holes for a 70. AFP

Jason Day of Australia reacts after putting for birdie on the 18th green during the Third Round of the BMW Championship at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest, Illinois. AFP

Nadal, pal seal Spain’s Davis Cup 3-0 victory ODENSE—A Rafael Nadal inspired Spain halted their Davis Cup decline as the 14time Grand Slam champion teamed up with Fernando Verdasco to seal a 3-0 win over Denmark on Saturday.

The five-time champions were facing relegation from Group One of the Europe/Africa zone following consecutive defeats to Germany, Brazil and Russia in Nadal’s absence over the past two years.

However, he and Verdasco had too much class for the Danish duo of Frederik Nielsen and Thomas Kromann as they came from a set down to win 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Nadal and David Ferrer had already given Spain a commanding 2-0 lead on Friday.

“The feelings are good. It is difficult to play on a court completely unknown to us and between us we had the obligation to win,” said Nadal.

“It is missi on accomplished. In the doubles I think we played well in what was possibly the hardest of the three matches.” AFP

PSC starts Personal Enhancement Program

National U, La Salle shuttlers whip foes DEFENDING champion National University and La Salle gained a share of the lead in the men’s division after beating their respective foes yesterday in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 78 badminton tournament.

The Bulldogs subdued University of Santo Tomas, 4-1, while the Green Archers won over Adamson University, 4-1, to post their second straight victory in the young season at the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall.

In other games, former titlist Ateneo blanked University of the East, 5-0, while University of the Philippines swept Far Eastern University, 5-0, to rebound from their opening-day losses to NU and La Salle, respectively.

The Red Warriors and the Tamaraws dropped to 0-2.

Quizon seizes solo grand final chess lead SAN Juan Elementary School’s Daniel Quizon scored 5.5 points to wrest control in the kiddies’ division, while two took charge in juniors’ play and three shared the lead in seniors’ category of the 2015 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship national finals at SM Megamall over the weekend.

The seventh-ranked Quizon toppled Philymn Villajuan and Rheam de Guzman, upended No. 4 Adrian de Luna and sixth seed Mark Bacojo, repulsed Dennis Gutierrez III before halving the point with No. 5 Justine Mordido to show the way in the 12-and-under section of the 23rd staging of the country’s longest running talent search sponsored by Pilipinas Shell.

De Luna bounced back from a third-round loss to Quizon with a sweep of his next three games as the Sta. Barbara Central School standout pooled five points, while Bacojo, playing out of Escuela de Sto Rosario stayed in the hunt with 4.5 points heading to the last three-rounds of the event, a legacy project of Shell, a leader in gas technology and smarter mobility in the Philippines.

Earlier, Melanie Bularan, Shell Social Investment & Social Performance Manager, and GM Eugene Torre made the ceremonial moves kicking off the two-day tournament sanctioned by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and also graced by Cesar Abaricia, Shell External Affairs Manager for Manufacturing.

Pilipinas Shell Social Investment and Social Performance manager Melanie Bularan (left) and Asia’s first GM Eugene Torre shake hands after making the ceremonial move, kicking off the 2015 Shell National Youth Active Chess Championship national finals at SM Megamall. Forty-eight players are vying for top honors in the seniors, juniors, kiddies and ladies divisions.

THE PHILIPPINE Sports Commission begins its Personal Enhancement Program for Sports on Tuesday at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Manila.

The PEP, an initiative sponsored by the Office of Commissioner Wigberto ‘Iggy’ Clavecilla, is a series of seminars grouped into three modules to strengthen the non-sporting aspects of national athletes and coaches’ lives which inevitably merge with their respective athletic careers.

These modules are further divided into different series for athletes and coaches.

The first module series on Tuesday will tackle financial literacy or lessons on personal savings and investments for athletes under the PSC’s Priority Athletes Program.

ANC’s On The Money host Salve Duplito will personally share her knowledge and tips on the subject.

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Sonsona’s WBC fight canceled MARVIN “Marvelous” Sonsona, the talented southpaw from General Santos City, lost a chance to fight for the World Boxing Council world featherweight title against champion Gary Russell of the United States following his failure to show up for training.

Sammy Gello-ani, who handles Sonsona together with well-known international promoter and matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz told The Standard/boxingmirror.com that the fighter “extended his vacation and if he doesn’t come back to training camp in Cebu under veteran trainer Jhun Agrabio, we are not going to run after him.”

He said Lewkowicz cancelled the WBC title fight which was scheduled to take place this month because Sonsona hadn’t trained.

“If he had no proper training, we don’t want the Philippines to look bad,” said Lewkowicz.

Gello-ani revealed they had waited for Sonsona to return to training camp after his birthday celebration in July in his hometown of General Santos City, but he hadn’t shown up until now, underscoring the fact that “we care for him but he doesn’t care for his future. He has to learn how to program his future.”

He said that if Sonsona returns to training camp, they plan to schedule a tune-up fight for him.

Ronnie Nathanielsz

Kenneth San Andres soars to victory at the Speedworld MX Circuit, SM Bicutan.

Champion wants Carl, not Donaire

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

BARRY Hearn, the owner of Matchroom Sport, said World Boxing Association super bantamweight champion Scott Quigg wants to fight International Boxing Federation champion Carl Frampton, also of Britain, before he faces five-division world champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum announced plans for a DonaireQuigg fight on Nov. 21 in Manchester and the Filipino fighter himself told his promoter he wasn’t too concerned about the purse, “just get me the fight.”

But Arum revealed in a conversation with The Standard/boxingmirror. com that the fight has apparently fallen through, unless he is able to get it staged in Dubai in partnership withABS-CBN and The Filipino Channel, which has a huge following in the Middle East and that he has been in discussions with the network’s consultant for sports, Peter Musgni.

Hearn, in an exchange of messages on Twitter, said that the Donaire fight “is out there, but Scott (Quigg) re-

ally wants to fight (Carl) Frampton.

A Donaire fight could happen next year, hopefully.”

World Boxing News reported that Quigg and his promoter Eddie Hearn have openly been trying to seal a clash with Frampton for the past couple of years and even went public with a cheque made out to the Northern Irishman for £1.5 million recently.

However, they said “the huge payday was rebuffed by Frampton’s handlers at Cyclone Promotions as manager Barry McGuigan said he wanted a 50-50 split of the purse, something Quigg revealed to WBN, has been accepted.”

Quigg, in an exclusive interview with WBN, was quoted as saying: “Frampton has already been offered

£1.5 Million. You know, so in my opinion his team is giving him the wrong advice. I’ve moved on the split and I’ve offered to give him a bigger split, but they still don’t seem to want the fight.”

With both fighters still no nearer to sealing other encounters, Quigg outlined that Hearn continues to pursue the fight and has spoken to Haymon about the possibility of the pair finally sharing the ring.

“Eddie’s been talking with Al Haymon and I think that it’s getting closer, but I think that the fight is not happening because of the team around him doesn’t want that fight at the minute. I think Carl wants the fight, but in my opinion he’s getting bad advice. It’s the biggest fight out there for him and the biggest fight out there for me. Money wise, publicity wise, career defining-wise it’s the biggest fight, so I don’t understand why he’s being advised not to take the fight,” Quigg said.

He added: “At the moment, there have been talks about fighting someone else, but the Frampton fight is the one that I want and I believe that I will stop him.”

San Andres claims 8th Rider of the Year title tMULTI-TITLED rider Kenneth San Andres of Kawasaki-JBS Philippines wrapped up an eighth straight Rider of the Year title at the conclusion of the NAMSSA Motocross Series recently at the Speedworld MX Circuit, SM Bicutan.

After the final leg of the series held under the auspices of the National Motorcycle Sports and Safety Association, San Andres was crowned overall champion of the Pro Open (MX1) at Pro 125 (MX2), leading his rivals for the honor by a mile.

“We have been blessed all these years,” said San Andres, who began his streak of NAMSSA Philippine National Motocross Rider of the Year titles in 2008. “I wanted to end the season on a winning note and I’m glad I did just that.”

San Andres, an awardee for motocrosss of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) last year, is actually coming off a sweep of both the Pro Open and Pro 125 categories of the national series, also at the Speedworld, The Valenzuela native is backed by Kawasaki Philippines, Motul Philippines, Oak-

ley Philippines, Troylee Design, Gopro Philippines, Leatt Neck Brace, Pro Taper, Bell Helmet, Bridgestone Tires, Polisport, Foilacar Industries, Kia Global, Laus Auto Group, R33 Car Exchange, Xotics Carwash, Halrey, GCG Pipe, JBS Motorcycle Parts, JM stickers and GM Mark Lapid.

Last month, San Andres cemented his status as one of the world’s best riders after placing in the Top 10 (8th) in the FIM Asian Motocross Championship Series in Kuala Terrenganu, in Malaysia from a field of 32 riders. His father/coach Junjun San Andres placed first runner-up in the Veterans Class of the same motocross tournament.

In the Batam Indonesia International Motocross, San Andres finished sixth runnerup from a field of 22 of the world’s best riders.

“The ultimate dream is of course win the Asian title in the future,” said the 23-yearold San Andres, who nearly snagged the regional plum in 2011 year when he placed runner-up to Thailand veteran Arnon Theplib. “But I’m not in a hurry, I know my time will come.”

Tabuena cruises to CAT romp, grabs Merit title TARLAC – Miguel Tabuena wrapped up another championship – and a first-ever Order of Merit title – as he scored an expected romp in the Central Azucarera de Tarlac Open yesterday, capping his domination with another eagle-spiked, bogey-less 67 for a whopping nine-shot victory over Jhonnel Ababa at the Luisita Golf and Country Club here.

After a dramatic come-from-behind win at ICTSI Open last week, Tabuena put an anti-climactic ending to what had started to be a tight title chase in the P2.5 million championship, no thanks to a

solid 64 Friday that put him unassailably ahead of the elite field by eight.

He actually didn’t slow down despite bringing a huge margin into the final round as the 21-year-old shotmaker birdied No. 5 and pitched in for an eagle from just outside the green on the next par-5 hole at No. 9. He flubbed a birdie putt on No. 12 but birdied Nos. 15 and 16 for a 33-34 card.

He finished with an impressive 22-under 266, beat Ababa by nine and took the top P450,000 purse, hiking his earnings P3,051,917.

With OOM rival Tony Lascuña finishing at dismal 12th at 287 worth P48,000 for a total P2,382,960, Tabuena has built enough cushion to secure the coveted individual crown with one leg left – the ICTSI Tournament Players Championship – at Sherwood next week.

Tabuena has begged off to play at Sherwood to compete in an Asian Tour leg in Japan next week but with a P668,957 lead in the money race, the four-leg winner will still claim the OOM plum even if Lascuna prevails and wins the P650,000 top purse in the P3.5 million Sherwood meet.

Miguel Tabuena tips his cap after completing his domination of the CAT Open and securing the OOM title.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Ariza: Mayweather not coming back

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Double-teamed. National University’s Alfred Dong Aroga is defended by University of Santo Tomas’ Kevin Ferrer and Mario Bonleon in a UAAP game won by the Bulldogs, 55-54, at the Mall of Asia Arena. ROMAN PROSPERO

Boxing’s crucial ingredient I HAD a tough time deciding on writing about someone in my previous column, not because there were lies in what I was about to write.

I was torn between writing a good stuff about the potentials of one basketball player, but at the back of my mind, I was being egged on to censure his siblings, who are in another sport.

Also, the Elordes have become a good friend of mine and had countless meaningful interviews about the sport.

It was a Saturday night when I felt that traversing about 60 kilometers of rain-drenched road to and from my house was worth it when I was able to

secure a scheduled telephone interview with Philippine Basketball Association rookie Nico Elorde for our radio show the following day.

Nico, just like his siblings and other relatives, was very accommodating when I got to talk to him and such was the same when we had him on our radio program.

His brothers Juan Martin or “Bai” and Juan Miguel or “Mig” have been campaigning professionally and I had the privilege of seeing them fight live.

But last Sept. 12, I cannot help but cringe in seeing the two in action at the Elorde Sports Complex in Paranaque.

Mig annihilated Indon Arnold Mau with a single body punch in the opening round, while it took Bai six rounds to stop a very

awkward Yakobus Heluka.

Both Elordes are highly rated in their respective divisions, with Mig ranked 11th in the World Boxing Association superbantamweight class currently ruled by Cuban Guillermo Rigondeaux, while Bai is the sixth-ranked contender of World Boxing Organization junior lightweight kingpin roman Martinez of Puerto Rico.

I have to admit, the two boxers have decent talents, who can give current champions of their respective divisions a tough challenge.

But they don’t have one, crucial ingredient that can make a boxer truly successful inside the ring and that is hunger, both figuratively and literally.

You cannot blame his parents Johnny and Liza to “pam-

per” their kids when it comes to choosing their opponents.

I am sure both Bai and Mig are up to the task, but Daddy Johnny and Mommy Liza just can’t let that happen.

For a while, I thought the Elordes are just grooming the two for big time boxing when they were fed with nondescript boxers early in their careers.

And when I learned they are now world-rated and are set to see action last week, I immediately went to Sucat (I live in Quezon City, by the way) and braved the traffic just to finally see them against supposed topnotch boxers.

Bai and Mig’s bouts were disappointing, to say the least and it made me believe I won’t be seeing them against quality opposition.

DESPITE all the talk about a possible comeback by undefeated former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr., his strength and conditioning coach Alex Ariza believes a comeback is far-fetched.

In a lengthy conversation with The Standard/boxingmirror.com, Ariza said: “We talked and he is adamant about retiring and taking care of his kids.”

Ariza pointed out that Mayweather has been 19 years in the boxing business.

“I don’t know what is left out there for him to do, what’s going to motivate him,” said Ariza, who noted that Mayweather has made almost a billion dollars and he’s beaten everybody in the sport. “I don’t know who is going to really motivate him to come back and I don’t know how much money they can offer him.”

Ariza was also asked whether beating heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano’s record of 490, which he equaled in a lopsided win over Andre Berto, will motivate the American boxer.

“I don’t know whether Floyd really holds those things at the same level people hold them,” Ariza said. “Floyd has done it all, made all the money.

He’s the richest athlete in the world. He’s Forbes No. 1, he’s broken all the records, beaten all the champions and to beat Marciano’s record, I don’t think it’s one of those things on his mind.”

At the same time, Ariza strongly defended Mayweather’s use of IV on the eve of his May 2 showdown with Manny Pacquiao, insisting that IV doesn’t do anything and both the Nevada State Athletic Commission and the US Anti Doping Agency in their written findings said Floyd did nothing wrong.

He said USADA requested for the IV because of Mayweather’s dehydration state and conceded that “nobody is ever going to talk well about Floyd. They are always looking for something controversial, but he does what every athlete out there has done before and currently does. If people think he beat Manny Pacquiao because he was dehydrated they should follow another sport.”

Robins extend streak to 14 wins

By Peter Atencio Games Tuesday (The Arena, San Juan) 10 a.m. - EAC vs Perpetual (jrs) 12 nn. - San Sebastian vs San Beda (jrs) 2 p.m. - EAC vs Perpetual (srs) 4 p.m.- San Sebastian vs San Beda (srs)

THE Malayan Red Robins got past the Arellano University Braves, 86-73, last Friday to post their 14th straight win in the 91st National Collegiate Athletic Association junior basketball tournament at The Arena in San Juan.

Romuel Junsay came up with a game-high 23 and Michael Enriquez chipped in 18 points to help keep the Red Robins in second spot with their 14-1 slate.

Run for Marikina Watershed lures more than 3,000 bets THE city government of Marikina, through Mayor Del De Guzman, expressed its gratitude to all participants and runners, who have made Takbo para sa Marikina Watershed a success with a record-breaking field of more than 3,000 runners.

“Thank you so much to all of you who run, donated, and participated in our advocacy. With your support, rehabilitating our watershed is truly possible,” De Guzman said.

This year’s Takbo para sa Marikina Watershed had 3K, 5K, and 10K categories. These categories were dominated

by Vincent Nicoyco (11:54) and Pamela Mae Marcelo (15:16) in the 3K category; Ika Jomao-As (19:27) and April Quiabao (26:23) in the 5K category; and Michael Busitu (32:13) and Emily Nillyguin (48:23) in the 10K category.

Seventy-three-year-old Honorato

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Ednilag, Jr. was declared as the oldest runner, while eight-year-old Jhonrey Romero was named the youngest runner. They received freebies from sponsors and P1,000 cash prize each.

“The Takbo para sa Marikina Watershed raises funds for our rehabilitation efforts. The Marikina Watershed acts as first line of defense against flooding during typhoons or monsoon rains. We were able to plant some 70,000 trees in the past 3 years, however that is not enough because we need 28 million trees planted for the watershed to be effective.” De Guzman said.

Organized by the city government of Marikina in partnership with Rotary Club of District 3800, the advocacy run’s proceeds will go to the tree planting and Marikina Watershed protection programs under the Marikina Watershed Green Foundation, Inc.

Mayor Del De Guzman fires the starting gun of the Takbo para sa Marikina Watershed.

M O N DAY : S E P T E M B E R 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A15

SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Lady Eagles near V-League crown ATENEO caught National University in its worst form in the first two sets, then spoiled its third-set fightback with a strong windup to complete a 25-19, 25-13, 25-23 victory yesterday and move in the threshold of the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Collegiate Championship at The Arena in San Juan City.

The Lady Eagles sustained their form coming off a knockout match with the UST Tigresses, dishing out a superb all-around game despite the absence of head coach Tai Bundit and pouncing on every Bulldog error, poor reception and sloppy floor defense to score the surprisingly one-sided one-hour, 12-minute victory.

“We knew we needed to come out strong for us to get the momentum,” said Ateneo star player Alyssa Valdez, who finished with 20 hits, including 15 attack points, and later took the Conference MVP honors.

“Coach Parley guided and helped us while coach Tai was out,” said Valdez, referring to

Game Sept. 26 12:45 p.m. – FEU vs UST (V-League/for third) 3 p.m. – EAC vs NCBA (Spikers’ Turf/for third) Game Sept. 27 12:45 p.m. – Ateneo vs NU (V-League/for crown) 3 p.m. – Ateneo vs NU (Spikers’ Turf/for crown)

assistant mentor Parley Tupaz, who took over from Bundit, who had to honor a previous commitment back home in Thailand.

NU did play without guest player and former ace hitter Dindin Manabat but the rest of the Lady Bulldogs played below par that had coach Roger Gorayeb shaking his head in

frustration over his wards’ failure to step up in the first two sets.

“What’s happening? What’s lacking (in your game). You need to be confident, especially in reception. If we can’t receive, we can’t get any attack,” said Gorayeb.

The Lady Bulldogs, who swept the FEU Lady Tams in their side of the Final Four of the league sponsored by Shakey’s, rose to the challenge in the third frame, which they controlled with Jaja Santiago finally re-asserting her height and reach advantage and Myla Pablo and young Jasmine Nabor combining for crisp hits.

World triathlon tourney. Participants in the Men’s Elite race finish the swim leg of the in the 2015 ITU World Grand Final in Chicago, Illinois. AFP

Johnny Arcilla makes a backhand return against Abson John Alejandre.

Arcilla, Alcantara meet token tennis resistance VETERAN Johnny Arcilla and former juniors’ champion Francis Casey Alcantara encountered little resistance as they sailed into the fourth round of the 34th Philippine Columbian Association Open-Cebuana Lhuillier Wildcard Event at the PCA Open clay courts in Paco, Manila.

The 35-year-old Arcilla proved too much for the young North Cotabato powerhouse Abson John Alejandre, 6-1, 6-0, while Alcantara outclassed Joel Atienza, 6-4, 6-2, in the tournament supported

by Cebuana Lhuillier, Puma, Dunlop, The Philippine Star, Head, Babolat, Compass/IMOSTI and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao.

“Medyo nakapag-adjust na ako sa sa court pero kailangan pa na mag-ensayo para mas magamay ko ‘yung court. Mas patindi na ng patindi ang laban habang tumatagal ang tournament kaya kailangan na maging ready sa bawat laro,” said Arcilla.

The eight-time PCA champion will face Arthur Craig Pantino in the fourth round.

Pantino halted Kyle Parpan’s aggressive start, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0, to move forward in the event supported by Whilpool/Fujidenzo, Broadway Motor Sales Corp.

Coca-Cola Fesma Philippines, Tyrecorp Incorporated, Pearl Garden Hotel, Metro Global Holdings Corporation, Avida, PVL Restaurant, Mary Grace Foods, Inc., Seno Hardware and Wire Rope Corporation.

Pennisi back to Barako; fight mars tune-up game

By Jeric Lopez VETERAN big man Mick Pennisi will have a homecoming of sorts as he returns to his old team Barako Bull in the Philippine Basketball Association.

The 6’8” Filipino-Australian was sent

by Star to Barako Bull in a trade, where the Hotshots will receive a 2017 secondround pick from the Energy.

The deal was completed this weekend.

Though it really didn’t want to ship out

Pennisi, Star had no choice because it will exceed the league limit of just five Fil-Foreigners in the line-up should it keep the big man.

The Hotshots already have Joe Devance, Alex Mallari, Yousef Taha, Rafi Reavis and rookie Norbert Torres as their Fil-Foreign players.

Pennisi will return to Barako Bull to shore up its frontline. He teams up with Jondan Salvador, Rico Maierhoffer and sophomore Jake Pascual.

Meanwhile, that wasn’t the only noise that Barako Bull made over the weekend.

The Energy was involved in fightmarred tune-up game against the Rajko Toroman-mentored Jordan National team last Saturday.

A free-for-all between Barako Bull players and the Jordanians erupted late in their tune-up game at the Green Meadows Gym in Libis, Quezon City after tempers flared.

Reportedly, it all started when Barako

Also barging into the next round were defending champion Patrick John Tierro, fifth seed Rolando Ruel Jr. and Ronard Joven who registered contrasting victories.

Tierro bolstered his title-retention bid after walloping Neil Tangali, 6-1, 6-1. Ruel, on the other hand, fought back from a disappointing first set to turn back Leandro Lazaro, 5-7, 6-1, 6-2, while Joven routed Raymond Diaz, 6-1, 6-2.

In other results, Noel Damian Jr. stunned No. 15 Arcie Mano with nail-biting 6-7 (8), 6-1, 6-2 victory, while Stefan Suarez won via walkover against ninth seed Marc Reyes, who decided to withdraw from the competition because of an injury.

Both finalists in the men’s singles will earn automatic berths in the main draw of the upcoming 2015 Manila International Tennis Federation Men’s Futures Leg 2 slated on October 2, while the players who make it into the quarterfinals and semifinals will gain access to the qualifying round. Only the winners in the doubles division will be given spots in the ITF main 16-pair main draw.

Men’s doubles action kicks off today, while ladies’ singles play begins tomorrow (Tuesday).

A total of P87,000 is up for grabs this year with the men’s single champ taking the top purse of P20,000, while the runner-up gets P10,000. The ladies’ singles titlist and runner-up will take home P10,000 and P5,000, respectively.

LOTTO RESULTS

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-0

P16M

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

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK m o n d ay : s e p t e m b e r 2 1 , 2 0 1 5

A16

rIera U. maLL arI EDITOR

reUeL vIdaL A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

sports

Tamaraws x 10 cm

By Peter Atencio

THE Far Eastern University Tamaraws relied on a huge fourthquarter explosion to rout the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons, 75-58, Sunday, in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines Season 78 men’s basketball tournament at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The Tamaraws made a 12-0 run to stretch their 53-49 four-point advantage into a rousing 65-49 lead and then coasted the rest of the way to post their second consecutive victory and grab a share of the lead in the standings.

FEU (3-1) caught up with the idle Ateneo De Manila University Blue Eagles (3-1) and the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigersatthetopofthestandings.

Meanwhile, the La Salle Green Archers trounced the Adamson University Fal-

How do you nt your news erved today?

maul Maroons

cons, 88-71. The Green Archers (2-2) arrested a two-game slide while inflicting the Falcons’ fourth consecutive loss.

La Salle (2-2) climbed into a tie at fourth place with University of the Philippines (2-2) and the University of the East Red Warriors (2-2). The other teams include defending champion National University Bulldogs (1-3) and Adamson University (0-4).

La Salle coach Juno Sauler, however, was far from satisfied with the way his Green Archers played.

“We still have a lot of things to improve. We gave up too many offensive rebounds, turned the ball over several

times. We have lot of things to address,” said Sauler.

Jeron Teng led La Salle with 18 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Thomas Torres added 16 for the Green Archers.

The Green Archers took command of the game early. Joshua Torralba, who sank two triples in the first quarter, helped spark an early breakaway as the Arcjers moved ahead, 24-10.

La Salle erected its biggest lead of 26 points, 56-30. Adamson coach Mike Fermin complained bitterly to the referees. He was ejected from the game for continuous complaining.

Cameroonian import Papi Sarr tal-

lied 18 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Falcons, who remain winless in four games.

The scores: DLSU 88 —Teng 18, Torres 16, Sargent 11, Caracut 9, Torralba 9, Perkins 7, Muyang 6, Tratter 6, Navarro 3, Rivero 2, Gob 1, Pascual 0.

Adamson 71—Sarr 18, Nalos 10, Ng 10, Ochea 9, Polican 8, Tungcab 6, Camacho 5, Fernandez 2, Margallo 2, Miranda 1, Bernardo 0, Capote 0, Villanueva 0.

Quarter scores: 24-10; 47-26; 63-47; 88-71.

ww.thestandard.com.ph

The Philippines’ eight-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao shakes hands with a disabled person as he attends the “Philippine Festa” in Tokyo on September19, 2015. Pacquiao said he would open a gym in Tokyo. AFP

5 col x 14 cm Huge welcome greets Pacman

By Ronnie Nathanielsz

How do you want your news served today?

www.thestandard.com.ph

EIGHT-DIVISION world champion and Sarangani congressman Manny Pacquiao was given a huge welcome in Japan, when he attended the Philippine Festival in Tokyo.

Aquiles Zonio reported that Filipino communities were looking forward to a more exciting and flamboyant celebration in the two-day festival at Yoyogi Park in Tokyo, with Pacquiao as guest.

The Philippine Festival highlights the best of Philippine culture, promotes stronger ties between Filipinos and Japanese which have grown in recent years and brings Filipino communities in various parts of Japan, closer together.

The affair provides visitors with an opportunity to take what Zonio said was a “closer look and appreciate Philippine music, dance, entertainment, games, fashion, products and services.”

The presence of the popular boxing icon added a great deal of prestige to the event and created an atmosphere of excitement both among Filipinos and Japanese fans.

Meanwhile, World Boxing Organization light flyweight king Donnie Nietes, the longest-reigning Filipino world champion, is in great shape after sparring a total of 18 rounds this past week at the famed ALA Gym in Cebu.

His trainer Edmund Villamor informed The Standard/ boxingmirror.com that Nietes sparred with bantamweight Vergel Viktor and promising newcomer Kevin Cataraja and emphasized “he is ready.”

Nietes is scheduled to defend his title against Mexican champion Juan “Pinky” Alejo at the StubHub Center in Carson City, California in ALA Promotions’ inaugural presentation in the United States, alongside the Pagara brothers Jason and Prince Albert and Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo on Oct. 17.

MONDAY: SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

PSe comPoSite index Closing September 18, 2015

8000 7700 7400 7100 6800 6500

7,131.91 7.92

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing SEPTEMBER 18, 2015 43.50

BUSINESS

Aboitiz, SMC qualify to bid in five airports

By Darwin G Amojelar

44.60 45.40

P46.415

46.20

CLOSE

47.00

HIGH P46.400 LOW P46.570 AVERAGE P46.493 VOLUME 617.500M

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 Friday, September 18, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

46.5170

Japan

Yen

0.008333

0.3876

UK

Pound

1.558400

72.4921

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129039

6.0025

Switzerland

Franc

1.041124

48.4300

Canada

Dollar

0.759301

35.3204

Singapore

Dollar

0.715410

33.2787

Australia

Dollar

0.714490

33.2359

Bahrain

Dinar

2.656254

123.5610

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266745

12.4082

Brunei

Dollar

0.712860

33.1601

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000069

0.0032

Thailand

Baht

0.028015

1.3032

UAE

Dirham

0.272324

12.6677

Euro

Euro

1.142300

53.1364

Korea

Won

0.000859

0.0400

China

Yuan

0.157085

7.3071

India

Rupee

0.015117

0.7032

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.235294

10.9452

New Zealand

Dollar

0.631991

29.3983

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030865

1.4357 Source: PDS Bridge

B1

FIVE groups have qualified to bid for P108.2 billion worth of contracts to develop, operate and maintain five regional airports under the government’s public-private partnership program, the Transportation Department said over the weekend.

The Transport Department said it qualified Maya Consortium led

by Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Philippine Airports Consortium of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., San Miguel Holdings Corp.-IIAC Airport Consortium, GMRMegawide Consortium and Filinvest-JATCO-Sojitz Consortium.

The department said the five were rated as qualified after a full and detailed evaluation of the qualification documents submit-

ted to the Prequalification, Bids and Awards Committee.

Union Equities-ACSA Consortium was disqualified to participate in the auction for the regional airport projects.

Aboitiz Equity teamed up with Vinci Airports of France to form the Maya Consortium, while San Miguel Holdings Corp. tapped Incheon International Airport Corp. to create SMHC-IIAC Airport Corp.

Metor Pacific teamed up with

Aeroports de Paris Management SA, while Filinvest tapped Japan Airport Terminal Corp. and Sojitz Corp.

The five provincial airports included in the PPP bundle are the P20.26-billion Bacolod-Silay International Airport and the P30.4-billion Iloilo International Airport under package 1, and the P14.62-billion Laguindingan Airport, P2.34-billion New Bohol (Panglao) Airport and P40.57-billion Davao International Airport under package 2.

The winning concessionaires for each airport bundle will handle the operation and maintenance of the airports for 30 years and excpand facilities.

Aside from the operation and maintenance, the contract will require the winner to expand the terminal, apron, airside and landside facilities to address future demand.

The improvements are needed in order to enhance passenger safety and convenience as well as to ensure more efficient airport operations.

The opening of bids is scheduled in January 2016, while awarding will follow in February.

GMR-Megawide earlier won the contract to develop and operate the P17.5-billion Mactan-Cebu International Airport.

The Mactan Airport project will include the construction of a new passenger terminal and renovation of the existing one, as well as the provision of new commercial facilities. This would increase passenger capacity to 12.5 million a year.

The project will be developed under a 25-year concession agreement for the operation of both terminals and commercial outlets. Project completion is slated for 2020.

MONDAY: SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS Weekly STockS revieW STOCKS

SEPTEMBER 14-18, 2015 Close Volume

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

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank Natl Reinsurance Corp.

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

2.79 69.2 103.00 84.15 42.65 2.50 15.5 20 7.44 1.63 715.00 0.610 84.75 0.96 17.10 25.10 53.35 96.5 300 31.2 141 1460.00 49.80 3.15

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

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

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

Lafarge Rep Liberty Flour LMG Chemicals Mabuhay Vinyl Corp.

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

Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

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

Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Victorias Milling Vitarich Corp.

Vivant Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

42.7 1.5 0.97 1.7 9.86 83.20 17 26.4 46.7 2.85 1.2 10.16 10.920 7.95 6.09 7.97 1.6 14.2 24 66.65 12.50 13.80 5.84 2.320 184.00 9 31.00 1.86 4.63 46.95 23 21.9 5.6 298.40 3.94 4.09 6.86 11.20 3.39 1.99 2.23 4.03 2.79 5.2 135 3.81 2.09 0.143 0.93 1.81 191.1 4.62 0.7 22.50 1.03

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

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

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Minerales Industrias Corp.

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

0.420 57.4500 19.90 1.19 6.64 0.240 0.245 782 7.1 12.90 3.01 3.1 4.20 0.219 1300 6.00 70.85 3.69 4.68 6.27 0.61 12.36 0.52 5.13 8.14 4.23 0.0360 1.320 1.720 2.78 45.80 2.85 880.00 1.18 0.71 170.00 66.000 0.3300 0.2160 0.215

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

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

Double Dragon Empire East Land

7.170 0.62 1.120 0.220 35.05 3.01 4.87 6 0.58 1.03 1.03 0.110 0.430 20 0.810

Value

FINANCIAL 1,362,580.00 5,317,455.00 1,456,828,691 822,506,996.00 25,408,520.00 312,470.00 7,107,850.00 4,768,540.00 29,983 38,670.00 1,286,350.00 52,821,630.00 762,905,811.00 55,530.00 11,757,436.00 7,530.00 198,413,165.00 1,273,925.50 8,936,412.00 159,346,390 386,540,580.00 4,257,800.00 6,822,434.50 114,200.00 INDUSTRIAL 11,239,900 485,397,040.00 65,000 91,960.00 355,000 325,460.00 2,374,000 3,831,360.00 12,700 128,301.00 20 1,668.00 1,533,400 26,074,768 1,773,700 46,850,075.00 3,377,800 142,079,730 12,315,000 33,674,600.00 5,253,000 6,362,980.00 626,000 6,359,670.00 24,078,500 264,948,220.00 6,701,600 53,466,533.00 128,341,900 767,985,721.00 3,317,200 26,198,984.00 10,000 16,200.00 224,300 3,128,984.00 20,149,300 472,561,205.00 2,463,750 165,827,627.00 1,600 20,002.00 67,300 928,836.00 568,800 3,265,417.00 345,442,000 507,746,420.00 1,500,090 280,542,406.00 99,000 871,755.00 17,800 538,600.00 48,000 89,670.00 2,927,000 9,056,960.00 7,400 342,365.00 3,845,900 86,563,400.00 506,100 11,012,990.00 22,908,000 126,007,882.00 3,296,980 976,094,204.00 105,000 409,540.00 4,708,000 19,136,330.00 10,988,200 77,338,377.00 102,000 1,122,500.00 444,000 1,449,470.00 1,181,000 2,370,690.00 2,673,000 6,039,170.00 12,139,000 48,828,920.00 1,432,000 3,575,420.00 32,600 178,044.00 1,864,040 243,316,579.00 1,000 3,810.00 6,542,000 13,314,510.00 7,490,000 1,070,510.00 250,000 221,500.00 5,981,000 10,644,270.00 7,666,390 1,471,729,152.00 615,000 2,827,870.00 5,736,000 3,919,440.00 25,000 562,560.00 604,000 636,600.00 HOLDING FIRMS 760,000 319,650.00 7,792,140 451,605,805.00 33,867,400 683,718,667.00 81,000 95,590.00 7,376,600 48,399,975.00 2,950,000 695,650.00 20,000 4,900.00 1,878,690 1,429,972,325.00 12,391,700 84,939,631.00 42,433,200 547,972,616.00 497,000 1,526,300.00 11,000 34,100.00 67,000 282,030.00 7,600,000 1,615,840.00 1,113,070 1,427,668,455.00 17,700 106,011.00 11,402,990 812,618,744.00 5,000 18,260.00 104,000 431,060.00 22,485,900 142,087,593.00 623,000 368,220.00 14,736,900 184,617,988.00 1,561,000 829,420.00 108,258,400 548,742,886.00 10,592,800 84,669,171.00 15,000 63,450.00 2,335,800,000 91,008,300.00 82,000 103,430.00 11,077,000 19,490,920.00 64,000 175,750.00 1,802,400 82,952,240.00 1,470,000 4,353,620.00 1,693,410 1,509,702,555.00 722,000 845,570.00 26,000 18,120.00 100 17,000.00 67,740 4,528,727.50 116,620,000 39,694,400.00 10,680,000 2,226,840.00 6,380,000 1,397,080.00 PROPERTY 6,779,900 45,986,361.00 2,692,000 1,666,680.00 193,000 217,980.00 10,000 2,200.00 70,227,700 2,467,857,055.00 17,593,000 53,486,500.00 674,000 3,225,120.00 200 1,240.00 34,590,000 21,319,680.00 47,000 46,870.00 51,000 52,530.00 20,910,000 2,179,570.00 1,250,000 524,750.00 16,780,600 304,758,356.00 3,343,000 2,610,800.00 483,000 77,390 14,618,630 9,787,980 597,600 128,000 463,600 238,100 4,100 25,000 1,810 86,658,000 9,010,880 58,000 683,500 300 3,693,170 13,340 30,090 5,107,500 2,718,640 2,920 133,070 39,000

SEPTEMBER 7-11, 2015 Close Volume Value 2.89 68.6 96.10 83.50 42.5 2.44 15.7 20.45 7.21 1.63 715.00 0.420 81 0.96 16.50 27.05 56.85 93.95 298.2 32.15 136.2 1445.00 53.80 2.88

549,000 78,030 12,412,850 6,359,200 673,200 113,000 43,200 476,600 9,700 3,000 320 5,410,000 22,413,680 245,000 3,290,700 150,600 687,320 1,220 67,680 1,543,800 4,228,810 455 379,180 659,000

1,645,020.00 5,293,447.50 1,168,867,053 449,063,012.00 28,444,430.00 271,770.00 672,814.00 9,609,491.00 70,634 4,890.00 225,800.00 2,296,650.00 1,802,137,123.50 231,000.00 57,382,820.00 3,715,505.00 39,403,153.50 114,074.50 20,276,664.00 162,927,049 569,151,784.00 649,050.00 19,741,488.50 1,904,550.00

42.9 1.41 0.94 1.64 9.3 80.85 17.04 25.9 41.6 2.61 1.21 10.1 10.760 8.05 5.20 7.63 1.6 13.98 21.9 67.2 13.00 13.78 5.67 0.740 183.10 9.2

7,906,600 82,000 110,000 6,473,000 2,800 7,240 2,721,200 2,059,000 375,100 3,679,000 394,000 1,062,000 28,491,800 3,504,300 79,501,400 757,500 9,000 118,500 9,824,600 1,459,490 600 33,000 401,500 74,244,000 1,447,280 349,700

341,908,700.00 116,530.00 101,310.00 10,123,410.00 26,554.00 699,929.00 45,510,956 55,074,467.50 15,749,990 9,563,720.00 487,200.00 10,887,628.00 307,045,830.00 28,277,677.00 431,282,814.00 5,848,992.00 14,400.00 1,648,708.00 221,924,365.00 98,951,064.50 7,850.00 444,628.00 2,267,905.00 56,398,050.00 270,076,103.00 3,209,725.00

1.92 1.75 47.00 20.7 21 5.55 285.40 3.94 4.05 7.15 11.40 3.20 2.03 2.3 4.01 2.3 5 145 3.8 1.99 0.134 0.90 1.71 190 4.6 0.63 23.00 1.09

35,000 32,000 39,790 5,641,300 2,066,500 2,883,600 1,701,240 69,000 6,845,000 9,064,200 16,800 2,144,000 1,121,000 1,317,000 16,750,000 212,000 66,300 41,290 102,000 11,105,000 3,280,000 227,000 5,920,000 8,316,120 207,000 2,301,000 5,200 55,000

68,480.00 50,920.00 1,912,329.50 117,109,625.00 41,977,020.00 15,901,334.00 479,679,808.00 271,580.00 27,641,530.00 66,843,441.00 184,622.00 6,862,510.00 2,221,750.00 3,050,380.00 67,083,110.00 409,900.00 360,710.00 5,987,180.00 388,120.00 21,732,610.00 438,990.00 203,890.00 10,120,440.00 1,577,761,191.00 956,350.00 1,476,430.00 119,600.00 56,920.00

0.425 57.9500 19.90 1.18 6.60 0.225 0.230 728 6.7 12.16 3.35

280,000 6,268,690 21,549,200 415,000 37,500 620,000 21,000 215,350,105 8,850,300 20,242,400 577,000

119,700.00 359,898,367.00 429,596,373.00 456,350.00 247,570.00 142,500.00 48,300.00 920,630,045.00 120,784,659.00 235,967,174.00 1,732,550.00

4.13 0.193 1257 5.95 69.00 3.5

592,000 230,000 1,073,675 1,152,200 7,141,440 12,000

2,444,960.00 41,230.00 1,341,575,310.00 6,863,110.00 483,843,209.00 38,870.00

6.4 0.55 12.5 0.54 5.04 7.55

14,114,100 478,000 54,391,100 715,000 154,886,900 4,001,900

90,373,078.00 267,450.00 682,074,926.00 385,150.00 764,456,464.00 29,513,649.00

0.0340 1.170 1.720 2.6 48.05 2.15 842.00 1.15 0.75 160.00 67.550 0.2800 0.1850 0.210

373,000,000 25,000 7,560,000 7,000 534,100 4,000 1,234,000 508,000 757,000 150 44,400 5,530,000 2,590,000 460,000

14,205,400.00 28,830.00 12,972,540.00 18,200.00 25,540,355.00 9,300.00 1,047,354,015.00 593,110.00 522,170.00 23,750.00 3,058,092.50 1,549,650.00 481,490.00 97,780.00

6.800 0.55 1.140 0.200 34.30 3.04 4.85

2,704,900 13,617,000 300,000 70,000 47,811,700 10,450,000 93,000

18,221,305.00 7,969,570.00 343,410.00 14,000.00 1,636,214,445.00 31,915,490.00 448,300.00

0.63 1.03

16,540,000 20,000

10,411,090.00 20,090.00

0.100 0.410 16.6 0.760

27,300,000 740,000 22,275,100 442,000

2,733,240.00 308,400.00 346,964,834.00 336,170.00

STOCKS

SEPTEMBER 14-18, 2015 Close Volume

Ever Gotesco Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Keppel Properties Megaworld Prop.

MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

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

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

0.175 1.05 1.78 1.40 3.00 4.5 0.091 0.3000 0.4400 19.02 7.89 28.80 1.55 3.16 22.35 0.73 8.37 0.670 5.480

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

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

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

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

Pacific Online Sys. Corp.

PAL Holdings Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

8.17 60 1.06 0.540 11.24 6.37 0.0610 3.7 91.75 10 1.61 4.95 920 2528 6.42 1.28 84.9 4.31 11.4 0.011 0.196 1.6700 2.15 8.80 2.62 1.15 2.20 38.00 0.600 2.05 5.35 0.310 0.480 19 4.73 105.00 18.80 2340.00 0.580 1.170 31.65 71.90 6.64 7.02 0.52 3.4 0.370 2.800

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

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

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

TA Petroleum United Paragon

0.0055 2.40 5.02 0.198 6.0000 6.0000 0.69 0.67 6.30 1.07 0.295 0.181 0.200 0.010 0.011 2.25 7.46 2.98 0.5800 1.3400 0.0095 0.0100 3.78 5.15 1.43 0.0110 137.00 2.27 0.0072

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

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

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

60 530 538 110.6 115.5 528 6.28 1.06 110 1050 1080 1016 80 82

Leisure & Resort Warr.

3.370

Makati Fin. Corp.

Ripple E-Business Intl Xurpas

3.42 52.8 12

First Metro ETF

117.5

SEPTEMBER 7-11, 2015 Close Volume Value

Value

1,020,000 172,700.00 8,366,000 8,614,460.00 120,660,000 214,804,330.00 1,831,000 2,590,030.00 3,000 9,000.00 204,783,000 913,808,730.00 9,760,000 837,190.00 820,000 222,160.00 1,070,000 496,700.00 300 5,706.00 1,044,200 8,080,227.00 7,478,100 214,941,085.00 3,136,000 5,000,130.00 68,000 218,950.00 123,453,300 2,589,504,838.00 5,665,000 3,950,460.00 1,866,200 15,119,751.00 148,000 99,280.00 74,939,600 404,036,184.00 SERVICES 2,073,300 16,655,556.00 171,930 10,328,830.50 3,000 3,240.00 873,000 479,500.00 29,300 343,782.00 28,382,200 187,719,583.00 235,920,000 15,113,260.00 2,668,000 9,689,900.00 4,568,270 412,456,550.00 1,600 16,060.00 6,000 10,050 117,000 572,579.00 10,790 9,926,800.00 535,920 1,359,256,590 1,023,500 6,438,241.00 442,000 533,540.00 5,475,940 478,194,444.10 1,000 4,310 10,400 118,580.00 38,400,000 417,800.00 138,810,000 27,089,820.00 35,988,000 59,652,040.00 15,002 57,250.00 3,406,600 29,007,700.00 2,228,000 5,683,560.00 5,000 5,750.00 151,000 322,410.00 300 10,800.00 209,000 123,900.00 126,000 254,000.00 32,638,000 166,145,639.00 3,004,000 1,028,150.00 12,741,000 6,815,855.00 500 9,580.00 23,000 104,930 81,870 8,759,308.00 436,900 8,127,376.00 732,685 1,738,172,460.00 1,506,000 883,340.00 38,759,000 44,530,500.00 9,916,200 316,584,655.00 2,578,980 178,964,335.50 94,401,000 577,783,061.00 31,297,100 211,705,605.00 29,581,000 15,142,540.00 31,322,000 111,016,770.00 4,920,000 1,780,050.00 5,977,000 16,068,910.00 MINING & OIL 3,598,000,000 20,226,800.00 165,000 399,170.00 2,687,600 13,229,606.00 3,510,000 672,410.00 1,900 11,400.00 200 1,200.00 4,184,000 2,921,750.00 989,000 643,670.00 439,500 2,595,404.00 28,791,000 31,485,270.00 1,500,000 431,700.00 15,870,000 2,898,920.00 250,000 48,940.00 459,000,000 4,676,300.00 419,600,000 4,577,000.00 1,648,000 3,352,350.00 20,330,100 152,223,021.00 27,230,000 80,991,130.00 2,538,000 1,454,750.00 903,000 1,169,920.00 53,000,000 485,500.00 12,000,000 119,100.00 167,000 633,560.00 2,950,800 14,763,129.00 4,699,000 6,551,260.00 266,400,000 2,908,390.00 3,875,810 532,652,485.00 2,804,000 6,584,140.00 15,000,000 108,400.00 PREFERRED 1,248,450 74,897,860.00 7,860 4,163,595.00 12,030 6,448,795 1,010 111,706.00 1,000 115,500.00 10,200 5,384,880.00 269,200 1,663,101.00 304,000 325,130 4,590 501,720.00 5,400 5,668,000.00 3,600 2,714,700.00 3,245 3,297,680.00 27,570 2,205,600.00 726,320 59,002,765.50 WARRANTS & BONDS 868,000 2,851,670.00 SME 179,000 607,330.00 28,620 1,524,850.50 9,963,600 100,701,930.00 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 41,250 4,814,365.00

0.170 1.03 1.69 1.40 4.80 4.23 0.082 0.2500 0.4000 21.00 7.5 28.80 1.55 3.2 19.60 0.7 7.6 0.650 5.200

580,000 12,909,000 58,292,000 2,975,000 7,000 123,340,000 5,480,000 590,000 130,000 400 576,800 12,252,600 242,000 29,000 75,021,500 2,228,000 623,600 295,000 36,386,800

94,240.00 13,250,860.00 100,221,430.00 4,217,080.00 33,600.00 527,111,450.00 437,470.00 150,650.00 52,000.00 8,400.00 4,290,816.00 351,601,280.00 378,600.00 92,250.00 1,448,315,058.00 1,557,910.00 4,569,317.00 194,410.00 196,533,883.00

8.5 60.1 1.12 0.520 11.7 6.60 0.0610 3.72 87 10.28

1,455,300 103,360 379,000 636,000 13,400 24,912,200 189,210,000 1,745,000 1,349,280 2,800

12,311,645.00 6,250,962.50 426,760.00 331,570.00 151,448.00 163,844,574.00 12,033,060.00 6,581,130.00 116,851,073.50 28,962.00

5.10 920 2520 6.15 1.15 87.4 4.10 11.42 0.010 0.156 1.4300 2.21 8.23 2.56 1.23 2.13 36.50 0.600 2 5 0.300 0.440 19 4.50 106.90 18.48 2346.00 0.600 1.110 31.30 67.35 5.61 6.24 0.51 3.75 0.330 2.360

538,900 3,260 311,735 361,600 127,000 5,088,770 2,800 7,200 58,500,000 16,930,000 3,300,000 4,000 1,913,600 941,000 29,000 67,000 100 1,336,000 174,000 5,779,300 960,000 960,000 4,700 90,000 20 354,600 751,755 1,185,000 94,523,000 15,119,800 2,300,470 46,669,600 10,183,100 22,237,000 11,493,000 940,000 1,811,000

2,717,607.00 3,055,430.00 788,089,270 2,227,939.00 147,770.00 451,142,044.50 12,364 82,836.00 619,100.00 2,740,420.00 4,641,870.00 8,840.00 15,657,578.00 2,359,650.00 35,270.00 136,360.00 3,650.00 753,600.00 345,980.00 29,958,449.00 274,350.00 412,100.00 87,994.00 408,480 2,119.00 6,422,604.00 1,782,193,680.00 704,350.00 103,544,150.00 482,698,325.00 153,426,612.50 250,173,820.00 63,627,837.00 11,407,210.00 43,566,160.00 302,000.00 4,176,710.00

0.0058 2.30 4.55 0.190 6.2000 5.7800 0.73 0.62 5.90 1.14 0.295 0.184 0.203 0.011 0.012 2.04 7.48 3.03 0.5100 1.3100 0.0088

7,134,000,000 9,000 3,235,000 260,000 24,700 2,000 1,961,000 3,594,000 600,200 141,037,000 1,110,000 29,010,000 8,320,000 21,200,000 197,700,000 2,019,000 23,037,600 3,250,000 135,000 2,908,000 133,000,000

37,583,800.00 20,700.00 14,707,580.00 48,300.00 142,468.00 11,562.00 1,412,520.00 2,294,280.00 3,548,008.00 157,763,040.00 322,150.00 5,271,260.00 1,579,860.00 234,300.00 2,327,300.00 4,192,890.00 177,010,594.00 10,069,680.00 77,640.00 3,696,850.00 1,121,700.00

3.76 5.09 1.46 0.0100 133.30 2.5 0.0072

114,000 2,560,800 2,050,000 160,700,000 2,725,300 1,369,000 1,000,000

434,540.00 13,084,340.00 3,086,690.00 1,610,790.00 359,175,828.00 3,466,180.00 7,200.00

60 528 526.5 118.1 118.1 535 6 1.06 108 1045 1100 1016 80 80.5

827,770 208,020 10,400 100 168,450 10,190 4,912,000 876,000 59,900 755 200 10,790 54,950 174,440

49,918,240.50 109,845,445.00 5,472,570 11,810.00 19,752,848.00 5,399,920.00 29,473,064.00 940,280 6,469,300.00 788,975.00 220,000.00 10,952,980.00 4,430,721.50 14,176,040.50

3.110

502,000

1,574,030.00

3.6 58 11.06

481,000 2,530 3,603,000

1,578,720.00 143,862.50 40,099,162.00

113.4

361,520

41,055,034.00

WEEKLY MOST TRADED STOCKS Abra Mining Pacifica `A’ Manila Mining `A’ Manila Mining `B’ Ionics Inc Philodrill Corp. `A’ Boulevard Holdings Megaworld Prop.

Island Info Energy Devt. Corp. (EDC)

VOLUME 3,598,000,000 2,335,800,000 459,000,000 419,600,000 345,442,000 266,400,000 235,920,000 204,783,000 138,810,000 128,341,900

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

VALUE 2,589,504,838.00 2,467,857,055.00 1,738,172,460.00 1,509,702,555.00 1,471,729,152.00 1,456,828,691 1,429,972,325.00 1,427,668,455.00 1,359,256,590 976,094,204.00

MONDAY: SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

B3

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

Listed firms well capitalized

By Jenniffer B. Austria

Richard Yap was once a stock broker RICHARD Yap, the 48-year-old actor who became famous for his role as “Sir Chief ” at day-time television drama ‘Be Careful With My Heart’, has won a number of endorsement deals from publicly listed companies such as BDO Unibank Inc. and Filinvest Land Inc. Unknown to many of his fans, Yap is also knowledgeable in business, as he once worked as a stock market trader during his younger days with Citisecurities Inc. While his stint as a Binondo-based trader was a short one-four months way back in 1989, the experience enabled him to maintain investments in the stock market.

Without disclosing which stocks he owns, Yap said he hadmoney in the stock market, but mostly as long-term investments.

His advice to investors given current market conditions? Blue chips are a sure thing, if you want long-term investments. But if you want to earn a fast buck, invest in initial public offerings and other smaller stocks. Jenniffer B. Austria No new BSP Governor until 2017 Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. shrugged off speculations that Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. may not be able to finish his second term as head of the bank regulator, with the assumption of office of the new administration in July 2016.

At the sidelines of the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ first sustainability summit in Makati City last week, Espenilla told The Standard the speculations were very remote from the truth, as the position of the central bank governor is a fixed six-year term.

“There could be a new governor only after the term of the current governor expires [which is 2017],” Espenilla said. Tetangco’s term could only be cut short if the governor “voluntarily vacates” his office for some reasons.

“So there is no truth to these speculations,” Espenilla said.

Tetangco was first appointed as Bangko Sentral governor with the support of former governor Rafael Buenaventura on July 4, 2005. Because of his impressive performance, Tetangco was reappointed in January 2011.

Global Finance magazine cited Tetangco for the seventh time as one of the best central bank governors in the world its October 2015 issue. Julito G. Rada San Miguel accuses PSALM of fraud San Miguel Energy Corp. is mulling over another legal action against state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Corp. for alleged “fraud” regarding its independent power producer administrator contract for the Sual coal-fired power plant in Pangasinan. This is separate from their dispute over the Ilijan power plant in Batangas.

San Miguel president and chief executive Ramon Ang said while the conglomerate’s energy arm paid for the operations and maintenance expenses of the power plant, the company enjoyed less than 100 percent of the contacted output.

“We have another dispute [with PSALM]. The contract of the government, of PSALM, when the plant was put up was 1,000 megawatts. Then some time after GMA [President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo] left in 2009, the one who put up the plant said the plant is now at 1,200 MW, when it is only at 1,000 MW,” Ang told reporters.

San Miguel Energy Corp., a unit of San Miguel, offered PSALM $1.072 billion to manage the output of the Sual power plant during the privatization process held in August 2009. “So there was a dispute because they were asking us to pay for 1,200 MW when it’s only 1,000 MW. That’s illegal and we plan to sue PSALM, for that. At the last minute, they changed it to 1,200 MW,” Ang said.

Aside from the Sual plant, San Miguel and PSALM are also disputing the IPPA contract over the 1,200-MW Ilijan combined cycle power plant in Batangas. Alena Mae S. Flores

TRADING participants in the Philippine Stock Exchange remain well capitalized, despite the recent sharp volatility in the equities market, the Securities and Exchange Commission said over the weekend.

SEC said in a statement trading participants were compliant with the risk base capital adequacy requirements mandated by the corporate regulator.

“This demonstrates the strong resiliency of the trading participants amid the recent sharp volatility in the prices of PSE listed stocks,” SEC said.

A review by the SEC of the report of Capital Markets Integrity Corp. showed that among the 132 trading participants that filed their RCBA reports as of end Aug. 24, around 98 firms suffered a decline in their net liquid capital due to the drop the stock prices.

The report showed that 67 trading participants experienced deterioration in their RBCA ratio and 22 trading participants posted a

drop in their unimpaired paid-up capital due to the paper losses in their propriety investments.

The recent market decline also weakened 88 trading participants due to an expansion on their aggregate indebtedness relative to net liquid capital.

Despite these findings, SEC said none of the trading participants breached any of the RCBA thresholds as of Aug 24.

RCBA requirements pertain to the minimum required liquid reserves to protect the firms, their investors, customers and the economy as a whole.

The requirements ensure that the broker dealers have enough capital to sustain operating losses while maintaining a safe and efficient market.

The trading participants of the

PSE are required to comply with several RBCA requirements such as minimum RBCA ratio of 110 percent, minimum net liquid capital of P5 million or minimum of 5 percent of aggregate indebtedness, whichever is higher, minimum capital up capital of of either P100 million trading participants who registered after the effectivity of the Securities Regulation Code and P30 million for trading participants already existing before the effectivity of the said law.

The bellwether Philippine Stock Exchange index suffered a massive drop that wiped out P764 billion worth of market capitalization, on huge sell off that was triggered by concerns about Chinese yuan devaluation on Aug. 24.

The PSEi dropped 487.97 points or 6.7 percent on that day, the steepest one-day drop since June 13, 2013 when the index lost 6.75 percent.

PSEi’s 487.97-point decline was also the sharpest single-day loss in terms of nominal numbers.

The equities market, however, has recently recovered as the outlook on domestic economy remains positive despite developments overseas.

Best-paying bank. Philip-

pine Savings Bank, the thrift bank arm of the Metrobank Group, was conferred by the Social Security System the 2015 SSS Balikat ng Bayan Best Paying Partner Thrift Bank on Sept. 18, 2015 at the SSS head office in Quezon City.

Shown during the awarding ceremony are (from left) SSS senior vice president Judy Frances See, Social Security Commission chairman Juan Santos, PSBank executive vice president Jose Vicente Alde and SSS senior vice president Jose Bautista.

Stock index likely to stay above 7,000 STOCKS are expected to move sideways this week, amid lingering concerns over China, despite the delay in the hike in US interest rates.

“For the week, we expect any disappointing China economic data to weigh down on emerging markets including the Philippines, despite the delay in the US rates lift-off and despite market expectations that the BSP will not change its policy rates,” BPI Asset Management said in its weekly outlook.

The PSEi, the 30-company benchmark index of the Philippine Stock Exchange, is expected to trade between 7,000 and 7,200 points, with a downward bias.

Analysts said with the US Federal Reserve deciding to keep rates steady, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas was expected to follow suit.

One factor the government should monitor closely is the economic impact of El Niño dry spell, which is seen to be at its worst since 1998, analysts said.

The PSEi jumped 3.2 percent over the five-day trading period last week to close at 7,131.19 on Friday, while the broader allshare index climbed 2.9 percent to 4,076.60.

All major sub-indices ended in the greed, led by property ( up 6 percent), holding firms (3.2 percent), financials (3 percent), industrial (2.8 percent), mining and oil (1.2 percent) and services (0.3 percent).

BDO Unibank Inc. chief investment strategist Jonathan Ravelas said the local stock market rose, on improved investor sentiment as the US Fed deferred raising interest rates but left room to hike rates later this year.

Bargain hunting also boosted the bourse.

Foreign investors were net sellers last week by P24.5 billion, as total foreign selling reached P42.76 billion while foreign buying amounted to P18.23 billion.

Average daily turnover rose to P18.8 billion, from previous week’s average of P5.4 billion.

Top gainers last week were Ionics Inc., which surged 213.5 percent to P2.32; Mabuhay Vinyl Corp., which jumped 164.5 percent to P4.63; and Medco Holdings which climbed 45.2 percent to P0.61.

Heavy losers were Keppel Philippines Properties Inc., which declined 37.5 percent to P3; Discovery World Corp., which dipped 11 percent to P1.61; and F&J Prince Holdings Corp., which lost 10 percent to P3.01.

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Japanese firms remain bullish

By Othel V.Campos THE Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines remains bullish on the Philippines despite the pre-election period, chamber president Nobuo Fujii said over the weekend.

“I can’t say how many but Japanese companies are always interested in the Philippines. The situation here is much better than other countries,” he said.

He said the upcoming presidential election was a political matter and that economic strides would continue because of better business prospects and investments opportunities.

Fujii said despite a slowdown in Japan’s economy, Tokyo was still keen on extending support to the Philippine government.

Earlier, the Philippine Trade Department and the Japanese government signed an Action

Plan on Industrial Cooperation to prepare the Philippine manufacturing sector for increased competition among other members of the Asean economic community.

The plan outlines broad initiatives in key areas of interest and cooperation, including automobile, manufacturing, micro, small and medium enterprises, services and human resource development.

The initiatives are geared toward identifying and addressing supply chain gaps between the Philippines and Japan by providing technical and institutional

capacity building to domestic industry players.

The Philippines and Japan in July 2014 signed a joint statement on industrial cooperation, in which Japan expressed support to Manila’s efforts in developing an industrial development roadmap to make the country a manufacturing and human resources development hub in Southeast Asia.

The two countries statement promised new areas of collaboration and the development of an action plan to realize the objectives.

Filipino farmers earlier asked the government to secure lower tariff rates on banana exports to Japan by taking advantage of the free trade agreement between the two countries.

The Pilipino Banana Growers and Exporters Association called on the Agriculture and Trade Departments to review the concessions in the Philippine-Japan Economic Partnership Agree-

ment and secure the country’s position in the Japanese market.

PBGEA said more Japanese importers had struck deals with suppliers in Mozambique, Vietnam, Costa Rica and Indonesia, reducing Japan’s dependence on the Philippines.

The group said under bilateral and economic partnership agreements, fresh bananas exported from these countries enjoy zero tariffs for their pooled quotas of 1,000 tons per year against those on Philippine bananas that range from 8.5 percent to 18.5 percent.

“We are, therefore, reiterating our request for the re-negotiation to possibly reduce, if not eliminate, the tariffs on Philippine bananas, a move that is clearly supported by Japanese fruit importers particularly the Japan Fresh Produce lmport and Safety Association since four years ago,” said PBGEA executive director Stephen Antig.

IN BRIEF SkyCable ups capex THE pay television unit of ABS-CBN Corp. is accelerating capital expenditure next year for its foray into directto-home service.

ABS-CBN Group chief financial officer Rolando Valdueza told reporters Sky Cable Corp.’s capex for 2016 would be “slightly higher” than the P2 billion this year because of the broadband and its planned rollout of the DTH service.

“As soon as we get the license from NTC [National Telecommunication Communications] hopefully within the year, I think that’s the time we are ready to roll out the DTH,” Valdueza said.

Sky Cable saidin an earlier filing with the NTC said it would spend P252 million for the rollout of direct broadcast satellite service across 251 cities and municipalities.

Also known as “direct-to-home,” DBS transmits signals to subscribers using satellite. Four companies are licensed to operate direct-to-home services, namely Cignal, Dream Satellite TV and GSat. The Philippine Cable Television Association, TV5 Network Inc. and Dream Satellite TV have opposed Sky Cable’s bid to offer DTH, citing violation on monopolies law. Darwin G Amojelar

FLI upbeat on Clark

FILINVEST Land Inc. of the Gotianun Group hopes its joint venture with state-run Bases Conversion Development Authority to develop the 288-hectare Clark Green City, will be finalized soon in order to start developing the property.

BCDA on Sept 8. said Filinvest land was the lone bidder for the 288 hectare initial phase of the Clark Green City project.

“The next step is to complete the joint venture agreement with BCDA because BCDA is still going the post-bid qualification,” FLI senior vice president Francis Ceballos told reporters.

Ceballos, however, said the property was situated within the mixed-use lots of Clark Green City.

“Planning for the property will already start by next year. But if we push very hard, we may also launch the first project by next year,” Ceballos said.

He said the 228-hectare property was bigger than the Filinvest Corporate City, which is also a mixed-use project in Alabang.

Ceballos said Filinvest Land was also open to taking in partners to develop the property. Jenniffer B. Austria

Foreign debt drops

China Bank promo. China Bank launches the ‘2 million Mabuhay Miles and Priceless New York Holiday Package’ raffle promo on September

19, 2015 at the SM Aura Premier in Taguig City. China Bank Credit Cardholders in good credit standing have a chance to win in the exciting promo. There will be twenty winners of 30,000 Mabuhay Miles each, five winners of 80,000 Mabuhay Miles each and one winner of the grand prize—1,000,000 Mabuhay Miles PLUS a Priceless 4-day/3-night holiday in New York City for two. Shown at the launching are (from left) China Bank director Jose Sio, China Bank president Ricardo Chua, Philippine Airlines president Jimmy Bautista, China Bank executive vife president William Whang and MasterCard country head-Philippines Ponch Villareal.

Escudero seeks audit of telcos to speed up Internet

By Darwin G Amojelar SENATOR Francis Escudero wants the National Telecommunications Commission to audit the network coverage of telecommunication companies in order to come up with new rules in ensuring the quality and reliability of fixed and mobile broadband services in the country.

“An audit is necessary to determine the gravity of the problem of slow Internet connection in the country. This will become the basis for NTC to come up with new guidelines on acceptable speed and cost that telcos are duty-bound to follow,” Escudero, who earlier announced its vice presidential bid, said.

The new guidelines should effectively compel the telecommunications firms to invest in infrastructure and technology development so they can deliver faster data connection to their subscribers, he said.

Escudero said the problem of pathetic Internet speed and service in the Philippines could be easily addressed if the companies were forced by law to allocate a portion of their huge revenues for better network infrastructure.

The NTC earlier estimated that the Philippines needed $16.6 billion, or around P750 billion, to bring 2 megabits per second download speeds to 80 percent of Philippine households by 2016.

“The telcos have been reaping billions of pesos in profits at the expense of their subscribers, who continue to complain about the slow and expensive data services they provide,” Escudero said.

“I think it is more than fair and reasonable to compel telcos to spend on the necessary infrastructure expansions and upgrades that will allow them to provide some real service to individuals and industries that need reliable data connections,” he added.

Escudero said the NTC, as the agency that regulates and supervises the telecommunications sector, should make sure the data experience met the requirements and expectations of the country’s Internet users, who are now close to 40 million.

“If we want to sustain the growth momentum of the economy, particularly the BPO industry, we need to have the infrastructure to deliver reliable and high-quality Internet services,” the senator said.

Escudero’s statement came after the NTC issued the rules on the measurement of fixed broadband/Internet access service, which set a minimum speed of 256 kbps.

The new rules aim to protect subscribers against bill shock and false advertising. The regulator is also proposing rules on the measurement of mobile broadband/Internet access service to ensure the quality service of local telecommunication companies.

FOREIGN debt in the first half of 2015 year declined $3.6 billion or 4.6 percent to $75 billion from $78.6 billion a year ago, due mainly to negative foreign exchange revaluation adjustments as the US economy continued to recover which boosted the greenback.

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas over the weekend showed the end-June figure was also $321 million or 0.4 percent lower than the endMarch 2015 level of $75.3 billion.

“The decline in the debt level was attributed to transfer of Philippine debt papers from non-residents to residents [$1 billion] amid growing concerns on the anticipated interest rate hike by the United States Federal Reserve, and negative foreign exchange revaluation adjustments [$162 million], primarily due to the weakening of the Japanese yen against the US dollar...,” Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said in a statement.

Tetangco, however, said the impact of the developments was partially offset by net availment worth $875 million, mainly by the national government. Julito G. Rada

Antique fair set

ONE of the country’s biggest gatherings of established antique collectors and dealers with proven track record in the business is set to unfold with the staging of the 22nd Annual National Antique Show at the Greenhills Shopping Center on Ortigas Aveneue, San Juan City.

Organized by Prime Asia Trade Planners and Convention Organizer, the 25day event which will run until October 5, will showcase the widest assortment of furniture and furnishings, including potteries, lamp shades, sea treasures and jewelry in the sprawling and strategic area within the commercial center.

Depending on their tastes and needs, buyers can choose from a variety of antique furniture which are made of different types of wood known for their beauty, elegance and durability such as narra, tanguile, kamagong, oak, maple and mahogany.

Behind the Tianggehan/Baratillo concept at Greenhills is Henry Babiera, Patepco president and chief executive who has over four decades of experience in the type of business.

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Mining the minds of leaders

De Ocampo cited. Philippine Veterans Bank chairman and chief executive Roberto de Ocampo (center) receives the Communication Excellence in Organizations for the banking, finance and insurance category in this year’s IABC Philippines CEO EXCEL Awards held recently at the Intercontinental Hotel in Makati City. De Ocampo joins 13 other business and public service leaders who also received CEO EXCEL Awards in their respective fields this year. With de Ocampo are (fromleft) IABC Philippines chairman Emeritus Elpi Cuna, IABC Philippines chairman Ritzi Ronquillo, IABC Philippines president Kane Errol Chua and 2015 CEO Excel Award committee chairman Joe Zaldarriaga.

Accenture bares P1-b expansions

By Othel V.Campos ACCENTURE Philippines Inc. is pursuing a P1-billion expansion program in five locations in the country.

Data from the Philippine Economic Zone Authority showed Accenture planned to put up more sites as demand for call and data services continued to drive the industry’s growth in 2015.

“We have approved the request of Accenture and we hope to see more BPO companies expanding their operations here in the Philippines,” Peza director general Lilia de Lima said over the weekend.

Data showed Accenture was expanding two centers in Cebu IT Park, one in Gateway Tower in Cubao, one in Vendi IT Hub and one in Uptown Bonifacio Global City.

The expansion projects will cost Accenture an additional P1 billion in investments and generate an additional 7,607 in employment. They will add another $182 million worth of service exports to the Philippines.

Accenture is one of the world’s leading management consulting, technology services and outsourcing companies employing over 170,000 people worldwide.

They serve 91 of the Fortune Global

100, nearly two-thirds of the Fortune Global 500 and government agencies in 49 countries.

Accenture has been in the Philippines for over 20 years offering a variety of services from application development and management to business process outsourcing Accenture recently won its second Outstanding Community Project Award from Peza at the recent 20th Anniversary and Investors’ Recognition Night 2015.

Business process outsourcing companies are expected to add 150,000 jobs this year, boosted by the expansion of the healthcare segment.

The Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines said the local industry aimed to take advantage of the rising need among US companies for talents adept at handling a special type of healthcare support.

ITBPAP president and chief executive Jose Mari Mercado earlier told reporters the US was looking for Filipino talents to support the US migration to the International Code for Diseases 10 from the current ICD 9.

ITBPAP said of the 150,000 BPO jobs needed in 2015, around 20 percent would come from the healthcare space.

ITBPAP expects total BPO revenues to rise from $18.9 billion in 2014 to $21.9 billion in 2015 and $25 billion in 2016.

Clark airport work suffers delay ACTUAL construction work on the initial phase of the newly-approved P15-billion expansion project for the Clark International Airport may be delayed a bit, moving its 2017 completion by another year.

Clark International Airport Corp. president Emigdio Tanjuatco III attributed the slight delay to the government’s decision to split the project’s Phase I timetable in two sub-phases, prompting a need to redesign the original blueprint drawn up by the Aeroports De Paris.

Tanjuatco said the government decision was complicated by the French firm’s refusal to re-design the blueprint without additional fees, forcing the Transportation Department to bid out the contract for the job.

The minor setback in the project’s time-

table “yielded something positive,” the CIAC chief said in last Friday’s forum hosted by Capampangan in Media Inc. in partnership with Holiday Inn Clark and Clark Development Corp. at the Clark Freeport.

Aeroports’ withdrawal will give opportunities to Philippine groups with expertise equal to that of the French company to bid for the re-design contract “and this development could even lead to a reduction of the construction cost of the planned passenger terminal under Phase I,” Tanjuatco said.

The bidding for the re-design contract has been set for June 2016. The bidding is expected to move the actual construction on the modular passenger terminal to the second quarter next year.

At the recent three-day Mining Philippines 2015 International Conference and Exhibit held at the Solaire Resort and Casino with Vice President Jejomar Binay as the keynote speaker, various issues faced by the mining industry were discussed, among them global competitiveness, the future of mining in the region, the contribution of the industry to the local economy as well as the hurdles that investors must overcome including taxation and the fiscal regime.

As the vice president noted in his speech, the Philippines has a very large potential with about 14.5 billion metric tons of metallic minerals and an estimated 67.66 billion metric tons of non-metallic minerals valued at $1.4 trillion. In short, the mining industry has the capacity to become the biggest contributor to our economy and generate much-needed jobs.

However, investments in mining have fallen in the last five years—below the $20 billion target that had been set—due to the uncertainty that investors face with regard to a clear-cut mining policy which unfortunately the government had not laid out.

Numerous organizations that include the Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC), the PCCI and even the Management Association of the Philippines have all expressed support for the industry, with the JFC even going so far as to write the Mining Industry Coordinating Council (MICC) urging for a review of their proposed mining revenue-sharing scheme, pointing out that any increase in taxes at this time will not be good for the industry.

As noted by the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, mining was excluded from the government’s 2012 Investment Priorities Plan —resulting in the removal of all incentives for the sector except for those provided by the Mining Act and the National Internal Revenue Code.

Mining industry leaders are therefore concerned about the future of the industry especially in light of the upcoming 2016 elections. During the panel discussion titled “Probing the Minds of Leaders” which I moderated, it was interesting to note that mining per se is not considered harmful to the environment and the wellbeing of the host communities and indigenous peoples – since it is a recognized fact that big mining companies have been contributing to the welfare of host communities through their respective Social Development Management Programs wherein millions of pesos are allocated.

As the vice president stressed, it is the irresponsible mining practices that must not only be discouraged but outlawed even.

“I am for promoting environmentally and socially responsible mining, adopting the constitutional principle of balancing interests over the long term,” he said.

Vice President Jejomar Binay delivers his keynote address at the Mining Philippines 2015 International Conference and Exhibition last September 16 at the Solaire Resort and Casino Manila.

Senator Grace Poe, who was the keynote speaker in last year’s mining conference, also recognized the potential of the mining industry to become a key proponent of economic growth over the next 25 years, describing the mineral wealth of the country as “staggering,” noting that the mining industry’s contributions to our economy are twice the size of the BPO industry in terms of jobs generated.

“I know that there is a world of difference between small-scale miners and the responsible miners here. As legitimate, large-scale mining corporations, I know that you spend vast sums of money to ensure the safety of your miners and to make sure that your mining operations comply with international safety standards and government mining regulations,” Senator Grace had said, acknowledging the fact that many companies allocate a significant chunk of their income to corporate social responsibility development projects to “give back to the people”—something that not many Filipinos are not aware of.

Mining companies are hopeful that the future leaders of this country will realize the potential of responsible mining companies to become a key driver of economic growth —which in the end will benefit the people.

The Vice President with the Board of Directors of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines. From left: Engr. Eulalio B. Austin, Jr. of Philex Mining Corp.; Mr. Artemio Disini of Eramen Minerals; Benjamin Philip Romualdez of Benguet Corp.; and Jose Leviste, Jr. of Oceana Gold Philippines

VP Binay with Engr. Eulalio B. Austin, Jr. , President and CEO of Philex Mining Corp., at Philex Mining’s exhibition booth

VP Binay with the media after his speech at the recent mining conference.

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Nickel Asia starts solar farm Transparency for affordable finance IN Germany early this year, I had the honor of receiving the Karlsruhe BENEL D. LAGUA Sustainable Finance Award given to the Development Bank of the Philippines for its water and forest financing projects. The organizers likewise run a global sustainable finance conference where Jennifer Tankard of UK’s Community Development Foundation was a speaker.

She discussed the role of transparency as a key to providing affordable finance to low income communities.

While one would readily assume that financial exclusion is problematic in a developing country like the Philippines, it was a revelation that the same problem exists in the UK. Tankard reports that in the UK: 1.4 million people do not have a bank account, a fifth of households have no insurance protections and 8 million households have no savings.

In order to confront the financial exclusion issue, a partnership of national organizations called the Community Investment Coalition campaigned to develop a voluntary disclosure framework by financial institutions. The objectives were to achieve more transparency, more diversity of providers, more innovation, sustainable local economic growth and better financial literacy.

A catalyst for progressive change It was agreed that data disclosure by finance service providers could be a catalyst for progressive change. It will identify overall availability of banking services in deprived communities. It will allow for more effective targeting of scarce resources to deprived areas by government, economic regulators and social investors. Finally, it will enable crossreference with other measures of deprivation at the local level to better inform local economic and community development strategies.

The UK initiative cited the Community Reinvestment Act in the USA as a best practice model. The CRA requires that institutions ensure access to financial services in any community where they take deposits.

The performance of financial institutions is assessed on this basis and this assessment is supported by the release of information concerning their lending patterns and service provision.

The CRA has been credited in several studies to encourage financial institutions to lend to redlined neighborhoods. Lending to low and moderate income and minority borrowers increased in a faster pace than lending to higher income borrowers. And the US Department of Treasury found that the CRA accounted for up to 20 percent of the growth in low and moderate income lending among CRA lenders.

Support targeted intervention In 2013, Community Investment Coalition lobbied for transparency to increase competition and tackle financial exclusion by supporting targeted intervention. The banks and the British Bankers Association were initially strongly against the data disclosure. But with the backing of politicians from all political parties, the Church of England and small business representatives, and with promise of data protection, a modified voluntary disclosure agreement was reached, covering 60 percent of the markets.

Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury announced the voluntary framework in July 2013. “The government is committed to creating a strong and safer banking system that serves the UK economy… business will be able to see exactly where the major banks are lending—up to within a few streets of their premises… It is a major step forward in terms of transparency and should encourage competition by helping small lenders to identify gaps in the market and allowing business to hold their local banks to account where they aren’t lending.”

An insightful analysis of underserved communities The CIC believed that transparency will allow society to cut through the banks “spin” and build an evidence base to identify underserved markets, market opportunities and areas where the markets are unlikely to meet local financial needs. Today, the data are being used for detailed and insightful analysis of UK communities that are underserved

by UK’s main high street banks. While there is initial success, more variables are needed for full disclosure. A number of high profile/highly regarded reports are now referring the data even as there is a need for granularity. However, even banks originally against the idea are less hostile, as it helps restore trust. And it is expected that other financial providers will join the framework.

The experience of the UK and the USA in getting banks to be more transparent on how they lend to underserved communities is instructive. Advocates of inclusive finance should probably take a page or two from this initiative in order push the agenda to improve access of small businesses and other underserved sectors to financial services. Regulators especially should be more open to making lending data more available to the public in order to develop evidence based programs to address gaps and deficiencies.

GREEN LIGHT

An AIM-MBM and Harvard MPA graduate, Mr. Benel Lagua is in the faculty of the De La Salle University’s Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business teaching courses in financial management. He is likewise EVP and Chief Development Officer of the DBP. The views expressed above are his own and does not necessarily reflect the official position of his office, De La Salle University, its administration and faculty.

By Alena Mae S. Flores

EMERGING Power Corp., a company controlled by Nickel Asia Corp., broke ground for a 100-megawatt solar project and a 50-MW wind site in Subic Bay Freeport over the weekend.

Nickel Asia vice president for corporate communication Jose Bayani Baylon said the renewable energy projects would be located “within Aeta community area below the Sta Rita mountain.”

“Construction will begin Monday on the substation to be erected next to the current SBMA [Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority] substation. By October, construction will begin on the solar and wind power area. Target commissioning is February 2016,” Baylon said.

He said the project was being undertaken by Jobin-SQM Inc., a locator in Subic Bay Freeport, which was bought by Emerging Power, a subsidiary of Nickel Asia.

“The Subic project is one of three [projects] that EPI-NAC is going into. Biliran and Palawan are next,” he said.

Emerging Power chairman An-

tonio Martin Zamora said once completed, the Subic project “will be the largest solar and wind project in Southeast Asia.”

“And nothing can better represent the future than renewable energy technology that Pope Francis himself has encouraged societies to go into,” Zamora said.

SBMA earlier approved Emerging Power’s acquisition of a 90-percent stake in local company Jobin-Sqm. Jobin-SQM earlier signed a 50year lease agreement with SBMA chairman Roberto Garcia for the wind and solar development of an 800-hectare property in Mt. Sta. Rita, about kilometers from Olongapo City.

“This time we are bringing clean and renewable power to SBMA. What better way to spark progress and growth to the people of Subic and investors in the

country’s first Freeport than by making clean and stable power available to them,” Zamora said earlier.

Nickel Asia holds majority stake in Emerging Power’s investments. Nickel Asia earlier said it would guarantee the loan facility of Emerging Power for up to P3 billion over a three-year period to finance renewable energy projects.

Nickel Asia said it earmarked $60 million for the purchase of Jobin-SQM and Phase 1 of the project, which would initially be able to generate up to 25 MW of solar power.

Jobin-SQM released a feasibility report in March which showed that the site was a suitable location for a solar energy facility that could produce up to 100 MW. The report cited “convenient traffic, superior geographic position and rich solar energy resources” as factors proving the viability of the project.

Mt. Sta. Rita Solar project is expected to reduce coal consumption by 44,300 tons per year. This meets the objectives of the Philippines’ national energy policy to reduce reliability on fossil fuels and alleviate pollution.

Apec dialog.

Trade Secretary Gregory Domingo (second from left) welcomed and congratulated on Sept. 18, 2015 the participants of the High Level Policy Dialogue on the Apec Women and the Economy Fora which opened at the Philippine International Convention Center. With Domingo are (from left) Fumiko Hayashi, Mayor of Yokohama City, Japan; Nora Terrado, chair of the Apec Women and the Economy 2015 Fora; Emmeline Verzosa,, executive director of the Philippine Commission on Women and also the chair of the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy; and Irene Sim, chief-of-staff of Apec Secretariat.

Finance sees inflation falling to 0.5%

By Gabrielle H. Binday INFLATION rate in September will likely be lower than 0.6 percent registered in August, an official of the Finance Department said over the weekend.

Finance Undersecretary and chief economist Gil Beltran said inflation in September was expected to stay below 1 percent, amid lower prices of fuel products and electricity rates.

“This time [September], however, it may fall to 0.5 percent, breaking the 0.6-percent mark last month,” Beltran said.

“The slow rise in prices is tempered and will continue to be tempered by tame food price

changes. Low prices of other basic commodities such as fuels and transportation continue to benefit from developments in the international market,” he said.

Beltran said the electricity rates of Manila Electric Co. declined for five months in a row, with the September rates estimated to be 17 percent lower than last year.

Beltran, however, said that due to risks brought about by the prolonged El Niño dry spell, necessary measures should be put in place.

“Measures should also be in place to address adverse effects the dry spell would inflict on agricultural production and hydroelectric power generation,” Beltran said.

Beltran said these measures were repair and construction of irrigation systems and farm-tomarket roads, early importation of rice, cloud seeding operations and water conservation campaigns.

Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showed that headline inflation slowed to 0.6 percent in August, the lowest on record, on downward price pressures in food, energy and oil rates.

Inflation slowed down from 0.8 percent in July and 4.9 percent in August 2014. Inflation in the first eight months of the year averaged 1.93 percent, below the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent.

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Economic recovery in Spain hides jobs crisis MADRID—Data show Spain’s economy recovering, but tell that to Javier Pichel: this summer he packed and left for the only place he could find a decent job— Germany.

Millions of Spaniards are scraping by on benefits, family handouts or working cash-in-hand as they wait for the apparent economic rebound to create the hundreds of thousands of jobs the government is promising.

Experts say that these jobs are being created—but the problem is that many of them only last a few days.

Since leaving school, 22-yearold Pichel, from the northwestern Galicia region, has racked up training certificates in finance and business, but has received no decent job offers in Spain.

“You can get a contract for three weeks or three months. You’re happy, but you quickly realize that there is no job security,” he said.

Spain’s government is forecasting the economy will grow by 3.3 percent this year, one of the strongest rates in the eurozone.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy in 2012 passed reforms making it easier for firms to hire and fire as part of his austerity reforms.

Now he has promised a million jobs would be created over the 2014-2015 period.

Pichel and others his age find that hard to imagine. Opposition parties and labor unions dispute the diagnosis given by the conservative government, which is preparing to fight for re-election in December.

Spain’s unemployment rate remains extremely high at more than 22 percent. One in every two eligible workers under the age of 25 is out of work.

“Every month in Spain 1.5 million contracts are signed. That’s 18 million a year. So what’s going on?

These are contracts for just a day’s or a week’s work,” said Manuel Lago, an economist in the major union CCOO. “Employment in Spain is very seasonal. Jobs start getting created shortly before Easter and the unemployment rate goes down all summer” before ticking back up in August. AFP

World Red Panda Day. A red panda rests on the branch of a tree at the zoo in Pessac on Sept. 19, 2015. Since 2010, Sept. 19 has been marked as World Red Panda day, to highlight the need for conservation of the endangered species. AFP

Row widens as Austria receives more migrants VIENNA—Thousands of migrants streamed into Austria Saturday after being shunted through Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia, as Europe’s divided nations stepped up efforts to push the wave of desperate humanity on to other neighbors.

The continent’s biggest migratory flow since the end of World War II has dug a deep rift between western and eastern EU members over how to distribute the migrants fairly, and raised questions over the fate of the Schengen agreement allowing borderless travel within the 28-nation bloc.

Several countries have imposed border controls, as recent figures have shown nearly half a million people have braved perilous trips across the Mediterranean to reach Europe so far this year, while the EU has received almost a quarter of a million asylum requests in the three months to June.

In Austria, up to 13,000 people entered the country over the

course of Saturday alone, the head of the Austrian Red Cross told the APA news agency. The figure was not immediately confirmed by local police, who had said earlier they were readying for an influx of around 10,000 refugees and migrants.

Hungary’s right-wing government has faced international criticism over violent clashes with migrants and a hastily-erected fence along its frontier with Serbia, but in a shift late Friday, Hungarian authorities began transporting thousands of migrants straight to the border with Austria, an apparent bid to move them through and out of their territory as quickly as possible.

There was no let-up in the stream of people making the grueling journey across the Balkans into western Europe, with Croatia saying 20,700 had entered the country since Wednesday.

Zagreb, which initially said it would allow migrants to pass through freely, announced it was swamped on Friday and began transporting hundreds to the Hungarian border by bus and train -- sparking a furious reaction from Budapest.

Despite the row, Croatian and Hungarian authorities appeared to be coordinating on the ground.

An AFP journalist along the frontier between the two countries saw migrants board Croatian buses that took them to the border, before disembarking and crossing on foot then boarding Hungarian buses that quickly departed.

Migrants were also being taken to Slovenia, where 1,500 had arrived since Friday, according to the interior ministry.

Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia are all EU members, but only the latter two belong to Europe’s passport-free Schengen zone.

In a new hurdle aimed at stemming the influx, Hungary said it had completed a 41-kilometer barbed-wire barrier along part of its frontier with Croatia.

The remaining 330 kilometers of the border runs roughly along the Drava river, which is difficult to cross.

The new barrier adds to a barbed-wire fence that Hungary completed along its frontier with Serbia this week, backed with laws threatening illegal migrants with jail, which forced the migrant flow towards Croatia.

On the Croatia-Slovenia frontier, aid tents have sprung up with local and foreign volunteers giving out food, water and clothes.

“It’s generous of them,” said Khaddam Ghaiath, a Syrian former customs official who is on the road with his 70-year-old mother. AFP

Jackie Collins, best-selling romance novelist, dies at 77 LOS ANGELES—Bestselling romance novelist Jackie Collins, whose first book was so steamy it was banned in some countries, died of breast cancer in California Saturday, her family said. She was 77.

“She lived a wonderfully full life and was adored by her family, friends and the millions of readers who she has been entertaining for over 4 decades,” her family said in a state-

ment, adding that she had battled breast cancer for more than six years.

“She was a true inspiration, a trailblazer for women in fiction and a creative force.

She will live on through her characters but we already miss her beyond words,” added the statement from her three daughters Tracy, Tiffany, and Rory.

Her works included “The World is

Full of Married Men,” “Confessions of a Wild Child,” “The Stud” and “Hollywood Wives.”

The first, released in 1968, stirred up so much outrage that it was banned from bookshelves in South Africa and Australia.

British-born Collins, who started out acting before focusing on writing, and her older sister, actress Joan Collins, famously found great success at trading on the

Hollywood early-bad girl mystique they had, both on screen and off.

Jackie Collins wrote a series of novels starring main character Lucky Santangelo and many of her works found their way onto TV screens as movies or miniseries.

Joan Collins, 82, told People magazine she was “completely devastated” by the loss of her sister.

“She was my best friend,” she told the

publication. “I admire how she handled this.

She was a wonderful, brave and a beautiful person and I love her.”

People said the prolific author had been diagnosed with end-stage breast cancer six-and-ahalf years ago, and “chose to keep her illness almost entirely to herself.”

Joan Collins herself just learned of her sister’s illness “within the last two weeks,” People reported.

“She was very shocked,” Jackie Collins recently told the magazine of Joan’s reaction to the news. “She had no idea. But she was great.

We were emotional.”

Jackie Collins had lived in California for years, and was a naturalized US citizen.

Tributes poured in as word spread of her passing.

“An amazing woman.

Talented. Funny. Kind.

One of my very favor-

ite producers ever. She will be deeply missed,” actress Melissa Gilbert tweeted. AFP EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT OF ESTATE Notice is hereby given that the estate of the late BUENAVENTURA B. MIGUEL was extrajudicially settled among his heirs as per Doc. No. 538; Page No. 83; Book No. LX, Series of 2015 before Notary Public ATTY. Bona Carmela R. Bien.

(TS-SEPT 14/21/28, 2015)

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B8 Revolution Square to be site of pope’s mass HAVANA—Pope Francis was to give mass Sunday on Revolution Square in Havana, the biggest event of his trip to Cuba, with nearly a million people expected to attend.

The pope, who arrived on the communist island Saturday, will address the crowd beside a towering sculpture of his fellow Argentine Che Guevara’s iconic silhouette, following in the footsteps of his predecessors John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Cuban President Raul Castro and Argentina’s Cristina Kirchner will be among those in attendance.

The pope’s eight-day tour, which will also take him to the United States for the first time, follows the announcement of the US-Cuban rapprochement, which paved the way for the estranged neighbors to renew diplomatic relations in July.

Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, helped facilitate that moment in secret negotiations.

The pope received a tropically warm welcome on arrival in the Cuban capital Saturday afternoon, when tens of thousands of people braved the heat and humidity to greet him with dancing, cheers and banners along the route from the airport to the Vatican nunciature.

Castro welcomed him with a lengthy speech that hit repeatedly on some of the pope’s favorite themes: caring for the planet, fighting inequality and promoting peace.

After mass, the pope will meet with Castro, then preside over vespers at Havana Cathedral before holding an unscripted exchange with young Cubans—a demographic feeling the pain of the communist island’s difficult economic transition.

Francis may also meet Castro’s older brother and predecessor Fidel, the 89-year-old father of Cuba’s 1959 revolution.

“If it happens, it will happen (Sunday). And we’ll get you the necessary information,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists Saturday.

Benedict XVI met Fidel when he visited the island in 2012, six years after the longtime leader handed power to Raul amid a health crisis. AFP

cESAR BARRiOquiNTO EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world Summer of bloodshed as US murder rates rise WASHINGTON—Dre, who turns 15 this month, has been unable to walk or talk since he was shot in the head, his plight a sad example of the toll taken by worsening US gun violence.

In attendance. Actors Nina Dobrev, Malin Akerman and Taissa Farmiga attend the “Final

Girls” photo call during the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival at the Ryerson Theater on Sept. 19, 2015 in Toronto, Canada. AFP

Deandra Yates, Dre’s mother, felt her world collapse in February 2014 when an unidentified youth—aged 17 or 18, she says—fired 22 shots into a birthday party her son was attending.

“They told me he would die or he’d be a vegetable but that’s not true,” she told AFP, reaching into her handbag for a photo of her son at a rehab center.

“If you put on music he dances in his wheelchair, he smiles at you, he looks at you.”

Her son’s assailant has never been apprehended and the incident is just one more such case in a country where 88 deaths a day, including suicides, are caused by firearms.

After years in decline, the pace of homicides is on the rise in some 30 big American cities.

As of Friday, homicides in the capital Washington were up 40.5 percent from a year ago at 111, police said.

The situation is also worrying in St Louis and Milwaukee, which saw the number of murders go up 60 percent and 76 percent respectively year-todate from August 11 to August 31, The New York Times reported recently.

On September 2, Chicago recorded nine dead by gunfire—eight homicides and the accidental death of an infant—the most in a single day in a decade.

In Cleveland, police chief Calvin Williams exclaimed last Wednesday that “enough is enough” after a three-year-old died of a gunshot wound, just days after the fatal shooting of a 5-year-old.

Other big cities worried by the rising murder curve are New York, Philadelphia, Dallas and New Orleans.

Experts have trouble explaining exactly what is happening and say different factors are at work that vary from city to city. Drugs, gang wars and the proliferation of arms are cited.

“In my state, Indiana, our gun laws are very lax, so a lot of people have access to them and they are flooding the streets with them,” said Yates.

“Teenagers would tell you they can get a gun for $280 and sell it, circulate it or use it.”

Conservative officials have recently pointed to a so-called Ferguson effect. AFP

Migrants missing in new boat sinking ATHENS—Nearly 30 migrants were feared missing off the Greek island of Lesbos, the coastguard said Sunday, in the latest boat sinking in an ongoing Aegean Sea tragedy that has cost hundreds of lives.

The coastguard said it had rescued 20 people spotted in the water by a helicopter from EU border agency Frontex, but the survivors said another 26 people had been in the boat.

The state news agency ANA said there were children among those missing, but the coastguard declined to comment.

On Saturday, a five-year-old Syrian girl died in another attempt-

ed crossing from Turkey to Greece, and there were no news on another dozen people who were in the boat with her.

The accident again occurred east of the island of Lesbos, one of the Greek islands that has seen a heavy influx of refugees from war-torn Syria this year.

Many have perished trying to cross the Aegean Sea in search of a better future in Europe.

Earlier this month, harrowing pictures of three-year-old Syrian refugee Aylan Kurdi, whose body was found washed up on a Turkish beach after the boat carrying his family to the Greek island of Kos

sank, caused an outpouring of emotion around the world, pressuring European leaders to step up their response to the refugee crisis.

The body of another four-yearold Syrian girl washed up on a beach in western Turkey on Friday.

Migrants have in recent days turned to Turkey’s land borders with Greece and Bulgaria to avoid the sea voyage that has cost over 2,600 people their lives in the Mediterranean this year.

Greece has seen over 300,000 refugees and migrants enter the country this year, most of them passing through to other European countries. AFP

50th anniversary. Artists perform during the closing ceremony of the 11th Africa Games in Brazzaville on Sept. 19, 2015. This edition marks the 50th anniversary of the Games, as well as their return to Brazzaville, which hosted the first edition in 1965. AFP

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TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNAS

life @ thestandard.com .ph

WRITER

@LIFEatStandard

E AT, DRINK , T R AV EL

LIFE

The open-theater kitchens of The Café at Hyatt City of Dreams bustle as the restaurant's culinary team whips up American food favorites for the US food festival dubbed 'From the Land of the Free to the Pearl of the Orient.'

The food promotion features US produce, beverages and meats.

The Café's Grilling Station fires up with steaks and shrimps.

Chef Jay McCarthy cuts into a huge Tomahawk Ribeye Steak from Nebraska.

A FEAST OF MEAT

The Café at Hyatt City of Dreams serves American-style meat dishes and more

BY BERNADETTE LUNAS PHOTOS BY SONNY ESPIRITU Pork Barbecue

F

ood served in the United States, meat dishes for instance, are known for being “super-sized” – especially for Philippine or Asian standards.

“But if I serve those (Asian-sized) portions in my restaurant (in Colorado), I wouldn’t be in business,” stressed Beaver Creek and Vail Chophouse restaurants corporate chef and educator Jay McCarthy. And while the Nebraskan chef is not naturally a fan of big portions, he said “it’s just the way it is; I can’t change the market.”

According to Chef McCarthy, in terms of meat, the “typical” big portion weighs around 700 to 750 grams, the average size is around 450 grams, and the small portion is 300 grams.

Here in the Philippines, the typical portion size of a slab of juicy steak weighs 250 grams, which in Chef McCarthy’s restaurants is considered a “Kid’s Fillet” and only offered to child diners.

While huge portions of meat, when consumed, say, on a daily basis are not healthy, it’s hard for meat-loving Filipinos to say no to a carnivorous treat once in a while. And for a week (September 12 to 20), The Café at Hyatt City of Dreams brought in chefs McCarthy and Pete Geoghegan (from Cargill) all the way from the US to whip up a spread of sumptuous meals featuring US produce, beverages, and the star of the food festival – US meats.

(From left) United States Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg, guest chef Jay McCarthy, The Café's executive chef Michael Luedtke and general manager Stephen Radcliffe

The two chefs, together with the hotel’s culinary team – led by executive chef Michael Luedtke, executive sous chef Heiko Reichel and Food and Beverage manager Stijn van Leeuwen – took over The Café’s open-theater kitchens for its recently concluded American food festival dubbed “From the Land of the Free to the Pearl of the Orient.”

For the said promotion, Chef McCarthy disclosed that before he flew here in the country (for the third time), he had to correspond with Chef Mike via email to find out the equipment they had in the kitchen considering they had to cook huge cuts of meat, American-style.

And huge they really were.

Chef McCarthy and the rest of the team served Tomahawk Ribeye Steak that came all the way from his hometown, Nebraska. Many

guests and diners admitted it was the largest piece of meat they’ve ever seen in their entire lives, and we have to agree. Each slice – sliver or slab – of the huge cut of meat, bone and all, coated in a delightful mix of herbs and spices, was tender and flavored just right – it wasn’t overwhelming, so to speak. “The Tomahawk Ribeye you had is probably one of the best cuts you’ll ever have,” the chef declared after the guests finished their serving of the dish.

There was also the juicy and tender Barbecue Brisket, which Chef McCarthy said was cooked for 12 hours, and the Nebraska Steamship Round, which was basically a whole leg of beef and weighed around 30 kilos. Completing the meaty lineup of Chef McCarthy’s specially-prepared dishes were Cowboy Ribeye, Sugar-Cured Beef Tenderloin, Grilled Striploin and Seared Nebraska Herb, Mushroom Braised Beef Short Ribs, T-Bone, Porterhouse, and Beef Skewers.

The chef, who channeled his cowboy persona in an authentic cowboy hat and boots, said that Nebraskan beef is “one of the finest beefs in the planet,” which is why he chose to prepare “unusual cuts” that perfectly showcase the meat. He also attributed the rich taste of US beef to it being corn-fed. “US beef is finished with corn which is different than [beef from] other countries which feed on grass and grain. The corn in the US beef gives

it a wonderful richness. It makes it flavorful,” shared Chef McCarthy, whose passion for meat was apparent as he talked about it.

There were also other American favorites such as Classic London Broil with Mac and Cheese, Spinach Artichoke with Crab, Bourbon Crème Brulée, Mile Apple Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream, and Pecan Pie. When asked if he adjusted the flavor of the dishes they served during The Café’s US promotion, he said he prepared them in the traditional way but “kinda twisted it a little bit.”

Also gracing the launch of the promotion was US Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg. The Boston-born diplomat beamed when asked which of the dishes served reminded him of his country: “The beef, of course!” He said the beef, with mashed potatoes and vegetables, perfectly matched the Californian wines (Woodbridge’s Merlot, Zinfandel, Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay) that were also offered during the promotion.

Watch out for the 24-hour dining restaurant’s next promotions. We were told The Café is already gearing up for Oktoberfest. The Café is the main dining space at Hyatt City of Dreams Manila and is located at Belle Avenue, City of Dreams Manila Entertainment City, Parañaque. For inquiries and reservations, call (02) 691-1234 ext. 1162 or email TheCafe.Reservations@hyatt.com

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Stairs to the upper level

LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

Cable TV and desk

@LIFEatStandard

Kitchenette

Bathroom amenities

View from the entrance

STAYCATION CHRONICLES: LOFTY! Now, this sounds all good, you may be thinking, but the location is curious. I agree. But there’s actually a strategy behind that. AurumOne is a joint venture between a private equity group and the Kapatiran Sa Kasaganaan Cooperative, an investment-focused cooperative of OFWs. The hotel is a social enterprise that provides investment, job-generating and reintegration opportunities to OFWs. It is also a product of the concept of developing a hotel in a strategic location – Bangkal – which is part of the ongoing urban renewal in Makati.

THE GIST

BY ED BIADO

M

y favorite thing about doing staycation chronicles is discovering a lot of different accommodation options to suit a variety of needs and budgets right here in Metro Manila. The latest property I visited would fall under the category of “unique and affordable.” Nope, that’s not a euphemism for ugly and cheap.

In fact, I really like this one, with its stripped down minimalism and ultra-casual vibe.

I’m talking about AurumOne Makati, a modest structure at the corner of Evangelista and Del Pilar in the neighborhood of Bangkal. The area is not known for elegance and luxury, that’s a given, but it’s a decent one, which is supported by the fact that there’s

The loft boasts minimalist charm and offers basic, but modern, facilities and conveniences.

a FamilyMart on the ground floor of the building. (Tangent: The kind of convenience store a place has is kind of my litmus test to determine its level of decency.)

AurumOne has a total of 64 guest rooms – 43 deluxe, 10 suites and 11 lofts. Their signature guest room, and the one I stayed at, is the loft. At 33 square meters, it feels bigger than it actually is due to its configuration, and because its lower level is furnished with nothing more than a convertible

couch with pullout, a small table and two chairs. There’s a kitchenette with microwave on top of the usual mini-fridge and coffee/tea facilities. Drapes conceal a floor-to-ceiling window.

Remember, this is a loft so the ceiling, from the lower level perspective, is super high.

Don’t expect five-star luxuries from the bathroom. It’s appointed with basic necessities and does away with any flair. Extravagance is not the point here. But it’s

definitely clean and the lighting is fantastic just in case you want to take selfies.

The loft is a flexible option because it also functions as a serviced apartment that guests can book for extended stays, like a one-month lease, at reasonable packaged prices. Targeting business travelers, it is convertible into an office and it’s spacious enough for inviting more than a few friends over for drinks (which you can get at the FamilyMart downstairs).

The AurumOne loft is offered at the published rate of P7,800.

Since it’s an off-peak season, it’s available for about half that price through their website, www. aurumonehotel.com. But if you want to get the best rates, check out Agoda, where the loft is listed (as of this writing) for only P3,017.94. To book, go to www. agoda.com/aurumone-makati/ hotel/manila-ph.html.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @EdBiado

Visit the Philippines Again 2016 gains traction

T

he Tourism Promotions Board’s Visit the and the smiling faces of the Filipinos, the Philippines Again (VPA) 2016 campaign Philippines is definitely worth visiting over is getting a lot of support from the private and over,” stressed Enerio. sector with perks and privileges offered VPA 2016 is a retail-based campaign that to returning visitors. Bigger events and thrilling was launched by the Department of Tourism attractions will be sure to attract more foreigners and the TPB to drum up excitement among to visit the country and experience why “It’s more foreign travelers to visit the Philippines and fun in the Philippines!” come back for more fun, friendship, feel“Visit the Philippines Year (VPY) 2015 was truly good adventures, and fabulous memories to a huge success, and we are confident that VPA 2016 cherish in 2016. Selected tour operators, travel will be another spectacular agencies and hotels are year for the tourism giving returning visitors industry, not just with the blockbuster discounts on help of the government and travel deals, flights, hotel private sector but also with accommodations, and the heart of the Filipino tour packages. people,” remarked TPB chief Among the exciting events operating officer Domingo that have been lined up Ramon Enerio III. include the Asian Tourism From January to June Forum 2016 and Routes alone, this year’s VPY 2015 Asia 2016 for jetsetters and campaign attracted some business people, Madrid 2.6 million international Fusión Manila 2016 for visitors, generating P111.05 foodies, 2016 Ironman 70.3 billion in earnings from Asia-Pacific Championship tourism activities for the for sports and outdoor first half of the year. enthusiasts, and the MTV “With the Filipinos as Music Evolution 2016 for our most important asset, music and concert lovers.

VPA 2016 will surely VPA 2016’s bigger and better captivate tourists even attractions will provide more more as they return next reasons for visitors to come year. With our country’s – auguring another bright magnificent attractions Tourism Promotions Board chief operating officer year for the tourism sector.

Domingo Ramon Enerio III.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

LONDON CALLING Part 1 LCC Oxford Circus

TIPPLE TALES

BY ICY MARIÑAS

B

eing a restaurant and bar owner is very draining, rewarding, and fulfilling all at the same time. I believe you need a true sense of passion for your craft, love, sacrifice, humility, and a real sense of service to be in this game. If you have all or some of these traits, you’re already well on your way. You will need to keep yourself focused and have a real grasp of the industry, know the trends, keep yourself motivated, never stop learning and – above all – you need to enjoy and love what you do.

Two months ago, I took a trip to one of my favorite cities in the world: London. That city holds a special space in my heart because I spent part of my teenage years there.

I took my internship or “stage” at a well-known hotel in Kensington. It was like a holy pilgrimage of sorts.

London is the place I needed to be; to find myself again, to grow, to get inspired. I got the chance to immerse myself in the city where (arguably) the best cocktails in this world come from. London

bars have the most progressive cocktail menus right now. This is probably why, this year, London has dominated and taken most of the awards from the prestigious “Tales of the Cocktail’s Spirited Awards (International Category)” (which is the Oscars of the cocktail world).

I’d like to share with you some of the fantastic cocktail bars I visited during my trip.

The first bar we kicked off at is the world-famous London Cocktail Club (we flew them to Manila to

Bacon and Egg – sublime, savory cocktail that just slips easily down your throat

5pm cocktail crowd

have an anything-goes atmosphere.

London Cocktail Club (in any of their locations) is perfect for a postwork tipple or full-on let-your-hairdown weekend benders. Had so much fun in LCC! The second cocktail bar we went to was Milk and Honey. This bar was founded by the visionary Sasha Petraske (who unfortunately passed away recently. The drinking world still mourns. I raise a glass of daiquiri, his favorite drink, to him). Established in New York in

LCC group pirate ship cocktail

speakeasy scene around the world and pioneered classic cocktails with a modern spin (they birthed the modern classics). They have totally transformed and influenced how we drink in general, and cocktail culture in particular. If not for them, we would all still be drinking cosmos (not necessarily a bad thing, but M&H has opened the door to the great big drinking world out there). M&H has also produced great bartenders who have, in turn, put up their own bars

The columnist checking out M&H's members only Red Room secret service bar

do The Craft Take Over event last June). This place is “A Serious Drinkers Party Bar” indeed! Fun, crazy, expert bar staff can make you any classic concoction you fancy.

But their bar’s signature cocktails offer quite a radical and wonderful selection as well. With the list of ingredients stretching from Bacon and Eggs to Spicey Noodle, plus a group-sharing cocktail served in a giant pirate ship, they really

2002 and which has also set up shop across the pond, this is the grand dame of cocktail bars. This is the peg of any bar worth its salt and is at the pinnacle of the scene. If I sound like I’m gushing, it’s because I am! The multi-awarded M&H has survived the initial hype and has not only stood the test of time, but also elevated and completely changed the international bar game. M&H ignited the neo-

Spicey Noodle – a gin based cocktail spiced with hot sauce, tamarind and tomato juice, served in a quirky noodle cup

that have become some of the best in the world. The cycle continues.

(Incidentally, the newest bartender in Hooch is from M&H.) As with the coolest bars in London, there was no signage, just a door. Generally a members only place (non-members need a reservation and only until 11 p.m.), I was lucky enough to be with friends who are enmeshed in the bar scene there. It really pays

to know the right people. Entering the hallowed ground of M&H gave me goosebumps. It was like finding the Holy Grail; I was in awe. It feels like you’re being pulled back in a different era, like a world that feels familiar but people have forgotten.

The air of refinement, the hushed tones, vintage bar tools on display, lived-in leather, and dim lights (but not too dark that you can’t see what your drink looks like) all contribute to the feel of the place.

This sophisticated establishment has three floors: the ground floor is the main bar area (individual booths), the second floor houses The Red Room (lounge for members only), the third floor has functions rooms and there’s even a roof top area. This is the kind of place where you “Do not bring anyone unless you would leave that person alone in your home” (one of the special house rules). It’s the best place to go if you demand only the finest cocktails. *As a tribute to Sasha Petraske, I will be including in this column M&H’s Daiquiri recipe for Sasha’s favorite drink.

M&H DAIQUIRI RECIPE 50ml Plantation Rum 20ml Lime Juice 20ml Sugar Syrup (1 -1)

Add all ingredients together with ice in a shaker and shake like your life depended on it!

Serve in a chilled cocktail coupé.

Cocktail photos courtesy of www.londoncocktailclub.co.uk

Mooncake E Festival

very year, when the ‘ber months hit the calendar, we see mooncakes displayed in hotels and different establishments. They vary in shape, size and different flavor. But more than the mooncake, restaurants and hotels often compete on the best packaging to attract customers.

Chinese mooncakes are traditional pastry served during the Mid-Autumn Festival, with family getting together

In New World Manila Bay Hotel, check out their assortment of baked mooncakes in traditional flavors – Double Yolk White Lotus Paste, Double Yolk Lotus Paste, Double Yolk Red Bean Paste, and Five Seed and Crispy Milk Cream. Out of all the packaging we’ve seen so far, they have the sexiest cute little round handbags in faux red leather or gray casing. Perfect to give as gifts, these delectable pastries can be bought for a set of four large pieces or six small pieces at P2,588. These mooncakes are available at the Lobby Shop of New World Manila Bay Hotel. For inquiries and orders, call (02) 252 6888 or e-mail dining.manilabay@newworldhotels.com.

The Manila Hotel gears up with exciting promotions for the celebration of the MidAutumn Festival. A special selection of mooncakes delicately wrapped in elegant circular boxes is available at the Mabuhay Palace and the Grand Lobby. Flavors range from Honeyed Assorted Nuts, Single Yolk Red Bean Paste, Single Yolk Pure White Lotus Paste, Green Tea White Pistachio Nuts, Pineapple Paste with Cheese, and Single Yolk Low Sugar White Lotus Paste. For more inquiries call (02) 527-0011 local 1260 to 1261.

to share mooncakes while watching the moon. The MidAutumn fest is a traditional custom inherited from the ancient Chinese who believed that the seasonal movement of the moon had a close relationship with bountiful harvest, and they usually celebrate and thank the moon during autumn.

In Manila, you can catch the best mooncakes in prestigious hotels. Here’s a few options that you can choose from: Crowne Plaza is also offering delectable mooncakes in cube shapes carefully sealed per piece, packed in individual boxes, and in a rectangular packaging. You may opt for a box of four large mooncakes and get them at P2,088 for two-egg yolk mooncakes and P1,688 for traditional mooncakes. Each mooncake box includes 50 percent discount vouchers on Xin Tian Di’s Dim Sum Unlimited and Set Menus. If you want to buy by bulk you can get one box free for every 10 boxes. You may visit their Mooncake House at the ground floor of Robinsons Magnolia.

Makati Shangri-la also offers a wide selection of mooncake flavors – White Lotus, Red Bean, Mixed Nuts, Red Dates and the new signature flavor, Black Sesame, all packaged in intricately well-crafted mooncake boxes, perfect for gift giving to family, friends or business associates. A tower box with six mini mooncakes is at P2,288 and a twotier box with eight traditional mooncakes can be bought at P3,688, but you may opt for individual mini-piece priced at P388. A single traditional mooncake can be had for P588. For inquiries, call (632) 813 8888.

Indulge in these traditional desserts until the 27th of September and share them with your friends and family.

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@LIFEatStandard

Workers at the GenTuna processing plant.

Yellowfin tuna from the waters of GenSan (photo courtesy of Gregg Yan, WWF).

GenSan’s biggest tuna processing plant proudly declares its Vision Statement.

NEPTUNE’S BOUNTY General Santos City, which was pre v i ously known as D a d i ang a s and is now MERCURY RISING p o p u l a r l y known as

BY BOB ZOZOBRADO GenSan, is the southernmost city in Mindanao. It is the center for commerce and industry of Region XII or SOCCSKSARGEN, the acronym of four provinces and a city – South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos City.

Neptune must have plunged his trident deep into the seas in this region as it now produces the largest amount of sashimigrade tuna in the country, giving GenSan the bragging rights to the tag, “Tuna Capital of the Philippines.”

The Moro Gulf, Sulu Sea, Mindanao Sea and the nearby Celebes Sea are teeming with tuna, and they are all within easy reach from the city. The area is also rarely in the path of typhoons that normally visit our country, making the weather always ideal for fishing. Also, the presence of modern ports, processing plants and an airport further add to GenSan’s lure as an ideal base of operation for commercial tuna.

The tuna is a member of the mackerel family and is a saltwater fish. Its size can range from the Bullet tuna (about 1.5 feet long) to the Atlantic Bluefin (15 feet long). The fish has a sleek, streamlined body, and is known to swim the fastest. In fact, the Yellowfin, which

is common in GenSan, is capable of speeds of up to 75 kilometers per hour.

Our tuna is sold to major markets like Japan, which has preference for raw tuna, and the United States, which goes for processed tuna, to sell it as the popular grocery item, canned tuna, “chunked” or “flaked” either in oil, brine, water or with various sauces.

This favorite supermarket item is used for sandwiches, salads, casseroles or dried, packaged meal mixes. What makes tuna a popular meal among diet-watchers is its Omega 3 DHA content, which is good for the heart, as it is low in cholesterol.

Employing about 120,000 workers and fishermen, GenSan’s fishing industry yields an average daily unload of around 1,000 metric tons. This figure includes those caught from foreign waters and those caught by foreign-flagged vessels.

GenSan is home to seven tuna processing plants. The biggest of these is GenTuna, owned by Century Pacific Food Inc., makers of Century Tuna, the leading canned tuna brand in the country. The company prides itself with processing tuna without the use of preservatives, thus making it healthier than that of its competitors, proclaimed its marketing manager Angela Pecson.

Not too long ago, the officers of the company gathered some friends to introduce their new television commercial (TVC) highlighting a healthy lifestyle made possible by a combination of 70 percent diet and 30 percent exercise. Thanks to its star, “hunkabout-town” Derek Ramsay, the TVC is now very popular among the country’s younger population and the diet-conscious, further strengthening the brand’s edge over its rivals.

At the launch of their latest TVC are Greg Banzon, Derek Ramsay, and Angela Pecson.

Big name stars have dominated Century Tuna’s many TVCs in the past, but Century Pacific Food Inc. vice president and general manager Greg Banzon pointed out the significant spike in sales when an earlier TVC starred Derek, thus their decision to get his services once again.

The new 30-seconder shows everyone that the brand certainly made the right move, as no other personality could get the “healthy lifestyle” message across as adroitly and admirably as Derek – he with the perennial six-pack abs and lean, “0-fat” musculature.

So Neptune continues to happily wield his trident over the seas near GenSan because the Skipjacks, Yellowfins and the Big Eyes (varieties of tuna) still fill the waters in the area.

Hunk of the Hour Derek Ramsay pointing out the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

But sometime in the past, one prong of the trident must have malfunctioned. Instead of a sleek, streamlined aquatic creature, a dark mass of muscle came to life. It grew an extremely confused fist, which takes incoherent jabs at sports, entrepreneurship, gaming, politics, religion, show business, and whatever else it stumbles upon. And, horrors of all horrors, it’s now setting its sights on a national post! Yikes! Should we throw it back to the sea? Nah! Let’s leave it alone to wise up. Instead, let’s heap praises on and give thanks to Neptune, for having showered our southern seas with his bounty.

For feedback, I’m at bobzozobrado@gmail.com

YOUR MONDAY CHUCKLE: Three drunk guys entered a taxi. The taxi driver knew that they were drunk, so he started the engine and turned it off immediately, then said, “We’ve reached your destination.” The first guy paid him the fare, the second guy said “Thank you,” but the third guy slapped the driver. Shocked, thinking the third drunk knew what he did, the driver asked “What was that for?”

The third guy replied, “Control your speed next time, you nearly killed us!”

LA COMIDA MEXICANA, A MEXICAN FOOD FESTIVAL AT DIAMOND HOTEL

I

Chef Justin Abulaban, Ana Maria Romandetto, guest Mexican Chef Daniela Romero Silva, Ambassador Julio Camarena Villaseñor, Vice President for Store Development and Expansion for Rustan Commercial Corporation Michael Huang, and General Manager of Diamond Hotel Philippines’ Vanessa Ledesma–Suatengco.

n celebration of Mexico’s National Day this September, Diamond Hotel Philippines in partnership with the Mexican Embassy held La Comida Mexicana, a weeklong Mexican Food Festival at Corniche restaurant. Mexican dishes were prepared by guest chef Daniela Romero and the culinary team of Corniche. To add to the celebration, the launch was graced by the Achai Mariachi Band that flew all the way from Mexico to serenade the guests.

From tacos and nachos to sweet endings, Corniche restaurant’s buffet spread was filled with mouthwatering

popular Mexican favorites such as Fajitas, Burritos, Queso Fundido, Pescado Guachinango a la Veracruzana (fish fillet with red spicy sauce, olive oil, tomato, onion, garlic, Chile Guero, olive, capers, laurel, thyme, salt and pepper), Camarones En Salsa De Chile Chipotle (Sauteed Shrimps in Chipotle Sauce) and Carne Tampuquena (Sauteed Beef with Chilies, refined beans, guacamole and enchilada). And for the more adventurous palate, guests enjoyed the live interactive Tacos and Tortilla station where they mixed their own fillings of vegetables, meat and fish.

Soft shell Tacos

Diamond Hotel Philippines is located at Roxas Boulevard corner Dr. J. Quintos Street, Manila. For more information on Diamond Hotel Philippines visit www. diamondhotel.com. or follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter via DiamondHotelPh. For other inquiries, contact (632) 528-3000 or email bizcenter@diamondhotel.com.

M ONDAY : S EPT EMBER 2 1 : 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C5

nEil pEREz CRowns nEw MistER intERnational

R

eniel Villareal, a 26-yearold, returning overseas worker, won the Mister International Philippines 2015 title. Mariano Flormata, Jr. (aka Neil Perez), Mister International 2014 gave the crown to the winner, during the pageant’s finals night at Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila in Pasay City. Bianca Guidotti and Eva Patalinjug hosted the male beauty pageant.

Villareal, from Pagbilao, Quezon, worked as a ramp coordinator in Saudi Arabia for several years before joining the Misters 2015 pageant. He competes in the Mister International 2015 in Manila late this year.

Rick Kristoffer Palencia, a seaman and native of Tacloban City, was named Mister Global Philippines 2015 succeeding Joseph Doruelo, while guy from Pampanga, Arcel Yambing, took the title Mister Model International 2015.

Adam Davies won last year. Willan Pagayon, an Ilonggo, was named

Mister Tourism International 2015 to succeed Judah Cohen.

Villareal was earlier adjudged Best in Formal Wear and Mister Personality, while Palencia won Mister Teceruma Spa. Don Mcgyver Cochico of the City of Manila finished First Runner up. Cochico is the second police officer to join a male beauty pageant. A graduate of the Philippine College of Criminology, he is assigned at the PNP Crime Laboratory-Polygrapgh Division, specializing in lie detector testing. The good-looking cop was a big fans favorite and was widely tipped to win one of the titles at stake.

Kevin Fichera, who represented the Filipino community of Italy, took the 2nd runner up honor.

Others in the Top 10 were Siegfried Bauer of the Germany Filipino community, Ari Kane of Australia Filipino Community, AR dela Serna of Bohol and Karan Singhdole of Sta. Rosa City also made it to the Top Ten. – Eton B. ConCEpCion

The winners of Misters 2015 pageant

Kapusong pinoy new yorK draws large Crowd

o

Philippine Comedy Queen and Kapuso Primetime King headline Kapusong Pinoy New York.

Philippine Comedy Queen Ai-Ai delas Alas entertains the crowd with her wacky costumes.

Betong Sumaya’s portrayal of Antonietta is always a crowd favorite.

The crowd is serenaded by Asia’s Romantic Balladeer Christian Bautista.

Kapuso Primetime King Dingdong Dantes performs a special number for his kababayans.

Kapuso star Rita Daniela gives an upbeat performance to the delight of the crowd

Asia’s Pop Sweetheart delights the crowd with her vocals.

The Kapusong Pinoy New York cast performs to a full house at The Town Hall.

ver a thousand Kapuso fans trooped to the historic Town Hall in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, to witness an evening of fun and entertainment with the cast of Kapusong Pinoy New York on Sept. 5.

Headlined by Dingdong Dantes, Christian Bautista, Julie Anne San Jose, Betong Sumaya as Antonietta from the Philippines’ longest running gag show Bubble Gang, Rita Daniela, and Ai-Ai delas Alas, the concert, held in celebration of GMA Pinoy TV’s tenth anniversary, commemorated a fruitful decade of bringing overseas Filipinos closer to home.

In 2005, GMA Pinoy TV was launched in the United States, making it one of the first countries reached by GMA International - the Network’s international business unit that manages GMA’s three overseas channels, which also include GMA Life TV and GMA News TV International.

Kapusong Pinoy New York gave its nod to the best of GMA Pinoy TV through a video and performance montage showcasing the top-rating programs of the Network which had been enthusiastically embraced by audiences throughout the past ten years.

The Town Hall was brimming with talent, energy and excitement as the artists delivered their special performances to a full house.

True to her comedic character, Philippine Comedy Queen Ai-Ai delas Alas impressed and entertained the crowd with her various costume changes.

Kapuso Primetime King Ding-

dong Dantes proved his versatility through his performance including a rendition of “The Man Who Can’t Be Moved” by The Script.

Fans swooned, meanwhile, as Asia’s Romantic Balladeer Christian Bautista serenaded them with his signature songs.

He also performed a duet with Asia’s Pop Sweetheart Julie Anne San Jose. Meanwhile, the audience was equally impressed with Julie Anne’s vocal prowess in her musical numbers.

Actor-comedian Betong Sumaya had the crowd laughing the night away as he portrayed his popular character Antonietta. He also showcased his other skills with a performance of Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk.”

After the successful concert, the cast headed to New Jersey to meet their fans and interact with the Filipino-American community. During their visit, GMA International was also presented with a letter of commendation from Rahway City Mayor Mr. Samson Steinman.

“We are overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response of our kababayans abroad for this year’s Kapusong Pinoy concert series as we celebrate GMA Pinoy TV’s 10th anniversary”, says GMA First Vice President and Head of International Operations, Joseph T. Francia. “We are grateful for the trust they have given GMA over the last ten years”, he added.

After New York, GMA Pinoy TV’s yearlong 10th anniversary celebration continues with Kapusong Pinoy Japan on Oct. 11.

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

JaSminE haS nO timE fOR LOvE JOSEPh PEtER GOnZaLES According to Jasmine Curtis Smith, after her failed romance with Sam Concepcion, she doesn’t have time for love at this point in time.

“That’s true!” she avers. “Looking at my schedule now, it’s impossible to squeeze that in. In the remaining part of 2015, my workload is full.

But if say, it’s there, then it’s there.

It’s just that it’s not something I’d like to pursue or jump into.”

Is this her personal choice?

“Honestly, it’s not, but it is just it is. For now, I guess yes. I don’t really look for a love life anyway. The next three months would be very hectic for me. I don’t think I can still afford to put effort into someone else.

Rather, I would like to focus on my work and all my commitments.”

Some kibitzers say that considering her busy showbiz career, she needs an inspiration to keep her going. How’s this when she doesn’t have a special someone now?

“Well...I think there’s not much difference since I find inspiration in everything, in everyone. The only difference when you have a steady, you have a romantic angle in terms of inspiration. Apart from that, everything’s the same.

As I’ve said earlier, in whatever I’m doing, I find inspiration in it,” states Jasmine.

The pretty lass stresses though that this doesn’t mean she’s not open on having a boyfriend.

“I didn’t say that I’m not ready to have a new BF. Everyone has a chance with everyone. It’s just that it depends on your priorities and what you’re focusing on right now... where you want to concentrate and put your time and effort into.”

Talks are rife that Brian Poe Llamanzares is allegedly smitten by her and has plans of courting

World-Class artists in PH The country’s no.1 mobile brand and purveyor of the Filipino digital lifestyle Globe Telecom continues to make its presence felt in the music industry to reach out to music-loving Pinoys with its participation in the country’s biggest concerts, festivals, and music events.

Globe has successfully penetrated the music industry and took the music experience to a whole new level. With its partnership with top music streaming service Spotify, Globe conquered the online music space by giving customers access to over 30 million songs anytime, anywhere using an innovative and interactive platform.

Globe has also established itself as a consistent supporter of

Globe KPOP

Globe Laboracay

international music festivals and concerts. From Wanderland, Unleashed, KPOP Best of the Best, and KPOP BIG BANG, Globe continues to reach out to its young market and give them an unforgettable concert experience like no

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Charlotte of “Bananas” Ad — committee Kind of potato Gift ties Story opener Gotcha!

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her in the coming days.

“Honestly, I don’t know about that. As I’ve mentioned, I’m okay at the moment. My hands are full.

My work is my priority. As for admirers, let’s see the developments in the coming days.”

Speaking of work, the TV 5 princess is excited with her latest drama series titled Resureksyon.

“It’s simply interesting since for the first time, I’m playing a character who will eventually turn into a vampire. It’s a fresh take on the horror genre so I hope viewers will support it,” ends Jasmine.

HHHHH Katrina Halili is back in a villain role in her latest soap opera for GMA titled Destiny Rose.

“Yes! But there’s a twist. This time around, the subject of my oppression is a male played by Ken Chan. Although he plays a transsexual here, still he’s a man.

I’m happy because I won’t have any apprehension in getting a bit physical in our scenes together,

other as a true music advocate.

Over the next few months, Globe broadband brand Tattoo will conquer the Valkyrie Club and the Palace Pool Club in Bonifacio Global City for a series of music events headlined by top electronic dance music (EDM) DJs Alesso, Steve Aoki and Kaskade, including the much-anticipated Halloween Ball as the biggest costume and dance party of the year.

“As part of our commitment to enabling the Filipino digital lifestyle is our constant presence in engagements and activities that bring our customers closer to their interests, lifestyles, and passions, and one of which is music. With our participation in and support for the country’s biggest music festivals, concerts, and parties, we are able to reach out to our customers and give them exclusive privileges and offers

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2015

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Envelope abbr.

Mr. Pim’s creator Blizzard maker Hubbub (hyph.)

Elvis, to some Offensively bold Boxer’s three minutes Happy-hour perch Thin material Pale brown Be, to Henri Orbison and Rogers Outside the box Limerick locale Fell short Swear solemnly Cold snap Daddy’s sis Showbiz org.

Chops weeds Bone-dry Nota — Hammer target Mr. Preminger Ballet wear Locate Grabbed a chair

like slapping or pulling hair. With female stars, I find it hard because they might get hurt so most of the times, we fake the scenes,” she says.

With Ken, Kat is free to do what she wants to make the scenes realistic.

“I slap him, I kick him, name it.

And the good thing is, his character, being basically kind, doesn’t retaliate. So I really play it to the hilt. I’m happy that so far, the scenes come out very natural.”

Katrina has only good words for Ken. “He deserves this big break.

When dressed in women’s clothes, he really fits the role to a T! He looks feminine. And he delivers, acting-wise. In fact, before the take, I always ask his permission that I’ll be a little physical on him and it’s just fine with him because he also wants the scenes to come out as realistic as possible.

He seeks our advice as well in his attack of the role and so far, he’s doing very well,” she states.

that make their concert experience wonderful,” says Issa Cabreira, senior vice president for Consumer Mobile Marketing at Globe.

The telecom company is set to start 2016 strong with its venture to lead the music lifestyle of Filipinos as it presents Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour to Manila at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on Feb. 24 and 25, 2016.

The Pop Queen and everybody’s “Material Girl”, who is visiting the country for the first time, is expected to enthrall her Filipino fans with her heart-pumping performance and signature hits that span across many generations. Her constant reinvention of herself has endeared her to millions of fans regardless of age, gender, and geographic location.

“Together with millions of Filipinos who are ecstatic about Madonna’s first trip to the Philippines for the country’s biggest musical spec-

Jasmine Curtis and Brian Llamanzares

Katrina Halili

tacle to date, Globe is very excited to celebrate this big entertainment milestone that will surely transcend future generations. Bringing a global music icon and superstar closer to her fans is part of our commitment to make music an integral part of the Filipino lifestyle,” adds Cabreira.

Early this year, the seven-time Grammy Award-winner released her 14-track album Rebel Heart with hit singles “Bitch, I’m Madonna”, “Living for Love”, and “Ghosttown”, to name a few. With household hits such as “Like a Virgin”, “Papa Don’t Preach”, “Vogue”, and “Like a Prayer” among others, Madonna’s musical career has already breached over 3 decades. She has sold more than 300 million records globally and has recently marked a new world record by being the only artist to have 45 number one songs on any chart in Billboard history.

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Taylor SwifT dominaTeS mTV nominaTionS

T

he nominees in all 2015 MTV EMA categories have just been announced via MTV’s international Snapchat Discover channel and the voting race is on.

Taylor Swift is leading the way with a record-breaking nine nominations including three nods to her global smash hit “Bad Blood” for

from C8

Best Song, Best Video and in the brand new category Best Collaboration for her alliance with Kendrick Lamar.

The 2015 MTV EMA will broadcast live, 4 a.m. in the Philippines, and at other times across the globe on Oct. 26 from the Mediolanum Forum in Milan, in partnership with Expo 2015. A repeat telecast will

air 9 p.m. on the same day.

Man of the moment Justin Bieber is up for no less than six MTV EMAs, boosted by the global success of his current chart-topping track “What Do You Mean?”

The 2015 MTV EMA will also see 2014 MTV EMA host Nicki Minaj and 2015 MTV VMA host Miley Cyrus face off in the Best Female cate-

gory, and the world’s greatest boy bands One Direction and 5 Seconds of Summer go head to head for both Best Pop and Biggest Fans.

Voting is now open for all categories at mtvema. com, including the Best Southeast Asia Act category, for which fans have chosen wildcard nominee Nadine Lustre via social vote.

Taylor Swift leads nominees in this year's MTV EMA Awards

Up CloSe and perSonal

No seCrets with radio persoNality

K

Karen Boradador wears three hats - entrepreneur, model, and showbiz personality

aren Bordador’s life has been no secret. The creator and hands-on entrepreneur behind the e-commerce business www.

SisterSecrets.com.ph, the largest online female community, is willing to share everything – from her beauty tips to business goals, from her career to her personal life.

Karen started out as a model in fashion shows, print ads and magazine spreads. She became an FHM cover girl back in 2010. Then she joined the female DJ search for Monster Radio RX93.1 and won. When she became a radio personality, many doors were opened for her, including TV. She was in ABS-CBN’s I Do reality show and also hosted Eat Bulaga. Today, she can be seen in ABS-CBN’s Luv U. The dusky beauty is also busy with her radio show Live Wire on RX93.1 which airs at 1 to 4 p.m. weekdays, hosting projects, endorsements, and events. She also makes time for SisterSecrets and blogging at www.KarenBordador.com.

She embraces her many roles, saying that she still finds herself surprised at times with all that has happened in her life.

“I’m very grateful for all of these blessings. I never take them for granted,” she says.

Karen is most proud of SisterSecrets, a dream come true for her.

“It has been a dream of mine for years! I bought the website address two years before actually creating it. I’ve always envisioned owning the biggest female e-commerce site in the country. Happy to share that we’re doing well. We are gaining thousands of members and acquiring brands to be part of my dream business. Honestly I don’t know how I find time to do this but I love it so I make time for it,” shares Karen, adding that her partners make work a little easier.

Karen lets us in on her ac-

tivities and what she likes about them.

“I love hosting because I get to be the first one to introduce all the newest coolest trends.

Everyday it’s a new event and it’s very exciting to be part of big programs. Being a model is fun, too, and it’s easy. I still love doing modeling projects.

Acting is very challenging and fun. Being able to get an acting role on ABS-CBN after the reality show was pretty overwhelming. I do feel like I was able to naturally act, but that was for a comedy show. I don’t know how I’d do on a drama role, but I guess life is all about challenges and anything’s possible,” says 2011’s Most Eligible Bachelorette.

The sexy personality, UNO’s 100 Hottest in 2006, says she is done with “sexy.”

“It’s been great celebrating sexiness but it’s now time to emphasize my capabilities as an entrepreneur. I’ve always been business-minded and I’d like to focus on that for now.

I’ve been offered several acting stints and I’m very flattered, however, I want to work on my happiness and that’s having my businesses,” Karen admits.

She is not turning her back on TV, though. If time permits, Karen says she will consider more acting roles. Just right now, she is focusing on her long term projects.

“TV is always knocking and I’m excited to open the door in the future,” says the Ellen Degeneres fan.

To keep her skin and body beautiful, Karen tries to live a healthy lifestyle. She works out weekly, gets relaxing massages, and drinks a lot of tea. She trusts only YSA Skin and Body Experts for professional care.

“I’ve gone to so many dermas before. I’ve even used ridiculous medicines that never worked.

Only YSA was able to clear up my skin. Even people around me have acknowledged the big change and are now going to

YSA as well. I only let YSA take full care of my skin,” shares Karen whose usual treatments include facials and RF. She likes YSA because ”They clean the face so well. They’re so meticulous so all your zits will surely be cleaned. They will take as long as it takes to clear you skin. They’re never in a hurry to just finish you up in a session. I love how they take the time to improve you.”

Busy Karen has not been able to hang out with her friends as much as before as she is always working. She calls it a “necessary sacrifice,” so she can retire early and hangout with everyone eventually. However, she always finds time for her boyfriend, Emilio Lim, star player of the American Football Team Bandits and the Philippine Aguilas. Karen says they dated years ago and now they are an item. Wedding plans are a long shot though, as Karen still has much to accomplish.

“I’d like to open more businesses and have more projects. I plan to invade and do well in the fashion world, and focus on that as well as lifestyle.

Be a woman for other women. A different branding really that I’m very excited about. To be accepted in this industry would be a big achievement for me,” she shares.

The bubbly, silly and “girly” host learned this very important lesson in showbiz: “Don’t believe everything one person says when the camera’s on.

Don’t be trusting just yet. Also give importance to the staff of whatever production you’re working with and just be nice to everyone in general.”

And in life, Karen treasures these lessons: “Always believe that you can have everything you want in life. Believe it’s yours and it’s all for your taking.

Life’s a menu, and you get to choose what you want to have so choose well and have positive thoughts for yourself always.”

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

Ryza Mae Dizon

From talk show host to soap opera star¼ .

Ryzza Mae is the ‘PRinCess in the PalaCe’ ISAH V. RED

If you’re one of millions who switch on the TV set at 11:30 a.m. to watch the wonderkid Ryzza Mae Dizzon play horse with mostly adult guests in The Ryzza Mae Show on GMA 7 before Eat Bulaga, you might be wondering if you were in the wrong channel.

No, you’re not. The show merely changed its face.

It still is The Ryzza Mae Show but now it has a bit addition, the word “presents.” So it is now The Ryzza Mae Show Presents and for its premier offering it features “Princess In The Palace.” That’s beginning today.

The kid stars as a poor but jolly girl whose path crosses with Leona (Eula Valdez) who happens to be the President of the Philippines.

Why does APT Entertainment gambling on a little girl to top bill a multi-million peso project as a soap opera?

Mike Tuviera son of APT Entertianment President Antonio

Tuv iera said that one of Ryzza Mae’s dreams is to star in a soap opera. And APT is merely granting her wish as it had also granted her other wishes previously, like hosting a talk show.

Apparently, Dizon has been APT’s and TAPE’s (the producer of Eat Bulaga) lucky charm before the AlDub changes the noontime show’s daily scenario. And so, Tuviera and the rest of the people in the production company is merely giving back what Dizon has brought to the show.

She won Eat Bulaga’s “Little Miss Philippines” search in 2012 and since then has become a regular fixture in the show. Vic Sotto, one of the hosts of the noontime show tapped her for a role in Si Agimat, Si Enteng Kabisote at si Ako for the 2012 Metro Manila Film Festival. The following year she was also in My Little Bossings with Kris Aquino’s son Bimby Yap, and last year, she was again in Sotto’s entry to the filmfest My Big Bossing’s Adventures, which in fact a project to highlight the many aspects of the kid’s talent.

The guys over at Eat Bulaga said that Dizon has an innate

comic timing, plus a natural talent in dancing and singing.

Now, acting is something she wants to hone and be good at, although she had already been honored with a Best Child Actor trophy for her performance in My Big Bossing’s Adventures at the 2014 Metro Manila Film Festival as well as other accolades given to her by many other award giving bodies, the little girl seems insatiable and wants to prove not only to her fans but to everyone that she’s no fluke in Eat Bulaga.

The girl many fondly refers to as “Aling Maliit” will now have the chance to showcase her talent in “The Princess In The Palace.”

Also joining the series is anoth-er Little Miss Philippines alum-na, Aiza Seguerra who plays the aide-de-camp of President Leona.

The is glad to be back on the Eat Bulaga front and working with another little girl that rose from the search in the show.

In the cast, as well, are Boots Anson-Rodrigo, Ces Quesada, Dante Rivero, Ciara Sotto, Neil Perez, Marc Abaya, Lianne Val-entin, Miggy Jimenez, Vince de Jesus and Rocky Salumbides. ➜ Continued on C7

Eula Valdez

Marc Abaya

Aiza Seguerra

Boots Anson Rodrigo