The Standard - 2015 November 20 - Friday

VOL. XXIX NO. 281 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 FRIday : NOVEMBER 20, 2015 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

‘America motivated by keeping oil secure’

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bAcK to normAl Summit ends, but some Metro roads still closed

By Joel E. Zurbano, John Paolo Bencito and Sandy Araneta

AFTER a two-day holiday break, workers in Metro Manila are returning to work—but main roads will remain closed today (Nov. 20), the last day of the week-long hosting of Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Manila.

Authorities said the closure of Roxas Boulevard, from Katigbak to Naia/MIA Road; and the designated two innermost lanes of both the northbound and southbound of Edsa from Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City to SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, for the exclusive use of Apec delegates, will be in full effect until 12 midnight Friday.

Chief Supt. Arnold Gunnacao, National Police–Highway Patrol Group director, said the stop and go scheme will also be in effect along Edsa, Magallanes and portions of Skyway and South Luzon Expressway; parts of Makati City, and roads around the Ninoy

Aquino International Airport.

“Traffic will be stopped to let Apec leaders pass through, and will be allowed to flow after,” said Gunnacao, referring to the scheme.

Other roads to be closed until 12 midnight Friday are Roxas Boulevard service road from Sta. Monica Street to P. Ocampo, and the stretch of Quirino Avenue from Roxas Boulevard to Adriatico Street.

Also affected by the road closure are Century Park Street from Adriatico to Mabini Street; Mabini Street from P. Ocampo to Quirino Avenue; southbound lane of Adria-

tico from Quirino Avenue to Century Park Street; P. Ocampo from Adriatico to Roxas Boulevard; M.H del Pilar Street from Sta. Monica Street to Malvar Street, and Pedro Gil Street from Roxas Boulevard to Mabini Street.

The Metro Manila Development Authority advised motorists to avoid these roads and take alternate routes.

In its advisory, the MMDA said all vehicles coming from northern part of Manila using the southbound lane of Roxas Boulevard must turn left to P. Burgos to Maria Orosa, or Taft Avenue to their point of destination.

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Family photo. President Benigno Aquino III and other leaders attending the Apec summit wave to reporters after an official family photo was taken in Manila on Thursday. AFP

Katy Perry deployed against protesters

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‘Hosting shows PH a credible partner’

By Joyce Pangco Pañares and Sandy Araneta MANY Filipinos have equated the country’s hosting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings with horrible traffic, cancelled flights, and the removal of homeless persons

along areas where visiting foreign dignitaries would pass.

For militant groups such as the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, the P10billion year-long hosting of 229 Apec meetings and the cosmetic changes in Metro Manila for this week’s Economic Leaders’ Meeting only resulted

in policies that would benefit rich economies while leaving impoverished ones behind.

But for Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr., the gains from the annual dialog among the 21 membereconomies for the Philippines are wideNext page reaching and long-term.

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On the other hand, vehicles coming from southern part of Manila using the northbound lane of Roxas Boulevard may take Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue to Taft Avenue to their point of destination.

Those who travel along P. Ocampo coming from Taft Avenue must take Adriatico Street to Leveriza Street to Quirino Avenue while vehicles using westbound lane of President Quirino Avenue coming from Osmeña Highway (Plaza Dilao) area going to Roxas Boulevard may turn right or left to Taft Avenue to point of destination.

Motorists coming from Del Pilar Street using Roxas Boulevard must turn left to Quirino Avenue going to Taft Avenue.

MMDA general manager Corazon Jimenez apologized earlier for the short notice after a late traffic advisory caused disruptions that angered commuters and motorists alike.

On Thursday, four police officers and 20 other people were hurt in Pasay City Thursday after police clashed with protesters at Gil Puyat Avenue.

Police said a scuffle ensued when the protesters tried to enter the area near the Philippine International Convention Center, the official venue of the Apec meetings.

Most of those injured, including children, women and senior citizens, were taken to the Manila Medical Center, Philippine General Hospital and Ospital ng Maynila because of head injuries.

Bagong Alyansang Makabayan spokesperson Teddy Casiño condemned the police’ action against the protesters.

“Once again, police have shown contempt for the people’s right to peaceful assembly and free speech. Not only did they prevent protesters from getting close to the Apec venue, which is the target of their message, but they also played loud music to drown out the message of truth and struggle against Apec,” he said.

Wilben Mayor, PNP spokesperson, said the police would observe “maximum tolerance” but they will file necessary charges against demonstrators who break the law.

“Let me reiterate our unequivocal position that any public assembly outside of the designated freedom parks is deemed illegal and will be addressed accordingly,” Mayor said. “The PNP fully respects the right of citizens peaceably to assemble, and express their sentiments as guaranteed under our democratic system.”

Students returning to school next week will face make-up classes because of days lost to the Apec Leaders’ Meeting.

“Each NCR [National Capital Region] division will decide on the most expeditious way of making up for missed class time as part of the Apec hosting,” Education Secretary Armin Luistro said in a text message Thursday.

“These have been announced by the respective school division superintendents when they gave notice of the Apec schedule to the principals. Schools can have Saturday classes hopefully before Christmas holidays or shortly after. These are all left to the better judgment of the heads of the divisions in consultation with the school principals,” he added.

Classes in Metro Manila were suspended from Nov. 17 to 20 due to the Apec Leaders’ Summit.

Luistro said schools that do not have any other disruptions during the quarter are not required to conduct make-up classes as long as they are able to fulfill the minimum of 45 days of classes.

The organizers of the Apec 2015 meetings and summit thanked the public for their understanding for the inconvenience they experienced as a result of tight security measures.

“Thank you for your patience and understanding over the inconvenience brought about by our enhanced security measures,” said the Apec 2015 organizers, in its message on Twitter Wednesday.

“You have shown to the 10,000 delegates composed of 19 economic leaders, two high-level representatives of membereconomies, 21 trade ministers, 21, foreign ministers, 21 senior officials, over 6,000 staff and security personnel, and over 4,000 members of the local and international media, what Filipino hospitality means,” said the organizers.

On Thursday, thousands of protesters took to the streets near Roxas Boulevard and Gil Puyat Avenue.

Police used water cannon to disperse the protesters who refused to disperse.

Police also used loud speakers to play party songs to counter the shouts of the protesters.

A scuffle ensued when some protesters tried to break through to approach the PICC, police said.

A territorial dispute over the South China Sea and the deadly Paris terrorist attacks cast a shadow over the annual Apec discussions which usually focus only on trade.

A draft copy of the final Apec declaration released Thursday said leaders at the Apec summit “strongly condemn” all acts of terror and stressed the “urgent need for increased international cooperation and solidarity in the fight against terrorism.”

World leaders at the summit tackled issues such as climate change and regional economic cooperation, but the dispute over the resource-rich South China Sea came to the foreground when US President Barack Obama called on China to stop its reclamation work in disputed reefs.

During his visit in Manila, Obama also signed defense agreements with the Philippines, one of several countries which is in dispute with China on the issue.

Obama said there was a need for “bold steps to lower tensions” in the region.

Chinese President Xi Jinping also attended the conference.

China says its work is legal and it has no plans to militarize the new artificial islands.

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US motivation: Keep passage of oil secure

By Christine F. Herrera

WASHINGTON seeks to play a major role in the South China Sea dispute not because it wants to support the Philippines against China, but because of the 15 billion barrels of oil and petroleum products that pass through the strategic route daily, Kabataan Rep. Terry Ridon said Thursday.

Citing US government data, Ridon said about a third of all seaborne oil passes through the South China Sea route every day.

Large quantities of liquefied natural gas and coal also pass the same way, he added.

“President [Benigno] Aquino [III] is an idiot if he thinks Washington will defend us from Beijing because of our existing military relations. The Aquino administration is even a greater fool for practically begging Obama just to be part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership or TPP. It’s all about oil and sea trade, stupid,” Ridon said.

Ridon said Washington is intensifying military relations with nations contesting Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea because it is eyeing domination over

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“The 11,000-strong delegation from the member-economies, including their leaders, their senior officials, business leaders and even their media, will return to their respective countries with the impression that the Philippines is a country that is able to host such a big event professionally, that we are a credible partner in trade and investment, and that our efforts at good governance ensure consistency in the agreements they sign with us,” Coloma said.

“These footprints are potentially deep and long-lasting, and with our solid performance in hosting Apec, you could say that going into the last semester of the Aquino administration, we are finishing on a high note,” he added.

Ambassador Marciano Paynor Jr., director general of the Apec National Organizing Council, said the inconvenience experienced by Filipinos with the hosting can be considered their “contribution” to the long-term gains that the country will reap.

“Some people ask, what will we get out of Apec? From 1989 to 2014, Apec economies collectively grew eight percent annually. Also, 80 percent of our foreign trade is with these economies. So everybody grows as Apec grows,” Paynor said.

“As for the P10 billion spent for the yearlong hosting, much of that money was plowed back to our economy. We spent it, for example, for feeding the 15,000 cops we have deployed. So there is a multiplier effect. In a way, you could say it was a pumppriming of our economy,” he added.

Coloma said Apec’s focus on micro, small and medium enterprises is significant for the Philippines where MSMEs comprise over 99 percent of all business enterprises and account for 63.7 percent of total employment.

A Philippine-led initiative on disaster risk reduction contained in the 2015 Manila Declaration is also considered a first for Apec, with its economies located in the Pacific Ring of Fire that makes them par-

the lucrative shipping routes passing through this body of water, which geopolitical analysts call the “throat of the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans.”

Ridon said US data showed that the oil transported through the shipping routes in the South China Sea is triple the volume that passes through the Suez Canal.

“The South China Sea, and the disputed waters in the West Philippine Sea, are at the heart of the most important energy trade route in the world. It connects the Strait of Malacca to the rest of Asia, serving as the shortest sea route between African and Persian Gulf oil suppliers.

In other words, whoever controls this sea route will control energy trade in the region—and most probably the world,” Ridon said.

Ridon said US President Barack Obama was engaging in “mere rhetoric and doublespeak” when the American leader addressed the territorial dispute in the West Philippine Sea after a bilateral meeting with President Aquino at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Summit last Wednesday.

“Mr. Obama is engaging in doublespeak when he talked about lowering tensions and halting Chinese reclamation efforts. Behind those seemingly comforting words, Mr. Obama is only cementing Washington’s interest in the lucrative shipping routes passing through the disputed waters,” Ridon said.

After a meeting with Aquino on Tuesday, Obama told reporters that while the US remains neutral on the territorial

claims in the disputed waters, there is a need for “bold steps to lower tensions, including pledging to halt further reclamation, new construction and militarization of disputed areas in the South China Sea.” “Filipinos should not rejoice over Obama’s pronouncement. For one, we need to analyze why a world superpower from the other side of the Pacific is interested in meddling with the territorial dispute in Asian waters. The keywords here are oil and shipping routes,” Ridon said.

“American oil companies such as Chevron and Texaco would surely make more profit if they use the South China Sea route instead of the more circuitous one,” Ridon told The Standard.

“These American firms supply oil to the Apec member-economies,” he said.

“Under this context, we can understand why Washington wants to play a major role in the West Philippine Sea dispute. It’s not about securing the Philippines or our sovereignty, it’s not about taunting China—it’s all about oil and profits,” Ridon said.

Ridon said even the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which Aquino wants the Philippines to be part of, is designed to contest Beijing’s dominance in the busy shipping routes in the South China Sea. The threat that Beijing poses for our national security is real and significant, yet it does not necessarily mean that we should rely on one bully to defend our national sovereignty from another bully,” Ridon added.

ticularly vulnerable and exposed to disasters.

“The DRR Framework aims to develop climate-proof, resilient and sustainable communities, considering Apec member countries are located along the Pacific Ring of Fire that are vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis. Many membereconomies are also gravely affected by climate change like extreme typhoons and El Niño droughts,” said Doris Magsaysay-Ho, chairperson of the Apec Business Advisory Council.

With the Manila Declaration, Apec leaders have tasked their respective ministers to craft an action plan in 2016 to operationalize the DRR Framework.

Bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Apec week also proved fruitful for the Philippines, starting with the pronouncement of United States President Barack Obama that Washington will give two vessels—a decommissioned US Coast Guard cutter that will be turned into a new warship and a research vessel to help the Philippines map its territorial waters.

The country also forged a strategic partnership agreement with Vietnam, which includes deeper defense cooperation amid the ongoing territorial row with China.

A comprehensive partnership agreement was also signed by President Benigno Aquino III with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, paving the way for closer cooperation in the political, economic, defense and security, law enforcement, and counter-terrorism fields. The two countries also signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in technical vocational education and training.

Aquino also signed two agreements on trade and the campaign against illegal drugs with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, while he asked South Korean President Park Gyeun-Hye to “positively consider” proposed amendments to an existing Social Security Agreement to maximize the benefits and protection enjoyed by migrant workers from both countries.

The Philippines also forged an agreement with Japan that would ensure workers from both countries enjoy social

security protection during the bilateral meeting between Aquino and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The two leaders also witnessed the exchange of notes of the North-South Commuter Railway Project Phase I (Malolos-Tutuban) which Japan is funding.

The Philippines also secured the support of the United States, Australia, New Zealand and Canada for the country’s possible inclusion in the Washington-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.

The TPP, which seeks to lower trade barriers to goods and services and set common standards in trade, covers about 40 percent of the world economy, covering Brunei, Chile, Singapore, New Zealand, United States, Australia, Peru, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mexico, Canada, and Japan.

Aquino closed the Apec 2015 Summit and cited two economic frameworks agreed upon by the 21-member economies.

“At today’s Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting, we agreed on the overarching frameworks under which we will pursue these plans,” said Aquino, in his statement delivered during the press conference at the International Media Center, World Trade Center, Pasay City.

First, Aquino said, they adopted the Apec Strategy for Strengthening Quality Growth.

This is a framework that will guide the 21-member economies in undertaking robust, comprehensive, and ambitious structural reforms over the next five years.

“We will focus our reform efforts, and measure our progress, in terms of institution building, social cohesion, and environmental impact. We do this with the awareness that the world economy continues to confront significant risk and uncertainty, even as trade growth is slowing down, thus impressing upon all of us, the need to tap into new opportunities for economic growth,” said Aquino.

Aquino said this strategy will help Apec promote increased growth through structural reform.

Second, Aquino said, the leaders approved the Apec Services Cooperation Framework.

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Cops use Katy Perry against rallyists

By Joel guinto

POLICE deployed Katy Perry pop songs to disperse protesters at an Asia-Pacific Leaders’ Summit on Thursday, enraging some demonstrators but amusing others.

Hundreds of left-wing protesters rallied outside a venue where US President Barack Obama and other leaders of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group were meeting.

The rally edged towards violence when protesters tried to break through lines of police, who were carrying riot shields and wooden batons, to reach the summit venue.

Police responded by firing water cannons and scuffled with protesters who were chanting: “Junk APEC.” Then police pulled out their secret weapon: pop princess Katy Perry on giant loudspeakers.

Police Supt. Wilben Mayor said protesters may be charged for protesting near the venue where Apec’s leaders were meeting.

“Some of our policemen have been injured despite their adherence to the maximum-tolerance policy,” Mayor said.

Perry’s hit song Roar was played at full volume, the top of a demonstration disco play list aimed at distracting the protesters and drowning out their chants.

Dolly Parton’s Islands in the Stream, David Guetta’s Sexy Bitch and the Bee Gee’s How Deep is Your Love were among the other songs deployed against the protesters.

To add a street bass beat, some of the police tapped their batons against their shields in time with the music.

“It’s ridiculous,” leftist member of parliament Carlos Isagani Zarate told AFP as the protesters retreated to soul classic My Girl.

Many other protesters also expressed anger at the authorities trying to suppress their message of opposition to globalization and the free-trade policies championed by Apec.

“We just want to make our voices heard,” 64-yearold mango farmer Candelario Rusasena told AFP. But others could not hide their amusement.

“That was a rude and desperate move,” 54-yearold rice farmer Redo Peña told AFP as he broke into a toothless grin.

Metro Manila police spokeswoman chief inspector Kimberly Gonzales told AFP that the music was aimed at de-escalating tensions.

“Filipinos in general love music and it has a calming effect for everyone. This goes well with our maximum-tolerance policy during protests,” Gonzales said.

The Philippines has a famous music culture, with karaoke one of the most popular forms of entertainment across all sectors of society.

It is not uncommon for tourists to encounter taxi drivers, supermarket cashiers and airport security staff spontaneously breaking out into song.

Filipino musicians are also a staple of hotel and cruise ship bands around the world.

And prisoners at the main jail in Cebu, the Philippines’ biggest city, have become an Internet sensation by posting videos on Youtube of them dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller. aFP, with Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

Dispersal operation. A policeman gets help from his colleagues after he collapsed during a dispersal operation against some militants protesting the Apec meeting on Thursday. lino SantoS

Leaders’ spouses take tour of Intramuros

By Filane Mikee Z. cervantes WHILE the economic leaders were converging for the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting on Thursday, their spouses were being toured around the historic walled city of Intramuros.

The spouses arriving at the heart of Manila were welcomed by Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez and President Benigno Aquino III’s sisters Maria Elena “Ballsy” Cruz, Aurora Corazon “Pinky” Abellada, Victoria Elisa “Viel” Dee, and Kristina Bernadette “Kris” Aquino.

And since Aquino is a bachelor, the responsibility for play-

ing hosts to the Apec leaders’ spouses fell on the presidential sisters.

Among those in attendance were the spouses of the leaders from Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore.

“The program’s concept is a walk through time, so they will see living recreations of Philippine-Spanish culture,” said Nestor Jardin, the overall artistic director of the spouses’ program.

Aside from providing a historical tour, the presidential sisters also wanted to display the Filipinos’ vaunted hospitality.

“We really want to make sure that everybody who visits

the Philippines will go home with a positive impression of all Filipinos,” said the President’s youngest sister Kris Aquino.

The first stop was Fort Santiago where they witnessed a traditional wedding preparation and celebration.

About 200 performers from Ramon Obusan, Dulaang UP, Tanghalang Filipino, and the University of the East dance group showcased music and dances from the Spanish colonial era.

Afterwards, the spouses, together with the presidential sisters and other delegates, had a photo session or family picture-taking at the second gate of the fort.

The spouses were then divided into two groups and rode

electronic jeepneys to reach their assigned destinations.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s spouse had to leave early for the airport since their country would be hosting the 27th Association of South East Asian Nations summit.

One group proceeded to Casa Manila where scenes of a mundane Filipino family during the Spanish colonial era were recreated.

The other group headed to San Agustin Church where the Hail Mary, the Queen choir composed of children, sang religious and Spanish songs.

Outside, traditional carrozas or carriages moved along the cobblestone path for the spouses to see. Pna

Lawyer vows to sue over cancelled flight

Dinner. President Benigno Aquino III shares a light moment with US President Barack Obama during a welcome dinner for Apec leaders at the SM Mall of Asia on Thursday. Malacañang Photo Bureau

LAWYER Raymond Fortun on Thursday threatened to file a lawsuit against Cebu Pacific for the alleged inconvenience that the airline had brought him over the cancellation of his flight back to Manila from Vietnam.

“Cebu Pacific Airlines, I am suing you, and I am doing this to teach you people a lesson,” Fortun posted in his Facebook account.

He said that on Nov. 14, the airline sent an e-mail informing him that Manila was a no-fly zone from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 19 because of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings.

“Because it was a Saturday, I wanted to contact CebPac by Monday morning to confirm if the flight was canceled,” Fortun said.

“There was a chance that the flight was still a go since the plane would have landed in Manila at 4:45 a.m. on Nov. 19, or outside of the no-fly zone advisory.

Fortun said that on Nov. 15, the airline sent another e-mail saying he could “already web check-in for my return flight (Saigon-Manila).”

“I assumed that this was a confirmation that the flight was a green and go. I was able to secure boarding passes for our return trip,” Fortun said.

“My 2nd son was participating in a chorale competition this Saturday and initially wanted to back out from the trip; we convinced him to come along as there was now a confirmation that he would be back by Thursday morning.” Joel e. Zurbano

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Poe hits Carpio on SET position

By Macon Araneta PRESIDENTIAL candidate Senator Grace Poe on Thursday blasted Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio for his supposedly selective application of international law, invoking it to defend the Philippines’ claims in the South China but ignoring it in the citizenship cases of foundlings like her.

“This is my question for those pushing to have our territorial integrity over the West Philippine Sea: what [argument] are you using?

Also, international law. Even our justices, they are also using the [United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas] under the UN to defend [our country],” Poe said.

Poe appealed to public officials not to be selective and make a stand for what can be good for the majority of Filipinos.

“If I will be disqualified, how many hundreds of thousands of children who do not know their parents would lose the opportunity to dream?” Poe asked.

Poe noted it is no secret that Carpio’s advocacy is to maintain the integrity of Philippine territory.

“That’s why it’s difficult to say that we can’t respect international law even though we use them as basis in our fight for our territory,” Poe said.

Carpio, chairperson of the nine-man Senate Electoral Tribunal that junked the disqualification case against Poe due to questions on her citizenship, had argued that Poe was not a natural-born citizen because she lost that status when she became an American citizen.

Like a dream. Traffic on Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare, the Epifanio delos Santos Avenue, was unusually light on Thursday due to public holiday declared for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that concluded Thursday. However, traffic is expected to return to its ‘snarling’ normal on Friday. JANSEN ROMERO

Police still identifying beheaded body in Sulu

By Francisco Tuyay POLICE forensic investigators are still trying to verify if the severed head and headless body found in separate places in Sulu belonged to Bernard Then, a Malaysian who was abducted from Sabah in May, the authorities said Thursday.

Philippine National Police spokesperson Chief Supt. Wilben Mayor said the severed human head was found at Sulu’s capital town of Jolo on Tuesday while the headless body was found in Indanan town, 10 kilometers from Jolo.

“Both human remains are now being examined by the Crime Lab-

oratory of Police Regional OfficeARMM for identification,” mayor added.

“Pending official scientific findings, at this point we cannot conclusively establish the identity of these human remains to preclude undue speculation and inaccuracy in reporting,” he said.

Vaya con Dios.

Columbian President Juan Manuel Santos and his wife Maria Clemencia Rodriguez Munera wave as they board the Columbian Air Force plane after the Apec summit.

Colombia participated as an observer of the summit, but is expected to be declared a regular member soon. ERIC APOLONIO

On Wednesday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced the murder of Then and condemned the killing as “savage and barbaric act.”

“I, the government, and all Malaysians are shocked and sickened by the murder of our countryman Bernard Then and we condemn it in its strongest terms.”

“Our thoughts, prayers and heartfelt condolences are with his family and friends.”

Then, a 39-year-old electrical engineer was kidnap along with Sabahan Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, at the Ocean King Seafood Restaurant in Sandakan on May 15.

The bandits, who were later identified as members of the Abu Sayyaf,

brought their two captives to Sulu and demand P100-million ransom for their release.

A negotiation between the families of the two hostage victims and Malaysian authorities took place in Mindanao where a huge amount of ransom was handed down, prompting the bandits to release Thien earlier this month.

But Then remained in the custody of the ASG and insisted on a P100-million ransom for his liberty.

Then was reportedly executed by the ASG faction led by Indang Susukan in Indanan. Susukan’s group included sub-commander Alden Bagade, Angah Adji and Ahabsy Misaya.

LP: Leni moving up

By John Paolo Bencito THE ruling Liberal Party admitted on Tuesday the need to work harder on raising the survey rankings of its presidential bet Manuel Roxas II and his running mate Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo even if an internal survey showed that Robredo had already slipped up to third position.

“We have an internal survey which has [Robredo] jumping to third place, but we decided not to release this as it would be self-serving,” said Robredo’s campaign manager Senator Bam Aquino.

“What we find is that Leni’s conversion is high. It’s her awareness, being a latecomer to the VP race, that needs to be worked on more. We’re doing double time with ads and volunteer organizing now to address this,” Aquino said.

Robredo’s LP party mates are confident they would be able to pull her numbers in no time.

“From the start, we’ve been confident that all that Congresswoman Leni needs is to be introduced to a bigger audience, a bigger constituency,” said Akbayan Rep. Ibarra Gutierrez, spokesman of the Roxas-Robredo campaign.

“The modest improvement in her survey numbers is a good start, and we expect that her ranking will improve steadily in the coming weeks up until election day,” Gutierrez added.

As for Roxas, Gutierrez said the party was not too concerned Roxas slipped to third place at 21 percent from his previous 20 percent in September in the latest Pulse Asia preferential polls conducted from Oct. 18 to 29.

In that survey, Roxas came in behind presidential frontrunner Senator Grace Poe with 39 percent, followed by Vice President Jejomar Binay with 24 percent. Senator Miriam Santiago meanwhile placed fourth with 11 percent.

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Tourist caught with 3 bullets at Naia freed

By Rey E. Requejo

Memento. Millenium Challenge Corporation’s chief executive officer Dana J. Hyde hands a souvenir to Mayor Wellington B. Pooten of Besao, Mt. Province during the MCC dialogue held at Tagaytay Highlands in Tagaytay City, Cavite. MANNY PALMERO

Veloso’s execution deferred anew—Post INDONESIA has extended the reprieve from execution of overseas Filipino worker Mary Jane Veloso and other inmates on death row because a third round of executions would aggravate Jakarta’s slowing economy, according to a Foreign Affairs official.

Foreign Affairs spokesperson Charles Jose said they are still verifying the Jakarta Post report that Indonesian Attorney-General M. Prasetyo announced that upcoming executions will be delayed due to weakness in the Indonesia economy.

Prasetyo said the AGO would not carry out a third round of executions of inmates until the country got out of the current economic slowdown, adding

that executions at this time could trigger an international outcry that could derail President Joko Widodo’s campaign to fix the economy.

“The Attorney-General’s Office is currently helping the government in prioritizing the economy,” the Jakarta Post quoted Prasetyo as saying.

This year, the AGO conducted two rounds of executions, the first involving six convicts in

January and the second another eight in April.

The executions sparked condemnations from domestic and international human rights campaigners as well as risked Indonesia’s diplomatic relationships with the respective countries of origin of the foreign inmates.

Earlier in September, the AGO sent a budget proposal for the execution of 14 foreign and domestic drug convicts to the House of Representatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs, but the plan was put on hold after the country entered a period of economic slowdown.

Prasetyo said the third round

A BORACAY-BOUND passenger arrrested at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport last Tuesday for bullet possession was ordered released on the same day by prosecutor on duty at the airport. Lilly Chung, a 61-year-old Filipino-Chinese who was placed under airport custody for possession of three bullets, was released for the same reason cited in previous cases—the lack of criminal intent to possess ammunition, Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda said on Thursday.

“She was carrying the bullets as amulets she got from a Buddhist monk,” Acosta added, quoting Chung.

Prosecutor on duty at the airport ordered Chung’s release after inquest proceedings did not show malevolent intent to possess and use the bullet for a criminal purpose. She was also able to board the flight to Caticlan Airport at 10 p.m.

The incident took place last Tuesday during heightened security for the arrival of heads of states who were taking part in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. The Public Attorney’s Office has so far helped 28 individuals caught with bullets at the airport. Complaints against 17 of the agency’s clients have been dismissed for lack of intent to possess the bullet and use it for malevolent purposes.

PAO has pending motion to dismiss with the prosecutor’s office for the 11 others.

of executions would likely be conducted next year, but he did not give details regarding the plan.

The Attorney-General said the AGO was working to help the economic recovery, including by setting up a team that would help local government officials make budget decisions.

Veloso had been on Indonesia’s death row in Yogyakarta. In April 2010, she was arrested after she was found carrying heroin in her luggage, although she insisted that it was planted by a drug syndicate.

Her execution was deferred in a stunning, last-minute stay order last April 29, after several other

foreigners on death row for drugs cases had been put to death.

Her lawyer Edre Olalia of the National Union of People’s Lawyers was gratified by the report.

“If confirmed, that report is certainly welcome not only for Mary Jane Veloso but for all; and we hope it leads to a permanent abolition in time, as we have serious objections and questions about its effect and purpose in deterring crime,” Olalia said.

Veloso’s family had filed charges of qualified human trafficking against her alleged recruiters, Maria Cristin Sergio and Julius Lacanilao, as well as another respondent known as “Ike”.

Chiz to DSWD: Disprove street kids’ ‘detention’

By Macon Araneta SENATOR Francis Escudero on Thursday said the Department of Social Welfare and Development should continue helping the informal settler- families who were whisked away from the streets of Metro Manila during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings.

The continuing help, Escudero said, would disprove claims that they were rounded up to hide them from the leaders of the countries who came to the

Philippines for the summit.

He said hundreds of street dwellers living along Roxas Boulevard and nearby areas have been placed in a facility in Manila days ahead of the Apec event as part of the security preparations for the arrival of world leaders and delegates, but the DWSD denied this.

Each informal-settler family was given P4,000 to rent temporary housing for the duration of the Apec meetings, but later on ended up in Manila Boys Town Complex in Pandacan, a facility

for orphans and out-of-school youth, according to the vice presidential candidate.

The DSWD, however, explained that the financial aid was part of the agency’s conditional cash transfer or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, the agency’s flagship anti-poverty scheme.

“No matter where you hide them, these poor street dwellers will continue to be homeless after all the Apec leaders and delegates have left,” Escudero said.

Farewell. Chinese

President Xi Jinping and his entourage leave the Naia aviation complex onboard a Boeing B747400 after attending the Apec Leaders’ Summit.

ERIC APOLONIO

f r i d ay : n o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

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news

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Court clears Palawan execs of graft charges

By Rey E. Requejo THE Court of Appeals has sustained the dismissal by the Office of the Ombudsman of the graft charges filed against former Palawan Gov. Joel Reyes and several others for allowing small-scale mining activities in the province based on a revised environmentally critical areas network zoning map.

In a 15-page decision, the CA’s Special First Division through Associate Justice Romeo Barza ruled that there was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the anti-graft body when it dismissed the complaint filed against Reyes and several other officials of the province.

Besides Reyes, also cleared by the Ombudsman were David Ponce de Leon, former Palawan vice governor; Lucena Demaala, former mayor of Narra, Palawan; Bayani Agapito, Janet Goh, Sunny Batul, Randolf Pe, Lilia Amarez, Arlie Deles, Tomas Tabinga, Eferino Genovea, members of the Sanguniang Bayan of the Municipality of Narra; Abraham Kahlil Mitra, former Palawan 2nd district representative; Antonio Alvarez, former member of the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development; Alfreddo Abueg

Jr., presidential assistant for Mimaropa/ PCSD member; Romero Dorado, executive director of PCSD; Joselito Cadlaon, Ernesto Llacuna, Gil Acosta, Modesto Rodriguez, Edmundo Balerite, Derrick Pablico, Vicky de Guzman, Alice Fabellon, Mark Dior Madamba, members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Palawan.

In dismissing the complaint for Violation of Sec. 3 (e) of R.A. No. 3019 filed against the respondents, the Ombudsman found no “manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence” in the performance of the respondents’ official duties, “which is presumed to have been regularly performed in the absence of evidence to the contrary.”

As regards to violation of Sec. 3 (j) of R.A. No. 3019, the Ombudsman did not find any evidence to prove the accusation of the petitioners that the respondents knowingly approved or granted any license, permit, privilege or benefit in favor of any person not qualified for or not legally entitled to such license, permit, privilege or advantages.

The Ombudsman held that no evidence was presented to prove that the applicants-mining companies are not entitled to the said mining permits which were granted to them.

Manila

Standard Standard Form Number:SF-Good-05 TODAY

Revised on: July 28, 2004

INVITATION TO APPLY FOR ELIGIBILITY AND TO BID

PH, Taiwan firm up fisheries deal In a bid to resolve disputes between the Philippines and Taiwan within their overlapping exclusive economic zones in the West Philippine Sea, the two countries have concluded the “agreement Concerning the Facilitation of Cooperation on Law Enforcement in Fisheries.”

The pact was signed by Antonio I. Basilio of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei and Gary Song-huann Lin of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in the Philippines last Nov. 5.

Following the signing, the two sides convened the first Technical Working Group meeting the same day.

The agreement was reached mainly to protect the rights and interests of Taiwanese fishermen operating legally and prevent incidents involving Philippine authorities and Taiwan fishermen.

It resulted from negotiations in the aftermath of the tragic incident

involving the Philippine Coast Guard patrol boat Maritime Control Surveillance 3001 and Taiwan fishing boat Guang Da Xing No. 28 in May 2013—which led to the death of Taiwanese fisherman Hung Shih-cheng.

The incident occurred in the high seas, within the overlapping EEZs of the neighboring countries.

The agreement calls for the implementation of two mechanisms —a one-hour advance notification to the other party and the release of detained vessels and crew within three days.

Under the agreement, before law enforcement action is taken against

a fishing vessel from the other party believed to be operating illegally in the overlapping EEZs, a one-hour advance notification will be given to the fisheries and coast guard agencies, as well as the representative office of the other party.

If the vessel is found to have violated the law and subsequently detained, it will be released within three days after posting reasonable bond or other security, or payment consistent with the law of the arresting party.

Taiwan President Ma ying-jeou proclaimed that the agreement upholds the spirit and principles of the South China Sea Peace Initiative, which calls for shelving disputes, pursuing peace and reciprocity, and promoting joint exploration and developmentCYAN of resources.

MAGENTA YELL The accord and exchange of notes will be announced after both sides have completed their respective domestic administrative procedures. PNA

The Local Government Unit of Catanauan, Quezon, through its Bids and Awards Committee (BAC), invites suppliers/manufacturers/distributors/contractors to apply for eligibility and to bid for the hereunder project: NAME OF PROJECT

APPROVED BUDGET FOR THE CONTRACT

1. SUPPLY AND DELIVERY HEAVY EQUIPMENTS a. WHEEL LOADER P 4,300,000.00 b. 6 WHEELER DUMPTRUCK P 3,075,000.00 c. 10 WHEELER DUMPTRUCK P 4,225,000.00 LOCATION: Brief Description: Source of Fund:

Catanauan, Quezon Heavy Equipment General Fund

Prospective bidders should have experience in undertaking a similar project within the last 2 years, with an amount of at least 50% of the proposed project for bidding.

The Eligibility Check/Screening as well as the Preliminary Examination of Bids shall use non-discretionary “pass/fail” criteria. Post-Qualification of the lowest calculated bid shall be conducted.

All particulars relative to Eligibility Statement and Screening, Bid Security, Performance Security, Pre-Bidding Conference/s, Evaluation of Bids, Post Qualification and Award of Contract shall be governed by the pertinent provisions of R.A. 9184 and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR).

Interested bidders should bid collectively for the abovementioned three (3) items.

The items should delivered on site by the winning bidder.

The complete schedule of activities is listed, as follows: ACTIVITIES 1. Pre-Procurement Conference 2. Publication 3. Activation of Publication 4. Pre-bid Conference 5. Submission of Letter of Intent and Issuance of Bid Documents 6. Opening of Bids 7. Bid Evaluation 8. Post Qualification 9. Notice of Award

SCHEDULE 18 November 2015 19 November 2015 20 November 2015 26 November 2015 20 November- 09 December 2015 09 December 2015 10-11 December 2015 14 December 2015 15 December 2015

Bid Documents will be available only to prospective bidders upon payment of a nonrefundable amount in form at the Office of Municipal Treasurer of Catanauan, Quezon.

The cost of bidding documents shall correspond to the ABC range as indicated in the table below. This shall be the maximum amount of fee that procuring entities can set for the acquisition of the bidding documents.

Approved Budget for the Contract 500,000.00 and below More than 500,000.00 up to 1 Million More than 1 Million up to 5 Million More than 5 Million up to 10 Million More than 10 Million up to 50 Million More than 50 Million up to 500 Million More than 500 Million

Maximum Cost of Bidding Documents 500.00 1,000.00 5,000.00 10,000.00 25,000.00 50,000.00 75,000.00

The Local Government Unit of Catanauan, Quezon assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of the bid.

Approved by: (SGD.) JERRY M. MENDOZA Municipal Assessor BAC Chairman TS-Nov. 20, 2015)

Bets and bags. Senatorial candidate Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez of Leyte (left) and vice presi-

dential bet Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. tour the factory of Desktop Bags Philippines Inc. in Mariveles, Bataan while Johnson Tam (right), general manager of Desktop Bags looks on. They also met with Freeport workers in Mariveles. VER NoVENo

Romualdez hits out at govt’s handling of traffic situation LEyTE Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has deplored the closure of a number of major thoroughfares in Metro Manila during the week-long Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that led to the monstrous traffic, which forced many commuters to walk several kilometers to their place of work.

Romualdez said the chaotic traffic situation last Monday and Tuesday were clearly the result of the “failure of communication” between officials of the PNP-Highway Patrol Group and Metro Manila Development Authority on one hand, and the commuting public and motorists.

“Sa totoo lang, kulang talaga komunikasyon. Maski marami silang ginawa ukol dito, kulang pa rin, di masyadong klaro ang mga abiso. Hindi masyadong maayos kaya malaki talaga perwisyo dito. Marami talaga napeperwisyo,” said Romualdez in an interview over

Bombo Radyo this week.

Romualdez also scored the government’s lack of compassion to drivers of public utility vehicles as well as their passengers and other motorists who were forced to wait for hours due to heavy traffic compounded by the lack of traffic enforcers in areas where there are gridlocks.

The Leyte lawmaker said that also airport passengers were affected especially the overseas Filipino workers, balikbayans and tourists as flights were canceled.

Romualdez reiterated that the Apec should have been held in Clark or Subic so as not to disrupt work and school in Metro Manila.

“Sana lang kung ginanap na lang ito sa Clark or Subic, nakaraang Apec doon sa Subic ginanap ang Apec, mas smooth pa. Kaya hindi naperwisyo yung dito sa Maynila lalo na yung mga nasa airport. ang dami nating mga

OFW, balikbayan at turista. Kung dun na lang ginanap, eh di naimprove pa yung international airport natin diyan.

Pagkatapos ng Apec mapapakinabangan pa natin,” Romualdez said.

However, Romualdez expressed optimism that the P10 billion allocated for Apec will be worth it eventually.

“Sana naman din yung mga sinasabing foreign investment ay pumasok talaga. Yung sinasabi kong foreign direct investment, itong Apec para sa ekonomiya, dapat maipasok naman natin ang ating mga investment sa ibayong dagat para hindi lang tayo lagi ang nagiimport. Kailangan yung exports natin ay mapalakas nang sa gayon ay gumanda ang ating pakikipagkalakan sa ibang bansa,” Romualdez explained.

Romualdez, a lawyer and president of the Philippine Constitution Association, expressed hopes that the issue on West Philippine Sea will be discussed among claimant countries.

F r i d aY : n o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

A7

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

ARMM needs P50m to cope with El Niño

By A. Perez Rimando COTABATO CITY, Maguindanao— With the forthcoming long dry season in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries regional secretary Makmod Mending Jr. recently sought from the office of the DA Secretary Proceso Alcala some P50-million fund aid “to help ease the impending adverse effect of El Niño in the region.”

Mending told media the proposed El Niño mitigation fund “will be used for programs to lessen the impact of drought, to provide farmers alternative livelihood, for cloud seeding operations, for medicine to make working animals stronger amid excruciating heat, and for procurement of heat-resistant agricultural products to be distributed to farmers.”

Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Maguindanao, Tawi-Tawi and Basilan are among the provinces identified “to suffer the brunt of El Niño phenomenon starting two months from now,” Mending said.

He stressed that the dry spell, which could last for as long as seven months or until early June 2016, “could eventually cause low production of rice, corn and root crops, and adversely affect the fishpond sector which are all largely dependent on rainfall.”

Mending, however, noted that Maguindanao’s two major irrigation dams—Malitubog-Maridagao and Kabulaan Dams—are being closely monitored even as he directed Field Operations Director Keise Usman to organize a Task Force El Niño to watch over the agriculture sector and recommend appropriate actions.

He recalled “the mild drought that hit Maguindanao early this year recorded loss of 14,000 metric tons of rice production.”

Mending claimed that Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration climate monitoring Prediction chief Anthony Lucero earlier predicted that “this year’s El Niño is seen as worse than the one that hit the country in 1997-98.”

Windy day. Windsurfers play along the Pantabangan Dam in Nueva Ecija, propelled by winds brought by the annual ‘amihan.’ DAVID CHAN

5 dead, 4 hurt in firefight at DENR office in Negros

By Francisco Tuyay

Five members of a civilian security unit were killed while three cops and a civilian were wounded in a firefight that erupted between two groups arising from a chainsaw confiscated earlier by authorities in Negros Oriental Wednesday afternoon.

Senior Superintendent Dionardo Carlos, director of Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office, identified the slain victims as Feliciano Candido, a rebel returnee and the group’s leader; Cedric Regino, Angel Torres, Grasing Enbalsado and Renato Torres, all alleged member of

the Civil Security Office of the City of Bais.

Carlos identified the injured policemen as PO1 Reyden Cadiz, PO1 Jemry Montesa and PO1 Rodeo Jaluag, all assigned with the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB-7). Rolando Candido, a civilian, was also wounded.

Initial investigation showed that the group of Candido swooped down at the office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Mabinay town at about 10 a.m.

Wednesday to ask for the return of a chainsaw confiscated from then by the local DENR personnel last Nov. 5.

While Candido’s men were at the DENR’s office, Dionesia Trongcoso, the office station manager of Mabinay noticed one of Candido’s men with a bulging object tuck in his waistline prompting her to solicit the assistance of the policeman.

Upon arriving at the scene, members of the RPSB-7 immedi-

ately summoned the man with a bulging object in his waistline for inspection. One of Candido’s men fired at the policemen, starting a firefight.

Carlos said Candido and four of his men were killed on the spot while three others identified as Ricky Sohot, Junjun Gutib and Richard Royo were arrested by the policemen.

He said that the policemen recovered three hand guns, four caliber 45 pistols and three hand grenades from the arrested members of Candido’s group.

Carlos said that they are investigating whether the fatalities were indeed members of the Civil Security Office of Bais City.

Ecija to build 80-bed hospital for indigents

By Ferdie G. Domingo

Protection. Mangroves in Hernani, Eastern Samar help protect coastal communities from storm surges. MEL CASPE

PALAYAN CITY—A P100-million, 80bed brand-new hospital that will cater to the health and medical needs of indigent patients will rise in this city through the Public Private Partnership scheme.

Mayor Adrianne Mae Cuevas said the three-level building will be constructed in Barangay Caimito.

Cuevas said the city government here has partnered with the Department of Health for the design of the building through architect Rebecca Penafiel.

The hospital cost, she said, also includes funding for its operation and maintenance.

Since the facility will be under the PPP

scheme, Cuevas said she will undergo a training seminar on how to operate and manage the hospital under the PPP setup.

The city currently has an emergency hospital in Caimito. However, the facility actually serves as a lying-in clinic with a three bed-emergency room and is not enough to meet the growing demands for medical services of local residents.

In 2013, the city government bared plans to build a hospital at the Palayan City Information Technology center which used to house the old city hall.

The city government is working with the DoH in fine-tuning the former’s city investment plan on health for the purpose of helping improve health services to the city.

A8

adelle chua EDITOR f r i d aY, N O V e M B e r 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

opinion [ edi TOri a l ]

Apec’s evolving AgendA The annual Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation gathering held this week in the Philippines is about trade cooperation among the 21 member-nations of the grouping. It should focus on that, despite some distractions that tend to hog newspaper headlines and television coverages.

This year’s meeting may have been sidetracked by other non-trade developments, especially when President Barack Obama openly supported the Philippines in its territorial row with China over the West Philippine Sea. Obama’s “ironclad” commitment to help the Philippines and other claimants against China’s aggressive disposition appeared to have overshadowed the Apec meeting.

But other events and fora during the current Manila gathering have generated equally interesting discussions that could further the trade agenda of Apec. Alibaba Group holding Ltd. co-founder Jack Ma, for one, challenged business leaders during the summit to help poorer nations and smaller businesses benefit from global trade. The chairman of China’s biggest e-commerce company proposed the removal of duties on goods sold by companies with less than $1 million of annual revenue.

Trade, according to Ma, is a freedom and a human right and should not be used as a tool against other nations.

The Apec forum, meanwhile, gave Obama the podium to expound his climate change pitch ahead of the talks in Paris this month. he challenged governments and businesses in Asia-Pacific nations to step up efforts to cut emissions that cause climate change. Slowing or stopping climate change, he says, will benefit corporate bottom lines by opening new investment in renewable energy and other green technology.

The regional conference also put Filipino engineer Aisa Mijeno on the spotlight, after Obama offered to play matchmaker for her company, which builds lamps that run on renewable seawater.

Apec, in a way, is evolving as it incorporates other issues that directly affect the region’s economies and trade partnerships. Apec wants to ultimately reduce all barriers that hamper trade among the Pacific rim nations, but the trade bloc has to face other issues that will directly impact on the economic growth of individual nations over the long term.

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Things i leArned from Apec lOwDOwn jOjO a.

ROblEs

A friend and colleague in the writing trade, Leslie Bocobo, has come up with a list of things he learned from the Philippines’ justconcluded hosting of the 2015 Asia-Pacific economic summit. Here’s Leslie’s list, with some editing: “That government can solve the horrendous traffic in Metro Manila if it wants to, except for filipinos. That government can rid Metro Manila’s streets of eye sores, if it wants to, as well.

“That President noynoy Aquino will never wear a flag pin like a proper head of state and be proud enough of his country to display it on him for other world leaders to see.

“That no matter who Aquino faces for an audience, his speeches will always extol the so-called sacrifices of his mother and father, and then go on to grab credit for accomplishments of previous adminis-

trations. And he will blame ferdinand Marcos and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, even while he speaks inside edifices built and/or rehabilitated by them.” *** To Bocobo’s list, i’d like to add a few things i, too, learned from the Apec hosting: i learned, as another colleague noted, that when there is nothing substantive for the local media to write about, they can always fall back on the “kilig” factor.

This is why the physical attributes of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President enrique Peña nieto have become such big news, much to the chagrin of the international media also covering the Manila event. i learned that, no matter how hard the government tries to hide the poor “for their own safety” during such an event, visitors like Japanese first Lady Akie Abe will always find them, if that’s what they want to do. Mrs. Abe was the only among the high-powered visitors to stray from the

Hosting apec is an expensive boast by a government that will quickly add it to its ephemeral list of “accomplishments.”

carefully sanitized itineraries prepared for dignitaries in order to visit impoverished filipinos living in the shadow of the Payatas dump site in Quezon City. i learned that Philippine media will go to great lengths to report on the exquisitely prepared and plated filipino-inspired food prepared by outstanding local chefs for the visitors. But they will not even mention that the thousands of policemen assigned to secure the summit were subsisting on a cup of rice, dried fish and an egg washed down

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

Chairman President & Chief Executive Officer Board Member & Chief Legal Adviser Director of Operations Finance Officer Edgar M. Valmorida Circulation Manager

with a small bottle of water just outside the venues they were securing.

(The media also went crazy about the décor and the furniture in the various meeting places and the accommodations and the bespoke designer barongs for the heads of state. The cops, who pulled 12-hour shifts, slept under the stars.) i learned from the critic Pablo Tariman that the great filipino concert pianist Cecile Licad must have put a little more extra in her virtuoso performance of frederic Chopin’s revolutionary etude for the Apec delegates, because she and other performers were holed up for 12 hours in a common green room before the show. That, and because Licad learned that some poor woman had given birth in the horrific traffic caused by the closure of several main Metro Manila thoroughfares for the summit. i learned that P10 billion in government funds spent for hosting the latest 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 Part of the law of the land? not within the corpus of customary law. State practice, for one, is pensées far from uniform and consistent, fr. ranHilio nor is there evident generality.

The Convention on the Reduction callangan of Statelessness would have obliaquino gated the Philippines to confer its Of the Asia-Pacific economic nationality on foundlings—but we Cooperation summit I shall say are not parties to this Convention. only that most filipinos I have And while states like france, the talked to are glad that we are done United Kingdom, and the Netherwith it. I grumbled at all the secu- lands have signed the treaty, they rity fuss when Pope francis came have not yet ratified it. This is a because he is a pastor, not a poli- very strong proof against claims tician, and one who is elected to to “generality” and “uniformity of succeed Peter knows fully well practice.” that Peter died a martyr. No one true, Senator Grace Poe enI know, however, expressed the joys the presumption in her favor wish that the Pope would have that she is a natural-born filipino visited elsewhere, not Manila! citizen. This is a presumption neBut this time, many wished that cessitated by the fact that she is a the national leadership would senator of the Republic and that have been sufficiently witted to it is presumed that her election place the meeting elsewhere. fi- to office was regular and free of del V. Ramos was brilliant enough infirmity. But this presumption to host it at Subic, is disputable—the as Gloria Arroyo burden of disprovhosted Asean ing her citizenship heads of state in lying with whoever Cebu. Oh, well, assails it. It is ungifts of compederstandable then Here’s how to tent cogitation why the DNA tests are not evenly do foundlings are relevant: If they distributed! and abandoned conclusively estabIn relation lish Ms. Poe’s parto the Poe case children a real entage—and point (or cases), the to at least a filifavor. thesis has been pino father—then advanced that that she is a natu“foundlings are ral-born filipino natural-born would be beyond citizens of the doubt.

State in which Under the 1954 they are found” is a proposition Convention on the Status of of international law and, as such, Stateless Persons—to which the is part of the law of the land, Philippines is a party—we are by virtue of the incorporation obligated to facilitate the “natuclause that one finds in Article ralization” of otherwise stateless II, Section 2 of the Constitution, persons within our territory. one of the few, self-executing Significantly, under the 1961 provisions in this article. Is it, Convention on the Reduction really? Our Constitution makes of Statelessness, to which we are part of the law of the land “the NOt parties, State-parties are generally accepted principles of bound to confer their nationalinternational law” —not all of ity on persons born within their international law, then, but only territories who would otherwise “generally accepted principles.” be stateless, either by operation While some are more restrictive of law or by some process left to in their construal and limit this domestic law. So, one who benonly to “jus cogens” or the pe- efits from the benevolent proviremptory norms of international sions of the 1961 Convention is law that admit of no derogation NOt NeCeSSARILY natural even by treaties, I am prepared born. to extend this to all of what is The trouble is not with Ms. Poe. called “customary international The trouble is with our Republic. law”—that should, however, be We have no provision in the fammore accurately called “custom ily Code, none in the Civil Code, no evidencing a practice accepted special law that makes of foundlings as law.” former UP Law Dean citizens of the Republic by sheer Merlin Magallona therefore use- operation of law—“natural born.” fully characterizes the relation And, for reasons I find difficult to of Philippine municipal law to understand, neither have we acinternational law as bifurcated: ceded to the 1961 treaty. “incorporation,” in respect to the to do a real favor to foundlings generally accepted principles of and abandoned children, we must international law; “transforma- pass the necessary amendment tion,” in respect to treaties—be- to our codes, or perhaps a special cause these have to be concurred law on status and citizenship of in by the Senate. foundlings, or, in the very least, Ian Brownlie, one of the demi- accede to the 1961 Convention. It gods in the pantheon of interna- does the Republic no favor, howtional law, suggests the following ever, to ignore the requisites that criteria of a binding custom: dura- the Constitution lays down for tion, uniformity and consistency public office and claim lamely that of the practice, generality of the one is acting on the basis of the practice, the understanding that dictates of conscience and for the it is legally obligatory (opinio juris benefit of the vulnerable! sive necessitatis). By these standards, the proposition: “found- rannie_aquino@sanbeda.edu.ph lings are natural-born citizens of rannie_aquino@csu.edu.ph the states where they are found” is rannie_aquino@yahoo.com

F R I D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 0 , 2 0 1 5

OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

Pnoy’s 5Ps the 3Ps or public-private partnerships is a program for building public infrastructures in which government agencies, without spending public funds, initiate projects with private sector partners that are guaranteed recovery of their investments from direct users of their completed project.

It was supposed to play a major role in PNoy’s administration, but for various reasons, it had not delivered in the past 5-1/2 years except for a non-essential connecting road from Cavite to South Luzon expressway.

Admittedly, we are almost clueless about this program of PNoy. Maybe, other projects have been completed using it but certainly, there weren’t enough publicity about them.

We don’t even know who heads the program.

Is that incomplete elevated road infrastructure at the Pasay airport part of PNoy’s 3Ps program? It surely showcased how differently we do things here in the Philippines for full viewing this week of the Asia-Pacific economic Cooperation delegates.

We are constantly told to make sacrifices by going through inconveniences now in order to reap the fruits of development and progress later. But must we endure hellish traffic conditions for months while this new road is being constructed?

In any case, wasn’t it constructed to please primarily the casino tourists when they proceed from the airport to the emerging casino city by the bay?

We can only wish that constructions are done with minimal inconvenience similar to how the elevated light railway transit system over edsa was built during the administration of President fidel Ramos. the 4Ps or “Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program” is how the PNoy administration now refers to its conditional cash transfer program that doles out a maximum of P1,400 to poor families who have satisfied its conditions for award.

In fact, it was the Arroyo administration that first piloted this pro-

filipino pensioner Horacio templo gram using borrowed funds from the World Bank. The bank believed that the country’s growing poverty could be alleviated through direct governmental intervention such as the CCt that—it claimed—was being implemented successfully in Latin American countries.

The PNoy administration—assuming full accountability for the program—continued and expanded it to be its cornerstone social welfare program.

Seldom is publicly mentioned about Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Juliano Soliman being a daughter of a hacienda Luisita “capataz.” But to her credit, she has been the program’s untiring administrator who has made it such a significant anti-poverty program that it had been allocated a budget of P62.7 billion for 4.6 million families in 2016 despite remaining devoid of legislation and being a regular subject of public criticism.

Moreover, the homeless poor have remained visibly plenty that they had to be hidden from public view during this week of the Apec Leaders’ Meeting.

We have also the 5Ps of Success.

Usually 5Ps stands for proper planning prevents poor performance, but my senior citizen friends have sarcastically used it to describe the PNoy administration’s performance in the past 5-1/2 years and in this week of the Apec meeting—“palpak” planning produces poor performance.

Maybe, PNoy had plans about implementing his “Daang Matuwid” policy when he assumed the presidency in 2010. Maybe, he also knew that “he who fails to plan, plans to fail.” he must have had detailed and personalized plans because without them, how could he have succeeded in systematically bringing down to public shame ex-President Gloria

tHings... From A8 Apec summit can’t even buy a single new road, bridge or traffic light. And that three years of planning and building isn’t even enough to complete that flyover from the airport to Manila’s reclamation area, which was conceived for the convenience of the Apec delegates.

On the other hand, I learned that the funds for performing hosting duties can buy hundreds of brand new luxury cars, SUVs and vans, which will all be sold at deep discounts to a lucky few—including certain government officials—after the summit.

If your government official-neighbor suddenly acquires a very slightly-used top-of-the-line 7-Series BMW sedan in the coming days, you’ll know what I’m talking about.

I learned from Ambassador Marciano Paynor, who ran the Apec hosting show for the Philippines, both in 1996 and this year, that we didn’t really have to host the summit if we didn’t want to. But we asked to host the 21-nation summit, so

obama... From A11 power up a whole island using the ocean water,” she gushed to Obama. The $20 device is good for eight hours of lighting and by replenishing the salt solution, for P100 per recharge every six months, the lamp could last for 10 years.

Said Obama: “Aisa is a perfect example of what we’re seeing in a lot of countries—young entrepre-

Macapagal Arroyo, Senate President Juan Ponce enrile, and Chief Justice Renato Corona? After all, they were the three highest officials of the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government before his administration.

Never mind that they are still unconvicted and could eventually be declared innocent. What is important for now is that they have been shamed publicly for corruption charges. Besides, haven’t they caused him and his family great pains in the past?

Didn’t he brag about this accomplishment before Apec leaders?

We are hosting the 2015 Apec Leaders’ Meeting almost 20 years after we hosted it in 1996. While we cannot fully assess the far-reaching outcomes of that hosting, certainly the delegates were happy about their accommodations and our people were proud of being hosts then.

But in this year’s meeting, why wasn’t any important role given to President Ramos who hosted that very successful meeting?

Instead, PNoy appointed as early as Nov. 28, 2012 his invisible executive secretary as chairman and former Consul General to San francisco and Ambassador Marciano Paynor as director general of the national organizing committee.

A protocol expert, the director general—as if anticipating a fiasco event—declared last week that PNoy is “on top of everything and directed the organizing council to ensure that the country’s hosting will be a success from all points of view.”

There is no doubt that PNoy is fully responsible for our hosting of this year’s Apec Leaders’ Meeting.

Perhaps, there was indeed much that we have gained politically and economically from this hosting and only a few thousands have been inconvenienced by the road reroutings and only a hundred businessmen have lost their usual cash flows.

But clearly, we have been made to pay unnecessary a high price for this year’s hosting because of “palpak” planning.

I guess we can’t really complain.

I learned from wise economic analysts like former National Treasurer Leonor Briones that there can be no immediate gains from hosting the Apec summit. And that there probably never will be, despite the fevered claims of the pro-Aquino crowd.

I learned that Filipinos are really a hospitable and long-suffering lot, willing to bear almost anything in order to show that we can host a proper summit. But I also think that they will not quickly forget how they were inconvenienced, just so the government can show off economic gains that they can’t really feel.

I am convinced that hosting Apec is nothing more than an expensive boast by a Philippine government that will quickly add it to its long but ephemeral list of “accomplishments.” I wonder, though, if in the coming days some enterprising investigators will not turn up anomalies that attended the hosting and if this will not mean jail time for those who imposed the summit on the rest of us.

And that’s what I learned from our hosting of the Apec summit. neurs coming up with leap frog technologies—in the same ways that large portions of Asia and Africa, the old landline phones never got set up. People just went straight to mobile. And obviously they’re buying stuff through Alibaba on there all the time. (Laughter.) “ Interviewed later by ted failon, Aisa was asked what help the Aquino administration gave her. She groped for an answer. The government hasn’t even given her a patent. biznewsasia@gmail.com

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

BACK CHANNEL ALEJANDRO DEL ROSARIO if you think there isn’t anyone who’s worth voting for President in 2016, you are not alone. like many others, we are not sanguine there’s someone out there who can really lead this nation. grace Poe’s citizenship is constitutionally challenged, Jojo Binay is facing a raft of graft charges, Senator Miriam defensor Santiago has serious health concerns, while Mar roxas is straitjacketed from thinking out of B.S. aquino’s box The political landscape is barren as seen from the surfeit of sanity-challenged candidates, including someone named lucifer, who filed their coc’s for president at the commission on Elections last october.

Some senatorial candidates are not household names even in their own households. choosing the senatorial candidates shared as “guests” by both liberal Party and the united nationalist alliance, in-

Eight for thE SEnatE cluding the independents, is something voters must still seriously consider, a few good men in the Senate still makes it the last keeper of the gate against flawed legislation from the lower house. i have my own choices but i’m not suggesting they should also be yours. here are the candidates that come to mind whom i think will be worthy of the title “Senator:” former senator and food Security Presidential assistant francis Pangilinan, reelectionist Senators Serge osmeña and ralph recto, leyte rep. Martin romualdez, Philippine national red cross chairman and former Senator dick gordon, Justice Secretary leila de lima, former Senator Panfilo lacson, and workers welfare advocate Susan “Toots” ople. i only came up with a short list of eight unable to think of anyone else for the vacant 12 Senate seats.

We are witnessing a new dynamics in Philippine politics when candidates are shared by two or three parties. This is unheard of in other

countries. in the united States, the difference between democrats and republicans are well defined. So too, with the conservatives and labor parties in the united Kingdom.

The crazy free-for all practice in Philippine politics started in the 2013 senatorial elections. This is an erosion, if not the demise, of the two-party system which spells out platform of governance and the political ideology of aspirants for public office. This new normal also attests to the dearth of deserving and qualified candidates. The liberal Party and united nationalist alliance could not complete a 12-man senatorial slate without crossing the blurred party lines. The nacionalista Party, nPc and the PdP-laban do not have a presidential candidate.

Today’s politics has become no more than a popularity contest. We can expect boxer Manny Pacquiao who’s more known for landing a left hook in his opponent’s jaw to land a seat in the Senate. he may be an eightdivision champion but the Sarangani

congressman is also top-ranked in the most number of absences in the house of representatives whenever he’s in training for a fight. and they want him in the Senate? at the local level, Quezon city Mayor herbert “Bistek” Bautista looks on the way to winning another term without any real opposition. in Manila, congressman amado Bagatsing could slip past incumbent Mayor Erap Estrada and returning fred lim. The two former friends are hurling insults at each other with Erap calling lim a senile old man and lim reminding voters the former president is a convicted plunderer. in Makati, romulo “Kid” Peña has an even chance against rep. abigail Binay who replaced her brother as candidate when Mayor Erwin Junjun Binay was suspended and dismissed by the ombudsman. This, for graft connected to the construction of the Makati parking building and other allegedly anomalous contracts. in San Juan city, the Zamoras will try to break the stranglehold of the Es-

trada-Ejercito political clan.vice Mayor francis Zamora is running against incumbent guia gomez while his father rep. ronaldo Zamora is seeking reelection against Jana Ejercito. gomez is the mother of Senator J.v. Ejercito and partner of former President Erap.

The Ejercitos and the Zamoras were former political allies but parted ways when gomez decided to seek a third and final term.

Who’s going to win the crowded vice presidential race? rep. leni robredo (camarines Sur), Senators francis Escudero, gregorio honasan (Sorsogon) and antonio Trillanes (albay) who are all from Bicol will surely divide the region’s vote. While his rivals’ following is fragmented, Senator ferdinand Marcos Jr. can count on the steadfast support of the ilocanos’ Solid north and mother imelda romualdez’s visayan votes. his stewardship of the Senate’s local government committee reviewing the controversial Bangsamoro Basic law also gained Bongbong Marcos a large following in Mindanao.

obama, aiSa and illumination onE thing about uS presidents, they are usually genial, warm, sincere and have great people skills. i have observed four uS presidents come to Manila—Jimmy carter, Bill clinton, george W. Bush, and Barack obama. i talked briefly to carter when he visited Manila for a housing project, and saw at close range clinton when he came to Subic for the 1996 asia-Pacific Economic cooperation summit. Bush and obama—i just watched them from a distance.

There is something about uS presidents that makes them real people. They are kindhearted, unlike a President and one presidential candidate i know.

Which makes me wonder: if grace Poe, who is or was once an american, is elected President, will she behave like an american president—genial, warm, sincere, approachable, and kindhearted? if she will, my vote goes to her. on nov. 18, President obama insisted to moderate an apec cEo summit on small businesses. he was in his element, as a politician and as a real human being, and not as the leader of the most powerful nation on earth. he was witty, intelligent, informal, and quick at repartee. Was he being his real self, the son of an immigrant who made it good in america? or was he being a harvard lawyer and a former community organizer? obama was all praise for our small business entrepreneur and innovator aisa Mijeno. The uS President seems to have done his homework and did background check on the diminutive filipina inventor. obama was profuse in his endorsement of aisa’s invention—a lEd lamp that is powered by a chemical solution produced out of sea or saltwater.

#failocracy

“i understand that Jack set the place on fire this morning already with his remarks—so he’s a hard act to follow. and i’m going to keep my remarks brief because, unlike some previous apec cEo summits where i’ve just made a speech, we’ve got an opportunity i think to hear from a couple of outstanding individuals. i want to thank Jack, as well as aisa Mijeno for joining us. and you’ll find out more about aisa—you probably know about Jack—but she’s outstanding, and i think an example of why i feel extraordinarily optimistic about our future,” obama began in his remarks. i never realized an apec summit could be so relevant until obama moderated that forum with apec cEos. he talked about “the urgent and growing threat of climate change,” claiming “no nation is immune to the consequences of a changing climate.” he cited Super Typhoon ‘‘haiyan,’’ “a storm that claimed thousands of lives and cost billions of dollars in damage.” obama warned: “if we want to prevent the worst effects of climate change before it’s too late, the time to act is now. and it is going to affect people’s bottom lines. agricultural production will be impacted if we do not get on top of this. Economic disruptions—we will be able to price the costs. in serious ways already, insurance companies are factoring it into their determinations.” for his part, chinese tycoon Jack Ma of alibaba recalls almost drowning in lake when he was 12 because it was deeper than he thought. five years ago, he went back to the same lake to

swim again. it had disappeared. obama retailed his climate change achievements as president: “We’ve doubled the distance new cars will go on a gallon of gas by 2025. We’re producing three times as much wind power as we were when i came into office. and we are producing about 20 times as much solar power as when i came into office. Thanks in part to the investments we’ve made, there are already parts of america where clean power from wind or sun is actually cheaper than dirtier, conventional power. Since 2005, even as our economy is growing, america has cut our total carbon pollution by more than any other country on Earth.” apec, obama said, “is working to double renewable energy and reduce energy intensity by 45 percent over the next two decades.” obama’s message to his business audience: “your businesses can do right by your bottom lines and by our planet and future generations. The old rules that said we couldn’t grow our economies and protect our environment at the same time, those are outdated. We can transition to clean energy without squeezing businesses and consumers. When we doubled fuel-efficiency standards on cars, that’s money in people’s pockets because they’re spending less money at the gas station. and that’s true across our economy.” vital to pursuing growth, coping with unemployment, and conquering climate change is innovation. “innovators are coming up with new ideas every single day,” obama said, “which brings me back to my two partners here

for this panel—Jack Ma and aisa Mijeno.” according to obama himself, “aisa is an entrepreneur here in the Philippines who launched a startup around a brilliant idea, which is selling lamps that run on nothing more than saltwater. She’s an engineer. She’ll have to explain the physics around this thing. (laughter.) and i guess you’ve heard of Jack. (laughter.) But he’s not just the founder of alibaba, a giant in e-commerce, he also happens to be a leader on environmental issues like clean water and climate change.” aisa related she and her brother founded SalT—sustainable alternative lighting, “to address light inequality gap first in the Philippines by focusing on the people at the bottom of the pyramid because it comprises about 15 to 20 percent of the country’s population.” She explained: “Most of these families live on island communities and they are not connected to power grids, so they may use kerosene and fuel-based lamps as the main source of lighting. and we know the danger that kerosene lamps poses. it can cause fire accidentally. So that’s the main reason why—what we wanted to see was we wanted to provide these people a lighting option that was more cost-effective, more safe, more sustainable and environmentally friendly by the way of a lantern that uses saline solution or ocean water as a means to generate electricity. in theory, we would be able to power up lEd and of course, power up a uSB port where you can also charge more power, more devices like your phones. very essential during emergencies, especially disaster scenarios.”

“Just imagine if you would be able to

Continued on A10

chong ardivilla

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Rockets win after firing coach UNITED STATES—Houston guard James Harden scored 45 points, including all nine for his team in overtime as the Rockets followed the abrupt sacking of coach Kevin McHale with a 108-103 NBA victory over Portland on Wednesday.

Harden, who scored 26 points in the fourth quarter, added 11 assists for the Rockets, who snapped a four-game losing streak hours after McHale was sent packing.

Houston players acknowledged they felt the burden of the decision to dismiss McHale.

“We are responsible,” said swingman Corey Brewer. “Coach can’t make us play hard. That’s up to us.

“It’s got to be a wakeup call. We’ve got to get better.”

With interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff at the helm for the first time, the Rockets delivered a gritty performanBrewer drained a three-pointer with less than a

second remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime with the score knotted at 99-99.

Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum had hit a three-pointer with 4:54 left in regulation after two free throws by Damian Lillard halted an 8-0 Rockets run that brought Houston within 83-81.

Harden hit a three-pointer with 38 seconds left in regulation, and after Portland forward Al-Farouq Aminu made two free throws with 6.6 seconds left to stretch the lead to three, Brewer pulled the Rockets level.

Rockets center Dwight Howard grabbed 19 rebounds and forward Trevor Ariza added 18 points and eight

rebounds as Houston handed Portland a seventh straight defeat.

Bickerstaff, promoted to coach for the rest of the season from his position as an assistant to McHale, said his goal was to “get back to who we were when we had our most success.”

The Rockets reached the Western Conference final last season, and while sacking McHale after four straight defeats seemed like panic to some in the league, general manager Daryl Morey said the fierce competition in the West forced his hand.

“The team was not responding to Kevin,” Morey said. “There is no time in the West.”

- Parker shines in Spurs win The rugged conference is led by reigning nBA champions Golden State, who took their season opening winning streak to 12 games on Tuesday.

The San Antonio Spurs are slotted comfortably into second place, taking their record to 9-2 with a 109-98 victory over the Denver nuggets on Wednesday.

French point guard Tony Parker scored a season-high 25 points and forward Kawhi Leonard added 20 for the Spurs, who are a perfect 5-0 at home.

Backup guard Patty Mills of Australia scored 17 points, veteran Tim Duncan added 12 points and 11 rebounds and forward LaMarcus Aldridge scored 11 points with 12 rebounds -- the fourth straight game that the Spurs had at least five players score in double figures.

- Thunder end skid The Oklahoma City Thunder gained a needed win, downing the injury ravaged new Orleans Pelicans 110-103 to end a two-game slide.

Russell Westbrook poured in 43 points, handed out eight assists and pulled down nine rebounds for the Thunder, who were without former nBA Most Valuable Player Kevin Durant for a fourth straight game.

“We got a win,” Westbrook said. “We worked hard this week and the last few days to get a win, so I am happy about that.” afp

James Harden of the Houston Rockets shoots the ball against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. afp

Athletes’ village a concern for LA

UnITeD STATeS—Los Angeles City Council members have called for alternative proposals for the Olympic athletes’ village following concerns about potential cost over-runs in the city’s bid for the 2024 Summer Games.

Councilman Mitch O’Farrell said environmental clean-up and other costs could reach $2 billion for the proposed village site, a riverside railyard, even if the property’s owner Union Pacific agrees to sell up.

“I don’t really even see how that’s a starter at this point,” O’Farrell said.

Los Angeles is bidding to host the Summer Olympics for a third time, after staging the Games in 1932 and 1984, and will face stiff competition from Paris, Rome, Budapest and Hamburg.

It got the chance to put its hat in the ring after the US Olympic Committee’s first choice, Boston, saw its bid collapse in the face of local opposition stirred by financial fears.

Lawyer: Blatter to continue FIFA appeals UnITeD STATeS—Sepp Blatter is disappointed by a FIFA appeal committee’s refusal to overturn his 90-day ban and is committed to clearing his name through continued appeals, his US lawyer said Wednesday.

The committee rejected a bid by the FIFA president and UeFA chief Michel Platini to overturn their 90day bans while Swiss police pursue a criminal inquiry.

“President Blatter is disappointed by today’s decision,” his US lawyer Richard Cullen of McGuire Woods, said in a statement. “noticeably absent from the opinion and these proceedings is any evidence of any improper motivation or purpose for the agreement between FIFA and Mr Platini,” he added.

FIFA’s ethics committee decided on October 7 to suspend Blatter and Platini

for 90 days after Swiss prosecutors launched a criminal mismanagement inquiry against Blatter. Part of the inquiry is into a $2 million payment made by FIFA to Platini in 2011 for work carried out a decade earlier.

His lawyer took issue with the decision being released just over two weeks after it was made on november 3.

“President Blatter is committed to clearing his name and hopes this inexplicable delay is not an effort to deny him, during his elected term, a fair hearing before a neutral body,” Cullen said.

“President Blatter will continue his appeals and looks forward to the opportunity to be heard including through the presentation of evidence and argument of counsel, and thereby demonstrate he has engaged in no misconduct.”

A file photo taken on July 20, 2015 shows FIFA president Sepp Blatter gesturing during a press conference at the football world body’s headquarters in Zurich. afp

Athletes uneasy over Russians in Rio OPen the document in a newUnITeD STATeS (AFP)-The prospect of Russian athletes being welcomed back into the fold for the Olympics is causing alarm amongst rivals, with questions swirling over whether the country can rebuild a credible anti-doping regime in time for Rio. Track and field has been plunged into the worst crisis in its history over the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report which uncovered a sophisticated state-supported doping program pervading all levels of Russian athletics.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) slapped a provisional suspension on Russia last week while WADA on Wednesday suspended the scandal-tainted Russian AntiDoping Agency (RUSADA), ruling it was non-compliant with the body’s code.

Technically, the decision heightens the possibility of Russian athletes being barred from taking part in Rio next year. That eventuality remains remote however.

Both the IAAF and WADA have expressed desire to oversee a rehabilitation of antidoping practices in Russia that brings them back into compliance with global standards.

But the notion of Russian athletes being allowed to compete in Rio has caused disquiet amongst competitors past and present.

Addressing WADA’s board meeting in Colorado Springs on Wednesday, US track and field great ed Moses said he believed Russian athletes should be barred as a deterrent.

“The only sanction is to say that enough is enough. It is to state loudly and clearly that the Russian athletics team cannot go to Rio,” said Moses, who also called for WADA’s independent commission to widen its mandate by investigating doping across all Russian sports.

“I had many close friends who had irreplaceable moments stolen from them,” said Moses, referring to the drugtainted era of the 1970s and 1980s in which he competed.

“My hope is that there is not a generation of athletes that have their dreams stolen from them too.”

Moses’ comments struck a chord with Kirsty Coventry, the Zimbabwean double 200m backstroke champion from the 2004 and 2008 Olympics who will compete in her final games in Rio. Coventry, who sits on WADA’s athlete committee, said many fellow swimmers had contacted her to express alarm about Russia, adding that she also wanted to see a wider probe into Russian sport.

“There’s a lot of concern.

I’ve had a lot of swimmers get in touch with me to ask what can we do,” Coventry said.

“Speaking as an athlete that’s going to be competing in Rio I want to know that I’m competing against clean athletes and not be suspicious.

“It’s my last Olympics and I don’t want to be up there thinking ‘Oh crap, she might be doping’.” afp

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sports sports@thestandard.com.ph

Phelps, fiancee expect a baby boy

Spain’s Rafael Nadal serves to Britain’s Andy Murray during a men’s singles group stage match on day four of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London. afp

Nadal too hot as Murray melts UNITED KINGDOM—Rafael Nadal showed he was getting back to his best as he crushed Andy Murray at the World Tour Finals on Wednesday with an impressive 6-4, 6-1 victory.

The Spanish fifth seed was in dominant form as the British world number two’s game collapsed in front of a home crowd at the 17,800-capacity O2 Arena in London.

The resurgent Nadal is now through to the semi-finals of the the season-ending tournament, disputed on a hard court between the year’s top eight players.

In Friday’s final round-robin matches in their four-man group, Murray will face Swiss fourth seed Stan Wawrinka, with the winner joining Nadal in the last four.

The Spaniard’s spot in the semis was confirmed after seventh-seeded compatriot David Ferrer’s hopes of making it out of the group evaporated with a straight sets defeat to Wawrinka

— 7-5, 6-2.

The first set of the match between Nadal and Murray was a high-level contest featuring impressive rallies and smart drop shots, but in the second, Murray’s game fell away as Nadal turned up the power.

Nadal, beset by problems during the worst year of his career, at one stage slumped to 10th in the world -- his lowest position since 2005.

But the 14-time Grand Slam champion showed how dangerous he could be in 2016 if he continues his resurgence.

“This is an important victory,” the clay court-lover said.

“I have a big day against a great player on a tough surface.

“The positive results, the good feelings on court in terms

of enjoying myself, in terms of image, is much better.

“But it is just the beginning.

I need to keep working so hard to try to keep going the same way.

“Today I feel free. I feel I’m enjoying it on court.”

- Mid-match haircut “He’s clearly playing better tennis now than a few months ago,” Murray said of Nadal.

“He’s come back from tight situations which is signs he is getting back to where he wants to be.

“Beginning of next year, he’ll be playing at a very, very high level again.”

After an early exchange of breaks, Murray produced a pair of scissors from his bag and snipped off part of his fringe.

“I had some hair in my eye, and I just wanted to get rid of it,” he said. afp The Scot held off break points at 2-3 and 3-4 down but eventually cracked when serving to stay in the set, swiping at fresh air as Nadal broke to love. afp

UNITED STATES—US swim star Michael Phelps, who has won a record 18 Olympic gold medals, announced Wednesday on social media that he and his fiancee are expecting a baby boy.

On Twitter and Instagram, Phelps sent out a photo with he and the mother-to-be, former Miss California beauty queen Nicole Johnson, holding a tiny pair of boy’s swim shorts.

“We found out 8weeks ago we were expecting...

Today we’re over 12 weeks and it looks like we’re having a boy,” Phelps said in his message accompanying the photo.

The news comes after Phelps swam competitively for the first time in three months, winning the men’s 200m individual medley at the US Pro Swim Series meet in Minneapolis as he works toward the Rio de Janeiro Olympics next August—or about three months after the birth.

Phelps, whose record 22 overall Olympic medals include a historic one-Games haul of eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and four golds with two silvers at the 2012 London Olympics, also competed at the 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens Olympics.

His bid for a fifth berth in the Olympics was almost scuttled by a drink driving arrest last year that kept him off the US team at the World Championships this year in Russia.

Tiger, Stricker, Furyk named Ryder deputies ST. SIMONS ISLAND—Tiger Woods, a 14-time major winner and seven-time member of the US Ryder Cup team, will be among America’s 2016 vice-captains, US captain Davis Love said Wednesday.

On the eve of the US PGA’s RSM Classic hosted by Love, he announced that Woods, Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk would join Tom Lehman as vice-captains on the US squad that tries to reclaim the trophy from holders Europe.

Next year’s Ryder Cup will be played September 30-October 2 at Hazeltine in suburban Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Americans lead the all-time rivalry 25-13 with two drawn but the Europeans have won three in a row, six of the past seven and eight of the past 10.

Woods, who turns 40 next month, is coming off two back operations and has not announced a time-table for his return to competition, but he also said he has not ruled out making the team as a player, a difficult feat given his injuries and struggles of late.

“I would like to thank Davis (Love) for his confidence in me and for my selection as a Ryder Cup vice-aptain. This is something I want to do,” Woods said.

“I’ll continue to do whatever I can to help win the Cup back. Once I’m fully healthy, I would like to try to make the team too.”

If Woods plays his way onto the team or receives a captain’s pick, Love would have the option to name a replacement as vice-captain.

Stricker and Furyk joined Love as three of the assistants to Jay Haas on the triumphant US Presidents Cup team in South Korea last month.

“To welcome four vice-captains of this caliber is a giant first step towards preparing the 2016 team for success,” Love said. “I am grateful for their commitment, dedication and passion to win.”

Furyk, 45, won the 2003 US Open and has played in the past nine Ryder Cups, second to Phil Mickelson’s 10 appearances in US Ryder Cup history.

Ko, Park fight for top spot in season ender UNITED STATES—New Zealand teen star Lydia Ko and South Korea’s seven-time major winner Park In-Bee will fight for the LPGA’s top prizes this week at the season-ending Tour Championship.

While 18-year-old Ko, who won her first major title at this year’s Evian Championship among her five tour triumphs this season, has the edge on Park in the chase for world number one, LPGA Player of the Year, the season money crown and the season points title.

Park, 30, won the Women’s British Open and her third consecutive Women’s PGA Championship among her five LPGA titles this season and leads in the Vare Trophy scoring average contest.

But the margins are slim enough to take the drama for each of those honors into the year’s final round.

“I’m going to just try and concentrate on my game and I think that’s what Inbee is going to do,” Ko said. “I’ve just got to concentrate on my game.

“I know there are obviously a

lot of things on the line at the end of Sunday, but if I end up thinking about all the things like Player of the Year or Vare Trophy or the race or the tournament, I think it’s way too much because when we’re out there we’re just trying to hit good shots, trying to make a lot of good putts and give ourselves good looks for birdies.”

Ko won last year’s $1 million (939,000 euros) bonus for the season points title and captured the Tour Championship for another $500,000 for the richest payday in women’s golf history. afp

Park In-Bee of South Korea tees off on the ninth hole during the second round of the LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship golf event at the Sky72 Golf Club in Incheon, west of Seoul. afp

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Savchenko stays unbeaten GRANDMASTER Boris Savchenko of Russia out-steadied Filipino GM Darwin Laylo to stay on top with five points in as many rounds in the 2014 Philippine Sports CommissionPuregold International Chess Challenge at the Subic Bay Peninsular Hotel, Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority in Olongapo City.

Standings after five rounds (Open Division)—Savchenko (RUS) 5.0, Sivuk (UKR) 4.0, Laylo (PHI), Dimakiling (PHI), Torre (PHI), Demchenko (RUS), Mozharov (RUS), Lu (CHN), Deepan (IND) 3.5, Pimentel (PHI), Senador (PHI), Kotanjian (ARM), Smirnov (RUS), Aravindh (IND), Belous (RUS), Lin (CHN), Sinuduth Lyna (IND), Nguyen (VIE), Severino (PHI) 3.0, Rohan (IND), Puranik (IND), Bersamina (PHI), Sean (INA), Zubov (UKR), Nolte (PHI),

Antonio (PHI), Shomoev (RUS) 2.5, Bitoon, Pascua (PHI), Garcia (PHI), Docena (PHI), Gupta (IND), Segarra (PHI), Liu (SIN), Turqueza 2.0.

The eighth-seed Savchenko, however, needed 86 moves to finally eke out the win in a Gruenfeld Defense match that lasted late into the night Wednesday, even as GM Vitaly Sivuk, who topped the recent Philippine International Chess Championship also held here,

bounced back into contention by beating another Filipino campaigner, IM Joel Pimentel, after 59 moves of an English Opening.

Sivuk’s win gave him 4.0 points, a full point behind Savchenko at solo second.

Laylo, formerly of San Sebastian College, dropped to 3.5 points in the company of six other players, including fellow Filipinos GM Eugene Torre and IM Oliver Dimakiling, Russian GMs Anton Demchenko and Mikhail Mozharov, Chinese GM Shanglei Lu and GM Chakkravarthy Deepan of India.

Torre, the most senior Filipino campaigner here, split the point with Demchenko after 30 pushes of a Trompovsky Attack, while Dimakiling held Mozharov into

a standoff after 51 moves of a Pirc/Philidor Defense.

Lu and Deepan also agreed to a draw after only 17 moves of a Queen’s Gambit Accepted.

In Round 6 still being played as of press time, Savchenko stakes his grip on the solo lead against compatriot Mozharov in Board 1, while Lu plays Sivuk in Board 2, even as Laylo and Deepan slug it out in Board 3.

With three points each halfway into the tournament organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines and supported by the PSC, Philippine Olympic Committee, Asia United Bank, Puregold, Burlington Socks and Marc Ventures Mining and Development Corp., are Pimentel, IM Emmanuel Senador, GM Tigran

Kotanjian of Armenia, GM Pavel Smirnov of Russia, GM Chihambaram Vr. Aravindh of India, GM Vladimir Belous of Russia, IM Chen Lin of China, IM Narayanan Sinulduth Lyna of India, GM Duch Hoa Nguyen of Vietnam and Filipino Fide Master Sander Severino.

In the Challenger Division, top seed Franz Robert Grafil, Sherwin Tiu, Rolly Parondo and Erickson Marimla beat their respective opponents to stay unscathed and share the lead wih four points in as many rounds.

Grafil, who boasts of an Elo rating of 2199, downed James Infiesto; Tiu topped Patrick Erle Florendo; Parondo defeated Lennon Hart Salgados; while Marimla turned back Judith Pineda.

Miguel Tabuena, the reigning local circuit’s Order of Merit champion shown, missed joining the 69 group with a bogey on No. 17 and dropping to a big 70 group at the start of the $1-million Resorts World Manila Masters.

Inset shows Malaysian Nicholas Fung, who fired a six-under 66 for a one-stroke lead over Thai Poom Saksansin and Hung Chien-yao of Chinese Taipei

Malaysian sets RW Masters pace with a 66 CARMONA, Cavite—Malaysian Nicholas Fung sizzled in the privacy of an early morning start and brandished a hot putter all day, firing a six-under 66 and snaring a one stroke lead over Thai Poom Saksansin and Hung Chien-yao of Chinese Taipei at the start of the $1 million Resorts World Manila Masters at the par-72 Manila Southwoods’ Masters course here yesterday.

Enjoying top form coming off a runner-up finish in last week’s World Classic Championship won by Thai Danthai Boonma in Singapore, Fung took advantage of benign condition in one of the early flights and rattled off seven birdies to negate a lone bogey mishap and complete a pair of 33s spiked by five scrambling pars.

“My game is feeling good. I left a couple of shots out there but it’s okay.

I am feeling very confident,” said the 25-year-old Fung, who used his putter just 23 times.

But a slew of others stood just a stroke, two or three behind, ensuring a wild scramble in the next three days where condition is expected to get tougher especially if the wind come into play in the weekend chase for the top $180,000 purse in the country’s richest tournament hosted by Manila Southwoods.

Teeing off the backside of the hazardladen layout, Saksansin, 22, gunned down six birdies against a bogey on No. 7 as he matched Hung’s five-under 67 that featured eight birdies, including five in a seven-hole stretch from No. 10, against three bogeys.

With majority of the country’s aces drawing late tee-times, Orlan Sumcad took the cudgels for the local bets with a four-under 68 for joint fourth with Aussie Sam Brazel, Taiwan’s Lee Chieh-po, Thai Rattanon Wannasrichan, Korean Giwhan Kim, Spain’s Carlos Pigem and Japanese Akinori

Tani while Rufino Bayron, a former Asian Development Tour winner, rammed in five birdies against two bogeys to lead the 69 scorers.

Sumcad battled strong winds in mid-morning with crisp but low booming drives, hitting all but three fairways then making just 24 putts on the Masters’ sleek putting surface.

“I think putting is the key to play well here. Other players are probably driving the ball as good but one really needs to have a sharp short game to be up there on the leaderboard,” said Sumcad.

Other three under par scorers are South Africa’s Bryce Easton, Thai Tirawat Kaewsiribandit, Aussie Scott Barr, Scot Simon Yates, American Chan Kim and Korean Giwhan Kim. Miguel Tabuena, the reigning local circuit’s Order of Merit champion, missed joining the 69 group with a bogey on No. 17, dropping to a big 70 group that includes Tony Lascuna,

Ireland’s Niall Kearney, Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera, India’s SSP Chawrasia, England’s Steve Lewton, Paul Peterson of the US, Thais Chapchai Nirat and Chinnarat Phadungsil, Korean Charlie Wi, Aussie Terry Pilkadaris and Filipino Jhonnel Ababa.

“I really hit it solid off the tee but my putting was off,” rued Tabuena, who recovered from food poisoning just in time for the event.

Lascuña, the former three-time local circuit’s top player, nearly blew a solid 33 at the back with a shaky 37 windup, while Angelo Que rebounded from a bogey and double mishaps on Nos. 3 and 6, respectively, with six birdies against two more bogeys for a 71 while flightmate and defending champion Mardan Mamat fared even worse with four bogeys and a double bogey against a birdie after 10 holes, needing to birdie three of the last seven holes to save a 74.

Bowling World Cup bids of PH bets hit wall LAS VEGAS, Nevada —The Philippines’ bid to regain glory in the QubicaAMF Bowling World Cup international finals ended in frustration yesterday when national titlists Biboy Rivera and Liza del Rosario failed to make it to the men’s and women’s final eight spots at Sam’s Town here.

Former World FIQ winner Rivera gave his best in eight roundrobin matches but managed to finish only 10th with 6783 pins after 32 games.

Del Rosario, considered one of Asia’s top lady pintopplers, also went out of contention in the world’s most prestigious individual kegfest, winding up in 14th spot with 6384 pins after 32 games.

The Philippines has so far captured seven World Cup crowns – four by legendary Paeng Nepomuceno and one each by Lita dela Rosa, Bong Coo and C.J. Suarez. Nepomuceno’s feat is still unmatched by any World Cup campaigner, both in the men’s and women’s divisions.

South Africa’s Francois Louw and Colombia’s Ciara Guerrero topped the list of the eight men and eight women survivors.

Louw tallied 7130 to finish ahead of Hong Kong’s Siu Hong Wu, who carded 6991; Ireland’s Paul Stott Jr. (6903), Russia’s Alexei Parshukov (6847), Malaysia’s Muhammad Rafiq Ismail (6834), Singapore’s Muhammad Jaris Goh (6813), Indonesia’s Ryan Leonard Lalisang (6809) and Japan’s Tomoyuki Sasaki (6808).

Guerrero rolled 6901 to pace Mexico’s Sandra Gongoro, who chalked up 6874, in the tightly-fourth women’s group.

The United States’ Shannon Pluhowsky came in third at 6869, followed by Russia’s Maria Bulanova (6854), Sweden’s Isabelle Hultin (6715), Sinapore’s Geraldine Ng Su Yi (6681), Malaysia’s Siti Safiyah Amirah (6673) and Finland’s Sanna Pasanen (6646).

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Ranking system identifies budding badminton stars LOTTO RESULTS FOR the last two years, the Philippine Badminton Association Smash Pilipinas has effectively implemented the Philippine National Ranking System in various sanctioned tournaments as the basis for identifying new talents for the national team.

PBA-Smash Pilipinas Secretary General Negros Occidental Representative Albee Benitez said the PNRS has already discovered a lot of young talented players from all over the country who are now in

the national training pool.

“We have identified a lot of new talents during the last two years and we will continue with this process,” said Benitez. “I’m very happy that the PNRS has become an effective and useful tool for the association. We also see how the players improve over time.”

Bingo Bonanza, FDG Cup, Smart Open, Prima Pasta Open, Suncellular National Juniors, last year’s Toby’s Badminton tournament and the Philippine National

Games, are the local tournaments sanctioned by the PBA. “We are thankful to all the organizers for holding these very competitive badminton tournaments,” added Benitez. “They are giving opportunities to many young players. At the same time, they also increase the level of competitiveness of the sport.”

National doubles’ players Philip Joper Escueta and Ronel Estanislao, Peter Magnaye and Paul Vivas, singles’ players Michael Cu-

diamat, Jason Oba-ob, RJ Ormilla, Sarah Barredo, Pauline Tan and Aira Mae Nicole Albo, among others, are the present players ranked by the PNRS, who are in the national team.

PBA Smash Pilipinas team manager Atty. Jackie Cruz said the association also recognizes badminton sports apparel and equipment supplier Victor for helping the PBA Smash Pilipinas this year, particularly in its grassroots program.

6/49 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6/42 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 6 DIGITS 00-00-00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

Teng wants better ending for La Salle five next season

Iglupas, Miyamoto headed for duel

By Peter Atencio

WEEK 1 champion Khim Iglupas and Week 2 winner Ayumi Miyamoto stayed on course for an explosive semifinal clash as they trampled their respective rivals to roll into the quarterfinal round of the PSC-Phinma International Juniors Tennis Championships Week 1 at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City yesterday.

The third seeded Iglupas, who dominated the first of two legs of this annual Grade 4 ITF tournament sponsored

by Phinma Group of Companies and the Philippine Sports Commission last year, rode on the crest of her 6-2, 6-0 romp over Korean Hyeran Yun Wednesday, easing out Japan’s Nagomi Higashitani, 6-3, 6-1.

The 17-year-old Filipina ace will next face another Japanese Anri Nagata, who bundled out Taipei’s Ting Chieh Wei, 6-0, 6-3, in the Last 8 phase of the week-long tournament backed by Mariposa Foundation, Palm Rock Residencs and Dunlop Sport, also the tournament’s distributor of official balls, The top-ranked Miyamoto, who foiled Iglupas in the semis then went on to win the Week 2 crown last year, also dominated Korean Han Byeol Lee, 6-2, 6-3, to set a quarters clash with the winner in the Yingyi Yang-Joleta Budiman match being played at presstime.

A BETTER performance and ending next season.

This is what team skipper and star cager Jeron Teng wants when he returns to action on his final year with the La Salle Green Archers in season 79 of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.

“It’s a painful loss for us. It would have been our ticket to the playoffs. Next year, I will be back. But I don’t want my last game to end like this,” said Teng after the Far Eastern University Tamaraws escaped with a 71-68 beating of his La Salle Green Archers on Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Teng said he hopes that they will have a better season and make it back to the Final Four.

With their loss to the Tams, the Archers fell out of contention in the Final Four for the first time in four seasons.

And graduating players like Teng, Thomas Torres, Julian Sargent and Jason Perkins want to leave the collegiate ranks in a blaze of glory.

“I’m sure they don’t want to graduate to this kind of ending,” said coach Juno Sauler.

The Green Archers led by 11 early in the fourth quarter of their game against the Tamaraws.

But things changed when Roger Pogoy came in.

Pogoy tallied 11 points,

scoring three triples when he came off the bench in the last 4:30 and helping FEU turn the tables on the Green Archers.

Behind by 10 points in the third, the Tams cut down La Salle’s lead by five in the fourth off Fil-Norwegian cager Steve Holmqvist’s driving layup, 52-57.

The 6’2” Pogoy, who came in after Prince Orizu left on a sprained ankle, then sank all of his 11-point tally in the last 2:02. It came during a 13-4 run which handed FEU the upperhand, 65-61.

After that, Sauler said it was the little things that changed the complexity of the game in its final moments.

La Salle managed to stay close off Teng’s basket, 65-67, with 1:22 to go.

They had a chance to tie the count when Holmqvist bungled two charities in the remaining 14.7 seconds.

But the ball stayed in FEU’s possession when Thomas Torres committed an out-ofbounds violation, and Monbert Arong converted two charities off Teng’s foul in the final 12.8 seconds for a 69-66 count.

Holmqvist later made up for his miscue when he assisted Joe Allen Trinidad for a quick drive at endgame.

Jeron Teng [right] of La Salle is forced to pass after being hounded by a pesky FEU defender.

BROSI GONZALES

Beckham named People magazine’s ‘sexiest man alive’ UNITED STATES— David Beckham was declared “sexiest man alive” by People magazine Tuesday, joining an elite club including last year’s winner, Chris Hemsworth, and a handful of other aboveaverage men.

The announcement was made on ABC’s latenight TV show “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” where the magazine cover sporting Beckham’s face was revealed.

“It’s the best moment of my career, I can’t believe

it,” Beckham joked to the crowd, speaking remotely by video.

“I would obviously like to thank my parents for bringing me into this world. I would like to thank my hairdresser, my stylist, Photoshop,” he said.

The 40-year-old retired football legend’s identity was only revealed after host Jimmy Kimmel made his audience guess this year’s winner.

“Has Taylor Swift ever made a song about you?” one person demanded.

“Have you ever had a man bun?” another asked.

By the time Beckham’s identity was divined, the audience knew he was a married athlete with children, had an accent and two tattoos, had never been to jail, and yes, formerly sported a man bun.

Beckham was given a small facial mirror as his reward.

“I never feel that I’m an attractive, sexy person,” Beckham told People magazine.

“I mean I like to wear nice clothes and nice suits and look and feel good, but I don’t ever think of myself that way.”

Beckham, who is married to former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham, follows on the heels of last year’s winner, Australian actor and “Thor” avenger Hemsworth.

The award, which is in its 30th year, has previously gone to Bradley Cooper, Matt Damon, Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, David Beckham was declared “sexiest man alive” by People magazine, Tom Cruise and Mel Gib- joining an elite club including last year’s winner, Chris Hemsworth, and a handful of other above-average men. AFP son, among others. AFP

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RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

REUEL VIDAL A S S I S TA N T E D I T O R

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS The Foton Tornadoes celebrate after scoring a point against the Philips Gold Lady Slammers in the Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix 2015 Women’s Volleyball Tournament. They ended up winning the battle, 25-18, 26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 15-8, to barge into the finals.

ROMAN PROSPERO

Batang Pier, Texters, Aces eye share of lead

By Jeric Lopez

THREE of the hottest teams in the 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup plunge back into action with a tie for first place at stake.

Currently the league’s hottest At the moment, the Batang team with a three-game winning Pier, the Aces, the Tropang Texstreak, much-improved GlobalPort ters and Rain or Shine are in a (3-1) and steady four-way tie for secAlaska (3-1) go at it ond place, behind Games Friday (Smart Araneta Coliseum) with a piece of the league-leading San p.m. - GlobalPort vs. Alaska tournament lead on 4:15 Miguel Beer (4-1).

7 p.m. - NLEX vs. Talk ‘N Text the line in their 4:15 Since GlobalPort p.m. clash at the and Alaska will batSmart Araneta Coliseum today. tle and Talk ‘N Text has a game of Then, Talk ‘N Text (3-1), an- its own, two of those three teams other team gaining steam with a will tie the Beermen at the top by two-game winning run, aims on the end of the night. achieving the same result when Following its opening-game it figures in a sibling rivalry with loss, the Batang Pier, who many slipping NLEX (2-2) at 7 p.m. consider as a stronger team this

Rockets win after sacking coach TURN TO A12

season, suddenly racked up three wins in a row to move up the ladder and show everyone that it is definitely a force to reckon with.

In its last game, GlobalPort played the role of giant-killer when it downed erstwhile unbeaten Rain or Shine, 113-111, courtesy of the heroics of rising star Stanley Pringle as he drained the last-second, game-winning lay-up to lift the Batang Pier.

Due to their impressive start and drastic improvement, GlobalPort coach Pido Jarencio admitted that the team’s confidence is at an all-time high and this might play a big part in the Batang Pier’s quest against the veteran and talented Aces.

“That win over Rain or Shine was a good boost to the team. Mataas ang morale ng buong team,’’ said Jarencio. “Our desire to win is there

Beckham is ‘sexiest man alive’ TURN TO A15

and maraming nagko-contribute.

We’re playing hard para maganda ang puwesto sa standings.’’

The deadly and prolific backcourt tandem of Pringle and Terrence Romeo continued to thrive as they are leading GlobalPort’s rise. The two spitfires combined for 52 points, 27 for Pringle and 25 for Romeo, against the Elasto Painters.

As for the erstwhile leader Aces, they lost their last game against Ginebra, 92-93, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates more than a week ago after a rousing 3-0 jumpstart.

Alaska now attempts to get back to its winning ways as it braces ahead for an acid test against GlobalPort.

Another streaking team is Talk ‘N Text. The Tropang Texters have now won two straight after a 1-1 start.

Foton makes finals

By Peter Atencio LINDSAY Stalzer and Dindin Santiago-Manabat came up with big plays in the fifth and deciding set to lead the Foton Tornadoes past the Philips Gold Lady Slammers, 25-18, 26-24, 18-25, 25-20, 15-8, last night in their knockout semifinals at the Arena in San Juan.

Their huge effort put the Tornadoes in the finals of the Philippine Super Liga Grand Prix 2015 Women Volleyball Tournament.

Santiago-Manabat scored on two hits at the net, and so did Stalzer as the Tornadoes got back control of the game with their 6-1 advantage.

They never looked in trouble afterwards as the Tornadoes stepped up with their attack, with Stalzer scoring on three more kills at the net, giving them a 9-4 lead.

“We were just focused. We wanted this game so bad. We were never doubtful that we weren’t going to win,” said Stalzer, a Bradley University standout back in college in the United States as she finished with 29 points, with 26 scored on hits, while three came from blocks.

The Tornadoes took the first two sets when the Lady Slammers picked up the pace and won the next two sets.

“There was a relaxing part in in the third and fourth set.

Good thing we had a fresh start in the fifth set. It worked,” said coach Vilet Ponce de Leon.

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 20, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS Agri partnership.

Telstra seen not a threat to PH telcos

Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala (right) and Grow Asia director for country partnerships Jenny Costelloe discuss future collaborations of the Agriculture Department and Grow Asia during the Philippines Partnership for Sustainable Agriculture General Meeting in Quezon City. Agricultural stakeholders during the event were divided into groups to discuss challenges and propose solutions within the different industries of the agriculture sector, including corn, coconut, coffee, cassava and fisheries.

By Darwin G. Amojelar

BSP ready to adjust vs Fed rate increase

By Julito G. Rada

BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas said Thursday the possibility of an interest rate hike by the US Federal Reserve in December will generate more financial market volatility and may force policy makers to review economic targets.

Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said monetary authorities were monitoring developments overseas because of their impact on the domestic financial markets.

He said the imminent interest rate hike by the US Fed would be a major factor to consider in the review of the country’s economic targets this year.

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“We have to consider the forthcoming US Fed lift-off which could generate some financial market volatility. Vigilance is critical,” Guinigundo said in a text message.

The US Fed, in its meeting in September, kept interest rates unchanged but hinted of a possible rate hike before the end of the year.

Guinigundo said earlier the

CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK

Fed’s September statement would create further uncertainties in the global financial markets that could affect local financial markets.

The Philippine peso depreciated by 5 percent since the start of the year while stocks dropped 5.6 percent in the same period, because of the market volatility.

Guinigundo said Bangko Sentral was “still reviewing our external payments position.”

The Bangko Sentral reviews its economic projections twice a year—in May and October. It targets $81.6 billion in gross international reserves, a surplus of $2 billion for balance of payments, $6-billion net inflow of foreign direct investments, $1.4-billion net inflow of foreign portfolio investments and a 5-percent growth in

remittances this year.

Meanwhile, Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the bank was studying the possibility of increasing its holdings of Chinese currency in foreign exchange reserves amid the growing use of yuan in the global financial transactions.

“That is clearly an option for the BSP in its efforts to diversify the foreign currency composition of its reserves and to enhance its yields on foreign exchange assets,” Tetangco said at the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Manila.

“We will of course have to understand how the domestic market works in China so that we’d be in a better position to make decision,” Tetangco said.

THE entry of Telstra Corp. through a joint venture with San Miguel Corp. is unlikely to shake up the telecom landscape in the Philippines, which is dominated

by Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. and Globe Telecom Inc., according to debt watcher Fitch Ratings.

The credit rating agency said the potential entry of Telstra in the country would have “limited” impact on competition in the telecom market over the next two years.

Fitch cited infrastructure sharing as one of the challenges that Telstra and San Miguel would be facing, because sharing of networks was not mandatory in the Philippines.

This means Telstra and San Miguel would spend billions of pesos to roll out their own mobile and broadband networks, it said.

The planned joint venture between San Miguel and Telstra would see the local conglomerate holding a majority stake, in compliance with the 1987 Constitution, which limits the foreign ownership of utilities to a maximum of 40 percent.

Telstra plans to invest less than $1 billion in the Philippines to roll out the telecom network.

“Initial rollout by the new entrant is likely to focus on mobile broadband services in the first two years, with a likely expansion into mobile telephony once the network build-out is completed,” Fitch said.

It said the joint venture would experience large cash burn, given the significant capital outlay and price competition to build a subscriber base.

FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 20, 2015

B2 PSALM cuts debt to P574b

By Alena Mae S. Flores POWER Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., the agency in charge of selling the government’s energy assets, said it trimmed its financial obligations to P574.9 billion as of endMarch from a peak of P1.241 trillion in 2003.

PSALM, which manages the assets and liabilities of National Power Corp., said in a report it reduced the liabilities by contin implementing a liability management program and strategies.

“This reduction amounting P665.68 billion is attributable to the lower BoT [build-operate-transfer] lease obligations and debt balances which were brought about by the privatization of some IPP [independent power producer] plants and payments of maturing obligations,” the agency said.

The government transferred Napocor’s assets and debts of PSALM in 2008.

The total asset balance transferred to PSALM amounted to P831 billion as of Dec. 31, 2008, while total liability balance was P904.8 billion.

PSALM said privatization efforts generated $19.878 billion as of the first quarter this year.

The agency said of the amount, actual collection amounted to $9.577 billion, while the balance of $10.30 billion remained to be collected.

The agency has yet to collect bulk of the privatization proceeds from the independent power producer administrator privatization amounting to $7.744 billion.

The remaining $2.557 billion is to be collected from the transmission business privatization.

PSALM said that as of first quarter, the entire proceeds from the privatization of the power generating assets amounting to $3.534 billion had been collected.

Proceeds from the sale of the decommissioned plant were also collected.

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

PLDT invested P6b to migrate network

By Darwin G. Amojelar

PHILIPPINE Long Distance Telephone Co. said it invested P6 billion to migrate its legacy network into a purely Internet Protocol-based next generation network that will enhance the delivery of various services to customers.

The network transformation program, covering the PLDT Group’s 271 offices in 48 provinces nationwide, involved the migration of 782 switches and nearly 1.3 million lines.

“This is an achievement for PLDT because it is one of the very few carriers in the world that has completely transformed its legacy network,” PLDT president and chief executive Napoleon Naza-

reno said.

The legacy network is a public switched telephone network composed of electronic switches that have now been decommissioned to give way to the digitally enabled NGN. “With an IP-based system, we can improve customer experience in terms of better service quality and reliability. It also enhances our capacity to offer

more relevant and customized services to our subscribers,” Nazareno said.

“With the ceremonial shutdown of our legacy landline network, we are now going full throttle in making our various networks fully digital. We are rolling out our fiber network and strengthening our mobile network. We are building the digital infrastructure that will power the future growth of our companies and our country,” he said.

PLDT has the most expansive and resilient fiber transmission and distribution network, spanning over 100,000 kilometers, that serves both fixed and cellular networks.

PLDT fixed network migration head Angelito Lorena Jr. said the

NGN system would significantly improve customer experience as it ensures a more reliable and robust service.

“It is an all IP-based network and is therefore capable of delivering new digital services, such as high-quality voice, data and multimedia services to customers,” Lorena said.

“We have always considered our customers during the migration process, constantly communicating with them and making sure that PLDT’s services are not disrupted during the cut-over from the electronic legacy switch to NGN,” he said.

Lorena said because of the network migration, PLDT reduced trouble indices from around 10 percent to as low as 0.49 percent.

Farm-to-market road.

A coconut farmer in San Juan, Sogod, Southern Leyte hauls his harvest for delivery to a local copra processing center.

The Agriculture Department’s Philippine Rural Development Project supports coconut farmers and other agricultural producers in this part of Eastern Visayas with the concreting and rehabilitation of the 4.23-kilometer farm-to-market road connecting four barangays. The P30.38-million PRDP subproject will serve about 650 hectares of coconut plantations and more than 400 hectares of land planted to abaca, rice and high-value crops.

Technology infrastructure key to growth of SMEs, says Poe

By Gabrielle H. Binaday THE government should develop the technology infrastructure to support the growth of small and medium enterprises and start-ups in the country, according to Senator Grace Poe. “Technology infrastructure is the critical element in unlocking the potential of SMEs and start-ups for economic growth. This is where the government should focus its efforts,” Poe said in a statement.

“At the Apec [Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation] SME Summit which the country is hosting, Manila was identified as one of three cities in the world projected to be a center of global innovation along with Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur. But the sad reality is that our growth will continue to be

limited by the slow pace of expansion of technology infrastructure,” Poe said.

She said technology infrastructure is a combination of many elements such as software, hardware and networks. “We need these elements in one platform. Without one or two of these, the infrastructure will be deficient,” the senator said.

Poe said the country was considered a hotbed of innovation, with the success of a number of start-ups like Salt (Sustainable Alternative Lighting), founded

by Aisa Mijeno who was thrust in the limelight at the Apec CEO Summit when she shared the stage with US President Barack Obama and Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba.

“Ms. Mijeno is living proof that the Philippines is a goldmine of innovation. She and many other Filipinos have proven that there is no shortage of talent in the country. But we need to give Ms. Mijeno and other Filipino innovators the much-needed support,” Poe said.

Poe said foreign investors were blocked in doing business in the country by the weak infrastructure.

“It is the same in the technology sector which impacts the growth of SMEs and start-ups. Until we can put in place the infrastructure and guarantee consistent, and cheap communications network that can interconnect businesses, industries, investors and even universities and research organizations, we will never be able

to achieve our full potential as a competitive SME and technology player not only in the region but in the world,” Poe said.

Apec data showed that SMEs accounted for over 97 percent of all enterprises in Asia-Pacific economies and over half of the employment in these countries.

SMEs also account for a sizable share of the gross domestic product of Apec economies, from 20 to 50 percent in majority of these countries.

SMEs comprise 99.6 percent of all registered business and employ 70 percent of the workforce in the Philippines.

Poe said issues hampering the growth and sustainability of SMEs and start-ups should be addressed according to a realistic and doable roadmap. She said constraints

such as access to funds, reliability and affordability of communications and data networks, and provision of funds and technical information for SME research and development were among the issues that should be addressed immediately.

Meanwhile, President Benigno Aquino III said in his speech at the Apec CEO Summit in Makati that micro, small and medium enterprises were drivers of inclusive growth in the country.

“We want Filipino MSMEs to be able to participate more in that trade: we want to help them make the most of the vast market that regional economic integration provides,” Aquino said.

“In fact, we want to achieve the same for all SMEs across Apec member-economies,” he said.

FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 20, 2015

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

US agri giant Cargill grows presence in Vietnam WHILE many who had to frantically reschedule their long-set plans due to last-minute announcements and poor coordination

by Malacañang bright boys and mouthpieces who think Filipinos should be grateful that the powers-that-be occupying the Palace said “sorry” for the inconvenience, life goes on for businesses and industries elsewhere.

Vietnam, which a little over a decade ago was lagging behind the Philippines, is attracting a lot of investors for various sectors, among them the electronics industry with news that it attracted $10 billon in foreign direct investment inflows from such giants as Samsung, LG, Panasonic and Foxconn. Double digits— impressive, don’t you think so?

According to reports, Vietnam showed the fastest growth rate last year in terms of export revenues and foreign market share compared to other Asean countries—yes, the Philippines included—making it the 3rd biggest electronics exporter in the reguin and the 12th in the world.

Many find Vietnam a good place to do business in because of its tax incentives and the fact that its government is quick to see and take advantage of opportunities, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership boat which unfortunately, the Philippines missed out on.

And now, here comes US agri giant Cargill that has announced expansion plans via a new $30-million animal feed mill in Binh Duong province and a $10-million agreement with Saigon International Terminals Vietnam for dedicated grain and oilseeds warehousing facilities in Phu My. That’s a total $40 million, bringing Cargill’s investment to $180 million.

The company is also incorporating CSR into the equation with its commitment to build 25 more schools across rural Vietnam by 2020, after having fulfilled its initial goal of building 75 schools by 2015. The latest school located in Phu Xuyen district – the 75th school opened by Cargill in its 20 years in Vietnam – was inaugurated by Cargill chairman and chief executive David MacLennan a few days ago.

According to MacLennan, “Vietnam represents a very important market for us globally and presents clear growth opportunities. This year, we celebrate 20 years in the country during which we have leveraged our access to global markets and 150-year industry expertise to help contribute to the development of the agriculture sector here. These new investments and the extension of our school building program only reinforce our commitment to the Vietnamese market and its people.”

The employee-led volunteering program aims at providing better education to less privileged children in rural Vietnam.

Cargill has raised more than $3.8 million for the program and has achieved its goal of building 75 schools by 2015. More than 13,000 children have benefitted from the program so far.

“Giving back to the communities we live and work in is in our company’s DNA. Every child deserves an education and what our Vietnam team has achieved with their school building initiative is nothing short of remarkable. It makes me proud to be part of the Cargill family and I am sure my 155,000 colleagues worldwide will agree,” said MacLennan.

The $30-million new animal feed mill will have a total capacity of 260,000 metric tons per year and will become operational in the first half of 2017. It will incorporate the latest technologies currently available in the industry. The feed mill will bring Cargill’s total number of animal nutrition production facilities in Vietnam to 12.

Cargill currently has 10 animal feed mills in Vietnam that produce compound feed for both livestock and aquatic species, and one facility in Dong Nai which provides premix animal nutrition ingredients to feed manufacturers and vertically integrated producers. The company has made strong headway in the animal nutrition business in Vietnam over the past 20 years and now stands as one of the most trusted leaders in that industry. *** For comments, reactions, photos, stories and related concerns, readers may email to happyhourtoday2012@yahoo.com.

You may also visit and like our Facebook page https://www. facebook.com/happyhourmanilastandard. We’d be very happy to hear from you. Cheers!

US President Barack Obama (right) and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Manila on November 19, 2015. AFP

12 TPP leaders vow to ratify trade deal

By Othel V. Campos

LEADERS of 12 Asia-Pacific countries met in Manila Wednesday night to welcome the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement, which will create the world’s largest free trade bloc.

US President Barack Obama met with heads of Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam at the sidelines of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Summit to push for the ratification of TPP by individual members.

Other Apec members, including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, China and Russia, are not yet members of TPP. TPP is a landmark agreement that eliminates or reduces tariffs, lowers the cost of trade and sets new and high standards for global trade, while addressing nextgeneration issues. Each member country should ratify the agree-

ment in order to become binding.

“We congratulate our ministers and negotiating teams, after more than five years of negotiations, on delivering a result that achieves the goal set out in 2011 of a comprehensive, balanced and transformational regional agreement– one that spans the Pacific, touches three continents and unites 800 million people,” the 12 TPP economies said in a statement.

These countries believe that the regional trade group will set highstandard trade rules that will support 21st-century commerce, provide ambitious liberalization of trade and investment, strengthen and broaden the mutually-beneficial linkages between economies

and enhance regional and global competitiveness.

TPP also aims to support the creation of jobs and new opportunities for young people, promote economic growth and development, support innovation to alleviate poverty and ensure the greatest benefits for all people.

The group said it was also pleased that the negotiated text of the TPP agreement is now available in full for review and consideration before it is signed.

The 12 economies said they were looking forward to the expeditious consideration and approval of the TPP, consistent with each of the country’s domestic processes.

Members of the TPP said they were eager to implement the agreement so that “our consumers, workers, farmers, and businesses both large and small can begin to realize its shared benefits as swiftly as possible and the better future that the TPP represents.”

Albay prohibits plastics, firecrackers LEGAZPI CITY—Albay once more turns ‘”green” the whole month of December this year with the celebration of Karangahan Green Christmas Festival, which bans the use of plastics and firecrackers.

The festival is consistent with its environment protection and “zero casualty” campaign. Karangahan comes from the ancient Bikol word “ranga,” which means solace with a high degree of respect, caring and blissful joy.

Now in its sixth year, the festival features the iconic giant Christmas Tree, this time made of the ubiquitous Karagumoy plant, which is commonly used in weaving mats, hats and baskets. Karagumoy is a most essential material of Albay’s handicraft industry.

Pili seedlings and camote tops were previous materials of the iconic giant tree, the most photographed fixture of Albay’s Karangahan Green Christmas Festival on social media.

Albay Governor Joey Salceda recently issued a memorandum to heads of offices and personnel of the provincial government to ensure a “safe and joyful celebration” of the holidays with friends, visitors and tourists, with emphasis on close family ties and a safe environment.

Salceda said in a memorandum the Green Christmas initiative would again highlight the zerocasualty from firecrackers and the promotion of low-carbon modes of celebration.

Karangahan Green Christmas Festival supports Albay’s Climate

Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction campaign and is an important component of the province’s tourism program.

Salceda’s green Christmas memorandum strictly prohibits firecrackers and the use of plastic materials in food servings and decorations. It encourages the use of organic and indigenous materials and enjoins government employees to invite the less privileged and vulnerable to their Christmas parties.

Albay has been a recipient of three consecutive Galing Pook Awards for outstanding governance program on disaster preparedness; and Gawad Kalasag Hall of Fame Award for best disaster risk reduction and management council for three consecutive years.

FRIDAY: NOVEMBER 20, 2015

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Japan defers further easing TOKYO—Japan’s central bank on Thursday held fire on expanding its monetary easing program, even as the world’s third-largest economy slipped into its second recession in two years and monthly exports fell.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been trying since late 2012 to revitalize Japan’s economy through his signature “Abenomics” policies, with aggressive monetary easing by the Bank of Japan at its foundation.

Some analysts anticipate the BoJ will be forced to expand its massive 80-trillion yen ($665 billion) annual asset-buying scheme, launched more than two

years ago to kickstart growth and end deflation—the chronic decline in prices that has sapped growth for years.

But the BoJ opted to do nothing at the end of its two-day policy meeting, as it did last month— when expectations were even higher it would take action but before news of the latest recession.

“Japan’s economy has continued to recover moderately, al-

though exports and production have been affected by the slowdown in emerging economies,” the bank said in a statement.

“Inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole from a somewhat longer-term perspective, although some indicators have recently shown relatively weak developments,” it said in the dry, carefully phrased language of global central banks.

Haruhiko Kuroda, BoJ governor and architect of the monetary easing, will elaborate on the decision later Thursday at a press conference.

The BoJ last month was forced to cut its growth outlook and pushed back the timeline for

a key inflation target as earlier, more optimistic predictions failed to come true.

The government on Monday announced that Japan’s economic growth slowed for a second straight quarter, marking the second time it has fallen into recession during Abe’s current tenure as premier.

And in figures released earlier Thursday, the finance ministry announced that Japan’s exports declined in October for the first time in more than a year, as economic growth in giant neighbor China slows.

Overseas shipments by value declined 2.1 percent, the first fall since August of last year, while

the value of exports by Japanese companies to China shrank 3.6 percent in October, the ministry said, as growth in the world’s second-largest economy slows.

“While the Bank of Japan literally ignored the renewed fall in [the third quarter] GDP in today’s policy statement, we think that a likely moderation in underlying inflation will eventually force policymakers to introduce more stimulus,” Marcel Thieliant, Japan economist at Capital Economics said in a statement.

The BoJ’s bond-buying scheme has led to a sharp decline in the yen, seen largely as a positive as it can make Japanese products cheaper overseas. AFP

Asian markets, currencies advance CHINA—Asian stocks and emerging market currencies rallied Thursday after minutes from the Federal Reserve showed growing confidence in the US economy, ramping up the chances of a December interest rate hike.

“Most participants” at the US central bank’s October policy expected conditions to be right by their next meeting, having broadly dropped their worries about the global economy and recent market turmoil, the minutes said.

Fed chief Janet Yellen had said earlier in the year she expected an increase by 2016 but a hike was put off several times during the summer as world markets were hammered by worries about China and the global outlook.

But a string of figures out of Washington recently—particularly on jobs growth and price rises—coupled with an uptick on equities markets, has reignited confidence at the Fed to lift rates for the first time in nine years.

Also, a number of Fed policymakers were concerned that, having built up expectations of a hike for so long, not moving would send a disturbing message and erode the bank’s credibility.

Delaying a rise “could increase uncertainty in financial markets and unduly magnify the perceived importance of the beginning of the policy normalization process,” the minutes said.

Worries about a hike have also been tempered by previous comments from the bank that any increase would be gradual.

“The pace of the rise is what’s much more important than the rate rise itself,” Angus Gluskie, a managing director at White Funds Management in Sydney, told Bloomberg News. AFP

Brazilian designer and researcher Marcelo Coelho from the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Media Lab speaks during his presentation at ‘EmTech Brasil’ in Rio de Janerio, Brazil, on November 18, 2015. EmTech is a conference on emerging technologies which is for the first time organized in Brazil by the MIT Technology Review. AFP

Smart clothes to evolve soon: Welcome to the future

By Sebastian Smith BRAZIL—Wish there was a gadget able to transform your boring office uniform into a party outfit, or even a device that guides you straight to new friends?

Then call Marcelo Coelho.

A researcher with Fluid Interfaces at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab, Coelho works at the cutting edge of wearable devices that may be smarter than the person wearing them.

One of the most promising areas is clothing that integrates computers and can practically think for itself.

“You can program your shirt for it to change color, or move to a different pattern,” he said.

“Maybe you’re at work today and want your shirt one way, but you’ll be at a party tonight and

want it different.”

Another creation is a dress with a hemline that rises and falls—or another dress, decorated with gently opening and closing flowers.

Coelho, 35, was speaking at MIT’s 2015 EmTech conference Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, where for two days leaders in emerging technology give glimpses of the future.

The message is that science fiction-like developments are rapidly under way in areas as diverse as drones and medicine.

But for Coelho, originally from Brazil, the joy is bringing the mysteries of the lab to everyday situations.

Building on that office-toparty scenario, Coelho unveiled a device that would help you find the people you might want to talk to, flirt with or avoid.

Shaped like a normal watch, the tiny computer is programmed with personal data—your Facebook information or something more customized—then communicates with other devices in the room.

“You go to the event and it can match your wrist band to someone else’s,” he explained. “If you have nothing in common with a stranger at the event, a red light will go on and if you do, a green light will go on.”

“You may wonder where all this craziness is going,” he said with a wry smile.

The answer to that, says another MIT scientist, Skylar Tibbits, is self-assembly.

No, not self-assembly as in struggling with instructions and wrenches over a bed you just bought in a box. Tibbits means self-assembly as in the thing—

the bed, or whatever it may be— assembling itself.

This is the idea of 4D printing, Tibbits’ specialty.

If 3D printers can produce three-dimensional objects at the touch of a button, 4D means they then go on to transform or organize themselves in useful ways.

Unlike robots these materials are not computerized and do not need power like electricity. They react to ordinary forces like pressure or heat or water and change, but are engineered by the scientists so that they change shape in a pre-determined way.

For example, a wet shoe or tire can be made to grow better grip, reverting to normal when dry. Tibbits’ Self-Assembly Lab at MIT, is exploring whether the technology can later be applied to much bigger objects, even in construction. AFP

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Funeral. Iraqis attend a funeral near the city of Basra of nine members of the Popular Mobilization units supporting the Iraqi forces in the battle against the Islamic State group. AFP

Belgian PM rejects criticism on attacks BRUSSELS—Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel on Thursday rejected criticism of his country’s security services over the Paris attacks, saying Belgian intelligence led to a huge raid in France targeting the suspected mastermind.

“I do not accept the criticisms which were aimed at denigrating the work of our security services,” Michel said in a speech to parliament in which he unveiled new security measures.

“Yesterday, in Saint-Denis [in Paris] an attack was prevented thanks in particular to intelligence provided by Belgian teams,” the prime minister added.

French police staged a ferocious seven-hour assault in Saint-Denis on Wednesday after intelligence led investigators to an apartment where the Belgian suspected of orchestrating the worst ever ter-

ror attack on French soil was thought to be hiding.

“I want to thank our magistrates, our police officers, our intelligence services for their courage and mobilization,” Michel said.

“Thanks to them lives have been saved”.

French President Francois Hollande has said that the attacks were “planned in Syria, prepared and organized in Belgium.”

The most notorious jihadist connected to Brussels is Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the alleged mastermind of the Paris attacks, who grew up in the Molenbeek district before going to join the Islamic State group in Syria.

He escaped a raid on a terror cell in Belgium in January that killed two other Islamists but French officials said he was targeted in an operation in Paris on Wednesday. AFP

France to extend emergency state PARIS—French police were on Thursday sifting through the wreckage from a huge raid targeting the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks as lawmakers prepared to vote on extending a state of emergency.

Investigators have yet to confirm whether the body of Abdelhamid Abaaoud was among the rubble of an apartment block after a seven-hour siege in a northern district of Paris on Wednesday.

At least two were killed in the operation—a woman thought to have blown herself up with a suicide vest and another body found riddled with bullets, according to Paris prosecutor Francois Molins.

Eight people were arrested, but neither Abaaoud, the Belgian suspected of

orchestrating the worst ever militant attack on French soil, nor Salah Abdeslam, suspected of taking part with his suicide-bomber brother Brahim, were among those held.

French lawmakers on Thursday were to begin debating whether to extend the state of emergency declared after last week’s attacks to February, and expand it to allow suspects to be placed under house arrest.

As international efforts to fight the Islamic State group that claimed it carried out the attacks in which 129 people died and hundreds were injured, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Russia was open to cooperation against IS in Syria.

“There is an opening, so to speak, with the Russians. We think they are sincere and we must bring together all our forces,” Fabius told France Inter radio.

But the world powers remain divided over the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is strongly

backed by Russia.

US President Barack Obama reiterated Thursday that Syria’s civil war could not end unless Assad leaves power.

Unconfirmed police sources, cited

by France 2 television, said the group targeted in the apartment was a fourth team in addition to the three involved in Friday’s attack.

It may have been planning to strike Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris and the La Defense business district on the city’s western rime, they said.

Severe damage to the building and the state of the bodies made it impossible to know exactly how many had been killed and who they were, the prosecutor said.

“A new team of terrorists was neutralized and all indications are that given their arms, their organizational structure and their determination, the commando could have struck.”

AFP

Pilot grounded for offering ‘young hostess’

Arrival. Syrian refugees walk up a hill after arriving on the Greek island of Lesbos after crossing the Aegean Sea from Turkey on November 19. AFP

JAKARTA—An Indonesian airline has grounded a pilot after he allegedly offered an air hostess to passengers as compensation for a delay on a flight to the resort island of Bali.

Loud moaning sounds were also heard from the cockpit throughout the Lion Air flight, with one passenger left so shocked that he lodged a complaint about improper behavior with the transport ministry.

The passenger, Lambertus Maeng-

kom, said that as the plane took off late from Java island, the co-pilot jokingly announced over the PA system that he was offering a female, divorced flight attendant to passengers to make up for the delay.

“We want to ask whether it is standard procedure, applied by [authorities], to make Lion Air pilots offer a divorced flight attendant to passengers, repeatedly, over the microphone,” Maengkom said in his

complaint.

The co-pilot, who has not been named, also loudly wished one of the other crew members “happy birthday” over the PA system during the flight on Saturday, it said.

“It was not funny at all, it was dangerous,” Maengkom said, adding that angry passengers had questioned whether the co-pilot was sober and unsuccessfully sought to confront him when the plane landed. AFP

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N. Korea faces condemnation UNITED NATIONS—North Korea could face its strongest condemnation to date of its human rights record when the United Nations votes Thursday on a draft resolution deploring widespread abuses in the deeply reclusive country.

European and Japanese diplomats who drafted the measure say they are hoping to garner more votes than last year in the General Assembly, which has condemned Pyongyang’s rights record every year since 2005—but to little avail.

This year’s measure, co-sponsored by more than 50 countries, condemns “longstanding and ongoing systematic, widespread and gross violations of human rights” in North Korea.

For the second consecutive year, it en-

SCN FORM NO. 1 (R.A. NO. 9139)

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON NATURALIZATION IN THE MATTER OF THE PETITION OF VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG to be naturalized as Filipino citizen pursuant to Republic Act No. 9139.

x-------------------------- x

SCN CASE NO. 000607

PETITION Pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No. 9139, petitioner hereby submits a petition for naturalization to become a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines and respectfully declares: 1. My full name is Van Arnold Uy Chung , but I have also been known since childhood as N.A. or I have been judicially authorized to use the alias name(s) N.A. .

2. My present place of residence is 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz City/Municipality of Manila, Province of and all my former places of residence are (please indicate periods of residence) 40 West Point Cubao, Quezon City (since birth until 1996) 3. I was born on 13 June 1973, in Quezon City, Philippines.

I have been a resident of the Philippines since birth. At present, I am a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China.

4. My father's name is Valentino Chung and he was born on 02 January 1949, in Manila. He is a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China. My mother's name is Lydia Ng Uy Poot and she was born on 01 June 1953 in Caloocan. She is a citizen or subject of People’s Republic of China.

5. My trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is businessman and from which I derive an average annual income of P10,122,471.22, inclusive of bonuses, commissions and allowances. My wife's/husband's trade, business, profession or lawful occupation is businesswoman and from which she derives an average annual income of P 10,122,471.22.

(Where the above does not apply): I am exempt from the requirement of lucrative trade or occupation and from submitting income tax returns for the past three (3) years because I am a college degree holder [please state (1) degree obtained: N.A., (2) name of school: N.A. and (3) years graduated: N.A.] who cannot practice my profession (the practice of which requires a government licensure examination) by reason of my citizenship.

6. My civil status is married , I was married on 30 April 1998 in Caloocan City. My wife's/husband's name is Angelina O. Delos Santos and she/he was born on 02 Jan. 1975 in Manila . She/he is a citizen or subject of Philippines and presently resides at 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila .

7. I am legally separated from my spouse; my marriage was annulled, per decree of legal separation/annulment dated N.A. granted by N.A.. (please indicate the particular court which granted the same). I am a widower/widow and my spouse died on N.A. in N.A..

8. I have two (2) child/children, whose names, dates and places of birth and residences are as follows:

Name Date of Birth Place of Birth Residence 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Gian Gabriel 21 Feb. 1997 Manila Gian Timothy 19 Apr. 2002

Cruz, Manila

Manila

same as above

9. I received my primary and secondary education from the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Name of School

Place of School

Dates of Study

Philippine Cultural High School Philippine Cultural High School University of Santo Tomas

Manila

1983-1988

Highest Grade Completed Elementary

Manila

1988-1992

High School

Manila

1992-1997

Fourth Year

10. I am able to read, write and speak Filipino and/or any of the following dialects of the Philippines: 11. I have enrolled my minor children of school age in the following public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the Department of Education, Culture and Sports (DECS), where Philipine History, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality:

Name of Child Gian Timothy

Name and Place of School UNO High School, Manila

Date of Enrollment June 2015

12. I shall never be a public charge. I am of good moral character.

I believe in the principles underlying the Philippine Constitution.

I have conducted myself in a proper and irreproachable manner during the entire period of my residence in the Philippines in my relations with the constituted government as well as with the community in which I am living. I mingled socially with Filipinos and have evinced a sincere desire to learn and embrace the customs, traditions and ideals of the Filipino people. I have all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications under Republic Act No. 9139.

courages the Security Council to consider referring Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

Such a move, however, would likely be blocked by Pyongyang’s sole major ally China, which has veto power in the council.

The draft resolution demands that a vast network of prison camps in North Korea thought to be holding 100,000 inmates living in appalling conditions be shut down.

The vote at the General Assembly’s committee on humanitarian issues follows reports that UN Secretary-General Ban Kimoon planned this week to visit Pyongyang for talks with leader Kim Jong-Un. South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday that Ban, a South Korean, would be making the first visit by a UN secretary-general to North Korea in more than 20 years, but the UN said the following day that no such trip was planned in the immediate future. AFP

I am not opposed to organized government or affiliated with any association or group of persons who uphold and teach doctrines opposing all organized governments. I am not defending or teaching the necessity or propriety of violence, personal assault or assassination for the success and predominance of one's ideas.

I am not a polygamist nor a believer in the practice of polygamy.

I have not been convicted of any crime involving moral turpitude.

I am not suffering from mental alienation or from any incurable contagious disease. The country of which I am a citizen or subject is not at war with the Philippines and grants to Filipinos the right to be naturalized citizens or subjects thereof.

13. It is my true and honest intention to become a citizen of the Philippines and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and, particularly, to People’s Republic of China of which at this time I am a citizen or subject. I will reside continuously in the Philippines from the date of the filing of this petition up to the time of my admission to Philippine citizenship.

14. My character witnesses are Mr. Alfonso Delos Santos and Ms. Alota Ong both Filipino citizens, of legal age, and residing at 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila and 914 T. Alonzo St., Sta. Cruz, Manila respectively, who have executed sworn statements attached hereto in support of my instant petition, together with: (a) brief biographical data about themselves; (b) detailed statements on the dates they first came to know me, the circumstances of our initial acquaintance and the reasons and extent of our continuing familiarity; and (c) the number of times they have acted as character witnesses in other petitions for naturalization.

15. Attached hereto as annexes and made part of this petition are the duplicate originals or certified photocopies of the following documents (please check the appropriate box): [ / ] a. Petitioner's birth certificate [ / ] b. Petitioner's alien certificate of registration (ACR) [ / ] c. Petitioner's native-born certificate of residence (NBCR) [ / ] d. Petitioner's marriage certificate, if married [ ] e. Death certificate of his/her spouse, if widowed [ ] f. Court decree annulling his/her marriage or granting legal separation, if such was the fact [ / ] g. Birth certificates of petitioner's minor children [ ] h. ACRs of petitioner's minor children [ ] i. NBCRs of petitioner's minor children [ / ] j. Affidavits of financial capacity by the petitioner, duly supported by bank certifications, passbooks, stock certificates, or proof of ownership of other properties [ / ] k. Affidavits of at least two (2) credible witnesses who must be Filipino citizens of good reputation in petitioner's place of residence [ / ] l. Medical certificate from a government hospital stating that petitioner is not suffering from mental alienation or a user of prohibited drugs or otherwise a drug dependent and that he/she is not afflicted with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), or any incurable contagious disease. [ / ] m. School diploma and transcript of records of the petitioner from the school/s he or she attended in the Philippines [ / ] n. Certifications stating that petitioner's minor children are enrolled in public schools or private educational institutions duly recognized by the DECS, where Philippine history, government and civics are taught and prescribed as part of the school curriculum and where enrollment is not limited to any race or nationality [ ] o. Petitioner's income tax returns for the past three years [ ] p. Petitioner's receipts of payment of income tax for the past three years 16. Other documents submitted by the petitioner in support of his/her petition: 2014 Income Tax Return 2013 Income Tax Return 2012 Income Tax Return Drug Test Report Psychiatric Report Barangay Clearance NBI Clearance Police Clearance

Laboratory Report (HIV Test) Regional Trial Court Clearance Metropolitan Trial Court Clearance Office of the City Prosecutor Clearance Affidavit of Loss Form 137-Elementary Form 137-Elementary Certification (Philippine Cultural College) PRAYER

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that petitioner be conferred Philippine citizenship pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act No, 9139.

Dated at Makati City, Metro Manila, this day

of

, 20

.

VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG Name and Signature of Petitioner Address: A 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila Telephone Number:0918-927-7853 Number: 7853

Right Thumbmark of Petitioner Petitioner's signature and right thumbmark

REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES) CITY/MUNICIPALITY OF PASIG) S.S. I, VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG of legal age and a resident of 1679 Tayuman St., Sta. Cruz, Manila, after being duly sworn, depose and say that I am the petitioner herein, that I have read the foregoing petition and know the foregoing petition and known the contents thereof, and that the same is true of my own knowledge.

VAN ARNOLD UY CHUNG Name ame and Signature of Petitioner SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me at Pasig City this 28th day of September, 2015.

DOC. No. 349 PAGE No. 71 BOOK No. I SERIES OF 2015

(TS-NOV. 13, 20, 27, 2015)

MARK ERWIN C. CASTILLO NOTARY OTARY PUBLIC-CITY OF PASIG Appointment No. 196 (2015-2016) valid until 31 December 2016 Roll of Attorneys No. 61821 IBP No. 983033-Manila IV PTR No. 380235 o1 January 2015 City of Pasig MCLE Compliance No.-Governing Board Order 1, s-2008

Arrival. Charlotte Ross arrives at the premiere for Columbia Pictures’ “The

Night Before” at The Theater at The Ace Hotel on November 18, 2015, in Los Angeles, California. AFP

Latin music world honors Brazilian balladeer Carlos LAS VEGAS—The Latin music world turned out Wednesday to celebrate Roberto Carlos, the Brazilian ballad singer who is one of the region’s most successful artists.

The 74-year-old nicknamed the “King of Latin Music” was named Person of the Year at the Latin Grammys, a day before the Spanish- and Portuguese-language music industry’s biggest award night.

“I’m very moved. This is without doubt a very special moment in my life,” Carlos, who sported an electricblue sequined tie for the occasion in Las Vegas, told AFP. “I’m very proud of everything I’ve achieved,” he said, overcome by emotion.

Carlos’ career crossed Brazil’s borders in the 1970s as he won a following for pop tunes, often ballads about love, that he sung in Spanish, English, French and Italian, along with his native Portuguese.

He has sold more than 120 million records in Latin America, topping The Beatles and Elvis Presley in the region.

Asked his secret at keeping fans for so many years, Carlos said with a sly smile: “I don’t know if there is one. And if there is, I have to find it out.”

Dozens of artists joined in the celebration, many of them wearing the singer’s signature color white in his honor.

The Spanish performer Miguel Bose, who was Person of the Year in 2013, said that Carlos has “for decades made the soundtrack for many hearts.”

“He created a style and contributed greatly to it. He’s one of the greatest,” Bose told AFP. Colombian singer Carlos Vives said that the Brazilian’s romantic songs “will never go out of style, because that’s how you talk about women and love.”

Spanish songwriting giant Alejandro Sanz paid tribute with a powerful guitar version of “Lady Laura,” and rising stars Leslie Grace and Maluma performed “Jesus Christo,” one of the songs in which Carlos reflected on his Catholic faith. AFP

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OPTIMA HYBRID

‘GREEN AMBITION’ KIA MAPS OUT FIVE-YEAR PLAN SEOUL—Kia Motors has unscrolled its mid- to longterm plans for the development of a greatly increased range of environment friendly vehicles. The brand’s ‘green car roadmap’ sets out Kia’s ambition to become a leader in the low emissions car market by 2020.

It is anticipated that the fiveyear development plan will see Kia further increase its investment in research and development (R&D) into fuel-efficient technologies and new products, with a range of all-new models and highly advanced powertrains for global markets.

The new investment by Hyundai Motor Group, Kia’s parent company, totals 11.3 trillion won (US$10.2 billion), for the development of a range of new ecofriendly models and building the facilities required for the brand’s efforts to further reduce its CO2 output. The investment is likely to result in the creation of thousands of new jobs in domestic R&D positions.

Ki-Sang Lee, Senior Vice President, Eco Friendly Vehicle R&D Center, Kia Motors Corporation, commented, “Global market demand is shifting to electric vehicles, with oil prices predicted to rise in future. The electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle market will grow rapidly in the coming years, and this investment will enable Kia to meet the growing demand with a range of advanced new products and technologies.”

Lee added, “We don’t believe that there is any one ‘silver bullet’ that can satisfy the demand for low emission technology within the car industry, so we foresee a wide range of eco-friendly powertrains co-existing for an extended period of time. The plans we’ve announced today represent Kia’s ambition to become a worldwide leader in advanced propulsion technology.”

Kia’s green car line-up to expand By 2020, Kia’s current green car line-up is expected to grow from four current models to 11.

This expanded range of environmentally-friendly vehicles

will encompass a wide range of advanced powertrains, from hybrids and plug-in hybrids to battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles.

The first models to be launched featuring new types of powertrains under the brand’s 2020 vision for low emissions cars will be the Kia Optima PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle), which will feature a high capacity lithium-polymer battery pack and electric motor, as well as an efficient six-speed automatic transmission, and the Niro hybrid utility vehicle (HUV), which will target CO2 emissions of 90 g/km (combined, based on the New European Driving Cycle).

Kia to introduce production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in 2020 As part of this five-year plan, Kia is targeting a 2020 launch for mass production of an allnew hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, featuring next-generation hydrogen fuel stack technology. Kia is working alongside 300 partner companies to develop the nextgeneration FCEV technology for global markets. Production of the new Kia FCEV is aimed to be around 1,000 units per year, a figure expected to rise as demand for fuel cell vehicles increases.

Kia’s FCEV will feature a fuel stack similar in size to a 2.0-litre internal combustion engine, which development teams believe will offer drivers a high level of durability and power density from the advanced powertrain.

Kia engineers are planning to develop the brand’s next-generation fuel cell stack to be 5% more efficient and offer 10% greater stack performance, despite being around 15% lighter and 15% lower in volume, compared to current generation fuel cell stacks.

The result is a targeted range of more than 800 km from a single

fill-up and a top speed of around 170 kph.

The durability of the car’s fuel cell stack and electric motor will be comprehensively assessed, with tests of existing fuel cell stacks from Hyundai Motor Group – Kia’s parent company – covering over 200,000 km on the road. Modern production techniques, system components and electronic control technologies will help Kia to deliver a vehicle that features the high quality standards and levels of innovation that customers have come to expect from the brand.

Kia’s research into fuel cells date back to 1998, which resulted in the creation of the limited production Kia Mohave FCEV, able to travel up to 690 km on a single fill-up.

Average fuel efficiency to increase by 25% by 2020 These plans will help Kia in its aim to raise its average corporate fuel efficiency by 25% over 2014 levels by 2020. As well as investment in advanced propulsion technologies, Kia will also replace seven out of its 10 current engine ranges with next-generation gasoline and diesel units, while increasing the number of turbocharged engines. Higherefficiency, multi-speed transmissions are also planned, while Kia engineers are targeting a 5% reduction in the average weight of new car bodies through greater application of ultra-high strength steel.

Advanced powertrain investment to create thousands of new jobs The investment by Kia’s parent company, Hyundai Motor Group, into the development of highly-advanced, highly-efficient powertrain technology as well as smart car technology is expected to create more than 7,300 new jobs, predominantly in R&D roles, over the next four years. Additional job creation is also expected through ongoing investments into the company’s R&D and production facilities, with new overseas Kia production facilities also generating new jobs, directly and indirectly.

THE final round of this year’s SUPER GT series saw an amazing comeback of the #1 Motul-Autech GT-R driven by Tsugio Matsuda/ Ronnie Quintarelli from 12th to 2nd place, displacing the #12 Calsonic GT-R to secure enough points to win their second GT500 Championship. Held last November 15 at the Twin Ring Motegi, the rain did not stop the Motul-Autech team from charging up the leader board during the entire race. “I don’t know what to say, Ronnie did a fantastic job in the first half and that pit work was astounding. We’ve been diligently practicing our driver changes and pit work all year and it was the effort from the whole team that spurred me on in my outlap. It was an incredibly tense race.

However, I feel like we were able to display a performance worthy of a champion,” says NISMO Team Principal Yutaka Suzuki.

Due to strong rain that fell during the previous day’s qualification sessions, the #1 GT-R’s settings did not quite match the road surface conditions and they failed to advance

to Q2. For this reason they found themselves starting from 12th place on the grid. As the weather began to improve and the racing line gradually drying up, Quintarelli drove a fast paced performance that saw the #1 GT-R pass rival after rival with each lap and, by lap 10, he had climbed up to 6th place. With the road surface completely dry, the erosion of every competitor’s rain tires became severe and one after another all teams headed into the pits at around lap 20. The NISMO team, which boasts some of the fastest pit work in the SUPER GT, managed to send the #1 GT-R back out onto the course as much as 3 seconds faster than their rival, IMPUL. Matsuda then rewarded this hard work with a tenacious drive that never gave the #12 GT-R a chance to regain its position.

This is Matsuda’s second championship in a row following on from last year and, in Quintarelli’s case, after combining this consecutive championship with those of 2011 and 2012, he has now taken an impressive 4 SUPER GT titles.

Nissan unveils refreshed Almera NISSAN Philippines Inc. (NPI), continues to innovate and excite the domestic market with the recent introduction of a refreshed version of its subcompact sedan the Nissan Almera. “We at Nissan Philippines are proud to introduce the new Nissan Almera as the perfect partner for all new beginnings” said Antonia Zara, NPI President and Managing Director. “Combining the best of fuel efficiency with generous cabin and trunk space that leads other cars in its class, the new Nissan Almera is the ideal car that will be with you and your loved ones through many of life’s important milestones.”

The new Nissan Almera brings

an updated look from the previous version. Elegant lines and premium finishes on the exterior; a redesigned front bumper with boomerang-inspired headlamps; a bigger and bolder front grille, and front chromed accents all present a striking appearance. The rear is highlighted with a remodeled rear bumper complemented with black diffuser cladding and chromed trunk garnish. A large lip spoiler and newly-designed 12-spoke alloy wheels also add to the sportiness of the vehicle’s design. The Almera’s cabin also underwent minor touchups such as a new center cluster layout with a piano black finish. Dino Directo III

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RAMON L. TOMELDAN EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

MOTORING

MAD ABOUT STYLING Text and photos

by Dino Ray V. Directo III

AUTOMOTIVE enthusiasts and plain kibitzers formed a beeline for the 24th staging of the country’s biggest aftermarket show at the SMX Convention Center of the SM Mall of Asia recently.

Some 100 custom-built and modified cars and trucks went on display to compete for the much coveted Best of Show Award.

“The Philippine Car Show scene will not be complete without the Mania Auto Salon. This year-end car show is designed and prepared for the hardcore petrol heads in the local tuning scene and is participated in by the country’s top custom car builders,” said Sophie delos Santos, president of Trade Show International, organizer of this annual auto extravaganza.

This year, the Best of Show plum went to the Porsche 997 in Liberty Walk trim by Car Porn Racing. Shop owner Ian King’s display at the Auto Salon was the most visited display booth which had the Liberty Walk editions of the Lexus RC-F of Coy Enriquez and a blood red 458 Italia owned by exotic car dealer Raymond Ronquillo of R33 plus the “Black Mamta”, a custom-built corvette.

With more than 200 display booths spread across the floor of the sprawling SMX Convention Center, notable displays were the customized Mitsubishi Montero of Overland 4x4 of Thailand and the huge outdoor themed lifestyle display of Concept One, which showcased a black Range Rover Defender and Jeep Rubicon decked out with Rhino Racks Tent Awning and bike racks and PIAA LED lights.

“Our outdoor theme this year speaks well

Overland: A crowd favorite is this customized Mitsubishi Montero

by Overland 4x4 of Thailand

of the growing number of off- road enthusiasts at the Auto Salon,” says Sam Liuson of Concept One. Other big winners were the VW Glof GTi by the Karpartz group of Tommy Teng and Botchi Santos.

The country’s King of Bodykits Victor “Atoy” Llave also had a slew of eye candies for the show such as his customized Toyota FJ Cruiser and hand-built food trucks.

“The Auto Salon is a reflection of how healthy the local aftermarket industry is right now. It’s a tribute to the creative tuners,” says delos Santos.

Lexus throws a fast ball Text and photos by Dino Ray V. Directo III

On a clear, moonlit night last Thursday, Lexus executives rolled up their sleeves and threw a fast ball by launching two new models to solidify their presence in the local market.

Held at the newly renovated Lexus Showroom at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Daniel Isla, president of Lexus Manila led the festivities as he took the wraps off the Lexus LX SUV and the RX compact SUV. “A few weeks before Christmas, Lexus unveils gift options for yourself and for your family. Lexus will redefine luxury by getting out of the conservative box. Lexus have combined elegance with modern expressions of boldness and fierceness without losing the sophistication and refinement of luxury,” says Isla in his speech before a well-heeled crowd.

Since its local debut in 2009, the Lexus RX has proven itself to be immensely popular with those needing the flexibility of a sport-utility vehicle combined with the driving comfort of a luxury sedan, all wrapped in an attractive, elegant package.

The all-new RX’s mix of sharp creases and curves represents a bold evolution in the model’s styling, sharing the same design

Ferrari and Black Manta: The most visited booth was that of Car Porn Racing with their Liberty Walk Ferrari 458 Italia and a custom built Corvette called the Black Manta

Mini Cooper: Aftermarket Godfather Sam Liuson shows off his rare Mini Cooper F56

DNA with other recently-launched models in the Lexus line-up. Moreover, this luxury crossover adds advanced new redesigned hybrid and gasoline powertrains, sophisticated safety technologies, driver aids. It also welcomes new convenience and technology features to make this one of the best Lexus sport-utility vehicles offered to date.

The front view of the new RX is characterized by an emboldened version of the Lexus brand’s signature spindle grille, featuring a chrome-plated border and triple L-shape-LED headlamps. The new RX models are powered by two types of powertrains: a 3.5-liter direct-injected V-6 gasoline engine (2GR-FKS) mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission, and a 3.5-liter direct-injected V-6 gasoline engine (2GR-FXS) both with a revised hybrid powertrain components.

Lexus has given one of its workhorse a new lease on life with a fresh new look, an eight-speed automatic transmission and some significant changes in its front fascia plus a slew of amenities to pamper its occupants. Aside from aggressive and

stronger styling the LX 570 keeps its strong 383-horsepower, 5.7-liter V-8 engine, but gains an eight-speed automatic transmission in place of the outgoing model’s sixspeed. There’s also a new Drive Mode Select system, like what’s already used in other , that lets the driver control powertrain and suspension settings, including those of the Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS).

Lexus has also added several high-value items to the LX 570’s standard-feature set.

A Panoramic View Monitor is now included, as is a Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Cross Traffic Assist. Another standard feature is the Climate Concierge, which monitors four different zones of the interior this is a cabin that’s large enough to have its microclimates, after all and can vary the fan speed and temperature of the vents as well as settings for the seats and steering wheel. Second-row sunshades are now included, too.

Closely related to the Toyota Land Cruiser, the LX is built on a sturdy, offroad-capable body-on-frame structure, and it hasn’t been completely redesigned since the 2008 model year.

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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

ST Y L E & BE AU T Y

LIFE EYE WEAR UPDATE:

The latest designs from this season’s runway collections

W Prada Raw Special Project

ith 2016’s new runway trend comes different ne w access ories, and a big player on the line is eyewear.

New eyeglass frame boards come in different shapes and sizes, perfect for protecting your eyes while looking chic and fresh for the coming year. From round, cat’s eye, reflective (yes, they’re back), funky shapes, to wood or nature, these themes seem to be a big hit this season. Eye Society, the House of Brands, offers most of the coveted designer eyewear for this season. It carries exclusive and limited edition collections of worldrenowned brands such as Ray-Ban, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace, Miu Miu, Burberry, Michael Kors, Theo, among others. Torn about what kind of frames you want upgraded to compliment your wardrobe? Here are some of our favorite brands from their collection to get you inspired on your eyewear shopping.

WOODEN LUXURY

Ray-Ban Clubmaster Wood

Madonna for Versace

Wood frame glasses are not new to the market yet there seems to be a popular demand and availability in most fashion houses. Not only do they look fashionable, if you’re an eco-friendly buyer a pair might be the right purchase for you. Following the trend is the fashion house of Prada with its return to nature-inspired Raw Eyewear collection. The limited edition series marries black walnut Malabar wood in contemporary designs of round and square frames.

Definitely an eye catching piece, fashion forward and adds to anyone’s quirky personality.

Another player is popular brand Ray-Ban. Following the recent releases of the Ray-Ban Clubmaster now comes the Clubmaster Wood.

Vintage yet fresh, the wooden design is very polished and makes any one look sharp yet still approachable. The collection varies from clear glasses to shades. The wooden Clubmaster collection is part of the brand’s new campaign #Campaign4Change which urges consumers to share their take on what they want to change in this world.

HERITAGE

Burberry The Gabardine Collection

Three of the fashion houses this season opted to get inspiration from their own heritage and apply it on their new collections. Versace, known for its audacious and flamboyant designs, brings forward a collection by an icon that has been its muse for three decades, no less than the Queen of Pop – Madonna. The special edition eyewear carries the oversized emblem of the house of Versace on each side and marries a design that best describes the Queen herself –

unapologetic, no compromise, head turner, and unstoppable.

The Gabardine collection of Burberry on the other hand carries inspiration from their famous trench coat fabric collection, English heritage lace and the iconic trench coat fabric – the gabardine. The romantic detail of Gabardine is sculpted on each metal temples, making the collection very feminine and elegant. The collection comes in rounds, squares and cat’s eye shapes, with choices of either black, brown, or yellow spotted frames.

Dolce & Gabbana on the other hand highlights a sexy peineta comb design on its temple frame. Classic, sexy and dark – it’s inspired by the Spanish presence in Sicily, with its Baroque craftsmanship and carvings. Wearing any of the collection makes you feel like a classic woman from a black and white film – classy, unassuming, poised and very elegant.

Dolce & Gabbana Spain in Sicily Special Collection

FUNKY AND FASHION FORWARD

Miu Miu’s Wink and Noir collection features a futuristic look that makes anyone look like a showstopper. Edgy, upbeat and very young, the collection carries geometric shapes that make it stand out from the rest of the classic frames, while Theo, the avant-garde eyewear brand from Belgium is sure to catch every fashionista’s fancy. Its Fall/Winter collection features the contemporary furniture design of James Van Vossel. The frame folds to the nose, creating a nose pad by using a special folding technique. Its simple yet unique design makes it stand out among others on the shelves.

Head on to Eye Society today and try on the latest eyewear on display and experience a complimentary eye makeover with the help of eye stylists who can help you choose the right frames and designs for your face shape, skin tone, eye color, and of course, personality.

They also offer a 12-step eye exam conducted by professional optometrists using technologically advanced equipment from a variety of advanced lens technology.

Michael Kors Fall/Winter 2015 Collection incorporates elements from its runway designs. It’s not a cohesive themed collection but each design is meant to stand out and make a bold statement. You may opt to choose from sophisticated oversized cat’s eye frames to funky and modern aviators with the iconic charm added to each temple.

Eye Society, the House of Brands, is located at Avant Building, 48 Jupiter St., Bel-Air Makati City; Eye Society 32nd & 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City; and 3/F SM Aura Premier, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City. For more information, visit eyesociety.com.ph and on Instagram @eyesocietyph.

Miu Miu Wink and Noir Collection

Theo by James Van Vossel

Michael Kors Fall/Winter Collection 2015

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

VANITY BOX

Richly Hydrating Hand Cream

PRETTY POP ART PARTNERSHIP

New York cosmetics and skin care solutions label Kiehl’s ushers in the holiday season with a limited-edition collection of its most beloved formulas whose packaging features the artwork of pop art icon Peter Max. Kiehl’s x Peter Max holiday 2015 collection includes Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream, Calendula Toner, a lip balm set, and a new collection of scented Richly Hydrating Hand Creams in Lavender, Coriander and Grapefruit.

Complementing the brand’s energetic spirit is Max’s bright and imaginative design. He captures the beauty of nature with sunsets over mountains, rolling landscapes, and puffy clouds, accented by his iconic “Holiday Flyers” that dance across the sky through his signature vibrant color palette.

Anyone who will receive an item or the entire collection as a gift will surely love not just the whimsical packaging but also the skin caring benefits of each Kiehl’s product. The Ultra Facial Cream (P1,575) is a light-textured daily hydrator that leaves the skin supple and comfortable even in harsh weather conditions. A bestseller for almost 50 years, the Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner (P2,375) leaves the skin feeling smooth, fresh and invigorated. Featuring new scents, the new Richly Hydrating Hand Creams (set of three for P2,750) provide all-day hydration.

Finally, Kiehl’s Lip Balm #1 Set (set of three for P1,635) is perfect as gift for those who want soft and supple lips all year round.

Calendula Herbal-Extract Toner

Lip Balm #1 Set

Ultra Facial Cream

For more information about the Kiehl’s x Peter Max collaboration, visit Kiehl’s Philippines on Facebook.

Sheer Passion

Dove Deo Original

THE SCENTS OF SEXY

UNDERARM CARE WHEREVER YOU GO Underarm care remains one of the leading concerns of women, especially those who are always on-the-go and ready to take on any task or go anywhere. Here in the Philippines, eight out of 10 women regularly engage in underarm hair removal that includes plucking, shaving and waxing, all of which lead to irritation and development of skin bumps.

Dove’s range of deodorants makes sure women can wear any clothes they want and show off their underarms with its unique formula that has 1/4 moisturizing cream to ease skin irritation, leaving skin lighter and smoother. As Dove Deo takes care of women’s underarms, it also wants to give the ladies a chance to experience real

care wherever they go through a relaxing getaway for two.

For a chance to win the beach getaway, one only needs to purchase the Dove Deo box (P89 for Dove Original, and P95 for Dove Ultimate White and Dove Powder Soft) that contains one Dove roll-on, a free tote bag and a promo code at the bottom of the box. Just text DOVE DEO <space> PROMO CODE to 2600.

Join the sleeveless revolution and use the #DoveDeoGetaway hashtag on Twitter or Instagram. Dove Deo is available in all leading supermarkets, groceries and drugstores nationwide.

In a bid to offer fragrances that bridge the fresh smell of splash cologne and the sophisticated scent of fine fragrance, Avon launched a new perfume collection for women that explores the lighter side of sexy.

Dubbed as Sheer Passion, the latest range features three tempting, alluring and captivating fragrances for the “modern confident Filipina who is determined to make a mark yet does not lose her sense of fun and playfulness,” says Avon Philippines director for marketing Jean Reyes.

For the woman who wants a fresh and light scent, Sheer Passion brand ambassador Jessy Mendiola recommends Simply Tempting which opens with a citrusy explosive top note courtesy of sparkling caja and mango blossom. Ladies with an outgoing but mysterious personality would perfectly find their perfume match in So Alluring which has a mix of fruity (mandarin and Persian

lime), sweet (peach) and feminine scents.

Very Captivating embodies the strong, confident woman with its bold, sophisticated scent brought by pineapple leaves, oris butter and caramel.

Mendiola, who was the model of Avon’s teen undergarment line Missy eight years ago, returns to the Avon family as the face of Sheer Passion. Reyes told The Standard that Mendiola perfectly represents Sheer Passion because much like how the collection bridges fresh and sophisticated scents, Mendiola personifies the middle ground between the girl-next-door and the sexy, confident woman. “You get the best of both worlds,” emphasizes Reyes.

Avon Sheer Passion Collection is now available nationwide through Avon Representatives.

Visit www.avon.com.ph to find out how you can get in touch with an Avon Representative.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

ROYAL FLUSH Applying blush is one of the oldest tricks to instantly add a natural to any POP-UP BEAUTY glow complexion.

BY JIGS MAYUGA The correct tone of blush can freshen up tired looking skin, add warmth to pale complexions or even create the illusion of more defined cheekbones without the use of contouring. Textures range from the most matte for those who have a tendency to look shiny with certain blush shades, to creamy satin shades that double as lip tints, to shimmery blushers that also work as shadows/highlighters for skins that tend to look flat without luminescent color. Newer blush formulations are also available for a variety of skin types from oily, normal to even extremely dry skin that looks chalky with the use of traditional powder blushers.

Pop-Up Beauty gives you a rundown of some of the best blush shades in different formulas to suit every skin type, tone and texture, be it a subtle glow or an intense flush for the evening.

NYX Stick Blush in Pink Lotus, SM Makati

Another great product for blush beginners.

This blusher stick from Nyx has been one of the brand’s trusty products and is suitable for ladies who are on-the-go and want a quick blush fix. Apply this pigmented cream directly from the tube or with your fingers and blend for an understated, dewy glow.

Layer under powder blush for a more intense finish.

THE BALM Cindy-Lou Manizer, Beauty Bar Perfect for the blush newbie who is afraid of applying too much product and just wants a trace of color and luminosity on their cheeks.

Although known more as a highlighter than a blush, this all-in-one shadow, blush and highlighting product with a peachy-pink hue creates a beautiful light-reflecting glow on the cheeks that is never overpowering.

Apply on your lids, too, for a hint of pink shimmer!

ELIZABETH ARDEN Ceramide Cream Blush in Plum,

CLINIQUE Cheek Pop in Plum Pop, SM Aura

Another blush that has gained quite a following in recent seasons is this extremely pigmented collection of powder blushes from Clinique. This particular shade called Plum Pop is a purplish pink hue that is perfect for medium to deep skin tones. Developed with a patented, breakthrough technology, Cheek Pop’s innovative formula begins as a smooth liquid that is then transformed through a slow baking process into a completely new distinct powder. Perfect for achieving the most healthy and “just-pinched” look.

MAKE UP FOR EVER HD Blush 320, SM Megamall

This ultra-blendable rosewood blush that dries to a soft matte finish combines the second-skin look of a cream with the ease of a powder. Made specifically for HD technology, this formula blends into skin with no visible texture for a truly natural flush of color. HD blush can be worn on bare skin and even over foundation and is easy to blend before it dries to a fade-resistant matte powder finish that is definitely long wearing.

SM Makati An Allure Best of Beauty 2015 winner, this skin-caring blush with a ceramide triple complex and antioxidants made of Vitamin A, C and E visibly lifts and contours the face while adding a vibrant, dewy soft peach color.

Impressive color payoff and wear unlike other creamy blushes. Its satin finish is perfect for normal to dry skin types.

INGLOT AMC Liquid Face Blush 81, Glorietta 5

TORY BURCH Lip & Cheek Tint in Cat’s Meow, Greenbelt 5

Designed to add a hint of rosy pink color on the cheeks and lips that works with a range of skin tones. Blends easily, creating a healthy, natural flush with a sheer, dewy finish. The tint is lightly scented with notes from the fragrance, including cassis, grapefruit and mandarin. “Cat’s meow” is a bygone phrase, loved by Tory Burch herself and often used on The Tory Blog – for people, places and things that are just generally fantastic.

This gorgeous pinkish brown blush from Inglot goes on as a liquid but dries to a beautiful semi-matte finish. Its liquid formula gives you total control when it comes to application.

It’s talc-free with treated pigments and can go from sheer to intense, depending on the amount of product applied.

This shade is perfect with the slew of matte brown lipsticks that are on trend as of late.

CHANEL Joues Contraste in Alezane, Rustan’s Makati

The iconic blush from Chanel now comes in this rosy-brown shade with a hint of shimmer called Alezane. This “baked powder” blush has buildable coverage, from natural to dramatic, and imparts a flattering radiance to cheeks. Apply the product with its supplied brush, high on the cheekbones blending towards the temples for an instant lift or on the hollows of the cheeks and around the temples to sculpt.

Follow me on Instagram and Twitter @jigsmayuga

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

STEP OUT IN STYLE THIS CHRISTMAS WITH MELISSA

@LIFEatStandard

Experience royalty at its finest with Mel Queen; walk like a queen as the peep-toe pair is complete with layered bow at the vamp and polished accents on the heel

Perfect for getaways and always on season, the unisex trend never ends with these open sandals. Dare to combine it with pieces that play with transparencies and prints, and seize the day!

BY KRISTEL DACUMOS-LAGORZA

T

his Christmas, dressing up for the holidays becomes more exciting and more fashionably fun thanks to Melissa’s Fall/ Winter collection, which offers you a wonderful mix of inspired, quirky designs as well as beautiful, elegant staples. Made from patented Melissa’s Melflex technology, all the stylish pairs created by the world’s most loved jelly not only boasts unparalleled comfort, but limitless style as well. With over 70 new designs, you’ll assuredly find your perfect pair.

“This season, we’re all so very excited because we have such a diverse and fun mix of designs that are perfect for every woman, including your budding fashionista daughters,” says Eleanore Co, the brand manager of Melissa.

She enthusiastically adds that one of the most exciting collections to be unveiled this season is the latest line designed by the renowned Campana Brothers, brilliant Brazilian designers who first established fame in designing furniture.

The brothers lend their discriminating eye and hand for detail in the Campana Barroca line. Their romantic and artistic touch is celebrated in the exquisite designs, inspired

by Baroque Art. Ornate details are “carved” into the malleable material, bringing to life budding blooms, wings and feathers, and even lizards. Whether it’s on flats or gladiator sandals, these elements translate beautifully on the chosen canvas. The intricate details make it, indeed, a work of art.

Since it was first established more than three decades ago, Melissa has welcomed the creative touch of many design visionaries to craft winning designs for them, including Karl Lagerfeld and John Paul Gaultier.

Apart from the Campana Brothers, this season, delight in the designs by Jason Wu – who elevates the simple sandal and beach slipper to an elegant staple – as well as Vivienne Westwood.

Known for her modern punk and new wave fashion, Vivienne Westwood infuses

her bold signature style in Space Love II and the Scribble. The comfy Scribble boasts a metallic buckle at the front and an interlay of lines, which make for interesting texture. On the other hand, Space Love II is gloriously chic with its metal “twisted thorn” buckle and glossy finish.

Helping us fulfill our penchant for matching ensembles, Melissa has also created two lines for your budding fashionista.

Mommy and baby can now proudly show off matching shoes thanks to the Mini Melissa and Mel lines.

Mel is the kids and teens line of Melissa which was just launched this year.

“Previously, we only had Melissa, the line for adults, and Mini Melissa, the babies line. We created Mel for tweens because we wanted to cater to the girls who have outgrown their Mini Melissa shoes, but not their love for the brand,” shared Co. “Certain, popular designs from the Melissa adult line have matching and inspired designs in the Mini Mel and Mel lines, so you and your daughter can all be fashion forward this season.”

In the Mel line, your tweens will delight at the flurry of bows, glitter and vibrant hues, while your baby can don age-appropriate and comfortable foot fashion. The Mini Melissa line includes bows, sprinkles of glitter, animal designs as well as special edition designs of Mickey and Mini Mouse, and Darth Vader from Star Wars. Even geek dads can delight in their babies’ fashion.

Of course, as a fashion forward brand, Melissa also excitedly gave us a peek into its Spring-Summer 2016 collection, which is brightly inspired by the vibrant city of Rio de Janeiro. Aptly titled Take Me to Rio, the collection embraces soft pastel hues and a new shade of mint green. “This is perfect for Pinoys because we love the sun and the beach. This collection reflects that cool, laid back beach lifestyle,” shared Co. Perfect as gifts or as a winning touch to your holiday ensemble, My Melissa Holiday helps you look not only fashionably chic this Christmas but all year round.

Bring in a play on the classic plaid pattern and the punk look with a lot of attitude with Vivienne Westwood’s Scribble

JW Space Love is the best accessory for ladies who are always on the go. A pair will definitely go perfectly with busy days this holiday season

Melissa Love System now comes with neoprene that offers more comfort and promise. Available this summer in new colors, Light Pink and Mint Green.

Melissa Good Vibes has innovation and comfort engraved in their DNA. With the application of elastic straps mixing the versatile material with the brand’s signature scented plastic, the new pointed footwear brings the sportsman trend in Vogue; Available on February 2016.

The little one will be able to wander her way into the world of Disney magic, reminding her that imagination has no age, and dreams are forever

Pineapples top off the toes of young fashionistas with this classic and comfortable style that will surely make for a fun and quirky day for your little tot

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SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

C5

SHOW LOVE On CHriStmaS

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ay “thank you for the love” this Christmas with gifts from the ABSCBN Store.

This holiday season, celebrate Christmas the Kapamilya way by giving presents that anyone will surely cherish from the “Thank You for the Love” shirts as seen on ABS-CBN’s 2015 Christmas station ID to must-have collect-

ibles from well-loved Kapamilya programs like Ang Probinsyano, Pangako Sa’Yo, and On the Wings of Love, among others.

Even gifts for avid film buffs and music fans can be found at The ABS-CBN Store as it also offers a selection of Star Home Video, Star Music, and ABS-CBN Publishing merchandise-such as DVDs and CDs of classic and all-

Darla Sauler picks the Daniel Padilla and James Reid pillows during her early Christmas shopping spree at the ABS-CBN Store

time favorite movies and albums.

“Christmas is the season to thank the people who have made our year extra special. The wide range of products that the ABSCBN Store offers are all-time favorites that will make anyone feel loved,” ABS-CBN Store’s Marketing Officer Pia de Leon said.

She added, “Everything about the Kapamilya network is here. If

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10. Go-to local trivia

page FilipiKnow Ray Guinoo, director for Mobile Broadband of Tattoo shares, “The diversity in this year’s Great 10 is a testament to the power of Filipino talent globally. Not only do we have locally-appreciated social media personalities, content, businesses, or artists in this list, but also true global phenomena that continue to make their mark all over the world.” Guinoo shares, “They serve as examples for all of us and we at Globe are very proud to be able to give them a unique kind of recognition away from just their fame and popularity – a recognition of real excellence and greatness.”

Also recognized at this year’s Tatt Awards are the members of the Tatt Council composed of TV host Daphne Osena-Paez, Emmy award-winning producer Mike Carandang, environmental advocate Anna Oposa, TV host, editor, and author Bianca Gonzalez-Intal, top Filipino musician Jim Paredes, sports host Jinno Rufino, social entrepreneur Bam Aquino, technopreneur and Xurpas CEO and founder Nix Nolledo, and filmmaker Quark Henares.

“I had a lot of fun getting to know the work of our country’s top change-makers and most inspiring sites,” quips Daphne Osena-Paez. Bianca Gonzalez-Intal shares, “It’s my third year to be in the Tatt Council, and every year, I’m amazed by the new person-

alities taking social media by storm. Part of the Great 10 or not, all our finalists are definitely winners for making an impact on people’s lives.”

Bam Aquino adds, “The Tatt Awards winners and finalists show how new ways of communicating can have a profound impact on society no matter what field you are in. These personalities prove that we truly are in an exciting new age armed with the power of social media.”

Unlike in previous Tatt Awards, this year’s nominations are not divided into specific categories. Any person or group may be nominated so long as the nominee has been able to create an impact through quality content that made a mark to the greater majority. The nominee must have also used social media to connect with the rest of the world, thus amplifying and sharing the work done.

Shortlisted as finalists were freelance blogger and entrepreneur Abbey Sy, rising musician Clara Benin, Instagram personality Kimi Juan, online comedienne Maria Sofia Love, senator Miriam Defensor Santiago for her book Stupid is Forever, blogger and PWD-friendliness advocate Naprey Almario, DJ and online influencer Patty Tiu, box-office flick That Thing Called Tadhana, online literary aggregator Utot Catalog by Rod Marmol, and YouTube personality Wil Dasovich.

online via www.abs-cbnstore. com. Worldwide and nationwide shipping is guaranteed.

Pop-up stores of The ABSCBN pop up stores will also be open this November in Market! Market! while Kapamilya customers can also visit select Robinsons Department stores nationwide for ABS-CBN Store merchandise.

Kapamilya star Sofia Andres chooses the Thank You For The Love shirt among her handpicked items during her early Christmas shopping spree at the ABS-CBN Store

Kapamilya star Sofia Andres beside Happy Lacson-Mabulay, head of ABS-CBN Consumer Products and Pia de Leon, marketing officer of ABS-CBN Consumer Products and team members of ABS-CBN Store

TaTT awards’ GreaT 10 Unveiled lobe Telecom, through its mobile broadband brand Tattoo, has capped off a month-long celebration of social media greatness with the announcement of the winners of Tatt Awards, the biggest social media award-giving body that recognizes social media movers and shakers in the country.

The winners, dubbed as The Great 10, were selected from over thousands of entries submitted through public nominations. The nominationswere screenedby the Tatt Council composed of key personalities from various fields over an intense and rigorous deliberation process.

This year’s Tatt Awards Great 10 is composed of the following: 1. Noontime television show Eat Bulaga 2. Box-office period film Heneral Luna 3. Traffic and transportation social media site Top Gear PH 4. Poet Juan Miguel Severo 5. Online movement #SaveMaryJane 6. Mu l t i - hy p h e n a t ed digital author Marcelo Santos III 7. Journalist and host James Deakin 8. TV host Paolo Ballesteros 9. Instagram personality Jelito de Leon

you know a solid Kapamilya fan, I’m sure giving one of our products as a gift this Christmas will complete their day.”

Don’t forget to say “thank you for the love” this season of hope, joy, and giving with the ABS-CBN Store. The ABS-CBN Store is located at The Loop, ELJ Building in the ABS-CBN Compound.

Merchandise are also available

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1 Hiphop dance group A-Team opens the night with an enthralling performance 2 The Heneral Luna production team is one of the Great 10 winners 3 Globe Director for Tattoo Mobile Broadband Ray Guinoo 4 Eat Bulaga’s Therese Diaz and Baby Baste accept the award on behalf of the noontime TV show 5 Tatt Council member Daphne Osena-Paez 6 Tatt Council member Jim Paredes 7 Tatt Council member Mike Carandang 8 Top Gear’s Vernon Sarte 9 Tatt Council member Quark Henares and Jacq Yu

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AlDub in GMA 7 Christmas station ID

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

PEOPLE

...ARE tALkinG ABOUt

GMA-7 StAtiOn iD

It’s that time of the year again when big networks release their Christmas plugs, festive music videos that usually feature their biggest stars. They also showcase lavish production to promote how grand and exciting Christmas is in the country. But in plain sight, station IDs are just an extension of the network war. And in this year’s battle, we already have a clear winner – the station ID whose theme song is currently no.1 on iTunes and the one with most views on YouTube.

XB GEnSAn

While our attention was focused on 4TH Impact, Amy Vachal and Cyrus Villanueva, the hip-hop dance crew from GenSan suddenly made a surprise appearance on social media sites when news broke that it was named the Grand Champion of Dance2Dance: The World Streetdance Showcase Competition in Zurich. It was the same dance competition that Philippine Allstars dominated in 2011. To refresh your memory, XB Gensan was the first winner of It’s Showtime “Magpasikat” segment.

XB Gensan

Alma Moreno

Pangako Sa'Yo

It's Showtime's ToMiho

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 40 41 43 44 45 46 47 48 51 52 53

ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Kampala’s country 7 Lyric poem 10 Reindeer herder 14 More muddy 15 Kind of rally 16 Horrible boss 17 Bird or beast 18 Vane dir.

19 Canter or trot 20 An employee may earn one (2 wds.)

23 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 37 38 39

Biathlon weapon Sleep phenom Daddy’s sis A Great Lake Flit about Lunch counter order Chewbacca’s pal Friendly advice Lowered prices Finale — Dhabi Nervous twitch

56 57 58 62 63 64

65 66 67

Ecol. bureau Make a false move AAA suggestion Chaney of horr or flicks Once owned City or hat Mince Beat it!

Stein filler Makes light of Kitchen gadget (2 wds.)

Sudden impulse Deadlock Gallivant Lascivious glance TV news source When glaciers advanced (2 wds.)

Back muscles Elev.

Business deal

DOWN 1 Ms. Thurman 2 — rummy 3 Onassis nickname 4 Agile 5 “The Wreck of the Mary —” 6 A Guthrie

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2015

7 8 9 10 11 12 13 21 22 23 24 25 29 30 32 33 34 35 36 42 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 54 55 59 60 61

Revealed Tough fabric Fencing need PC bye-byes (hyph.)

“Destry Rides —” Gumshoe’s clue Small-minded Conclude (2 wds.)

Fairy tale abode Adjust the length Farsi speaker (var.)

Unearths Taunted Gridiron charge Japanese mat Main drag Sun, in combos Geologic period They may be great Salt cellars Well-spoken Attic window Oar Chick — of jazz Thesaurus compiler Zipping through Hippie greeting Work with acid In shape Tea holder Not sm. or med.

All the time, in rhyme

ALMA MOREnO

She’s just got herself a new career as a deadpan comedienne. Watching her interview with Karen Davila made us laugh, wonder and cringe all at the same time. Also, it reassured us that we made the right decision to stay in school and get properly educated. Otherwise we would have ended up putting ourselves in a situation that will make us look like a big joke. But on a serious note, it’s surprisingly that there are a few people who still defend Alma after the disastrous interview. It goes to show that birds of the same feather (really) flock together.

PAnGAkO SA’YO

So what has happened to the KathNiel magic? Are Kathryn Bernardo and Daniel Padilla losing their audience appeal? According to the overnight ratings of AGB Nielsen among Mega Manila households Pangako Sa ‘Yo registered 21.9 percent ratings compared to GMA-7‘s new primetime series Little Nanay’s 22.7 percent. Declining viewership is not a good sign especially when the network has just decided to stretch the series’ plot with Pangako Sa ‘Yo Book 2.

tOMihO

Television’s latest love team may not be as popular as AlDub (yet) but it is evident that the onscreen pair is making a name for itself. In fact, since It’s Showtime decided to continue the blossoming romance of Miho and Tommy, which began in the Big Brother house, the show begins to receive positive feedback once again. We hope, with ToMiho, the noontime program would finally pick up itself from the deep ditch it’s currently in.

...ARE nOt tALkinG ABOUt

AnDi EiGEnMAnn

Andi Eigenmann

She breaks down over irritating paternity issues involving Albie Casiño and her daughter. The problem with Andi’s dilemma, she’s fed the public with conflicting information on the identity of the person who impregnated her a few years back. We wanted to sympathize with her situation but we just don’t understand why she’s maddened by the mess she herself created.

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C7

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

Regine AT The TheATRe on second weekend From c8

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egine Velasquez-Alcasid’s Regine at The Theatre at Solaire goes on its second weekend tonight and tomorrow night.

The first weekend of the singer’s all-musical theater repertoire was such a big hit that her fans overseas are already asking if there would be a repeat in December because, they said, they plan to come home for Christmas.

Regine’s sister, Cacai Mitra, who is producing the two-weekend series, said she loves to mount a repeat but, “we’re having difficulty in booking it because of the Christmas rush.”

“Besides,” added Regine, “we wanted the same kind of venue… small and intimate because the concept is really not for a big venue like Araneta or MOA.” The singer admitted that it is not easy to mount a show with this kind of concept. “I thought it would be, but it’s not. It’s physically demanding especially for a singer.

The songs are not the usual that I do in my concerts. In short, they’re not in my comfort zone. I employ a different kind of placement in each song, so they’re really straining.

Overall though, Regine said, “But it was fun to do because it’s different.

And I hope you guys catch the last two nights of my performances.”

Regine will be back on stage on Valentine’s Day next year. That, she said, is her promise to her fans that continue to support her in spite of the new singers that have been sprouting in the music arena the pas years.

HHHHH Then TheRe’s jusT nine After last weekend’s elimination, only nine remains in StarStruck, this year’s edition of the Kapu-

so network’s artista search. The public voted out the South Cotabato native Kevin Sagra, whom I thought had more chance of making it in show business (think Alden Richards who didn’t even make it among the finalists but is now the biggest young male star in the country) than any of the boys including those that is in the remaining nine.

On Nov. 22, the remaining StarStruck survivors (Analyn Barro, Arra San Agustin, Elyson de Dios, Jay Arcilla, Liezel Lopez, Ayra Mariano, Klea Pineda, Migo Adecer, Avery Paraiso) at 4 p.m. will be at SM Dasmarinas, Cavite for a mall show.

Last Friday, the judges saved Ayra Mariano and let Kevin Sagra go, a big mistake I think. But StarStruck has always made big mistakes. The only star it had made since it aired on television is Jennylyn Mercado.

Those they booted out became big stars on their own, like Megan Young and Alden Richards.

As I have always said, the primacy in a star build up is looks, and talent comes only second.

Where are those the judges in the previous editions of StarStruck thought had talent?

HHHHH Q & A wiTh BenjAmin We sent several questions to Beautiful Strangers male star Benjamin Alves and he gladly answered them.

Benjamin, you seem a little too comfortable with Lovi (Poe) in your scenes as husband and wife.

What do you think Rocco feels when you become a little intimate with Lovi Poe in the series?

Rocco is my brother and he’s a mature and secured man. I doubt he has any ill feelings about it.

Migo Adecer

Klea Pineda

Regine Velasquez-Alcasid returns to the stage at The Theatre at Solaire for the last two nights of her series

Off the set, do you have friendly conversations with Rocco and Lovi? Do they tell you, “hey guy back off a little, you’re taking advantage already.”

Not at all.

Before doing an intimate scene with Lovi, do you ask her if Rocco wouldn’t mind?

Lovi, Rocco and I are like family, and we trust each other. So there’s no need for that.

Has there ever been a scene that both of you and Lovi would be in a compromising situation that Lovi said, “no, I won’t do it” and if she did how did you react if ever there was a situation like that?

None, our director, Albert Langitan, takes care of us and we trust him.

What can the viewers expect from your character in the next episodes of the series?

There’s a lot of secrets na hindi pa alam ni Lawrence. So that’s where my character is heading: maiipit na naman siya sa love for his family (especially that there might be a reconcil-

iation between my character and my dad, Tito Boyet) and love for Joyce. `Your drama series deals with revenge and infidelity. What are your thoughts on revenge and infidelity?

They’re both really a waste of energy. No one wins at all.

What have you learned from the show and from your co-actors especially with Christopher and Dina?

Ms D is such a sweet person on the set. Her treating us to her restaurant in between location changes is something I will remember for life.

Tito Boyet, he’s such a skilled actor, I could really feel his presence and is very giving in scenes.

Your memorable scenes so far?

Siguro my scenes with Tito Boyet.

They’re usually heavy and a lot of tension gets wrapped up in our scenes and I’m just glad I can be in a scene with someone like him.

Thanks, Benjamin for indulging us with your answers. It’s such a pleasure talking to you.

Benjamin Alves soaks in the experience working with other actors

Liezel Lopez

Benjamin Alves and Lovie Poe: On cam couple

Ayra Mariano

Avery Paraiso

Analyn Barro

Jay Arcilla

Elyson de Dios

Arra San Agustin

Kevin Sagra’s StarStruck journey ended last Friday

Lessons on negLigenCe in ‘Wansapanataym’

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hed Bustamante and Ashley Sarmiento, the child stars of afternoon series Flor de Liza, give life to

Pinpin and Lara as the celebration of the 15 magical years of entertainment and values-oriented stories continues in Wansapanataym Pres-

ents: Lara Burara every Sunday.

Lara (Ashley Sarmiento) is a young girl that is fascinated with toys. One day, she and her mom buy a handmade doll at a toy store.

Coincidentally, Pinpin (Rhed Bustamante), the daughter of their laundrywoman, also wants to buy

the doll and even saves money just to have it. However, after a while, Lara gets bored with the doll and takes it for granted. Little does she know that the doll carries a magic spell with it.

What will Lara do once she discovers that the doll is cursed? Will

Lovi Poe and Rocco Nacino: off cam sweethearts

she be able to learn her lesson? Can Pinpin save her from this curse?

Also joining the cast are Agot Isidro, Dominic Ochoa, Tart Carlos, and Gee Canlas.

Don’t miss the life lessons shared in the show every Sunday on ABS-CBN.

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C8

ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

The Voice of the Nightingale with Lani Misalucha will have Arnel Pineda as guest

the niGhtinGAle At the theAtre ISAH V. RED Next month, Asia’s Nightingale Lani Misalucha will be back in Manila in a special two-night concert at The Theatre at Solaire.

The show is called Voice of the Nightingale.

Considered one of the best and most respected singers in the Philippines today, Lani has been receiving recognition not only in the Philippines but overseas as well.

In 2004, she was the first Asian to headline a show on Las Vegas strip, performing with Hawaii’s Society of Seven at the Jubilee Theater of Baily’s. She earned the moniker Las Vegas’ “New Siren of The Strip”. In 2008, she was voted Best Singer (staff pick) at the 27th Annual Best of Las Vegas poll.

To top it all off, former Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman officially declared Dec. 4 as Lani Misalucha Day. Known for her impressive five-octave vocal range and superb showmanship, Lani proved her talent has no bounds by touring and selling out venues all around the world and has since expanded her fandom internationally - exemplifying that her talent is truly world class.

Voice of the Nightingale started as a soldout casino tour in California in May 2015, with international singing sensation, Arnel Pineda as Lani’s special guest.

Arnel Pineda became the lead of Journey in 2007 and still touring with the band. Earlier this year, he independently released AP.ex, a solo extended play album featuring original compositions and is of limited release online and in the Philippines.

A force to be reckoned with, Lani Misalucha with Arnel Pineda, due to insistent public demand, returned to the U.S.A. for another series run, and soon,

Manila will also get to experience this spectacular show.

Voice of The Nightingale will be held on Dec. 4 (Friday) and Dec. 5 (Saturday, 8:00 p.m.) at the Theatre at Solaire. Arnel Pineda, also returns as her special guest.

Tickets are available at all Ticketworld outlets (www.ticketworld.com.ph / 8919999) and at SM Tickets outlets (www. smtickets.com / 470-2222).

For more information visit www.starmediaentertainment.com Voice of the Nightingale is a production of Starmedia Entertainment and for the benefit of PMA Makatao Class of 1989 and St. Paul College Manila Class of 77 - for Bahay ni Mari. Home for the Abandoned Grandmothers in Calamba and Little Sisters of the Poor – San Lorenzo Ruiz Home for the Elderly.

HHHHH 2015 AmericAn music AwArds on colours GlAmfest Celebrate the biggest and the most glamorous Hollywood events this season as Colours, the first local female lifestyle channel in HD, brings you a bolder and brighter Glamfest.

Now on its third year, Colours Glamfest is all set to give its viewers a one-ofa-kind entertainment experience with LIVE telecasts of TV specials like the American Music Awards this month, the Golden Globe Awards in January 2016, and the GRAMMYs in February 2016. A visual fashion feast in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show next month will also be one of the main attractions.

To kick off this year’s Glamfest, Colours will air LIVE the 2015 American Music Awards, the world’s biggest fan-voted award show, 9 a.m. on Nov. 23.

It’s going to be another phenomenal night as Jennifer Lopez hosts and performs. Other performers include 5 Seconds of Summer, Selena Gomez, Nick

Jonas, Demi Lovato, One Direction, Carrie Underwood and Walk The Moon.

Leading the nominees for this year’s AMAs is Taylor Swift with a total of six nominations followed by Ed Sheeran and The Weeknd with five nominations each. The Song of The Year nominees are Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth for “See You Again,” Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars for “Uptown Funk,” Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space” and The Weekend’s “Can’t Feel My Face.”

Music fans are also in for a treat as The Artist of the Year nominees include Luke Bryan, Ariana Grande, Maroon 5, Nicki Minaj, One Direction, Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Taylor Swift, Meghan Trainer and The Weeknd. This year’s AMAs will also have its ENCORE telecast on Colours , 8 p.m.,on Nov. 23.

Aside from these exciting TV specials, Colours Glamfest is taking the experience to a whole new level with exciting events starting off with its Media Agency Tour this November and a grand Glam Expo, the ultimate beauty haul, in January. But the glitz and glam indulgence doesn’t end there.

Colours is giving one lucky viewer a chance to wear a designer gown, walk the red carpet with her friend and rub elbows with the stars thru the channel’s perennial Glam Up for The Grammys Promo Year 3 to premiere in December.

For details of the promo mechanics, tune in on the channel and check out the Colours official Facebook page or follow @colourstvph on Instagram & Twitter.

Watch COLOURS, the first local female lifestyle channel in HD, via Cignal Channel 27 (SD) and on Channel 102 (HD). It is also available in over 200 local cable operators nationwide.

For more information, log on to www. ➜ continued on c7 cignal.tv.

Lani Misalucha, acclaimed Asia's Nightingale

Arnel Pineda remains the vocalist of Journey