The Standard - 2015 December 05 - Saturday

VOL. XXIX  NO. 296  3 Sections 32 Pages P18  SATURDAY : DECEMBER 5, 2015  www.thestandard.com.ph  editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Duterte tags priest in sex rap

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PNOY HITS LP RIVALS ‘One is accused of stealing, another is known for killing’

By Sandy Araneta

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III lashed out at all the presidential aspirants except his chosen successor, Manuel Roxas II, in a speech to the Filipino community in Italy on Dec. 3.

Although he did not mention any of the opposing candidates by name, it was clear who his targets were.

“We must first analyze who we want to choose. One of them was accused of stealing from the coffers of the government for so many years,” Aquino said in Filipino, referring to Vice President Jejomar Binay, who faces several plunder cases filed by the government. “If this is true that he stole from the government, what would be left for those he had promised to help to improve their lives?”

Aquino then turned his guns on Senator Grace Poe, saying she has not specified how she would achieve any of her campaign promises.

“There is one who promises to do better, and do more than what we have done. But, listen to what she had said.

Not for once did she ever say how she would be able to fulfill her promise. No context. No plan. Purely criticism.

And half-baked promises,” Aquino said.

“She thinks once she is elected, she will just wake up and have a solution to all of these problems she is talking about.”

He then alluded to Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s reputation as a killer, and said popularity on social media— a reference to Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago—would not be enough to govern.

“There is another who said he will kill all his enemies,” Aquino said.

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Selfie moment. President Benigno Aquino III poses with two young members of the Filipino community in Rome who gathered at the Ergife Palace Hotel to hear him speak during his visit to Italy on Thursday. Malacañang Photo Bureau

Poe hid citizenship issues from us—Roxas

By John Paolo Bencito, Macon Ramos-Araneta and Rey E. Requejo AFTER casting doubt on Senator Grace Poe’s status as a natural-born Filipino, Liberal Party standard bearer Manuel Roxas II said Friday the presidential frontrunner deliberately hid problems about her citizenship

from them when they were recruiting her to be his running mate.

“She concealed, kept this a secret from us. We presumed regularity and we were sincere in inviting her to be part of the straight path. We did not know about these issues until congressman Toby Tiangco revealed [them,]” Roxas said in Biliran province Thursday.

Poe, whom Roxas and President

Benigno Aquino III had unsuccessfully tried to recruit as their party’s vice presidential candidate earlier this year, immediately denied Roxas’ allegation.

She recalled that as early as June last year, the issue about her citizenship had already come out in the papers when another party alleged that she, as a foundling, was not a naturalborn Filipino citizen.

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Lawyer denies link to Mar

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Duterte tags priest who fondled him

By John Paolo Bencito

visit in January was not aimed at the pontiff but at incompetent government officials who could not handle the situation.

“God willing, if people will help me, I will not bother the people with the problem of traffic congestion,” he said.

Duterte also said he promised to avoid expletives after meeting with Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles at the Arzobispado of the Archdiocese of Davao.

Duterte said Valles took him to task for his statements during his proclamation speech Monday.

“The monsignor admonished me and lectured to me Christian values, which I accepted,” Duterte said. “From now on I will try to avoid cuss words and promise to penalize myself P1,000 for every violation and donate it to Caritas of the Church.”

Duterte said Friday morning that he will still remain a Catholic, adding that he was not upset with all members of the clergy.

He added that he had no choice but to see Valles.

“I am a member of his flock. I have not changed religion, still a Christian, and I have this deep and abiding faith in God. I only have one God,” he added.

At the same time, Duterte hit bishops who suggested he should have documented his allegations of sexual abuse and filed a complaint.

“First year, you will complain? Takot ka baka ikaw pa ang ma-whack,” Duterte said in a television interview.

On Thursday, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo challenged the presidential aspirant to do away with the “theatrics” and identify his abuser right away or file a complaint.

“If there’s a mistake committed against him, he must reveal it immediately,” Pabillo said. “It will also help clean our ranks. Nobody’s perfect. We all commit mistakes. He should also call our attention and we will fix our shortcomings.”

Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz, who handled cases of sexual abuses against priests as judicial vicar of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, also called on Duterte to “file a case before civil courts against the abusers,” adding that Pope Francis has ordered strict adherence to protocols and created a special tribunal for sexual abuse charges.

Following a decision by the Commission on Elections 2nd Division that disqualified Poe because she did not meet the residency requirements for being president, the senator accused Roxas and Vice President Jejomar Binay of conspiring to remove her from the presidential race by having their people file disqualification cases against her.

Both Roxas and Binay have denied the accusation.

Poe on Thursday acknowledged that she would have been in a better position had she decided to run as Roxas’ vice president.

“Maybe it’s true that I would’ve have an easier

time had I allied with them. And I was aware when I made that decision to run. I knew that… these problems wouldn’t be here had I decided to run for vice president,” Poe said.

Roxas earlier pointed out that it was Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance that first raised questions about Poe’s status as a natural-born citizen and her residency.

He added that Poe had nobody to blame but herself for her misfortunes.

“Wasn’t it her lawyer who filed her papers?

Is she the one who took oath as an American citizen? It’s her responsibility to explain herself there. I’m not the one to blame here,” Roxas said.

PRESIDENTIAL aspirant Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte on Thursday night revealed the name of the Catholic priest who allegedly molested him and several other high school boys when they were teenagers in the 1950s while studying at the Jesuit-run Ateneo de Davao University.

“That priest was [the late] Fr. Paul Falvey.

He wanted to touch [our private parts.] It happened during our generation, two years ahead of us and two years following us,” Duterte told Davao-based reporters on Thursday night.

“It cost him some P25 million because other victims filed a case. It was a case of fondling—you know what—he did during confession, that’s how we lost our innocence early,” Duterte said.

It took the young Duterte seven years to finish high school after being expelled from the Ateneo de Davao University for misconduct.

He eventually finished high school at the Holy Cross of Digos.

“It was a sort of sexual awakening for each of us,” Duterte said. “We realized quite early that life was like that. How would you complain?

We were afraid.”

Duterte also said that a joke in which he cursed the Pope for the traffic jam during his

Presidential run. Mayor

Rodrigo Duterte shakes hands with supporters outside a hotel in Manila. The feared mayor, nicknamed ‘Dirty Harry’ for his ruthless anti-crime stance, announced on Nov. 30 he would run for president next year after boasting of killing criminals and even cursing the pope for worsening the traffic. AFP

Poe...

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She also remembered that even then, some news stories focused on the residency issue.

“When Mar and I talked, he told me that he also lived in America for years and he worked there,” said Poe. Poe said she never kept her status a secret, and that Roxas, then Interior secretary, could have found out everything about her background.

“Let us just ignore [him]. The discussion here is what we can do for our country,” she said.

PNoy...

From A1 “And there is another who said she will just campaign in social media.

Maybe she isn’t awake, and she cannot even build roads and feed the hungry. Since she will only use Facebook,” Aquino said.

Aquino also lambasted vice presidential candidate Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for not acknowledging the abuses of Martial Law under his father.

“I will also include another candidate running for a different position. His posture is that he will do the right thing, but he has never admitted the mistakes of the past.”

Only Roxas, he told the Filipinos gathered at the Ergife Palace Hotel in Rome, could provide the continuity of reforms introduced by his administration, Aquino said.

Aquino said he took pride in the average 6.2-percent annual growth posted during his term, and the improvement in the country’s competitiveness ranking.

The Binay camp on Friday described Aquino’s latest tirade as a signal to resume the demolition work against the vice president and criticized the President for praising Roxas as an honest presidential aspirant.

Binay’s spokesman for political affairs, Rico Quicho, said Aquino must have forgotten what he said earlier that the vice president should be presumed innocent, a right accorded to all under the Constitution.

Binay has denied all allegations against him, describing them as part of a demolition job by the administration against him.

“We are bracing ourselves but we will not be deterred from talking to the people about the vice president’s programs to address poverty, hunger and unemployment,” Quicho said.

“An honest appraisal of all the presidential candidates should not exclude the administration candidate,” Quicho said.

Quicho said Roxas occupied several key positions in the Cabinet in the last five years “yet through his incompetence and inaction only made situations worse.”

Roxas first served as Department of Transportation and Communications chief before being named Interior and Local Government secretary following Jessse Robredo’s death in August 2012.

“The MRT is in a worse state now.

Traffic is now a daily hell for commuters and motorists. Licenses and car plates take forever. Billions in funds for local governments, water projects, developmental programs remain unreleased and trapped in a bureaucratic limbo of his own making,” Quicho said of Roxas.

Quicho said citizens live in fear and no longer feel safe in their homes.

“We have rampant criminality, unsolved killings of judges and journalists, and a drug menace that has infected almost all barangays in the country,” he said.

“Poe should live up to her decisions in life instead of finding fault with others because I don’t have any involvement here,” he added.

Roxas also denied Escudero’s claims that lawyer Estrella Elamparo, who filed the disqualification case against Poe before the Comelec, was connected to his staunch supporter, former Defense secretary Avelino Cruz. “ “There’s no truth to his allegations that I have knowledge to any case filed against Poe. By the way, when the case was filed at the [Senate Electoral Tribunal], did you hear anything from me?

Nothing. I respected it. Also, I do respect what the Comelec has said,” Roxas said.

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Hell in Metro Manila. In this photo taken on Oct. 10, 2014, commuters line up to ride the Metro Rail Transit in Quezon City. Peak-hour hell comes in many forms in the Philippine capital. For computer salesman Gerard Galang it is the sweaty, stinky crush on dilapidated trains and giant queues to buy tickets. AFP

PNoy ready to face suits PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III said Friday he was ready to face possible charges from his critics who could exact revenge on him after his term ends in June 2016 and he is stripped of his immunity from suit.

Aquino, in a meeting with the Filipino community during his working visit to Rome, said he was already expecting the possible “revenge” of his critics once he stepped down from office.

But he said he was willing to pay the price for changing the previous “status quo.”

“My term has not yet ended, [but] when I step down from office, those we have charged might start to exact revenge on me in order to scare those who want to support our plans to do reforms,”

Aquino said in a speech he delivered before the Filipino community at the Ergife Palace Hotel in Rome on Dec. 3.

“I am ready to face these charges because it is clear to me that if I had agreed to a status quo, our country would not change for the better.”

Aquino also cited what he called the economic gains during his almost six years of being president.

He cited his inclusive-growth campaign that, he said, resulted in

more employment opportunities and infrastructure projects and improved social services.

He praised the members of his Cabinet, saying in spite of being constantly criticized they continued their sacrifices for a better future for the country.

“My Cabinet, they have literally offered their blood, sweat and tears so that we would attain what we have achieved today,” Aquino said.

“Not only did they accept lower wages but also all the criticisms.”

Aquino again asked for understanding over the traffic mess, saying that had resulted from the increasing car sales, and anyway many road projects were under way to address the problem. Sandy Araneta

Group slams LRT 1 operator on penalties LESS than a month after the private concessionaire Light Rail Manila Consortium took over the operations of LRT 1, the group is now asking the government to pay P2 billion in penalties because the train system allegedly did not meet accepted standards, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said Friday.

The group said the Ayala-Metro Pacific-led LRMC took over LRT 1 on Oct. 3 under a concession agreement that would also see the construction of a line extension to Cavite. It said LRMC was entitled to collect fares and other revenues, and that the contract was in effect for 32 years.

“In an October 30, 2015 letter obtained by the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, a critic of the privatization deal, the LRMC was demanding that the government pay P1.844 billion for restoration works so that the LRT 1 can meet the ‘existing system requirements’ agreed upon in the concession agreement,” Bayan said.

“The private concessionaires are invoking Section 5 3.b. of the concession agreement which states that “If

the Existing System does not achieve either of the baseline Existing System Requirements parameters, as certified by the Independent Engineer, the Grantors shall compensate the Concessionaire for the unavoidable incremental cost.

“In this case...the Grantors’ Compensation shall be set at such a level necessary to compensate the Concessionaire for the costs necessary to restore the Existing System to the level necessary to meet all of the baseline Existing System Requirements.”

Bayan said that, in an Oct. 26 letter to the DoTC, LRMC noted that the government “had not been adequately performing inspection, monitoring and maintenance services on the existing system.

The group said that LRMC had “led to a degradation of the Existing System railway infrastructure and railway system, and the nonimprovement or non-replacement of parts, which under the maintenance standards set in Section 5 of the agreement, should have been improved or replaced. John Paolo Bencito

Court stops new Uber permits

Protest. Demonstrators burn an effigy of President Benigno Aquino III in this photo taken during his last State-of-the-Nation Address in July this year.

A QUEZON City court on Friday issued an order stopping the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board from approving new applications to operate mobile app-based Uber and GrabCar services.

Branch 271 issued the order, which is effective for 20 days, following a petition from the group Stop & Go that claims Uber and GrabCar are operating under the transportation network service or TNVS without a franchise.

It also claims they are charging fares without a fare matrix.

The court stopped Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya and LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez from implementing Department Order 2015-011, which allows the operation of app-based transportation services.

In a statement, Uber said it was aware of the court’s decision and that it was studying the implications of its decision on the TNVS being performed by Uber partners.

“Uber was not a party to the proceedings that resulted in the court’s decision, and it plans to coordinate closely with the DoTC and LTFRB,” the operator said. Rio N. Araja and Darwin Amojelar

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Lawyer denies link to Mar

By Sara Susanne D. Fabunan LAWYER Estrella Elamparo denied the claim of vice presidential aspirant Senator Francis Escudero that she filed her complaint against presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe at the behest of lawyers associated with the camp of ruling party candidate Manuel Roxas II.

Selfie with her candidate. Vice President Jejomar Binay joins a student who asked the vice president for a selfie picture during the launching of a free Wi-Fi service at the Cavite State University in Rosario, Cavite on Friday. DANNY PATA

Marcos: Hike agri spending

By Macon Ramos-Araneta SENATOR Ferdinand Marcos Jr. urged the government on Friday to ramp up its spending for agriculture to avert its decline and ensure the country’s food security.

He noted that based on the report of the National Statistics Coordination Board, agriculture declined by 0.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, mainly because of poor palay, corn and sugarcane production which declined 15.7 percent, 1.7 percent and 41.5 percent respectively.

“If we don’t act fast to reverse this alarming trend we might find ourselves in a situation where food is scarce and prices are skyrocketing,” Marcos warned.

“What is frustrating is that while Congress has provided an adequate budget to spur the growth of our agricultural sector,

government has failed to use the already available funds to help our farmers,” he said.

Marcos said records of the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Agriculture showed that the government used only 62 percent of its P55 billion allocation as of Sept. 30 this year.

He said this “allocation for DA does not include available funding for attached agencies and corporations such as the National Irrigation Administration, National Food Authority, Philippine Coconut Authority and Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority.”

“Among others, the government should expand our existing irrigation system which is crucial in our quest for self-sufficiency in rice,” Marcos recommended.

“Out of the total estimated irrigable

area in the country of over three million hectares some 1.3 million hectares remain without any irrigation.”

Marcos also called for better access to formal credits and financing with easier payment terms, crop insurance and additional support infrastructures such as post-harvest facilities, farm-to-market roads and improved agricultural extension services.

In addition, Marcos said the government should help farmers rise from the effects of natural calamities and prepare them as well from the adverse impact of the Asean integration.

“Majority of our poor belong to the agriculture sector. By pouring more help in agriculture we are not only helping the poor but also building a solid foundation for the growth of our economy,” he said.

“I am not familiar with Atty. Avelino Cruz,” Elamparo, a former lawyer of the Government Service Insurance System, said of former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, one of the most well known lawyers in the country.

“I have never personally met him. I only see him in photos. We move in the same circle but I have never personally met Atty.

Avelino Cruz,” Elamparo told the reporters.

“I have never filed any pleading on his behalf. I have never been firmly engaged by him nor his firm,” she said. “There is no truth to that allegation.”

“And even if that were true, so what?” the lawyer asked. “That doesn’t disprove the allegations in my petition [against Poe’s candidacy].”

“I am inviting Senator Poe and Senator Chiz, this is nothing personal. I only wish the discussion moves on to what’s more important. If they truly believe that they are right. That’s what we should talk about” she added.

“It is unfair to drag the name of other people into this, especially the names of other lawyers in our law firm,” she added.

Elamparo said Poe and Escudero should just focus on their legal arguments instead of diverting the discussion to her background and connections.

Elamparo filed her petition against Poe’s candidacy a day after the senator filed her Certificate of Candidacy last month.

Her petition to cancel her CoC was favored by the Commission on Elections Second Division this week, disqualifying Poe to run for president next year.

Escudero pointed out on Thursday that Elamparo is a senior partner of Divina Law, the law firm engaged by Cruz served as an adviser of Roxas when he ran for vice president in 2010 and even represented Roxas when he filed an election protest against Binay following the 2010 elections.

Binay vows free wi-fi access

By Vito Barcelo VICE President Jejomar C. Binay vowed to provide free Wi-Fi Internet access nationwide under his administration, similar to the Lingkod Kabitenyo, the Cavite provincial government’s free Wi-Fi project for schools and households.

“Should I become the next president next year, I will replicate the project of Cavite Governor Jonvic Remulla, where his constituents can access free Wi-Fi Internet access in public places,” Binay said during Lingkod Kabitenyo’s launching at Cavite State University campus in Rosario.

Binay vowed to expand the cell sites with the help of private sectors to speed up

the Internet connection and create online employment like transcribers, accountants, artists and designers.

Binay stressed he would create a separate Department of Information and Communications Technology that would oversee the improvement of communications infrastructure in the country.

At present, the Philippines has the slowest average download speed in Asian countries, he said.

“The private sector will provide the wide scope of Internet while the government will have a fair and impartial dealing towards investors,” he said.

Binay lauded Lingkod Kabitenyo program saying it would hasten the delivery of services to the public.

Common touch. Vendors at Carriedo Street in Quiapo, Manila take photos of senatorial candidate and Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who was assisted by former Manila Mayor and incumbent Rep. Lito Atienza. SONNY ESPIRITU

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SC set to take recess Dec. 8

Streaking for a cause. Coeds from

the University of the Philippines in Manila take selfies as members of the Alpha Phi Omega fraternity hold the annual ‘Oblation Run’ where members run through areas of the campus stark naked.

DANNY PATA

By Rey E. Requejo THERE is no need for the Supreme Court justices to call off their Christmas holiday recess to act on urgent election cases, including the disqualification cases against Sen. Grace Poe for next year’s presidential race, as suggested by Senate President Franklin Drilon, an SC official said on Friday.

“As far as emergency or urgent petitions [filed during the recess] are concerned, the Court has held special sessions before so that’s not a problem,” SC spokesman Theodore Te said.

“The justices can decide among themselves if they want to convene and hold special session on the request of a justice or the Chief Justice subject to extraordinary need to convene,” Te added.

Te made the statement as the SC magistrates are scheduled to take a break from their regular session from third week of this month until after New Year—the same period the Commission on Elections is expected to finalize the list of official candidates for next year’s polls.

The SC confirmed that the last regular session of the justices for this year is set next Tuesday, Dec. 8, before they go on Christmas break.

According to Te, the internal rules of the high court actually provide procedures for urgent cases during a recess of the justices.

“Under the internal rules, if the Court is on what it calls a recess meaning there are no sessions and if there are urgent actions that require immediate relief on the recommendation of the member in charge—whoever is the member in charge—then the Chief Justice can actually issue the writ, a [temporary restraining order] or an [status quo ante order],” he explained.

The SC official clarified that that such power of the Chief Justice to issue writs during recess is conditional as it is subject to the confirmation of the full court in their next session.

More tribesmen flee new anti-Red action

By John Paolo Bencito OVER a hundred lumad evacuees from Compostela Valley have fled to refugee facilities in Davao City, complaining that militiamen backed by the military have encamped in their communities purportedly as part of an operation against communist insurgents.

“We evacuated because the soldiers have occupied our community on November 23, noon time. When they reached our village they asked me if they can stay in Side 4. I asked them how many days will you be staying?

They told me two years because they will be providing assistance,” said village leader Oraya Mansayloan.

Despite dialogue with the troops’ commander, Lt. Danjo Lagula, the soldiers refused to

move away from the civilian houses.

Meanwhile, rights group Karapatan reiterated calls for the immediate disbandment of paramilitary groups under the influence of the military, for the lumad evacuees in various areas in Mindanao to return in their homes for Christmas.

“We demand the immediate pull-out of troops from lumad communities to stop the exodus of people from the villages and

to let the [evacuees] go home for the holidays,” Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay said.

“While the Aquino administration pretended not to hear our demands during the 30-day Manilakbayan, it continues its fascist attacks in our communities. Aquino’s ‘daang matuwid’ has to end. The people, especially the lumad, will lead Aquino on the road to prison,” said Manilakbayan spokesperson Kerlan Fanagel.

In 2015 alone, there are at least 19 incidents of forced evacuation and 7,000 documented victims in Mindanao, Southern Tagalog and Cagayan Valley. The figure does not include the evacuees displaced after the Mamasapano carnage in Maguindanao last January 2015.

The majority of the more than

7,000 evacuees came from the Caraga region; most of them are at the Tandag Sports Complex for three months now. The almost a thousand evacuees in the UCCPHaran in Davao City are from Talaingod and Kapalong, Davao del Norte, and from Bukidnon who arrived in UCCP-Haran by batches since January 2015.

“Forced evacuation due to intensified military and paramilitary counterinsurgency operations has brought so much damage to the lives of the Filipinos, especially among children,” Palabay said.

“The continuing attack against lumad communities and schools, including the recent evacuation in Compostela, show both the hypocrisy and desperation of the US-Aquino regime, especially with Oplan Bayanihan’s failure,” added Fanagel.

Claims board seeks new life THE Human Rights Victims’ Claims Board is calling for an extension of its mandate in processing the claims and reparations for the victims of human rights violations during the Martial Law regime of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos from Sept. 21, 1972 to Feb. 25, 1986.

HRVCB Chairperson Lina Sarmiento deemed the completion of the task “humanly impossible” within the set deadline due to an unexpected surge of more than 75,000 claims for reparations and recognition, which is almost four times of the initially projected 20,000.

According to Republic Act No. 10368, the claims board was given two years, or until May 12, 2016, to fulfill its mandate and distribute the monetary reparations to the Martial Law victims.

“There needs to be a balance between speeding up justice and valuing

the rights of the legitimate victims,” Sarmiento told reporters on Friday.

Before awarding the reparations, the claims board has to determine the eligibility of claims, investigate their authenticity, and evaluate the extent of human rights violations.

Under the law, individuals or their relatives who were killed or disappeared, tortured, detained, exiled and deprived of livelihood and properties by state agents during Martial Law are entitled to compensation.

Out of the 75,730 applications, Sarmiento bared that only 11,071 have been completely processed, which is 14.6 percent of the total.

There is a pending bill in Congress seeking to give additional time for the Board to finish its task, including additional personnel complement, to facilitate the processing of all claims. PNA

New water facility. Officials of Manila Water inaugurate the Taguig North Sewage Treatment Plant in the city’s Western Bicutan district. The officials were led by Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala, Manila Water official Geodino Carpio, Manila Water chairman Fernando Zobel de Ayala and Public Wortks Secretary Rogelio Singson. MANNY PALMERO

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LTFRB will grant permits to point-to-point buses

By Darwin G. Amojelar

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board on Friday said it would be issuing special permits for premium bus services in three routes in Metro Manila in time for holiday season.

The Board will be issuing special permits to applicants to operate interim point-to-point bus services in the following three routes, namely Trinoma to Park Square, Ayala Center; SM North Edsa to Glorietta 5, Ayala Center and SM Megamall to Park Square, Ayala Center The LTFRB will issue special permits to operate the bus services starting Dec. 5, 2015 until Jan. 6, 2016.

“As part of our mission to for-

mulate, implement and enforce rules and regulations on land transportation and public utilities, the Board has decided to provide high capacity premium bus services for the riding public in Metro Manila during the holiday season,” LTFRB chairman Winston Ginez said.

Ginez added that through these non-stop bus services, the Board is encouraging private car owners to use the premium bus service to help reduce the number of cars

in the road during the Christmas holiday rush.

Bus fares of the non-stop bus services for routes 1 and 2 will be P80.00 while route 3 will be P50.00. The bus operators will be fielding a total of twenty (20) units along the routes.

The Christmas Non-Stop Premium Bus Service will operate daily and can only load and unload at designated off-street areas and may unload their passengers at designated bus stops in Ayala Avenue, Makati.

In accordance with Board Resolution No. 13, series 2015, the Christmas Non-Stop Premium bus service should be 11 meters in length and not more than two years of age, with maximum of four seats per row and with clean

appearance.

The special bus permits were issued by the Board to the bus companies after they successfully applied for the Board’s invitation to operate the non-stop Pointto-Point Bus Services pursuant to Department of Transportation and Communications’ Department Order No. 2015-018 with the subject ‘Premium Point-toPoint Bus Services for Greater Manila’ Under the DO, the Board is authorized to invite and process applications for special permits to introduce interim point-topoint bus services prior to the operationalization of the Premium Point-to-Point services with the specified unit features and operating procedures.

Out but still in jail. Police guard inmates of Manila Police District Precinct 3 in Sta. Cruz, Manila as a fire engulfs nearby houses. DANNY PATA

Govt saves P1b through electronic procurement

By Sandy Araneta ThE administration of President Benigno Aquino III, through the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System, has been able to save at least P1.05 billion in newspaper advertisement expenses last year, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said yesterday.

Abad lauded PhilGEPS for espousing “the principles of transparent and accountable operations to improve the performance of government as a whole by generating savings and making procurement data more accessible” during its 15th anniversary celebration last Dec. 2.

PhilGEPS is a web portal that serves as the primary source of information on government procurement, which all government agencies are mandated to use pursuant to the Government Procurement Reform Act. Abad said the whole procurement process—from announcing and advertising all procurement opportunities, inviting qualified parties to bid, evaluation of bids, awarding of contracts, and monitoring of delivery and performance and payment—is recorded and posted online.

Billions of pesos worth of infrastructure, equipment, materials, supplies, and services pass through government procurement processes each year, the Budget Secretary said.

Before PhilGEPS, the government spent millions in advertising costs and invitations to bid to procure the goods and services it needs to operate the bureaucracy, carry out projects, and deliver services to the people.

Bid opportunities costing P2 million and above for goods and consulting services and P5 million and above for civil works should be advertised twice on two newspapers of general circulation. Today, bid opportunities are required to be advertised only once in a newspaper of general circulation and posted continuously in the PhilGEPS for seven calendar days.

“Since the launching of the PhilGEPS, transparency in government procurement has been enhanced and procurement costs have gone down dramatically as a result of savings in advertising expenses,” said Abad.

Panel approves tax breaks for first-time homebuyers

By Maricel V. Cruz A PANEL at the house of Representatives has approved the tax provisions of a bill seeking to make first-time home ownership easier and more affordable.

At a hearing conducted by the house committee on ways and means presided by its vice chairman Batangas Rep. Raneo Abu, house Bill 414, or the proposed “FirstTime homebuyers Act,” penned

by Bohol Rep. Arthur Yap was approved, setting the stage for the measure’s plenary consideration.

The measure reduces the financing cost, grants tax incentives for the purchase, and enhances private sector participation in housing construction and financing.

The substitute bill was earlier approved and subsequently referred to the Committee on Ways and Means by the house committees on housing and urban development chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo B. Benitez and on appropriations chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab.

The committee approved a provision in the bill that grants first-time homebuyers exemption from payment of transfer tax due from their home purchase.

Another tax provision in the bill approved by the panel provides for a discount for firsttime home purchase and incentive for granting a discount to a homebuyer.

The provision provides that any natural or juridical person registered as owner of a land subject of a subdivision or a condominium project, or who is a dealer directly engaged as a principal in the business of buying and selling real estate, or who is a real estate developer engaged in the business of developing and selling real estate projects for his or her or its own account and any natural or juridical person engaged as a contractor doing housing design and construction or engaged in the business of selling housing construction materials that grants a minimum discount of five percent to first-time homebuyers may claim the financial loss on the discount granted as a tax deduction.

Fighting fire. Firemen do their job at Aurora Tower, Cubao, Quezon City. JANSEN ROMERO

sat urday : de ce m b e r 5 , 2 0 1 5

A7

NEWS

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Bureau bans fishing of tamban in Zamboanga

By Rio N. Araja

Making sense of it. A woman participates in the convergence session and community-managed disaster risk reduction output presentations at the relief and rehabilitation unit of the Archdiocese of Palo. MEL CASPE

Police arrest member, miss leader of gunrunning team

By Francisco Tuyay

Police arrested a member of a gun-running syndicate in Tarlac and seized six high-powered arms and ammunition during a raid Wednesday afternoon.

Chief Supt.Victor Deona, head of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, identified the individual arrested as Alfredo Miguel, 61.

Miguel is believed to belong to the Cielo Group engaged in gunrunning in the province.

Deona added that the primary

target of the raid, Wilson Cielo, was not around when the operation took place in Sitio Malagayuma, Barangay Balaoang, Paniqui, Tarlac at 4:30 p.m. on said day.

The raid was carried out on the strength of a search warrant issued by Judge Bernal Fajardo of

Regional Trial Court Branch 67 of Paniqui, Tarlac against Cielo for violation of Republic Act 10591 or the Firearms and Ammunition Law. Seized from the supposed hideout were one .22 cal. rifle, a .45 cal. pistol, a magnum 357 revolver, one shotgun, a carbine rifle, ammunition and magazines.

Deona said his office is preparing criminal charges against Miguel as CIDG tracker teams continue to look for Cielo and other members of the group.

In separate operations, CIDG

operatives confiscated ammunition for different calibers for .45 pistol at the residence of Dennis Quilanio and Arnel Quilanio, the object of three search warrants for violation of the Dangerous Drugs Law and Firearms and Ammunition Law. The operations against the suspect was effected based on the search warrants issued by Hon. Ma. Ellen Aguilar, presiding judge, RTC Branch 70 of Burgos, Pangasinan.

CIDG operatives failed to arrest the two suspects during the operations; surveillance is ongoing.

THE Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources has banned the fishing of tamban in Zamboanga region from Dec. 1 until March 1, 2016.

Lawyer Asis Perez, bureau chief, said the ban is imposed to allow tamban to spawn freely and multiply until next year.

The ban covers only the commercial fishing of tamban, which is made into sardines, and the small fishermen.

Nazario Briguera, BFAR information officer, said they have sent at least two patrol vessels to monitor the Zamboanga seas and go after commercial fishing vessels that would violate the ban.

The closed season on the fishing of tamban would preserve and protect its production, he said.

“In fact, the closing season has been proven to bring about a high production of tamban,” he told The Standard.

Even the harvest or stocks of tuna will increase, he said.

“It has been a domino effect.

Where there is abundance of tamban, there is tuna in the area because tuna eats tamban,” he added.

“At least 20 percent of the total municipal and commercial fisheries production comes from sardines that composed of three species—the Fimbriated sardines (tunsoy), the Indian sardines (tamban) and the round herring (tulis),” its statement read.

“Based on the studies conducted

by BFAR and other research institutions, the sardines in the country belong to only one stock, which means that the fish breeds and spawn at almost the same time.

The major sardine fishing grounds are in the waters off Zamboanga Peninsula and the Visayan Seas.”

Despite such, sardine production has continued to dip in the past years.

Lawmaker to CHR: probe August clash in Masbate

By Maricel V Cruz A LAWMAkER has asked the Commission on Human Rights to conduct a fact-finding investigation into the possible human rights violations committed during an encounter between government troops and alleged members of the New People’s Army in Cawayan, Masbate last August.

In House Resolution 2276, Masbate Rep. Scott Davies Lanete said information gathered by his office revealed that “overkill occurred and human rights violations were committed during the encounter between the two groups.”

“It is the mandate of the Commission on Human Rights to investigate all form of human rights violations, including the aforementioned incident,” Lanete said as he pushed for the probe.

“Incidents of this nature,” Lanete, member for the majority bloc, added, “should not be left in the dark and hurled towards the realm of the forgotten but strictly condemned and looked into to avoid further human rights violations.”

It has been reported that a gunfight ensued between government troops and NPA members in Cawayan, Masbate at 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 3, 2015.

The alleged gunfight resulted in the death of a soldier and four suspected NPA members and injury to three soldiers.

But the initial findings by a human rights probe team revealed that the four alleged NPA members were actually habal-habal or tricycle drivers sent by Del Carmen Barangay Captain Silpicio Abilida Mahinay to help soldiers wounded during the rebel-staged ambush in Barangay Del Carmen.

Rogelio Mahinay, 27, single; Adam Fajardo, 34, widower with five children; Robert Badillo, 23, single; and Gary Vistar, 37, married, went to the site to respond but Army soldiers allegedly intercepted them, shot them on the sport and identified them as “rebels.”

Lanete asked the CHR to “initiate criminal proceedings against persons found liable to propose legislative measure that will provide stringent regulations in the curtailment of human rights violations of this nature.”

Have some (cooking) wine. Former

First Lady and Rep. Imelda Marcos, Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos and Vice Governor DV Savellano hold bottles of the Imeldifique cooking wine during the product launch this week.

Imeldifique is the first Ilocano cooking wine.

LINO SANTOS

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 5

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

THE TERM ‘NATURALBORN’ SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

[ EDI TORI A L ]

EVEN FEWER CHOICES RIGHT smack into the holiday season, a Quezon City court has decided adversely against the operations of application-based transportation service providers Uber and GrabCar in the Philippines.

Branch 217 of the Regional Trial Court of the city has slapped a 20-day temporary restraining order on the accreditation of new transport network vehicle service units as embodied in Department Order 2015-011of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board under the Department of Transportation and Communications.

While the operations will continue, no new applications for TNVS units will be processed and approved.

The court decided on the petition of the Angat Tsuper Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator ng Pilipinas Genuine Organization Transport Coalition, Incorporated, or STOP and GO. According to the transport coalition, the operation of Grabcar and Uber has had negative impact on the income of its members—drivers and operators of taxi and UV Express units.

The public does not begrudge STOP and GO and other similar groups the option to seek redress in the courts. After all, they exist precisely to champion the interest of their members.

We cannot help wondering: Who will defend the interest of the commuting public with very few options for getting around the metropolis?

Given debilitating traffic, driving a vehicle would be counterproductive and expensive.

With frequent instances of the MRT bogging down, taking the train would be unpredictable and sometimes unsafe.

The hapless commuters, mostly the middle class who must toil away on their jobs every day for a fixed income (a significant percentage of which is taken from them through inequitable taxes), also have to deal with taxi drivers who refuse to convey them, “request” for exorbitant tips, or display rude behavior—sometimes all at the same time.

It’s bound to get uglier with the Christmas rush.

What options are left, then, for the ordinary office worker to get from one place to another given these limitations? Often, the passenger decides to scrimp on other things —food, personal effects—just so he or she can afford the small comfort of settling into a vehicle without negotiating with arrogant drivers, or suffering the indignities of squeezing oneself into a crowd of train riders after a harrowing day at work.

Good for the taxi drivers who have their federation to defend them. Perhaps the federation could also do something to educate some of the drivers who act as though they were doing passengers a favor when they agree to convey them.

This skewed situation would not be even here in the first place if all who are supposed to deliver the public service of transportation did so fairly and conscientiously.

People use services like Uber and GrabCar because the alternatives are awful. Limiting this option without improving other modes of public transportation is just another way this government oppresses the most taxed and overworked—but the least served— segment of society.

TAKING UP THE CUDGELS FOR WOMEN POWER POINT ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO AMID all the political intramurals in relation with the coming national elections, platforms and programs are taking a back seat. As a woman, a citizen, a voter, and an advocate, I ask, who among our candidates are pro-women’s rights? Who will take up the cudgels for the Filipino women? Who has a working understanding of women’s issues and what we fight for?

The way things are going, it seems that at best, most candidates know very little about the kind of equality that women’s groups have been struggling for for the longest time. Worse, there may be those who pretend to run to address women’s concerns but in reality do not even understand what these concerns are.

Let me remind the candidates that you are your words and actions. You are defined by what you say and do. Your words and actions reveal your mindset about things—specifically, how you regard women and women’s issues are easily gleaned from your words and actions.

The “Playgirls and Tolentino incident” is too recent to be forgotten altogether.

This scandal has brought to the fore how women and women’s bodies are commodified, treated as gifts for the entertainment of political allies.

Using sexy women in political sorties as entertainment has been a common practice during campaign seasons but I thought that candidates and their parties would have learned better after the ruckus created by the Tolentino scandal which cost him his supposedly sure spot in the Liberal Party’s senatorial slate.

But no, I was too optimistic.

A9

The sad, sad reality is, events show us how strong sexism remains among our politicians.

While there has been no further report of similar incidents, sexism, ignoring, and misusing women’s issues for “pogi” or “ganda” points, have never been as arrogantly displayed by candidates as how we are seeing nowadays.

Most candidates are silent on women’s rights and have no platform to address women’s concerns. The silence is deafening. Being quiet on problems faced by half of the population means that these candidates either, one, do not know that such issues exist, or two, if they know, such issues are not considered important to address and thus, trivialized.

In both cases, sexism is manifested. Ignorance cannot be an excuse particularly since these

candidates for national positions, if they win, will have the mandate of protecting, upholding, and realizing people’s human rights. Naturally, included here are women’s rights. Thus, silence is unacceptable.

Now, there are those who claim women’s issues as the, or, a reason for running. Take that controversial interview between senatorial candidate Alma Moreno and Karen Davila. Admittedly, I do not like being critical of women candidates because of the still existing notion that women know less

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

but I take exeption with this interview.

Moreno said that she is running because she wants to fight discrimination against women. However, when Davila asked her for concrete things she would do, there was nothing substantial in her responses. In fact, it was very evident that she did not know what she was talking about!

Moreno was asked about reproductive health. Her answer was neither here nor there. First she said she was in favor of RH. When pressed, she said that she had reservations and that she

5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

agreed that using contraceptives is a sin. In jest she even suggested that to do family planning, “dapat bukas lagi ang ilaw!”

Moreno said that she will work on the Magna Carta of Women. Davila quipped that the MCW is already a law and wondered what else should be done. The woman senatorial candidate said that there are provisions that are not yet implemented but could not say which. Obviously, Moreno is not knowledgeable about women’s issues.

Continued on A11

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

TIME and time again, it has been pointed out in this column that the Constitution mandates that only natural-born citizens of the Philippines are qualified to hold office as a senator, or as the president of the republic.

As used in the charter, the term “natural-born” is self-describing. Its twin components are the words “natural” and “born,” which are simple terms in themselves as well.

The word “natural” means something which isn’t artificial or created by the intervention of a human, or something which takes place as a matter of course.

For example, the sun rises in the east and it sets in the west, and there is nothing man can do about that. A real sunrise or a sunset is a natural occurrence. What is created by nature is natural; what is created by man is artificial.

The term “born” relates to an event which is the consequence of a natural biological condition called pregnancy.

While it may be argued that pregnancy arises from sexual intercourse which involves a human act, not all instances of sexual congress leads to pregnancy. A child is conceived and eventually born, not because of sexual intimacy, but because an egg gets fertilized by a sperm.

Both “natural” and “born” are related, if not complementary words, and many dictionaries consider both words almost akin to synonyms. For example, one who is born ambidextrous will find it in his nature to use either hands with great ease.

Thus put, the use of the words “natural” and “born” in the current Constitution is a clear indication that natural-born citizenship must be reckoned exclusively from one’s actual birth, which is a natural event. Proceeding from the same premise, natural born citizenship cannot be acquired by adoption because adoption is not a consequence of nature.

The same observation applies to foundlings. Because the material circumstances surrounding the actual birth of a foundling are unknown, a foundling cannot be considered a natural-born citizen.

At any rate, interpretations and conjectures to the contrary are effectively barred by the categorical definition of a natural-born citizen supplied by the Constitution itself—“Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship.” The first part of the constitutional definition puts sole emphasis on actual birth, while the second part forbids any human intervention beyond actual birth. From this concise and detailed definition in the charter, the affinity between the terms 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

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 5

A8

OPINION

ADELLE CHUA EDITOR

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

OPINION

HAIL TO THE CHAIR VICTOR AVECILLA

THE TERM ‘NATURALBORN’ SPEAKS FOR ITSELF

[ EDI TORI A L ]

EVEN FEWER CHOICES RIGHT smack into the holiday season, a Quezon City court has decided adversely against the operations of application-based transportation service providers Uber and GrabCar in the Philippines.

Branch 217 of the Regional Trial Court of the city has slapped a 20-day temporary restraining order on the accreditation of new transport network vehicle service units as embodied in Department Order 2015-011of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board under the Department of Transportation and Communications.

While the operations will continue, no new applications for TNVS units will be processed and approved.

The court decided on the petition of the Angat Tsuper Samahan ng mga Tsuper at Operator ng Pilipinas Genuine Organization Transport Coalition, Incorporated, or STOP and GO. According to the transport coalition, the operation of Grabcar and Uber has had negative impact on the income of its members—drivers and operators of taxi and UV Express units.

The public does not begrudge STOP and GO and other similar groups the option to seek redress in the courts. After all, they exist precisely to champion the interest of their members.

We cannot help wondering: Who will defend the interest of the commuting public with very few options for getting around the metropolis?

Given debilitating traffic, driving a vehicle would be counterproductive and expensive.

With frequent instances of the MRT bogging down, taking the train would be unpredictable and sometimes unsafe.

The hapless commuters, mostly the middle class who must toil away on their jobs every day for a fixed income (a significant percentage of which is taken from them through inequitable taxes), also have to deal with taxi drivers who refuse to convey them, “request” for exorbitant tips, or display rude behavior—sometimes all at the same time.

It’s bound to get uglier with the Christmas rush.

What options are left, then, for the ordinary office worker to get from one place to another given these limitations? Often, the passenger decides to scrimp on other things —food, personal effects—just so he or she can afford the small comfort of settling into a vehicle without negotiating with arrogant drivers, or suffering the indignities of squeezing oneself into a crowd of train riders after a harrowing day at work.

Good for the taxi drivers who have their federation to defend them. Perhaps the federation could also do something to educate some of the drivers who act as though they were doing passengers a favor when they agree to convey them.

This skewed situation would not be even here in the first place if all who are supposed to deliver the public service of transportation did so fairly and conscientiously.

People use services like Uber and GrabCar because the alternatives are awful. Limiting this option without improving other modes of public transportation is just another way this government oppresses the most taxed and overworked—but the least served— segment of society.

TAKING UP THE CUDGELS FOR WOMEN POWER POINT ELIZABETH ANGSIOCO AMID all the political intramurals in relation with the coming national elections, platforms and programs are taking a back seat. As a woman, a citizen, a voter, and an advocate, I ask, who among our candidates are pro-women’s rights? Who will take up the cudgels for the Filipino women? Who has a working understanding of women’s issues and what we fight for?

The way things are going, it seems that at best, most candidates know very little about the kind of equality that women’s groups have been struggling for for the longest time. Worse, there may be those who pretend to run to address women’s concerns but in reality do not even understand what these concerns are.

Let me remind the candidates that you are your words and actions. You are defined by what you say and do. Your words and actions reveal your mindset about things—specifically, how you regard women and women’s issues are easily gleaned from your words and actions.

The “Playgirls and Tolentino incident” is too recent to be forgotten altogether.

This scandal has brought to the fore how women and women’s bodies are commodified, treated as gifts for the entertainment of political allies.

Using sexy women in political sorties as entertainment has been a common practice during campaign seasons but I thought that candidates and their parties would have learned better after the ruckus created by the Tolentino scandal which cost him his supposedly sure spot in the Liberal Party’s senatorial slate.

But no, I was too optimistic.

A9

The sad, sad reality is, events show us how strong sexism remains among our politicians.

While there has been no further report of similar incidents, sexism, ignoring, and misusing women’s issues for “pogi” or “ganda” points, have never been as arrogantly displayed by candidates as how we are seeing nowadays.

Most candidates are silent on women’s rights and have no platform to address women’s concerns. The silence is deafening. Being quiet on problems faced by half of the population means that these candidates either, one, do not know that such issues exist, or two, if they know, such issues are not considered important to address and thus, trivialized.

In both cases, sexism is manifested. Ignorance cannot be an excuse particularly since these

candidates for national positions, if they win, will have the mandate of protecting, upholding, and realizing people’s human rights. Naturally, included here are women’s rights. Thus, silence is unacceptable.

Now, there are those who claim women’s issues as the, or, a reason for running. Take that controversial interview between senatorial candidate Alma Moreno and Karen Davila. Admittedly, I do not like being critical of women candidates because of the still existing notion that women know less

Published Monday to Sunday by Philippine Manila Standard Publishing Inc. at 6/F Universal Re Building, 106 Paseo de Roxas, corner Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City.

Telephone numbers 832-5554, 832-5556, 832-5558 (connecting all departments), (Editorial), 832-5546, (Advertising), 832-

but I take exeption with this interview.

Moreno said that she is running because she wants to fight discrimination against women. However, when Davila asked her for concrete things she would do, there was nothing substantial in her responses. In fact, it was very evident that she did not know what she was talking about!

Moreno was asked about reproductive health. Her answer was neither here nor there. First she said she was in favor of RH. When pressed, she said that she had reservations and that she

5550. P.O. Box 2933, Manila Central Post Office, Manila. Website: www. manilastandardtoday.com E-mail: contact@thestandard.com.ph

MST ONLINE

can be accessed at: www.manilastandardtoday.com

MEMBER

PPI

Philippine Press Institute The National Association of Philippine Newspapers

agreed that using contraceptives is a sin. In jest she even suggested that to do family planning, “dapat bukas lagi ang ilaw!”

Moreno said that she will work on the Magna Carta of Women. Davila quipped that the MCW is already a law and wondered what else should be done. The woman senatorial candidate said that there are provisions that are not yet implemented but could not say which. Obviously, Moreno is not knowledgeable about women’s issues.

Continued on A11

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

TIME and time again, it has been pointed out in this column that the Constitution mandates that only natural-born citizens of the Philippines are qualified to hold office as a senator, or as the president of the republic.

As used in the charter, the term “natural-born” is self-describing. Its twin components are the words “natural” and “born,” which are simple terms in themselves as well.

The word “natural” means something which isn’t artificial or created by the intervention of a human, or something which takes place as a matter of course.

For example, the sun rises in the east and it sets in the west, and there is nothing man can do about that. A real sunrise or a sunset is a natural occurrence. What is created by nature is natural; what is created by man is artificial.

The term “born” relates to an event which is the consequence of a natural biological condition called pregnancy.

While it may be argued that pregnancy arises from sexual intercourse which involves a human act, not all instances of sexual congress leads to pregnancy. A child is conceived and eventually born, not because of sexual intimacy, but because an egg gets fertilized by a sperm.

Both “natural” and “born” are related, if not complementary words, and many dictionaries consider both words almost akin to synonyms. For example, one who is born ambidextrous will find it in his nature to use either hands with great ease.

Thus put, the use of the words “natural” and “born” in the current Constitution is a clear indication that natural-born citizenship must be reckoned exclusively from one’s actual birth, which is a natural event. Proceeding from the same premise, natural born citizenship cannot be acquired by adoption because adoption is not a consequence of nature.

The same observation applies to foundlings. Because the material circumstances surrounding the actual birth of a foundling are unknown, a foundling cannot be considered a natural-born citizen.

At any rate, interpretations and conjectures to the contrary are effectively barred by the categorical definition of a natural-born citizen supplied by the Constitution itself—“Natural-born citizens are those who are citizens of the Philippines from birth without having to perform any act to acquire or perfect their Philippine citizenship.” The first part of the constitutional definition puts sole emphasis on actual birth, while the second part forbids any human intervention beyond actual birth. From this concise and detailed definition in the charter, the affinity between the terms 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

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 5

A10

OPINION

lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

RUSSIA’S DETERMINATION TO FIGHT ISIS BACK­ BENCHER ROD P. KAPUNAN IF ONE is to interpret the downing of Russian’s SU 24 fighter bomber by Turkish F-16 fighter from an objective angle, that incident worked well to strengthen Russia’s resolve to eradicate Islamic State terrorism that is now sowing widespread terror and anxiety among the peaceloving people of the world.

Diplomatically, Russian President Vladimir Putin now enjoys the moral advantage after the treacherous Turkish attack while carrying a mission of bombing trucks and tankers used by ISIS terrorists to haul their looted Syrian oil and using the proceeds to finance the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad.

Such is the classic proxy war waged by the US and its Western Allies in frying their minions who shout “Allahu Akbar” in their own lard.

The West cannot fight Assad without strengthening ISIS but concomitantly endangering its own security.

The image of Putin as a modern-day crusader against terrorism has been boosted as when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was exposed to the world as the principal patron of terrorism. Nato is now in a dilemma on what to do with an ally that turned out to be the broker and coddler of terrorist’s organization whose part-time job is to steal, loot and ransack national treasures; and was responsible for bringing to Western Europe the monstrous problem on how to cope up with the huge influx of refugees, many of whom are disguised terrorists.

The porous border between Turkey and Syria

which is mostly under the control of the antiAssad forces has brought to light the truth that the US, using Turkey, wants to establish a 90-kilometer “no-fly-zone” inside the Syrian territory to completely secure it from attacks from the army loyal to Assad. It was a desperate attempt by Erdogan to bring in Nato should Russia recklessly retaliate.

Instead of taking drastic measures, Russian intensified its bombing in Syria, particularly hitting those trucks, oil tanker and depots captured by ISIS. The decision to hit those targets was meant to weaken ISIS as those looted oil are being transported to Turkey under the auspices of BMZ Group Denizcilik believed to be owned by Bilal Erdogan, the son of President Erdogan. That was soon followed by the deployment of Russian’s new S-400 ballistic missiles, the moving of its Mediterranean fleet near the coast of Syria armed with cruise missiles and the installation of their latest electronic jamming device.

All these pre-empted the Turkish plan to establish a “no-fly-zone” within the Syrian border to duplicate what they did in ousting Muammar Kaddafi of Libya.

Turkish aircraft could no longer and unilaterally impose a no-fly zone to covertly provide air cover to the terrorist oil smugglers. Unlike Russia’s involvement in Syria which has the consent of the legitimate government of Basher al Assad, Turkish and NATO allies’ unilateral attempt to establish a no-fly-zone is illegal and in violation of the UN charter. It has long been known that the looting of oil has been going on in the region of Kilis, Urfa and Gaziantep, and transported all the way to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Jihan where the looted oil is sold to the international market at 50 percent below the international value.

Russia believed that it was the bombing that prompted Erdogan to act. In fact, former Iraqi member of parliament Mowaffak Al Rubaie said that about $800 million worth of stolen oil is being brought out of Syria and Iraq, and revenues from this illegal and criminal trade is used to finance IS

EAGLE EYES DEAN TONY LA VIÑA

THE PHILIPPINES’ LEADERSHIP IN PARIS

THE Philippines has clear and strong goals for the UN Climate Change talks, which has now entered crunch time in Paris, France. These past four days have seen negotiations being held in spinoffs and what we call informal informals to keep the process going as the deadline for the world is nearing. I am proud to say that the country is leading the call for a framework that considers not just the future of Filipinos, but the future of all.

We started on a high note as President Benigno Aquino III gave us the marching order at the Leaders’ Event on Nov. 30 to push for ambitious mitigation cuts that will limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Even if the Philippines has negligible carbon footprint, the President emphasized the importance of still doing our part in reducing emissions—the message is we have a role to play in this, so let’s do it and do it well.

More importantly, the President stressed that we could do it together while recognizing the diversity of the challenges and capacities of the 196 nations that are participating in this historic event. Aquino has implored us to look outward and consider the stories and experiences of other vulnerable countries. In his speech, he

mentioned the plight of small-island states which face the danger of literally having their lands engulfed by water due to massive sea level rise. He highlighted their situation to raise the call for adequate and predictable climate finance.

It is a message of leadership. The Philippines was able to further echo this message in the Climate Vulnerable Forum, an advocacy alliance of 43 middle economy and developing nations which it chairs. In its event also on Nov. 30, the CVF nations declared that they would lower their emissions to help achieve the lessthan-1.5 degree-Celsius target. Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman, vice chair of the Climate Change Commission and also the head of our delegation, said that for vulnerable countries, it is simply a matter of “survival.”

The Climate Action Network, a global coalition of 195 nongovernment organizations, lauded this step and gave the CVF a “Ray of the Day” award. CAN said that the courage and will of vulnerable nations would help make the rest of the world less vulnerable to climate change. We have helped raise the campaign for ambition and it is a call that we want to sustain until the 21st Con-

ference of Parties ends on Dec.11.

What will drive this campaign forward is our position to make the climate change agreement people-centric. The Philippines has consistently fought for a clear reference to human rights protection in the new agreement. It is a pivot we have started in Lima, Peru in 2014. We started with one or two allies and saw this grow in Geneva in February up until the ADP (Ad hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action) in Bonn, Germany in October. Now in Paris, the support from other countries has further increased. The Philippines will continue to lead the battle in making sure the new agreement will capture human rights.

We are also pushing for grants-based adaptation finance. Vulnerable nations should be able to receive assistance from developed countries with no strings attached. The fight for this has become tougher midway into the talks, as countries push for their own priorities in the ADP. We will continue to work hard to make this a clear and important part of the new climate change deal.

We have a well-organized Philippines delegation here in Paris.

Led by the indefatigable

terrorist campaign. According to retired US general US general John Allen, the US will eventually come to protect “moderate” Syrian rebels possibly with air power once they enter into combat (deployed into action). Such is pretty dangerous because there is a likely possibility that Russia and the US will clash on the issue of identifying the “moderates” from the terrorists.

At the moment, Russia has the edge for having the first to establish a nofly-zone in the area against any aircraft that would interfere in its operations against ISIS. In fact, training is being carried out by the CIA and US special forces right under the very noses of the Turkish government.

They are being trained in Hirfanli which is a few kilometers away from the US military base at Incirlik.

After training, they are transferred to the southern province of Hatay and from there cross their way to Syria. There is no much distinction between the anti-Assad forces from

the terrorist group made up of the Jubhat Al Nusra, Al Qaida, and the equally murderous Turkmen militia. The Turkmen has lately gained notoriety for shooting down the Russian pilot while parachuting. Jahed Ahmad, the representative of the 10th brigade in the area boasted that they purposely shot the pilot while still descending which is considered a war crime.

It is also an open secret that wounded IS fighters are routinely brought to Turkish hospitals either in Sunlurfa, 150 km of Gaziantep, and that covert hospital is headed by Erdogan’s daughter Sumeyye Erdogan. She also acts as head of IS medical corps in charge of attending to wounded IS fighters. It was also revealed that the Erdogan government has committed criminal acts when the Turkish Intelligence organization committed rape and murder to an American reporter Serena Shim and British reporter Jacky Sutton. Accordingly, they were raped, and subsequently murdered. Shim was made to

appear to have died in a car accident, while Sutton allegedly committed suicide. It was alleged that the two wrote articles critical of the Turkish government having close liaison with ISIS. There now appears to be a change in position on how Europe intends to deal with ISIS. French President Francois Hollande now seems to agree with Putin that the forces loyal to Assad remain the principal solution to the civil war that in the first place is being fanned by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey with the uncanny cooperation of the Israeli intelligence services. The West cannot fight Assad without strengthening ISIS but concomitantly endangering its own security. To President Putin, it is for the people of Syria to decide on the future fate of Assad, and not those fanatical bigots exported by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey.

President Obama accused Assad of making war against his own people forgetting that US Presi-

vice-chair of the Climate Change Commission, Secretary Emmanuel de Guzman, and Environmental Secretary Ramon Paje, and Presidential Adviser for the Environment, Secretary Neric Acosta, we have been able to influence this complex and challenging process. Team Philippines —which include government officials, technical experts, civil society representatives, and youth delegates (our youngest colleague is Socorro Rodrigo, a 4th year Physics Major of Ateneo de Manila that I personally recruited) is looked up to here by our peers and by stakeholders.

We now await the new text, which will be forwarded to the ministers next week. The political impetus that they will bring could further raise the ambition and provide the process with muchneeded direction. We will make every day of next week count here in Paris.

We are ready for marathon negotiations; flexible, but always focused and principled. The Philippines will work with the rest of the world to make COP21 a success. We have the right to a better future and we will fight for it here. We owe it to our country and our people.

Facebook: Dean Tony La Vina Twitter: tonylavs dent Lincoln did the same when he imposed martial law to prevent the southern states from seceding, which means that he too declared war against his people wanting to leave the Union. This explains why the US appears to be running against world opinion.

In fact, many believe it is the US that is now engaged in a proxy war against Assad, for and in behalf of the Wahabs for Saudi Arabia and the Zionists for Israel, that it could no longer see the more serious threat of fanaticism that now forms the cradle of the Islamic States. Many could not understand why the US, despite gruesome pictures showing beheadings of prisoners, savagery in their conduct of warfare, raping of Christian Yazidi women, wanton pillage of villages , and the most heinous acts destroying mankind’s cultural legacies in the city of Aleppo, has not at all been touched to redefine its policy of zeroing in on the ISIS instead of demonizing Assad. (rpkapunan@gmail.com)

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OPINION lettertotheeditor@thestandard.com.ph

CUTTING EMISSIONS MAY GET HARDER WITH TIME

By Christopher Flavelle THE most fascinating thing about the Paris talks isn’t that the result will be insufficient to avert potentially catastrophic climate change, but that people don’t seem more bothered by the languid clip of progress.

“I’m optimistic,” President Barack Obama said Monday.

“I think we’re going to solve it. I think the issue is just going to be the pace and how much damage is done before we are able to fully apply the brakes.”

Perhaps the best justification for that optimism is the hope that cutting emissions will get easier as the consequences of inaction become clearer. “Climate change is challenging because its impacts seem distant—they do not impinge on our daily lives,” Graham Smith, a politics professor at the University of Westminster in London, told me. “If and when they start impinging, the increased salience may be the catalyst for more effective action.”

But what if the reverse is also true? What if more frequent and severe weather events make voters less likely to support policies to reduce emissions? What if the progression of climate change didn’t just change the weather, but also changed the way people interact, trust and think about the future?

That environmental shifts can unravel societies isn’t a novel observation. The fall of the Maya civilization in Central America, the Chaco Anasazi in what is now New Mexico and the Norse in Greenland can all be traced in part to drought, deforestation or soil erosion. More recently, the

The term... From A9 “natural” and “born” is manifest and beyond doubt. The language of the Constitution clearly means that foundlings are outside the coverage of the term “natural-born citizen.”

Since the term “natural-born” speaks for itself, there appears to be no valid reason for five of the six senators in the ninemember Senate Electoral Tribunal to declare Senator Grace Poe, who is admittedly a foundling, a natural-born citizen of the Philippines. It can only mean that either the five senators do not or refuse to understand the Constitution, or it was a case of politics all along.

The fact that politics was the principal motivation for the five

Taking up... From A9 As an advocate, I felt insulted.

It is infuriating that a woman candidate would claim that she is running under a pro-women platform but cannot even articulate what she will do if elected.

The thing is, Moreno wants to be a senator. What kind of prowomen laws can we expect her to sponsor and fight for?

As clear as day, at least to this advocate, Moreno is using the issues of women merely for brownie points. However, her words betrayed her inadequacy.

civil war in Syria was preceded by a four-year drought more severe than any on record.

But a growing body of research suggests that natural disasters on a much smaller scale—the type that will become more common in the US and elsewhere as climate change continues, from hurricanes in the Southeast to floods in the Midwest to wildfires and droughts in the Southwest— can still have long-lasting social and psychological effects. Most worrisome, those changes erode the very qualities needed to sustain popular support for a more aggressive climate policy.

The first of those is trust. Most climate policies entail some sort of cost, whether it’s taxing fossil fuels, investing more in clean energy or sending tax revenue to reduce emissions overseas.

The fundamental challenge for policy makers is getting voters to believe those funds will be used as promised.

Yet an increase in extreme weather

events will probably make it harder to win people’s trust. A 2011 study of Honduran villages hit by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 found that, while levels of trust rose in villages with moderate damage, people in villages that were hit hardest were less trusting than those where the impact wasn’t as severe.

“While negative shocks might promote cooperation, too large a shock might actually destroy cooperation,” the authors, Marco Castillo of George Mason University and Michael Carter at the University of California at Davis, wrote.

That loss in trust toward others spills over into the faith peo-

ple have in their elected leaders, according to Robert Oxoby, an economics professor at the University of Calgary, who pointed to the government’s inability to meet expectations before, during and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “If I’m a poor person living in New Orleans postKatrina, and I look at my representatives to Congress or the state legislature, they’re not like me,” Oxoby told me last month.

“That’s where I get the distrust of government.”

Another obstacle to cutting emissions is getting people to care about environmental shifts whose worst effects will happen in the distant future. As demonstrated by most people’s failure to save adequatelyfor their retirement, sacrificing now to increase your living standard decades from now is a hard sell.

But it gets even harder if you don’t expect to be around that long. Kerry Smith, an economics professor with Arizona State University, compared the socalled longevity expectations in Dade County, Florida, before Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and then two years after. He found the hurricane made people who were affected by it significantly less likely to think they would live to the age of 75.

A third requirement for fighting climate change is getting voters to care about people who stand to suffer from it. Yet the consequences of climate change seem likely to make people less concerned, rather than more, about the plight of others. One year after the 2010 earthquake in Chile, Pennsylvania State University’s David Fleming and his

co-authors found that people from villages that had been heavily damaged showed less reciprocity—a willingness to repay good deeds, to meet the expectations of others—than their peers.

The tendency to become less generous after a trauma becomes even more pronounced in societies with fault lines—whether those delineate people by race, income or geography.

“What we know is that, when there’s scarcity of any kind, that tends to get people to focus more on their own group,” Oxoby said.

“It highlights income inequality, it highlights political inequality.

That manifests itself in attitudes toward immigrants, toward redistribution, toward welfare programs, toward health care.”

Other research backs that up.

In a paper published last year, economists tested undergraduate students at the University of California in Berkeley to see how exposure to a recession affected their attitudes, and they found it made participants more selfish.

And after the recession started, the share of Americans who said protecting the environment was worth paying higher prices fell to 43 percent from 60 percent A final necessity for cutting emissions is persuading voters to take risks. After all, cutting emissions will require dramatic changes in how we generate and transmit power, the types of vehicles we drive, and even the way our tax systems work. Those changes entail risk—of disruption, of higher prices, of things not working the way they’re supposed to.

Here’s the problem for policy makers: Natural disasters appear

to make people more risk-averse.

In a 2013 paper, Lisa Cameron at Australia’s Monash University, along with Manisha Shah at the University of California in Los Angeles, used data from Indonesia to show that people in villages that had suffered a flood or earthquake in the past three years were 41 percent less likely to made a risky decision—for example, opening a new business or changing jobs.

“Individuals who recently experienced a natural disaster perceive the world to be a riskier place. People [inaccurately] update their perception of background risk after experiencing a disaster. They report unrealistically high probabilities that another will occur in the next year and that it will be severe. These perceptions persist for several years.”

Of course, if more frequent and severe storms, droughts and other afflictions make voters more worried about the future, it could make it easier for politicians to sell the sort of aggressive measures that now seem unpalatable: a meaningful price on carbon, perhaps, coupled with tariffs on imports from countries that don’t participate.

But it’s equally plausible that the opposite will happen—that however hard it is now to persuade people to curb carbon emissions, the inexorable ramifications of a changing climate will make it harder still. Perhaps the negotiators meeting in Paris, and the governments back home watching their progress, should be less sanguine about the odds of improving on their agreement as time goes on. Bloomberg

senators to vote in favor of Poe in the SET is admitted by one of the senators herself—Senator Cynthia Villar. In her recent statement to the news media, Villar acknowledged that their decision was “not purely legal.”

Villar added that for politicians like those in the majority of five who voted for Poe, it’s a big thing that the people elected Poe as senator. In other words, it’s “to hell with the Constitution.”

The predilection displayed by Villar is disturbing. As a senator, Villar took an oath to support and defend the Constitution.

What happened to that oath? Is a senator excused from living up to that oath the moment he or she becomes a member of the SET? That seems to be the import of Villar’s explanation.

In 1991, the Supreme Court declared in Lerias v. House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal that “politicians who are members of electoral tribunals must think and act like judges” and that “they must resolve election controversies with judicial, not political integrity.” If Villar speaks for the rest of the senators who sided with Poe in the SET, then it appears that all five of them failed to comply with the edict of the Supreme Court.

Under these circumstances, one will not find it difficult to agree with the great Lawrence of Arabia who once said that politicians are engaged in “a very lowly profession.”

Equally disturbing are the press statements of a number of non-government organizations

which are openly supporting Poe’s bid for the presidency in the May 2016 elections. Citing international covenants invoked

by Poe but which have no force of law, these organizations deliberately appeal to emotion by declaring that foundlings should not be discriminated against. In the process, they subliminally suggest that a decision against Poe is a ruling in favor of discrimination against foundlings.

These organizations conveniently overlook the fact that a decision against Poe is a ruling which upholds the supremacy of the Constitution. They fail to see that, as held by the Supreme Court, the SET must rule judiciously, and not on the basis of whim or emotion. An appeal premised on charity and

sympathy will not work, either, because unlike the Philippine Red Cross, the SET is not a charitable or social welfare establishment.

The welcome news is that a division of the Commission on Elections recently ruled that Poe is not a natural-born citizen. Poe will surely seek a reconsideration of that decision, and under the Constitution, her case is automatically elevated to the Comelec en banc.

In the meantime, the heated debate about Poe will continue, but the recent victory of constitutionalism and the rule of law in the Comelec should dilute whatever hollow justification Poe’s political allies may have for the untenable majority decision of the SET.

Her tactic backfired.

Then comes the Digong Duterte speech. The guy wants to be president of the country. If he wins, on his shoulders will fall the task of taking care that human rights are upheld. Again, including women’s rights. Duterte’s supporters are the rabid kind. They are willing to be blind and deaf to their candidate’s shortcomings.

I listened to him speak. Public speaking is not one of Duterte’s strong suits. But then, one does not need to be a good speaker to know that there should be lim-

its to what one can publicly say.

His repeated cursing made a lot of people uncomfortable. What is worse is that after his speech cursing became the norm. Pro and anti-Duterte took to cursing online. They cursed women, specifically, mothers who do not have anything to do with all these controversies. Why curse mothers when their kids do wrong? In effect, mothers are blamed for their children’s sins. Doing this betrays the still archaic way we look at women and mothers. This must stop.

Duterte’s declaration that he

has four “wives” is disconcerting, to say the least. How does he consider women? Even if he says he loves them all, what about breaking our laws? I wonder how he, and supporters would feel if women come out to say they also have four “husbands”? This should be okay, right? Of course this is wishful thinking.

Obviously, Duterte is not your usual politician. He is unconventional which, I think, is part of his “charm”. I will be the first to say that we need officials who will pursue out-of-the-box solutions to the country’s predica-

ment. However, these solutions should not be at the expense of people’s rights, again, including women’s rights.

The sad, sad reality is, events show us how strong sexism remains among our politicians.

This makes me wonder how women’s concerns are going to be addressed by the incoming administration.

Who will take up the cudgels for the Filipino women? bethangsioco@gmail.com @bethangsioco on Twitter Elizabeth Angsioco on FaceBook

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

FIFA scandal widens; 16 indicted WASHINGTON—The multi-million dollar corruption scandal engulfing FIFA widened Thursday with 16 people indicted by US justice officials who pledged an unremitting crackdown on an “outrageous” betrayal of trust.

The latest dramatic twist in a long-running saga began with a dawn raid on a luxury Zurich hotel where Swiss authorities arrested South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) president Juan Angel Napout, and Alfredo Hawit, head of the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF).

Hours later, the two appeared on a list released in Washington of 16 men—all from the same two confederations—indicted on charges of corruption.

They included Ricardo Teixeira, the former head of the Brazilian Football Confederation and a former FIFA vice-president; Ariel Alvarado, a Panamanian who sits on FIFA’s disciplinary committee; and Rafael Callejas, president of Honduras 1990-1994 and former head of the Honduran football federation.

“The message should be clear to every culpable individual who remains in the

shadows, hoping to evade our investigation: You will not wait us out. You will not escape our focus,” US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said.

Lynch also revealed that eight other people indicted since authorities launched an earlier wave of FIFA raids in Switzerland in May had now pleaded guilty.

Among those were Jeffrey Webb, a former FIFA vice president and head of CONCACAF, who has admitted racketeering and money laundering.

As part of his plea deal, he has agreed to forfeit more than $6.7 million in assets.

Webb and banned former CONCACAF chief Jack Warner, who was indicted earlier, were also accused of siphoning off cash intended for disaster relief, according to the new indictment.

Hawit, a Honduran national, and Napout of Paraguay are both opposing extradition to the United States, the Swiss justice ministry (FOJ) said.

Super Bowl halftime to feature Coldplay SAN FRANCISCO—British rock band Coldplay will be the headline act performing at Super Bowl 50 in February in San Jose, California, the National Football League announced Thursday.

The four-man group is expected to join several other international artists for the annual entertainment extravaganza on February 7 at Levi’s Stadium.

Coldplay has a new album coming out Friday called, “A Head Full of Dreams.”

Returning to the Super Bowl stage again will

be Bruno Mars, who performed with the Red Hot Chili Peppers at halftime of last season’s Super Bowl.

The US media said talks are also being held to bring Beyonce into the halftime show. She worked with Coldplay on its new album.

Coldplay have sold more than 80 million records worldwide.

Their music awards include seven Grammy awards out of 25 nominations, eight Brit Awards, five MTV Video Music Awards, and winning Best British Group three times. AFP

The Memphis Grizzlies cheerleaders

preform their routine during the game against the San Antonio Spurs at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.

AFP

Petron, Foton fight for all the marbles Game Today (Cuneta Astrodome) 1 p.m. -- Petron vs Foton

AN action-packed and emotional battle gets underway as Petron seeks to extend its reign when it shoots for its third consecutive crown against a young and hungry Foton side in Game 3 of the 2015 Philippine Superliga Grand Prix best-of-three finals showdown today at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Opening serve is at 1 p.m., with another massive crowd tipped to witness the intense, world-class women’s volleyball action of this prestigious interclub tourney presented by Asics and backed by Milo with Senoh, Mikasa and Mueller as technical partners and TV5 as official broadcaster.

A squad built around the seasoned cornerstones of Aby Marano, Rachel Ann Daquis and Dindin Manabat, with Brazilians Rupia Inck and Erika

Fil-Am golf. Nico

Sevilla of Team Mizuno studies his putt at the Baguio Country Club’s hole 9. He shot 33 points to tow his team to fourth with two rounds left in the Am-A division of the Fil-Am Golf Invitational.

Adachi serving as reinforcements, Petron is heavily tipped to blaze its way to the crown.

But fate had a different script.

The Blaze Spikers were upset by the Tornadoes in Game 1; 14-25, 2521, 25-19, 25-22, casting doubts on their ability to match, or surpass, the three straight crowns masterfully carved by powerhouse Philippine Army in the first few conferences of the league.

Petron, behind the leadership of Adachi and the rock-solid backline defense of libero Jen Reyes, stormed back and conquered Game 2 in nail-biting fashion; 25-13, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24, to set the stage for this kill-or-be killed rubber match.

“Game 3 is not just an ordinary game,” said Petron coach George Pascua, noting that the league’s first-ever Game 3 will not be a battle of fire-

power, coaching strategy or defensive prowess, but a “clash of hearts.”

“Whoever has the desire and the fighting heart will win the crown.

Game 3 is where heroes are born. We have to seize the opportunity and unleash all our weapons to make sure that we will be the last team standing. Nandito na kami. Ilalabas na namin lahat ng pwedeng ilabas.”

Winning the crown, however, will not be a cakewalk for Petron.

Foton, a team which made a late push in the eliminations before shocking topseed Philips Gold in the semifinals, is not an easy foe.

With the triple tower of American imports Lindsay Stalzer, Katie Messing and national team stalwart Jaja Manabat at the frontline, the Tornadoes displayed an elite defense in Game 1 before suffering a late-game meltdown in Game 2 that equalized the series.

Woods okay if career is over NEW YORK—Tiger Woods says he has reconciled himself to his golf career possibly being over and told his children about the mistakes that led to his divorce in an interview with Time magazine.

Woods, a 14-time major champion who has chased the record 18 majors won by Jack Nicklaus, turns 40 on December 30 and is out indefinitely following a third back surgery. He has not won a major title since the 2008 US Open.

“I’ve had a good run,” Woods said. “I’ve done a lot more in the game than I ever

thought I could. And to be in my 30s, and to have done this much, I never would have foreseen that.”

In a rare peek into his personal world published online Thursday, Woods told Time that, “With all my heart, I do not want to stop playing golf.

“It’s not what I want to have happen, and it’s not what I’m planning on having happen. But if it does, it does. I’ve reconciled myself to it.

“It’s more important for me to be with my kids.”

Woods recounted a tale of a nerve twinge after hit-

ting a chip shot that left him crumpled on the ground and unable to move until his daughter, Sam Alexis, found him and went to get help.

Woods had his children, Sam Alexis and son Charlie, with ex-wife Elin Nordegren. They were married from 2004 until 2010, months after his infidelity with multiple mistresses led to divorce.

- Tiger says Elin among ‘best friends’ “It would be having a more open, honest relationship with my ex-wife,” Woods said about what he would change. AFP

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

New event needed for every golf player

Jordan Spieth of the United States (right) celebrates with Anirban Lahiri of India after a Spieth had a hole-in-one on the second hole during the first round of the Hero World Challenge at Albany, The Bahamas in Nassau, Bahamas. AFP

MIAMI—Starting with the 2016-17 campaign, US PGA Tour players will have to add at least one new event to their schedules each season, according to a new policy.

The rule was approved last week by the tour policy board and players were notified this week of the change, aimed at having top players in different markets.

The “new” event must be one that a player has not competed in over the prior four years. Golfers who played in 25 or more events in the current or prior season would be exempt from the rule

as would those members age 45 and older or with lifetime tour status, 20 wins and 15 seasons on tour.

“Depending on how many you’re playing, you do move your schedule around a little bit,” US PGA commissioner Tim Finchem said.

“You’ll find some players who don’t like it, but generally speaking the players are understanding of it and supportive of it. It’s a little bit more balance fieldwise with sponsors, but also it really helps in the markets that we play in to have some of these faces be there at some point. AFP

Spieth scores an ace; Casey grabs lead NEW PROVIDENCE—World number one Jordan Spieth aced the par-3 second hole while England’s Paul Casey fired a six-under par 66 to share the lead after round one of the Hero World Challenge.

Casey’s bogey-free round put him alongside Americans Jimmy Walker and Zach Johnson atop the leaderboard at the 18-man event hosted by Tiger Woods.

Defending champion Spieth’s

shot of the day left him one stroke back on 67 alongside compatriots Bubba Watson, Bill Haas and Brooks Koepka and Australian Adam Scott.

Spieth, the reigning US Open

and Masters champion, used a 6-iron from 172 yards for his holein-one and followed with a bogeyfree round that included birdies at the seventh and back-to-back at the 14th and par-5 15th.

Casey, who suffered two playoff losses on the US PGA Tour this season, enjoyed his tour of the Albany resort, making birdies at the par-5 third, sixth and 15th holes. He also opened and closed the back nine with bird-

ies and added another at 13 to secure his playoff among the leaders.

It’s the seventh appearance at the event for Casey, who shared third in 2010 and 2011, his most recent prior starts.

Walker closed the front nine with a bogey to stand at level par but made six birdies on a bogeyfree back side to seize his share of the lead.

Johnson, the 2013 Challenge

champion, birdied three of the four par-3s -- the fifth, eighth and 17th holes -- as well as the 10th, 11th, 15th and 16th.

Scott birdied the par-3 second and eagled the par-5 third then answered a bogey at the fourth with a birdie on the par-5 sixth. On the back nine, he took a bogey at 13 but responded with back-to-back birdies at 14 and 15th and closed with another birdie to stay on the leaders’ heels. AFP

Cantada Sports, PVF Cyna moves up to joint 18th with a 71 hold beach volley tilt JOE Cantada Sports and the Philippine Volleyball Federation will be conducting their last beach volleyball event for the year 2015—The Tanduay/ Summit Beach Volleyball Invitational Championships Saturday at the sand courts of the Cantada Sports Center in Taguig City.

Top collegiate and graduate players have confirmed their participation in the one-day event in both men’s and women’s divisions.

Cash prizes and dinner gift certificates at the Century

Park Hotel will be awarded to the top finishers.

Gift bags containing food and drink products from Asia Brewery and Nagaraya nuts will be given away to all participants.

As in all our beach volleyball events, there are no entry fees and participants, officials and invited guests are treated to all day complimentary meals and drinks.

The event is supported

by Tanduay, Summit, Asia Brewery, Mapecon, Nagaraya, sportsmen Lucio “Bong” Tan, Michael Tan, and Oliver Gan. Selected Tanduay drinks and Asia Brewery products will, likewise, be served by gorgeous Tanduay ladies.

It will be another festive event like all events at the Cantada Sports Center and will be one great way of celebrating Christmas.

Festivities start with breakfast at 7 a.m.

CYNA Rodriguez went on a birdiebinge on her homeward trip at the front and shot a second straight one-under 71, moving from joint 35th to a share of 18th after two rounds of the final LPGA Qualifying School paced by Simin Feng of China and Korean Julie Yang at the LPGA International Course in Florida Thursday.

Rodriguez bucked a shaky backside start of 37 with three birdies in the first six holes at the front, including back-toback from No. 5, but missed improving

her ranking more with a bogey on the par-5 No. 8 at the Hills course.

The 34-37 card matched the three-time ICTSI Ladies Philippine Golf Tour Order of Merit champion’s output at the Jones layout Wednesday and gave Rodriguez a 142 aggregate heading to the last three days of the grueling elims which stakes 20 berths to next year’s LPGA Tour.

But while Rodriguez bolstered her chances for the coveted card, compatriot Dottie Ardina tumbled down from joint 60th to a share of 95th with a four-over 76, also at the Hills course,

marred by three bogeys without a birdie to show at the back.

With a 148 total, Ardina will need to bounce back strong in the last three rounds to at least get a crack at the Tour proper where the next 25 players will earn conditional status.

Feng, who sizzled with a 65 at the Jones course, overcame a double-bogey mishap on the par-5 No. 15 and bogey on the last hole with five birdies, carding a 70 for a 135 for a share of the lead with Yang, who also slowed down with a 69 at Jones after opening with a 66 at the Hills layout.

Sevens World Series. Oscar Ouma (left, top) and Frank Wanyama (center, bottom) of Kenya tackle Tom Cusack (left,

bottom) of Australia as his teammate Allan Fa’alava’au (right) looks on of Australia during their rugby match of the Dubai leg of IRB’s Sevens World Series. AFP

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

Ultera to pin hopes on imports THOUGH they got the job done with practically an all-Filipino crew in Game One, PLDT Home Ultera coach Roger Gorayeb will still be banking on his American imports when they go up for the clincher in Sunday’s Game 2 of the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Reinforced Conference Finals at The Arena in San Juan City.

Sareea Freeman and Victoria Hurtt did see action in the opener but the former US NCAA Division I standouts continued to grope for form while trying to blend with the locals, forcing Gorayeb to lean on her tested

local crew, led by Alyssa Valdez and Gretchel Soltones on their way to pulling off a stirring come-from-behind 16-25, 20-25, 26-24, 29-27, 18-16 victory last Saturday.

But Gorayeb believes the

week-long break has given Freeman and Hurtt enough time to jell with the rest of the squad, further firming up their frontline rotation against the embattled Lady Troopers in the season-ending conference of the league sponsored by Shakey’s and presented by PLDT Home Ultera.

“All I want from them is to intimidate Army with their blocking and height,” said PLDT coach Roger Gorayeb.

Hurtt scored eight hits in a three-set stint while Freeman finished with five markers while seeing action in the latter part of

the fifth set.

But if his reinforcements fall short of expectations for the second time, Gorayeb said he can always go to his local aces again.

In fact, the power-hitting Valdez unloaded 25 hits, including 22 on kills, majority of which delivered in the last three sets in her very first game in the conference backed by Mikasa and Accel.

“Her (Valdez) presence alone inspires the players and also sows fear in the hearts of the opposing team, that’s how important she is to this team,” said Gorayeb referring to the

reigning Open and Collegiate Conference MVP. Valdez also got help from NCAA MVP Soltones, who stepped up all game to provide additional firepower for the Open Conference champions.

“She stepped up for us, she came through when we needed it most,” said Gorayeb of Soltones, also his ace at San Sebastian.

But Gorayeb believes Freeman and Hurtt will explode this time.

“We expect Army to adjust so we will need them (Freeman and Hurt) to play strong for us to have a chance,” said Gorayeb.

India Aces, Royals off to a flying start

By Peter Atencio

Aside from their spiking prowess, Victoria Hurtt (10) and Sareea Freeman’s blocking will be PLDT Home Ultera’s other weapon when it shoots for the Shakey’s V-League Season 12 Reinforced Conference crown against Army in Game 2 Sunday.

THE Micromax India Aces and United Arab Emirates Royals roared to a great start in the kickoff leg of the International Premier Tennis League in Kobe last Wednesday.

The Aces came off with a stirring 25-24 win over the Legendari Japan Warriors, while the Royals pulled off a 26-20 triumph over the Singapore Slammers.

According to the tournament’s official website, the Aces were quick on their feet to win the next two sets in quick succession.

Fabrice Santoro was awesome in the men’s Legends after he convincingly waylaid Marat Safin, 6-2.

They gained more points after Gael Monfils and Rohann Bopanna stopped Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Kei Nishikori, 6-4, in the men’s doubles.

The women’s singles saw Sharapova, playing for the Warriors, hitting three aces, and taking a 6-4 triumph over Samantha Stosur.

In the Royals’ games, the evening started with Ana Ivanovic winning the

women’s singles, 6-3, over Belinda Bencic.

In the men’s doubles, the power-packed, shot making of Tomas Berdych and Nick Kyrgios was a hit with the crowd, as they outplayed Marcelo and Dustin Brown, 6-5.

Kristina Mladenovic and Daniel Nestor added more points for the Royals with their 6-3 win over Melo and Karolin Pliskova in the mixed doubles.

Goran Ivanisevic then finished their showdown with a 6-3 verdict over Carlos Moya.

Meanwhile, world no. 1 Novak Djokovic pulled out of the Indian Premier Tennis League, citing fatigue.

He has been replaced by Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka in his team, the OUE Singapore Slammers.

While World No. 2 Murray will be returning for the second season, Wawrinka will be making his debut in the five-nation tennis league, the only one of its kind in the world.

Murray was a part of the Manila Mavericks, which was re-christened Philippine Mavericks in Season 2.

Wishing Salud all the best INSIDE SPORTS RONNIE NATHANIELSZ

THERE is a generally accepted principle that an individual’s value is only recognized after he no longer holds office in a particular position he held before.

Such is the case of lawyer Chito Salud, who recently resigned as President and CEO of the Philippine Basketball Association this past week, claiming the PBA is in good hands and he had an opportunity to move on.

A former Commissioner

of the PBA, who served in that sometimes testing capacity where he had to moderate conflicting interests of teams and even individuals and corporations, Chito Salud probably suffered a little in comparison with his late, eminent father, Atty. Rodrigo “Rudy” Salud, a gentleman of incredible talent and an individual, who was a man for all seasons.

However, it would seem unfair to compare son with father, because in most instances comparisons are odious and we must confess being guilty of this indiscretion.

We also feel bad about the occasional criticism we leveled at Chito Salud, al-

though there was no malice intended and whatever we wrote was sincerely designed to help Chito perform even better, because we cared for him as the son of an illustrious father who, to many of us in the sportswriting profession in particular, was both a brother, a mentor and a friend of epic proportions.

There have been some subtle efforts to link the resignation of Chito Salud to the entry of another lawyer, also from Ateneo, Chito Narvasa as Commissioner.

We personally don’t believe an alleged rift between the two Chitos was the cause of Salud’s resignation. It would be too petty

a reason.

However, there will also be attempts to put a spin (certainly not a reference to a widely read Internet site) to the resignation story.

We feel that Salud, like his late father who resigned after four years as PBA Commissioner, feels the urge to move on as a restless and extremely talented young man, to bigger challenges and better things, which doesn’t necessarily imply that the PBA is a bad thing.

It is not—and Salud’s own success in breaking attendance records last season reinforces the thought first articulated decades ago that the PBA was – and is – the big little

league and a fixture in the everyday lives of millions of Filipinos.

For the time being and as a stop-gap measure, the PBA board of governors has asked chairman Robert Non to serve in an acting capacity as president and CEO. To be sure, it would be best if the board finds a successor to Salud in as short a time as possible because having the chairman also serve as president and CEO and knowing his strong representation of the San Miguel Corporation teams in the pro league, may not be the ideal set up because of the persuasive powers wielded by the chairman, representing as he does,

the powerful San Miguel Corporation interests.

While we have had our occasional differences with Salud and even Media Bureau Chief Willy Marcial, they were never intended to hurt their feelings and if we did, we are sincerely sorry.

Both Chito Salud and Marcial, a man of many moods and functions, are intrinsically good men who wish to see the PBA grow and the passion sustained.

While Willy Marcial stays on, Chito Salud will leave at the end of the year.

We wish Chito, the prominent son of an eminent father all the very best in his future endeavors.

S AT U R DAY : D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 5

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SPORTS sports@thestandard.com.ph

LOTTO RESULTS 6/45 00-00-00-00-00-00 P0.0 M+ 4 DIGITS 00-00-00-00 3 DIGITS 00-00-00 2 EZ2 00-00

Rapid, blitz chess events start today

Bgy. Ginebra Kings’ LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar, seen in this file photo against Rain Or Shine, will again play key roles when they play the Blackwater Elite today in a PBA Philippine Cup out-of-town game in Angeles City.

Gins plays crucial match

By Jeric Lopez

TWO teams in dire need of a victory to boost their chances of making it to the quarterfinals go at it in a pivotal encounter as the 2015 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup goes out of town once again for its Saturday offering.

Crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra (4-4) is hoping to entertain the crowd while trying to get back on track as it takes on lowly Blackwater’s (1-6) challenge at 5 p.m. when they square off at the AUF Cultural Center in Angeles City, Pampanga today.

After seeing its three-game winning streak snapped, the Gin Kings are now in a mustwin situation to maintain their

place in middle of the pack.

Should they win again, they will move up to solo sixth place and enhance their shot at securing a berth in the next round.

Ginebra coach Tim Cone is wary of the test that Blackwater will provide for his team.

“Every game is different and this is another challenge for us.

We’ll just try to play as a unit so we can have a good shot of get-

ting the win,’’ said Cone. back to Manila with a solid douRain or Shine sent Barangay ble-header at the Smart Araneta Ginebra back to earth with a Coliseum. resounding 94-86 victory last Ailing teams Star and MahinSunday. dra, who are tied at While Ginebra is ninth and 10th spots Game Saturday in the thick of things (AUF Cultural Center - Angeles with similar 2-6 City, Pampanga) in the middle, Blackmarks, will figure 5 p.m. - Barangay Ginebra water is in survival in a crucial battle at vs. Blackwater mode as it is cur3 p.m. to determine rently at 11th place. which team will It would need to get back up earn a much needed victory. and win at least three of its four In the main event, Rain or remaining games to avoid get- Shine (6-1), who can once again ting eliminated and advance gain a first place tie with a win, into the magic 10. has a date with Talk ‘N Text (4The last time out, the Elite also 3) at 5:15 p.m. suffered the same fate. Like GineAll these teams playing this bra, it also tasted a rude welcome weekend are seeking to gain at the hands of GlobalPort, 120- better positioning as the home105, also last Sunday. stretch of the elimination round For tomorrow, the PBA goes fast approaches.

THE National Inter-Commercial Rapid and Blitz Team Championships gets going today, Dec. 5, at the Alphaland, Southgate Mall, Magallanes, Makati City.

Jointly organized by the National Chess Federation of the Philippines led by its president and chairman Prospero Pichay and the Artillery Foundation of the Philippines Inc. (AFPI) and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission in cooperation with the Philippine Olympic Committee, the tournament is open to all chess players, who may form teams for both the rapid and blitz events.

Registration fee for the rapid tournament is pegged at P3,000 while for the blitz team tournament is P1,000. Registration period for both tournaments opens at 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. today at the tournament venue.

Round 1 of the rapid tournament starts at 1 p.m. today, while Round 1 of the blitz event will start at 9 a.m. tomorrow, (Oct. 6), Col. James P. Ramon (ret.), a member of the board of the AFPI will lead the invocation, while the welcome remarks will be delivered by Atty. Anthony Cliburn Orbe, the NCFP vice president for Mindanao.

Asia’s first Grandmaster Eugene Torre, will give an inspirational talk, while also to give a message to participants is AFPI BOT Chairman Lt. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero (ret).

GM Darwin Laylo, the Philippines’ 7th GM and the best Filipino finisher in the recent PSC/Puregold International Chess Challenge held in Subic, will lead the oath of sportsmanship.

Also invited to grace the opening rites is Cong. Neri Colmenares, the NCFP vice president for Visayas and Chairman, NCFP Grassroots and Development Committee.

Franz’s task is to find the right chemistry for Falcons

By Peter Atencio FINDING the right chemistry and the right players will be a challenge which new Adamson University Falcons coach Franz Pumaren will face comes the 79th season of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines men’s basketball tournament.

“They look at me as a chemist who will look for the right concoction to form a winning team.

That made it easier to get the job,” said Pumaren after he was formally introduced as the new Adamson Falcons coach by school officials led by University president Fr. Greg Banaga and athletic director Fr. Aldrin Suan at the school’s campus in San Marcelino, Manila.

He later met with members

of the varsity team.

Pumaren, who took over the post left by Mike Fermin, will officially coach the Falcons starting January next year. Fermin, however, will stay on as one of his assistant coaches, along with Tonichi Yturri and Jack Santiago, and his former players from La Salle Ren Ren Ritualo and Don Allado.

Pumaren used to coach the De La Salle Green Archers from 1998 to 2009, and led the team to five men’s basketball championships, including a four-peat from 1998 to 2001.

His entry into the Falcons was made possible with the help of one of the team’s sponsors, Akari Lighting, through their representative Russell Balbacal.

Banaga said the school is not expecting much from Pumaren when he handles the team in its

first season, but said that their new coach has the school’s full trust and confidence.

“We don’t expect instant transformation in the team. I don’t expect the Soaring Falcons to land a championship in one year’s time. If it happens, its really a miracle. But we are optimistic that he (Pumaren) and his coaching staff will build us up to become a highly competitive team,” Banaga said.

Pumaren will initially handle the Falcons for three years, but Banaga is hopeful that he would be able stay for a longer period of time.

Pumaren is the second coach from the De La Salle Green Archers since the time of Luigi Trillo.

The previous times that Adamson made the Final Four was in 2006, 2010 and 2011.

Fr. Aldrin Suan, Campus Ministry Director of the Office For Athletics and Recreation, coach Franz Pumaren and Adamson University pesident Fr. Gregorio Banaga Jr., CM pose for photographers during a press conference announcing Pumaren’s appointment n as the new coach for the Adamson Falconsn basketball team. EY ACASIO

S AT U R DAY : D E C E M B E R 5 , 2 0 1 5

A16

RIERA U. MALL ARI EDITOR

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

sports@thestandard.com.ph

SPORTS

Boston Celtics’ Amir Johnson (right) vies for the ball with Ben McLemore (left) of the Sacramento Kings during a basketball match of the NBA Global Games at the Mexico City Arena in Mexico City. AFP

Japanese pair rules ‘Spike For Peace’ tilt

By Arman Armero JAPAN shook off a shaky start in the first set and totally dominated Sweden in the second to win, 1-19, 21-12 and rule the Spike For Peace Iinternational Beach Volleyball Tournament at the Multi-Purpose Arena, Philsports Complex in Pasig City.

“Very happy. We tried to avoid the tall lplayer,” said Ayumi Kusano, referring to Sweden’s 6-4 ace Karin Erike Lindqvist, who scored heavily in the first set.

In winning the match, Japan won the top cash prize of $8,000, while the Swedes settled for the runner-up prize of $5,000.

Indonesia, which outlasted Brazil in three sets, 21-16, 19-21, 15-8, to place third, took home $4,000. The cash prizes were put up by the organizing Philippine Sports Commission.

Brazil ended up fourth while another Asian team, Thailand, placed fifth.

Kusano, who had a total of 26 points, rallied the Japanese from three points down, 16-19, tying the first set with a spike that sailed past Lindqvist, and Japan finally took the lead on Lindqvist’s service error.

Kusano then closed out the first set with another spike down the middle.

In the second set, Kusano fired three of her four aces, as the Japanese raced to a 10-2 spread, and from there coasted easily to the victory.

Celtics topple Kings, 114-97, in Mexico City

THE Boston Celtics humbled the Sacramento Kings 114-97 on Thursday as the NBA held a regular-season game in Mexico City for the second year in a row.

Four Celtics players finished with at least 20 points, with point guard Isaiah Thomas scoring 21 and dishing out nine assists in front of a crowd of 18,660 at the Mexico City Arena.

Kings guard and former Celtic Rajon Rondo had a rough reunion with his ex-teammates, getting ejected midway through the

Ultera to pin hopes on imports TURN TO A14

third quarter after a second technical foul for arguing with the referee.

Kings coach George Karl said that Rondo’s ejection affected any chance of mounting a comeback.

Sacramento’s star center DeMarcus Cousins was held to 16 points, well below his 28.2 season average.

The Celtics improved to 11-8 and sit in second place in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division while the Kings fell to 7-13 and lie in fourth place in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division.

The game was part of the NBA’s drive to expand its international presence as part of its NBA Global Games series. London will host the Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors on January 14.

The league has now staged three regular season games —in

Spieth scores ace; Casey grabs lead TURN TO A13

1997, 2014 and 2015— and 19 preseason matchups in Mexico, the most total games outside of the United States and Canada.

“I love the idea of the NBA being a global brand,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “I’m all for the globalization of basketball.”

Thomas said the crowd was loud and energetic.

“We fed off the energy that they gave us, so I’m happy to be able to play out here in Mexico and hopefully we can come back,” he said. AFP

B1

SATURDAY: DECEMBER 5, 2015

RAY S. EÑANO EDITOR

RODERICK T. DELA CRUZ ASSISTANT EDITOR

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

BUSINESS Inflation rate climbs to 1.1% PSe comPoSite index Closing December 4, 2015

8000 7700 7400 7100 6800 6500

6,921.93 72.17

PeSo-dollar rate

Closing DECEMBER 4, 2015 43.50 44.60 45.40

P47.105

46.20

CLOSE

47.00

By Gabrielle H. Binaday

INFLATION rate rose to a five-month high of 1.1 percent in November from 0.4 percent in October, following the increase in consumer prices as an effect of natural calamities, the Philippine Statistics Authority said Friday.

PSA data showed the November inflation was the highest since it fell below the 1-percent mark in July at 0.8 percent. The figure, however, was slower than the 3.7-percent inflation rate in November 2014.

The National Economic and Development Authority said inflation for the food subgroup increased on the back of higher

prices of meat, fish, vegetables and corn, which offset the slowdown in prices of heavily-weighted items such as rice, milk, cheese, eggs and non-alcoholic beverages.

“Higher local demand and the lingering effects of typhoon Lando accounted for the price increases in meat and vegetables, while ample supply sustained the lower price of rice,” said Neda

deputy director general Rolando Tungpalan.

This pulled down the average inflation rate in the first 11 months to 1.4 percent, below the government’s target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for 2015.

Core inflation, which excludes prices of energy and unprocessed food, also increased to 1.8 percent in November from 1.5 percent in the previous month. Core inflation in the first 11 months averaged 2 percent.

ING Bank lead economist Joey Cuyegkeng said the higher core inflation was due to “higher transport costs, higher prices for miscellaneous items including meal outside the home—indirectly affected by the impact of the weather abnormalities, and more expensive alcoholic beverages

and tobacco products and health products.”

“Despite the uptick in November, average inflation will likely settle below the low-end target for the year. This will largely be influenced by the slump in global petroleum prices, along with other favorable supply-side factors such as the sluggish domestic retail prices of corn, oil and rice,” said Tungpalan.

Tungpalan said there were risks to increasing inflation such as the effects of the El Niño dry spell.

“The government should err on the high side in determining food import requirements in anticipation of El Niño to avoid food price spikes, which would be very detrimental to the poor who spend over 60 percent of their budget on food,” he said.

HIGH P47.020 LOW P47.120 AVERAGE P47.081 VOLUME 534.500M

P487.00-P682.00 LPG/11-kg tank P35.15-P42.40 Unleaded Gasoline

oPriceS il P today

P25.03-P28.48 Diesel P34.55-P39.15 Kerosene Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Friday, December 4, 2015

F oreign e xchange r ate Currency

Unit

US Dollar

Peso

United States

Dollar

1.000000

47.1550

Japan

Yen

0.008163

0.3849

UK

Pound

1.515900

71.4823

Hong Kong

Dollar

0.129039

6.0848

Switzerland

Franc

1.007963

47.5305

Canada

Dollar

0.749738

35.3539

Singapore

Dollar

0.717618

33.8393

Australia

Dollar

0.730514

34.4474

Bahrain

Dinar

2.657737

125.3256

Saudi Arabia

Rial

0.266539

12.5686

Brunei

Dollar

0.715052

33.7183

Indonesia

Rupiah

0.000072

0.0034

Thailand

Baht

0.027855

1.3135

UAE

Dirham

0.272301

12.8404

Euro

Euro

1.094900

51.6300

Korea

Won

0.000859

0.0405

China

Yuan

0.156318

7.3712

India

Rupee

0.014966

0.7057

Malaysia

Ringgit

0.236686

11.1609

New Zealand

Dollar

0.662383

Taiwan

Dollar

0.030507

31.2347 1.4386 Source: PDS Bridge

Best power deal. Hong Kong-based finance publication The Asset recognizes the P33.31-billion, 15-year project finance facility of Pagbilao Energy Corp. as the Best Power Deal in the Triple A Asia Infrastructure Awards 2015. The PEC deal was participated in by a syndicate of seven domestic bank lenders. First Metro Investment Corp., the investment banking arm of the Metrobank Group, is one of the mandated lead arrangers of the finance facility, along with BDO Capital & Investment Corp. and BPI Capital Corp. Shown during the awarding ceremony are (from left) BDO Capital president Eduardo Francisco, BDO Unibank executive vice president Cecilia Tan, TeaM Energy assistant vice president Lawrence Nubla, TeaM Energy officer-in-charge and chief finance officer Toshiro Kume, Aboitiz Equity Ventures treasurer and managing director Gabriel Mañalac, BDO Capital vice president Michael Cahigas, First Metro first vice president Arsenio Kenneth Ona and First Metro executive vice president Justino Juan Ocampo.

Tetangco hints of steady interest rate, cites risks to economy

By Julito G. Rada BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the monetary policy stance remains appropriate at the moment, even if inflation accelerated to 1.1 percent in November from 0.4 percent in October.

The November figure brought the average inflation in the first 11 months to 1.4 percent, lower than the target range of 2 to 4 percent for 2015.

“As anticipated, inflation had bottomed out in October. With credit and domestic liquidity growth rates also stabilizing, these signal that our stance of policy right now is appropriate,” Tetangco said in a text message Friday.

“That said we will continue to monitor developments particularly actions of advanced economies. ECB [European Central Bank] cut rates a bit shallower than some anticipated. We will see how the balance of this, possible US lift-off this month and

further moves from Chinese authorities would impact on domestic price and growth dynamics,” Tetangco said.

The Bangko Sentral earlier said inflation was seen settling below the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent this year due to slower increases in food prices.

Latest baseline inflation forecasts showed that inflation is likely to settle slightly below the target range of 2 percent to 4 percent for 2015 before rising gradually toward the midpoint of the

target range of 2 to 4 percent in 2016-2017.

“Risks to the inflation outlook continue to be broadly balanced.

Pending petitions for power rate adjustments and the impact of stronger-than-expected El Niño weather conditions on food prices and utility rates are seen to pose upside risks to the outlook,” it said.

Downside risks, meanwhile, could stem from slower-thanexpected global economic activity and petitions for lower transport

fares.

It said while inflation expectations have breached the lower end of the 2015 target band, they remained within the inflation target range over the policy horizon.

The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of Bangko Sentral, on Nov. 12 kept the benchmark interest rates steady at 4 percent for overnight borrowing and 6 percent for overnight lending—the ninth time since October last year—due to a manageable inflation environment.

SATURDAY: DECEMBER 5, 2015

B2

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

The STandard BuSineSS daily STockS review Friday, december 4, 2015

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

7.88 75.3 124.4 107 56.5 2.49 4.2 17 30.45 2.6 890 1.01 100 30.5 75 91.5 361.2 57 180 124

2.5 66 88.05 88.1 45.45 1.97 1.68 12.02 19.6 1.02 625 0.225 78 17.8 58 62 276 41 118.2 59

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

MEDCO Holdings Metrobank PB Bank Phil Bank of Comm Phil. National Bank PSE Inc. RCBC `A’ Security Bank Union Bank

2.75 46.25 102.00 84.25 39.5 2.49 1.43 15.18 18.66 1.79 775.00 0.485 81 17.46 23.00 51.00 293 32.9 137 57.05

47 5 1.46 2.36 15.3 20.6 36 65.8 2.97 4.14 21.5 21.6 11.96 9.13 11.8 2.89 31.8 109 15.3 9.4 0.98 241

35.9 1.11 1.01 1.86 7.92 15.32 10.08 29.15 1.5 1.5 10.72 9.55 9.04 6.02 8.86 1.06 20.2 71.5 13.24 5.34 0.395 173

79 33.9 90 13.26 293 5.25 12.98 15 7.03 3.4 4.5 6.3 7.34 238 5.5 3.28 0.315 2.18 2.65 234 1.3 2.17

34.1 23.35 17.3 5.88 250.2 3.87 8.45 10.04 3.03 1.95 1 4.02 5.9 161 4.1 1.55 0.138 1.02 2.09 152 0.640 1.2

Aboitiz Power Corp.

Agrinurture Inc. Alliance Tuna Intl Inc. Alsons Cons.

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

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

LBC Express Liberty Flour Manila Water Co. Inc. Maxs Group Megawide Mla. Elect. Co `A’ Pepsi-Cola Products Phil.

Petron Corporation Phinma Corporation Phoenix Petroleum Phils.

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

Splash Corporation Swift Foods, Inc. TKC Steel Corp.

Trans-Asia Oil Universal Robina Vitarich Corp.

Vulcan Ind’l.

40.6 5.04 0.79 1.53 10.6 17.2 22.45 41.95 2.42 1.63 10.4 9.350 9.25 6.23 5.00 1.67 24.5 67.5 14.80 5.9 2.170 205.40 12.5 34.00 24.55 22 6.11 312.20 3.7 7.37 11.68 3.78 1.66 2.32 4.20 5.75 130 3.69 2.46 0.150 1.23 2.12 187.1 0.67 1.19

0.59 59.2 30.05 2.16 7.39 3.35 823.5 10.2 84 3.35 3.68 4.92 0.66 1455 76 9.25 0.85 17.3 0.71 5.53 6.55 0.0670 2.31 1.61 84.9 974 1.39 156 0.710 0.435 0.510

0.44 48.1 20.85 1.6 6.62 0.23 634.5 7.390 12.8 2.6 1.15 2.26 0.152 837 49.55 4.84 0.59 12 0.580 4.2 4.5 0.030 1.23 0.550 59.3 751 0.93 80 0.211 0.179 0.310

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

Forum Pacific GT Capital JG Summit Holdings Lopez Holdings Corp.

Lodestar Invt. Holdg.Corp.

LT Group Mabuhay Holdings `A’ Metro Pacific Inv. Corp.

Minerales Industrias Corp.

Pacifica `A’ Prime Media Hldg Prime Orion San Miguel Corp `A’ SM Investments Inc. South China Res. Inc. Top Frontier Unioil Res. & Hldgs Wellex Industries Zeus Holdings

0.395 57.7000 17.50 1.11 6.40 0.236 744 7.55 13.68 5.5 6.09 4.25 0.265 1285 71.30 7.62 0.75 14.9 0.51 5.27 9.96 0.0310 1.400 1.800 46.80 858.00 0.72 73.500 0.3050 0.2190 0.280

10.5 26.95 1.99 41.4 5.6

6.74 12 0.65 30.05 3.36

8990 HLDG 7.150 Anchor Land Holdings Inc. 8.05 A. Brown Co., Inc. 0.93 Ayala Land `B’ 34.650 Belle Corp. `A’ 3.21

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

SHARES 9,980,738 74,516,754 72,379,041 92,909,919 102,092,746 1,351,636,639 1,707,321,167

Close

High

Low

FINANCIAL 2.74 2.54 46.4 44.45 103.10 100.80 84.00 82.70 39.35 39.35 2.49 2.49 1.50 1.41 15.18 15 18.66 18.5 1.88 1.79 750.00 750.00 0.550 0.470 82.5 80.45 17.50 16.80 23.00 23.00 51.00 50.90 294 293 33 32.05 138.7 135.5 57.05 57.00 INDUSTRIAL 40.75 40.35 5.2 4.97 0.8 0.79 1.5 1.5 10.7 10.6 17.2 17.16 22.4 21.9 41.5 41.05 2.46 2.4 1.78 1.56 10.38 10.04 9.35 9.280 9.34 9.16 6.22 6.05 5.24 5.00 1.67 1.67 24.5 24 67.8 67.4 14.50 14.50 5.99 5.83 2.220 2.130 205.80 203.00 12.5 12.48 31.00 30.00 24.75 24.45 22 21.6 6.17 5.7 313.00 310.00 3.78 3.6 7.45 7.31 11.76 11.76 3.80 3.63 1.75 1.66 2.34 2.27 4.20 4.06 5.4 5.21 130 130 3.69 3.66 2.64 2.42 0.153 0.147 1.26 1.08 2.21 2.10 186.3 184 0.67 0.66 1.17 1.10 HOLDING FIRMS 0.395 0.390 57.5500 56.2000 17.32 17.10 1.03 1.02 6.45 6.40 0.237 0.237 744 733.5 7.6 7.49 13.80 13.50 5.65 5 5.5 5.4 4.30 4.15 0.265 0.260 1284 1255 71.70 71.00 7.6 7.39 0.76 0.72 15 14.84 0.51 0.5 5.28 5.2 9.95 9.85 0.0310 0.0310 1.370 1.370 1.780 1.770 47.20 45.90 866.00 845.00 0.73 0.72 74.850 73.000 0.3050 0.3000 0.2250 0.2050 0.265 0.265 PROPERTY 7.220 7.100 7.25 7.25 0.93 0.90 34.700 33.900 3.22 3.16

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

2.74 46 101.50 82.85 39.35 2.49 1.49 15.1 18.56 1.87 750.00 0.520 82.5 17.50 23.00 50.95 293 32.75 138.7 57.00

-0.36 -0.54 -0.49 -1.66 -0.38 0.00 4.20 -0.53 -0.54 4.47 -3.23 7.22 1.85 0.23 0.00 -0.10 0.00 -0.46 1.24 -0.09

8,000 87,900 1,746,360 2,637,860 1,300 1,000 36,000 10,300 47,300 49,000 20 3,140,000 1,364,770 276,800 5,000 16,920 320 17,800 504,990 19,210

40.6 5.15 0.79 1.5 10.62 17.18 21.9 41.05 2.43 1.58 10.36 9.300 9.20 6.18 5.15 1.67 24 67.55 14.50 5.85 2.150 205.00 12.48 31.00 24.6 21.8 5.7 312.20 3.65 7.36 11.76 3.78 1.74 2.32 4.06 5.26 130 3.66 2.5 0.148 1.12 2.20 185.3 0.66 1.17

0.00 2.18 0.00 -1.96 0.19 -0.12 -2.45 -2.15 0.41 -3.07 -0.38 -0.53 -0.54 -0.80 3.00 0.00 -2.04 0.07 -2.03 -0.85 -0.92 -0.19 -0.16 -8.82 0.20 -0.91 -6.71 0.00 -1.35 -0.14 0.68 0.00 4.82 0.00 -3.33 -8.52 0.00 -0.81 1.63 -1.33 -8.94 3.77 -0.96 -1.49 -1.68

2,048,300 1,506,600 177,000 87,000 400 38,000 1,830,000 56,500 170,000 12,471,000 1,100 6,299,000 2,054,600 19,744,500 920,100 1,000 1,667,200 54,300 12,100 27,100 1,113,000 283,020 137,000 1,200 2,215,300 201,200 1,931,700 90,900 2,692,000 1,341,000 200 53,000 422,000 121,000 295,000 5,500 19,760 8,000 3,211,000 2,650,000 280,000 2,642,000 4,885,930 65,000 119,000

0.390 57.3500 17.10 1.02 6.45 0.237 736 7.54 13.64 5.06 5.4 4.15 0.265 1265 71.35 7.5 0.74 14.88 0.5 5.26 9.94 0.0310 1.370 1.780 47.20 849.00 0.72 73.000 0.3000 0.2070 0.265

-1.27 -0.61 -2.29 -8.11 0.78 0.42 -1.08 -0.13 -0.29 -8.00 -11.33 -2.35 0.00 -1.56 0.07 -1.57 -1.33 -0.13 -1.96 -0.19 -0.20 0.00 -2.14 -1.11 0.85 -1.05 0.00 -0.68 -1.64 -5.48 -5.36

50,000 663,990 2,653,900 30,000 60,300 50,000 332,300 4,849,000 2,304,900 336,900 18,700 168,000 50,000 184,930 745,750 1,276,900 665,000 4,383,700 590,000 14,159,400 1,401,800 32,700,000 40,000 155,000 192,500 185,920 51,000 3,260 790,000 970,000 2,150,000

7.100 7.25 0.90 34.100 3.16

-0.70 -9.94 -3.23 -1.59 -1.56

54,200 200 2,637,000 4,196,700 1,150,000

3,062,400.00 -41,281,047 10,241,891.00

36,240.00 -448,356.00 -136,600.00 -4,462,783.00 1,410,600.00 115,000.00 -604,497.00 -32,230.00 -113,740 35,129,081.00 114,000.00 -44,212,715.00 -2,400.00 -534,088.00 119,710.00 4,105 48,600.00 -134,590.00 25,471,078.00 -11,779,785.00 -15,217,708.00 749,385.00 18,703,500.00 2,750,927.50 -169,650.00 62,350.00 1,175,636.00 6,000.00 -40,139,625.00 -154,680.00 5,999,091.00 7,873,054.00 427,300.00 2,691,728.00 -11,400.00 -34,700.00 -69,780.00 -651,300.00

11,070.00 805,010.00 -267,741,530.00

-16,716,190.00 -38,218,192.00

-73,469,445.00 12,132,028.00 12,351,594.00 704,100.00 -58,498,215.00 -12,256,233.00 -3,551,312.00 43,208,136.00 -32,819,233.00

124,090.00 -5,982,600.00 -49,869,410.00 -21,900.00

315,990.00 251,000.00 -27,673,115.00 1,096,650.00

52 Weeks

Previous

High Low

STOCKS

Close

1.44 0.201 0.69 10.96 0.97 2.22 2.1 1.8 5.94 0.180 0.470 0.72 8.54 31.8 2.29 4.9 21.35 1.06 1.62 8.59

0.79 0.083 0.415 2.4 0.83 1.15 1.42 1.27 4.13 0.090 0.290 0.39 2.69 22.15 1.6 3.1 15.08 0.69 0.83 5.73

Century Property Crown Equities Inc. Cyber Bay Corp.

Double Dragon Empire East Land Global-Estate Filinvest Land,Inc. Interport `A’ Megaworld MRC Allied Ind. Phil. Estates Corp.

Phil. Realty `A’ Primex Corp.

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

10.5 66 1.44 1.09 14.88 15.82 0.1430 5.06 99.1 12.3 7.67 2720 8.41 1.97 119.5 0.017 0.8200 2.2800 5.93 12.28 3.32 2.53 3.2 95.5 2.46 15.2

1.97 35.2 1 0.63 10.5 8.6 0.0770 2.95 56.1 10.14 4.8 1600 5.95 1.23 102.6 0.011 0.041 1.200 2.34 6.5 1.91 1.01 1.95 3.1 1.8 6

0.62 1.040 4 185 22.9 3486 2.28 46.05 90.1

0.335 0.37 2.28 79 4.39 2748 1.2 31.45 60.55

11.6 0.85 10 0.490 1.9

7.59 0.63 5 0.315 1.14

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

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

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

Manila Broadcasting Manila Jockey Melco Crown Metro Retail MG Holdings NOW Corp.

Paxys Inc. Phil. Seven Corp.

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

SSI Group STI Holdings Travellers Waterfront Phils.

Yehey

0.0098 5.45 17.24 1.19 1.62 9.5 4.2 0.48 0.420 0.440 0.022 8.2 49.2 4.27 3.06 0.020 7.67 12.88 10.42 0.040 420 9

0.0043 1.72 6.47 0.85 0.77 5.99 1.17 0.305 0.2130 0.2160 0.013 3.240 18.96 2.11 1.54 0.012 5.4 7.26 2.27 0.015 115.9 3.67

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

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

TA Petroleum

70 553 525 120 515 12.28 1060 1047 84.8

33 490 500 101.5 480 6.5 997 1011 75

ABS-CBN Holdings Corp.

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

6.98

0.8900 LR Warrant

12.88

5.95

130.7

105.6 First Metro ETF

Alterra Capital Xurpas

High

VALUE 590,587,269.10 1,641,622,636.81 1,063,456,030.51 660,529,296.20 893,973,903.78 54,002,968.103 4,958,726,618.50

FINANCIAL 1,541.75 (down) 1.64 INDUSTRIAL 10,936.65 (down) 57.20 HOLDING FIRMS 6,511.54 (down) 52.80 PROPERTY 2,920.76 (down) 65.01 SERVICES 1,601.15 (down) 19.23 MINING & OIL 10,788.77 (down) 9.68 PSEI 6,921.93 (down) 72.17 All Shares Index 3,993.23 (down) 34.48 Gainers: 50; Losers: 112; Unchanged: 38; Total: 200

Close

%

Net Foreign

Change Volume

Trade/Buying

0.57 0.125 0.475 23.8 0.850 1.05 1.86 1.20 4.61 0.081 0.2500 0.4300 8.78 29.15 1.45 3.2 22.15 0.75 1.010 5.310

0.57 0.56 0.56 0.126 0.124 0.126 0.510 0.480 0.480 23.5 23.2 23.5 0.830 0.830 0.830 1.07 1.04 1.04 1.88 1.85 1.86 1.19 1.19 1.19 4.61 4.51 4.54 0.083 0.080 0.083 0.2800 0.2550 0.2550 0.4350 0.4350 0.4350 8.78 8.7 8.78 29.00 28.05 28.65 1.5 1.46 1.46 3.2 3.2 3.2 21.80 21.30 21.30 0.75 0.73 0.75 1.010 0.900 0.910 5.350 5.290 5.300 SERVICES 7.32 7.37 7.25 7.33 64.45 64.45 64 64.3 1.2 1.23 1.16 1.2 0.530 0.530 0.500 0.500 11.06 11.08 11.06 11.08 5.32 5.34 5.18 5.18 0.0440 0.0440 0.0430 0.0430 3.5 3.5 3.43 3.43 84 84.5 83.4 83.65 9.99 10 9.99 10 4.92 5.08 4.94 5.00 2008 2006 1981 1988 7.03 7.06 6.88 6.91 1.27 1.29 1.27 1.29 73.25 73.25 71.5 71.9 0.010 0.011 0.011 0.011 0.172 0.173 0.170 0.173 1.4400 1.4400 1.3800 1.4400 2 2.1 2.05 2.1 8.99 8.99 8.80 8.99 4.24 4.30 4.20 4.24 1.20 1.23 1.14 1.23 2.10 2.20 2.15 2.20 29.00 28.90 28.90 28.90 2 2.01 2 2 3.41 3.45 3.34 3.36 3.88 3.88 3.84 3.86 0.270 0.260 0.255 0.255 0.790 0.830 0.790 0.800 2.71 2.71 2.53 2.53 101.20 102.00 101.80 102.00 20.85 20.85 20.20 20.65 2168.00 2154.00 2070.00 2140.00 0.950 0.950 0.930 0.940 33.30 34.00 33.20 33.30 69.30 69.35 68.75 68.85 6.39 6.48 6.32 6.32 4.52 4.50 4.31 4.43 0.460 0.470 0.450 0.465 3.91 3.95 3.85 3.86 0.340 0.360 0.325 0.350 4.500 4.680 4.500 4.530 MINING & OIL 0.0051 0.0052 0.0050 0.0051 2.05 2.05 2.00 2.00 4.25 4.34 4.21 4.31 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.66 0.63 0.63 0.61 0.63 7.70 7.90 7.60 7.60 0.75 0.78 0.75 0.77 0.295 0.300 0.285 0.295 0.193 0.192 0.189 0.189 0.205 0.200 0.200 0.200 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 2.24 2.24 2.18 2.18 6.46 6.72 6.46 6.57 2.87 2.87 2.82 2.87 1.4200 1.3700 1.3500 1.3700 0.0100 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 3.67 3.68 3.67 3.68 5.00 5.010 4.99 5.00 1.40 1.460 1.40 1.42 0.0120 0.0120 0.0110 0.0120 136.90 136.80 135.50 136.10 2.27 2.36 2.32 2.33 PREFERRED 65 65.25 65 65 515 515.5 515.5 515.5 523 523 500 500 120 120 120 120 519 519 519 519 1.11 1.11 1.11 1.11 1050 1060 1050 1050 1025 1022 1020 1022 83.05 83.5 83.05 83.05 79.2 79.4 79.4 79.4 80.8 80.8 80.7 80.7 WARRANTS & BONDS 2.710 2.710 2.710 2.710 SME 3.65 3.6 3.51 3.52 15.1 15 14.32 14.46 EXCHANGE TRADED FUNDS 114.1 114 113.3 113.4

T op g ainerS STOCKS

Low

-1.75 0.80 1.05 -1.26 -2.35 -0.95 0.00 -0.83 -1.52 2.47 2.00 1.16 0.00 -1.72 0.69 0.00 -3.84 0.00 -9.90 -0.19

1,307,000 350,000 20,740,000 358,100 5,000 1,607,000 19,311,000 3,000 22,017,000 720,000 640,000 100,000 57,000 4,782,200 84,000 1,000 9,843,400 7,000 2,571,000 360,900

66,060.00

0.14 -0.23 0.00 -5.66 0.18 -2.63 -2.27 -2.00 -0.42 0.10 1.63 -1.00 -1.71 1.57 -1.84 10.00 0.58 0.00 5.00 0.00 0.00 2.50 4.76 -0.34 0.00 -1.47 -0.52 -5.56 1.27 -6.64 0.79 -0.96 -1.29 -1.05 0.00 -0.65 -1.10 -1.99 1.09 -1.28 2.94 0.67

34,900 14,660 3,000 281,000 8,504,700 2,592,400 15,200,000 123,000 172,750 1,000 190,000 66,110 181,100 110,000 985,180 31,700,000 40,000 1,255,000 6,000 12,800 221,000 4,000 8,000 100 22,000 3,614,000 4,180,000 350,000 10,620,000 12,000 280 56,400 97,575 1,965,000 4,906,500 1,482,360 1,291,900 6,015,000 4,190,000 163,000 750,000 457,000

0.00 -2.44 1.41 0.00 0.00 -1.30 2.67 0.00 -2.07 -2.44 10.00 -2.68 1.70 0.00 -3.52 0.00 0.27 0.00 1.43 0.00 -0.58 2.64

1,207,000,000 -163,200.00 87,000 315,000 -352,230.00 5,000 185,000 900 15,101,000 919,920.00 210,000 3,330,000 540,000 45,300,000 19,000 3,505,600 -6,792,260.00 921,000 -14,350.00 71,000 50,000,000 16,000 109,800 -59,432.00 137,000 24,600,000 43,210 253,013.00 99,000

0.00 0.10 -4.40 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 -0.29 0.00 0.25 -0.12

68,780 5,000 23,520 1,600 6,880 2,000 1,200 1,200 16,180 20 94,320

0.00

4,000

-3.56 -4.24

80,000 3,721,200

-0.61

3,420

-49,500.00 2,089,205.00 7,590,750.00 -1,327,620.00

-98,239,655.00 -122,923,465.00 12,740.00 -16,273.00

0.00 -156,943.00 -141,330.00 -751,064.50 -9,279,965.00 64,000.00 -17,651,332.50

8,990.00

-2,595,650.00 2,865,120.00 -37,920.00

-30,231,170.00 -408,900.00 6,351,175.00 -32,934,385.50 870,270.00 1,061,450.00 -27,060.00 -3,350.00

4,056,250.00

1,294,749.50

-15,419,162.00

T op L oSerS Close (P)

Change (%)

STOCKS

Close (P)

Change (%)

IP E-Game Ventures Inc.

0.011

10.00

F&J Prince 'B'

5.4

Manila Mining `A'

0.0110

10.00

Anchor Land Holdings Inc.

7.25

-11.33 -9.94

MEDCO Holdings

0.520

7.22

Suntrust Home Dev. Inc.

0.910

-9.90

Jackstones

2.1

5.00

TKC Steel Corp.

1.12

-8.94

Phoenix Semiconductor

1.74

4.82

Liberty Flour

31.00

-8.82

Macroasia Corp.

2.20

4.76

Roxas Holdings

5.26

-8.52

I-Remit Inc.

1.87

4.47

Anglo Holdings A

1.02

-8.11

Bright Kindle Resources

1.49

4.20

F&J Prince 'A'

5.06

-8.00

Trans-Asia Oil

2.20

3.77

Megawide

5.7

-6.71

EEI

5.15

3.00

Paxys Inc.

2.53

-6.64

SATURDAY: DECEMBER 5, 2015

B3

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

PH economy poised to exceed $1t by ’30

By Julito G. Rada

THE Philippines has the potential to become a trilliondollar economy by 2030, on the back of strong remittances from Filipinos working overseas and the robust growth of business process outsourcing sector, global think tank IHS said in a report Friday.

Rajiv Biswas, IHS chief economist for AsiaPacific, said the Philippines had an estimated gross domestic product of $292 billion this year and would grow to $695 billion by 2025 and over $1 trillion by 2030.

“Two important growth drivers for the Philippines’ economy are the rapidly-growing

information technology-business process outsourcing [IT-BPO] sector and the strong flow of remittances from Filipino workers abroad,” Biswas said.

“The rapid growth of the IT-BPO industry is also creating positive transmission effects for the rest of the economy, including rapid growth in demand for commercial floor space, underpinning the development of existing and new office parks in urban centers,” Biswas said.

The Washington-based IHS also cited the Philippines as the only sovereign entity in Asia with improving credit prospects.

IHS, whose reports are used as reference by other organizations including credit-rating agencies, investment banks and development institutions, cited the trend of improving financial fundamentals, investor confidence and governance standards in the Philippines.

IHS said in its “Sovereign Risk Review” report for the third quarter of 2015 it also upgraded its outlook on the Philippines’ credit

rating from “stable” to “positive.”

The improved outlook means that the Philippines’ existing credit rating with IHS, set at the minimum investment grade of “BBB-“, had a chance of being raised over the near term.

The Sovereign Risk Review compares and assesses every sovereign worldwide across ratings agencies.

IHS said in the report the strong macroeconomic fundamentals in the country were accompanied by improvements in governance.

“Apart from the clearly strengthened macro-financials over the last few years, the more recent upgrade to the Philippines’ outlook to positive in third quarter rested on improved governance standards and reforms enhancing competitiveness under the Aquino administration,” it said.

The Philippines is the only sovereign in Asia that garnered a positive action from IHS.

UPS volunteers. More than 500 UPS employees across the Philippines contribute more than 4,000 volunteer hours through various activities that helped in environmental sustainability and building a more resilient community, as part of UPS’s 13th annual Global Volunteer Month. Shown are UPS Philippines managing director Tim Gahoc and UPS employees during their visit to the Mangarita Organic Farm in Capas, Tarlac where they prepared bags of sawdust where mushrooms will be grown. The activity is part of UPS Philippines’ ongoing arrangement with Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya to promote sustainable agricultural practices.

Philstocks to tap ‘millennial’ investors to boost market

By Jenniffer B. Austria PHILSTOCKS Financial Inc., a brokerage firm planning to conduct an initial public offering this month, said it will focus on attracting the so-called ‘millennials’ to boost the growth of its online stock brokerage business.

Philstocks vice president Joseph Tarrobal said millennials, or those in the age bracket of 18 to 29 years, accounted for the lion’s share or 79 percent of its online accounts.

“The most tech savvy generation would be the millennials. Born during the early 80s to the late 90s, millennials, of all the generations, are the ones who are able to maximize technological advances available today,” Tarrobal said.

“Technology came in handy to them during their formative years, giving them leverage in learning things faster. Millennials know how to interact with what technology can offer, recognizing immediately how things can and should work to their advantage,”

he said.

Philstocks Financial said it was undertaking steps to lure the younger generation to invest into the stock market, including improving its websites and creating mobile applications for trading.

He said aside from having an advanced trading platform, Philstocks Financial also aimed to spread and share information, educate and be one with the millennials’ dreams and aspirations.

“Philstocks teach through

mediums and channels easily understood by the millennials and heavily maximizing the strength of social media’s reach,” said Tarrobal.

Philstocks Financial educates millennials to trade and make profit so they can do the things they want, like going on vacation, buying a fashionable shoe or have the liberty of creating trivial financial hashtags of achievements to tweet, he said.

Philstocks helps the millennial investors achieve small joys in life, he said.

Stock market extends losses STOCKS fell for a third day, in line with a global sell-off, as Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen reinforced expectations for the first US interest-rate increase in almost a decade before the European Central Bank reviews monetary policy.

The Fed’s near-zero benchmark borrowing costs have supported demand for riskier assets, and an increase may lure money away as the dollar strengthens.

The Philippine Stock Exchange index, the 30-company benchmark, lost 72 points, or 1 percent, to close at 6,921.93 on Friday. It was also down 4.3 percent this year.

The broader index representing all shares also fell 34 points, or 0.9 percent, to settle at 3,993.23, on a value turnover of P5 billion.

Only two of the 20 most active stocks ended in the green, led

by Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co., which advanced 1.9 percent to P82.50. Port operator Asian Terminals Inc. rose 0.2 percent to P11.08.

SM Prime Holdings Inc. fell 3.8 percent to P21.30. Robinsons Land Corp. dropped 1.7 percent to P28.65.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks also fell after the European Central Bank’s revised economic stimulus measures came up short.

Speculation has swirled for weeks that the ECB would ramp up its bond-buying program and further loosen monetary policy to inject some vim into a eurozone beset by years of torpid growth and stagnant inflation.

The bank cut deposit rates further into negative territory— meaning lenders must pay to park cash with it and so look to loan more—and extended the length of its bond purchases.

However, the long-awaited announcement was seen as a huge let-down as it crucially failed to increase the size of the stimulus while the rate cut was less than hoped for.

“The market was hoping for some Draghi magic, but instead got some Draghi shock,” Mitsuo Shimizu, deputy general manager at Japan Asia Securities Group in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News.

“I’d thought that for a recovery in the European economy we’d need some bold easing measures, but since Draghi seems to be taking the economic recovery lightly, it’s possible that it could take a turn for the worse for some time.”

Asian stock markets were all in the red, with Tokyo ending down 2.2 percent, Shanghai shedding 1.7 percent and Sydney 1.5 percent lower. Hong Kong was 0.9 percent off in late trade.

The losses followed hefty falls in Europe and New York. Paris and Frankfurt plunged 3.6 percent each and London lost more than two percent, while Wall Street’s three main indexes shed between 1.4 and 1.7 percent.

With AFP, Bloomberg

SATURDAY: DECEMBER 5, 2015

B4

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

IN BRIEF IFA pledges $55m THE International Fund for Agricul-

tural Development of the United Nations pledged $55 million for two projects aimed at reducing poverty in rural areas of the Philippines.

The Agriculture Department identified the projects as the Convergence of Value-Chain Enhancement for Rural Growth and Empowerment, and Fisheries, Coastal Resources and Livelihood.

The first project aims to reduce poverty incidence in 10 of the country’s poorest provinces.

The initiative, which will receive $25 million from IFAD for the next six years starting in 2016, will benefit over 300,000 agrarian reform farmer-beneficiaries in 11 Agrarian Reform Communities in 10 provinces in Regions 9,11, and the Caraga.

It will also provide financing for farm inputs, tools, packaging and capacitybuilding and link smallholder farmers with the market in partnership with the Department of Agrarian Reform.

The FishCORAL project, meanwhile, aims to protect the country’s coastal resources by providing livelihood and coastal resource management capabilities to 700,000 inhabitants of 11 bays and gulfs in the Philippines.

Anna Leah E. Gonzales

ICTSI wins port case THE National Labor Relations Board

of the US affirmed the ruling of an administrative judge that the labor union violated federal labor law by engaging in coercive activity directed against the unit of International Container Terminal Services Inc. Oregon at Terminal 6 at the Port of Portland.

The NLRB concluded that between September 2012 and June 2013, ILWU members worked in a deliberately slow manner and interfered with productivity at Terminal 6 and that the ILWU International and Local 8 were responsible for the illegal conduct.

“The importance of this ruling should not be underestimated. Once again, the NLRB, a neutral federal agency charged with enforcing the nation’s labor laws, has found that the ILWU’s slowdowns and other efforts to interfere with production at Terminal 6 were illegal,” ICTSI Oregon president and chief executive Elvis Ganda said.

“It is time for the ILWU to accept the validity of the NLRB’s decisions and to work in a constructive manner with both ICTSI Oregon and the Port of Portland to get Terminal 6 back to full productivity, which is critical to our region’s economy,” he added.

Darwin G. Amojelar

Power supply gap THE Luzon grid will need additional

capacity in the later part of 2018, even as some 20 energy projects with a combined capacity of 2,397 megawatts start operating from 2015 to 2020, an Energy Department official said Friday.

“Assuming that all the power plants will be in place as scheduled, the Luzon grid will be requiring additional capacity in the later part of 2018 which provides an opportunity for private sector investors,” Energy Undersecretary Donato Marcos said.

He also cited an additional 9,044 MW of indicative power projects in the pipeline for Luzon.

Marcos said 11 projects with a combined capacity of 675 MW were expected to be installed until 2020 in the Visayas, while 18 projects with a total capacity of 601 MW were in the indicative stage.

“In spite of the capacities coming in, we will still be needing additional capacity by 2017. This opens an opportunity for the private sector to venture into the power business,” he said.

Alena Mae S. Flores

BDO Private cited BDO Private Bank, the private banking

arm of BDO Unibank serving the emerging affluent and high net worth clients, was named among the world’s best in the inaugural Best Private Bank Awards 2015 of Global Finance magazine.

“These awards provide an independent analysis of those firms that offer the deepest experience, best value and highest level of customer service within the private banking realm,” the USbased publication said in a statement.

BDOPB, which manages trust assets and deposits of about P304 billion as of end September 2015, is the only domestic private bank that has built a platform with extensive products and services, enabling clients to realize their wealth building, wealth consolidation and wealth protection and distribution. Its customized engagements are anchored on what the clients want and hope to achieve.

PSE Bell awardee. Maybank ATR Kim Eng Securities, a member of the Maybank Kim Eng Group, is among the five trading participants

honored by the Philippine Stock Exchange for practicing the highest standards of corporate governance in the country during its 4th annual PSE Bell Awards. This is MATRKE’s third consecutive year win at the PSE Bell Awards. Shown during during the presentation of the award are (from left) Edgardo Lacson, PSE director and Bell Awards core committee chairman; Roberto Tan, treasurer of the Philippines; Singapore Ambassador Kok Li Peng; Jose Pardo, PSE chairman; Lorenzo Roxas, MATRKE Securities chairman and president; Bro. Raymundo Suplido, FSC, De La Salle University president and chancellor; and Hans Sicat, PSE president and CEO.

Auto price war looms as Hyundai cuts prices

By Othel V. Campos

The local automotive industry is bracing for a full-scale price war next year, with some vehicle makers already reducing their prices due to lower import tariffs.

Hyundai Asia Resources Inc. president and chief executive Ma. Fe Agudo-Perez said Thursday night lower tariff rates on automotive vehicles imported from Korea had reduced the price of Hyundai vehicles by as much as P80,000 a unit.

Some products covered by the Asean-Korea Free Trade Agreement are already enjoying zero tariff but those on automobiles had gone down to as far as 5 percent.

“It can go lower but as of now five percent has been assigned to automotive. If the Philippines wants lower tariff, it has to enter into

new negotiations with the Korean government,” Agudo said.

She said HARI will explore opportunities within the Asean-Korean FTA and open discussions as Hyundai grows and expands outside Korea.

“So if ever there is an opportunity or chance, definitely the Philippines will be the center because we are their second biggest market after China. In Asean, it’s the Philippines then Vietnam. We have always been number one for the last five years,” Agudo said.

The company has been quietly implementing the price cut since two months ago.

“We’re hoping that this price reduction together with other factors, when they merge together, will give us a great 2016,” Agudo said at the sideline of the launch of the allnew Elantra Thursday night the Tent in Hotel Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila.

The company expects sales to rebound by two digits in 2016 from 1 percent in 2015.

Sales of Hyundai in the Philippines were al-

most flat in 2014 and 2105 because of glitches in supply and delivery.

“What we can promise is double-digit [growth] and we are poised to rebound wince we have streamlined models and variants. Be prepared for more competitive pricing next year,” said Agudo.

Models like the newly-launched Elantra, the resolution of the shortage of vehicles and the availability of Euro-IV complaint vehicles were expected to perk up sales, she added.

Hyundai realigned prices since October 2015 in anticipation of the Asean-Korea free trade agreement’s provision lowering the tariff on completely built-up vehicles to 5 percent from 20 percent.

Value-added enhancements and savings will be reflected by January, said Agudo.

Sales of yhe Association of Vehicle Importers and Distributors, one of the two biggest automotive groups in the Philippines, rose 50 percent in 2015 due to the entry of Ford Philippines, Mazda and Suzuki.

Businessmen more optimistic in Q4, says BSP survey

By Julito G. Rada BUSINESSMEN became more optimistic in the fourth quarter of this year compared a quarter ago due mainly to the country’s bright economic prospects, results of a survey conducted by Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas show.

The Fourth Quarter Business Expectations Survey showed the business confidence index climbed to 51.3 percent from 41.4 percent a quarter ago.

The index was the highest in

two years or since 52.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, indicating that more businesses were optimistic of the country’s economic prospects for the last quarter of the year.

Most of the surveyed companies cited an expected increase in consumer demand, higher palay harvest, sustained sales, expansion of businesses and product lines, steady flow of remittances from migrant Filipino workers and election-related spending as some of the reasons for the optimistic outlook.

Their more positive outlook was further driven by expectations of brisker business due to the country’s hosting of the recently-concluded Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, higher disbursements for the government’s infrastructure and other development projects.

The sentiment of businesses in the Philippines mirrored the buoyant business outlook in Australia, Japan and the Euro area, but was in contrast to weaker sentiment of businesses in the United Kingdom,

the United States, China, Hong Kong, Germany, Russia, Indonesia, Singapore and India.

“It is quite clear that businesses are brisker during the holiday season... Also, we have seen that candidates are willing to spend for the coming elections,” Bangko Sentral Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said in a press briefing.

The business confidence index for the first quarter of 2016, however, declined to 43.9 percent from 53.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2015.

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ceSar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

world

In attendance. Guests attend the Raspoutine Paris Pop-Up At L’Eden By Perrier Jouet at Penthouse at the Faena Hotel Miami Beach on December 3, 2015, in Miami Beach, Florida. AFP

Critics slam new Malaysia law California shooter had terror ties, say reports SAN BERNARDINO—A USborn Muslim who along with his wife gunned down 14 people in California may have been radicalized and had been in contact with known terrorism suspects, reports said Thursday.

The FBI, which has cautioned it was too early to link the attack to terrorism, has taken charge of the investigation into Wednesday’s mass shooting in San Bernardino.

Agents were combing through evidence to determine what prompted Syed Farook, 28, and his 27-year-old Pakistani wife Tashfeen Malik to carry out the rampage that also left 21 people wounded.

Law enforcement officials quoted by The New York Times said the

FBI was treating the shooting as a potential terrorist act, but the agency was far from concluding it was and the motive remains unclear.

CNN, quoting officials, said Farook had been in contact with known terror suspects overseas and had become radicalized after marrying Malik in Saudi Arabia last year, although an imam at a local mosque he attended said Farook showed no signs of that.

The FBI who were scouring cell phones and a computer hard drive of the couple had evidence that Farook had communicated with extremists domestically and abroad a few years ago, the Times said, citing congressional officials briefed on the investigation. AFP

KUALA LUMPUR—Critics have hit out against a new Malaysian security law granting unprecedented emergency powers to the government, which they say is aimed at quashing challenges to scandal-tainted Premier Najib Razak and is propelling the country toward dictatorship.

Malaysia’s parliament passed the National Security Council Bill late Thursday the final day of the chamber’s 2015 sitting just two days after it was tabled, spurring opposition accusations that it was quickly rammed through to thwart scrutiny and debate.

It gives a council headed by the prime minister authority to declare emergency powers to address security threats, arrest people without warrants and otherwise curb basic constitutional freedoms without judicial oversight, critics say.

The legislation has struck a nerve in Malaysia, where Najib’s

government already has been accused of eroding civil liberties and democratic rights as it digs in following electoral setbacks and a damaging scandal.

It comes as Najib’s ruling party prepares for its annual meeting next week, the first such gathering since the explosive allegation in July that the premier had received nearly $700 million in still-unexplained payments.

“The National Security Council bill is nothing but a brazen attempt at silencing all criticism of the Najib administration, particularly Najib himself,” said Azmin Ali, a top opposition leader.

“This law will take us only to one path, and that is the path to dictatorship.”

The opposition and other critics complain of escalating pressure by authorities including dozens of arrests for sedition and other charges since a 2013 election setback for the longruling coalition dominated by Najib’s United Malays National Organization.

Speculation is rising that the financial scandal could be the final straw that dumps the coalition from power after nearly six decades, and that the government is maneuvering to prevent that by any means.

The next elections are due by 2018.

Introducing the bill earlier this week, government officials denied it was an unconstitutional “power grab”, saying it was needed to protect national security. AFP

UN to meet over North Korea abuses UNITED NATIONS—The UN Security Council will hold a meeting this month to discuss human rights violations in North Korea, only the second such session, the US mission to the United Nations said Thursday.

Nine Security Council members including Britain, France and the United States called for the meeting in a letter addressed to this month’s council president US Ambassador Samantha Power, ramping up the pressure on the highly secretive state.

“We believe it is critical for

the council to continue to shine a light on the abuses in North Korea and speak regularly about the DPRK’s human rights situation and what we can do to change it for as long as the crimes committed there persist,” Power said.

US mission spokeswoman Hagar Chemali said the United States would work quickly to schedule the meeting.

Last year, Pyongyang’s sole major ally China sought to block the first-ever meeting on the issue by calling a procedural vote on putting North Korea’s

human rights situation on the council’s agenda.

The majority of the council members, however, were in favor of the measure and the meeting went ahead, infuriating North Korea.

This year’s request for a meeting was made by Britain, Chile, France, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and the United States.

It remained unclear whether China would seek again to hold a vote to register its disagreement with the decision to discuss Pyongyang’s rights record. AFP

Open again. A man walks past the terrace of the bar “A la Bonne Biere”

in Paris on December 4, 2015, during its reopening after it was hit during a series of coordinated attacks in and around Paris on November 13.

The Paris bar, where five people were killed by jihadist gunmen in the November 13 attacks, is the first of the attacked bars to re-open in an emotional step in the city’s struggle to regain normality. AFP

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WORLD

cesar barrioquinto EDITOR

editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Report: IS fighters in Thailand BANGKOK—Moscow’s top intelligence agency has warned that 10 Syrians linked to the Islamic State group have entered the kingdom to target Russians, Thai police said Friday.

A leaked letter, marked “top secret” and “urgent” and signed by the deputy head of Thailand’s special branch, was widely circulated in local media late Thursday.

It said Moscow’s Federal Security Service had told Thai police that the group of Syrians entered the country between October 15 and 31 to target Russian interests.

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“They [the Syrians] traveled separately. Four went to Pattaya, two to Phuket, two to Bangkok and the other two to [an] unknown location,” the letter said, citing information from the FSB. “Their purpose is to create bad incidents to affect Russians and Russia’s alliance with Thailand,” the letter said, without naming the suspects.

More than 1.6 million Russian tourists visited Thailand in 2014, the largest number from European nations.

Arrivals from Russia spike during the Christmas and New Year holiday season.

The Russian embassy in Bangkok would not immediately comment on the letter.

Songpol Wattanachai, a deputy spokesman for the Thai police, told reporters “the letter is real”.

But he added: “We have no proof if they are here or not.”

A second deputy police spokesman, Krissana Phattanacharoen, confirmed “the content of [the] letter is genuine,” but played down a specific threat to the country.

“Yes it’s a threat, not only to my country but also to other countries as well,” he added, referring to the potential danger posed by the Islamic State group.

Thailand is in its peak holiday season, during which international arrivals surge, bringing huge sums of money to the economy.

Confirmation that Islamic State jihadists have

entered the country would likely send jitters through the tourist industry, especially in busy resort areas such as Phuket and Pattaya both popular with Russians.

Pattaya police urged tourists not be alarmed by the reports, although they said security will be beefed up.

Russia launched air strikes against IS targets in Syria in September. A month later, a Russian passenger plane was downed by a bomb over the Sinai desert in Egypt killing 224 people, mainly Russian holidaymakers.

Islamic State jihadists later claimed responsibility for the bombing as well as the November 13 attacks on Paris that killed 130 people. The brazen attacks have further raised global alarm over the possibility of assaults by IS gunmen and bombers.

Thailand was hit by a bomb in August that left 20 people dead at a shrine in downtown Bangkok, rattling the tourist industry.

Mystery still shrouds the motive for the unclaimed attack, whose aftermath saw Thai police release contradictory and confusing information.

Thailand has not fallen victim to a mass casualty attack by Islamic extremists in recent years although many of its Southeast Asian neighbors have. AFP

INVITATION TO BID (ITB) The Municipality of San Juan through its Bids & Awards Committee (BAC), invites supplier to apply for eligibility and if found eligible, to bid for the hereunder contract: Name of Contract Location Approved Budget for the Contract Contract Duration

: PURCHASE OF ONE (1) UNIT BACKHOE : SAN JUAN, ILOCOS SUR : Php. 3,000,000.00 : 90 Calendar Days

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

The Schedule of BAC activities is as follows: 1.

2.

3.

4.

Pre-procurement conference Posting Pre-bid Conference Subm. of Bids

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5.

6.

7.

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10.

11.

12.

Opening of Bids Bid Evaluation Post-Qualification Approval of Resolution Issuance of NOA Contract Preparation & Signing Approval of Contract Issuance of Notice to Proceed

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The BAC will issue to prospective bidders Eligibility Forms at LGU-San Juan, Ilocos Sur, upon their submission of LOI, and upon their payment of non-refundable amount of Php.5,000.00 to the Municipal Treasurer. Prospective bidders shall submit the Eligibility Requirements to the BAC at the said address.

They may also obtain the results of the Eligibility Check by the BAC at the same address.

The BAC will issue Bidding Documents only at the bidders declared by the BAC to be eligible for the bidding upon payment of a non-refundable amount of Php.5,000.00 to the Municipal Treasurer.

The Municipality of San Juan assumes no responsibility whatsoever to compensate or indemnify bidders for any expenses incurred in the preparation of their bids.

Approved by: (SGD) AVELINO ANDRADA BAC Chairman (TS-DEC. 5, 2015)

Onstage. Singer Selena Gomez performs onstage during the WiLD 94.9’s FM’s Jingle Ball 2015 presented by Capital One at the ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. AFP

Smog wreaks havoc in Indian capital NEW DELHI—It’s the prime stretch of New Delhi’s sporting calendar but a blanket of smog is playing havoc with everything from Test cricket to India’s national shooting event in the world’s most polluted capital.

At a time when schoolchildren are being told to only play indoors, Delhi is staging a Test match between India and South Africa and also hosted a crunch tie on Thursday night in football’s Indian Super League.

For spectators and even cameramen, the matches have turned at times into a spot the ball contest while experts warn the standard of competition on the field suffers as a result.

“It’s terrible out here,” a TV cameraman, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP

at the cricket.

“It’s a struggle to fix the lights on our cameras because the light is really bad, thanks to the smog, especially in the mornings. Sometimes we can’t even see the other side of the ground.

“It makes our job very difficult. Also, it’s not pleasant to be breathing in all this toxic air.”

A reading Friday on the US embassy website showed the concentration of PM 2.5, harmful microscopic particles that penetrate deep in the lungs, at a “very unhealthy” level and said “prolonged or heavy exertion” should be avoided.

That’s not possible for cricketers or footballers such as former Liverpool full-back John Arne Riise who played for the Delhi Dynamos in Thursday’s ISL show-

down against the Kerala Blasters.

Ankit Gupta, a Delhi-based sports injuries specialist, said pollution is a particular challenge to foreign players such as Riise, born in the pristine surroundings of central Norway.

“Those who hail from areas where the air is clean and fresh need to be extra careful, although staying indoors all the time can’t be an option,” Gupta told AFP. While Gupta said the impact on cricket was not so bad as smog levels dip in the day-time, he added that “it can’t be easy during night games when the pollution is high”.

Delhi’s Feroz Shah Kotla cricket ground lies on the edge of the old city, one of the most polluted areas in the capital. AFP

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PROPERTY

JOEL D. L ACSAMANA EDITOR

jdlacsamana@gmail.com

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CapitoL Commons towers safe from “the big one” The best condominiums aren’t just beautiful buildings, they should be safe structures as well. Ortigas and Co. had this dictum in mind when it designed and built its premier residential towers, the Maven, Imperium, Royalton, Viridian and Avila at Capitol Commons.

Located at the corner of Meralco Avenue and Shaw Boulevard in Ortigas Center, Pasig City, Capitol Commons is home to these towers which were built with a particular system designed to give strength, stiffness, and ductility capable of enduring natural forces: Maven with the shear core wall system, Imperium with the buckling restrained brace, and the Royalton with a central ductile concrete core.

Said Brian Morgen, Phd, senior associate at Seattle-based structural expert Magnusson Klemencic Associates : “Rather than collapsing, the buildings absorb the energy of the forces; they move, sway, and yield, thus limiting damage.”

Ortigas and Company’s concern is not unfounded. The Philippines lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire, prompting the company to seek the advice and assessment of Magnusson Klemencic.

San Francisco-based Langan Treadwell Rollo was also brought in to help define the seismic hazards for each site. And because the

Capitol Commons on the case. No human or machine can predict when the next earthquake will happen, but it pays to be ready.

Philippines is along the path of a typhoon belt, developers called in Canadian firm RWDI to serve as wind engineering consultant.

“The towers were designed using international state-of-theart structural design procedures, including the use of a performance-based seismic design (PBSD) process,” said Joey Santos,

general manager of the real estate division, Ortigas & Co. The buckling-restrained braces and exterior outrigger columns were likewise applied to the design and construction of the Viridian in the bustling Greenhills Shopping Center. “The intent is to provide greater stiffness and stability, such that when a large

Life starts here. Rockwell Primaries, a subsidiary of Rockwell Land, is busy developing 53 Benitez, a mid-rise condominium in the quiet suburbs of New Manila, Quezon City.

The two-tower condominium will rise at seven residential floors with a total of 360 units, giving homeowners comfort and privacy. It is a community minutes away from the bustle of the metro, but still has easy access to Manila’s top schools, hospitals, and malls. “53 Benitez is perfect for those who want to live in an exclusive community without having to compromise accessibility to destinations around the city,” said Malou Pineda, senior vice president, Rockwell Primaries. Shown in photo is the condo’s poolside area, where a family can unwind by watching the breathtaking sunset scenery at Tower 2, or take a dip.

seismic event occurs, the building is able to move, react, and absorb the energy,” said Morgen.

Of course, no human or machine can predict when the next earthquake will strike, but it pays to prepare early.

“The goal of any design, highrise or otherwise,” said Morgen, “is to provide a safe building that

can resist natural forces and remain standing even in the event of a very large earthquake.”

Ortigas & Co. is behind some of the metropolis’ best known residential enclaves and mixed-use projects, including the Frontera Verde, Circulo Verde, Capitol Commons, Greenmeadows and the Greenhills Subdivisions.

new pLayer in town. Elanvital Enclaves Inc. recently launched its 13 hectare flagship development, Nostalji Enclave, in Dasmariñas, Cavite. The construction of houses is in full swing, and the move-in of new proud residents began in the 2nd quarter of the year. The Nostalji Central Park has an Active Zone with futsal field, basketball court, as well as a children’s playground. Also in the park is a Social Zone, where the clubhouse and experiential pools are. Completing this green space is a Relax Zone with a kite-flying lawn, a multi-purpose tent, secret gardens and picnic grounds. Buyers can choose from home designs ranging from Php1.5M to Php7M. Nostalji Enclave offers houses from a 2 bedroom duplex set in a 50 square meter lot, to 4 bedroom single attached unit on a 162 square meter lot. Elanvital Enclaves is part of a conglomerate which includes Asia United Bank, Republic Biscuit Corporation (REBISCO) Oakwood Premier Joy-Nostalg and Crystal Jade.

maLLs for Communities. Vista Land is moving into mall development in Luzon and Mindanao, and is targeting 20 malls to be built nationwide in 2016.

Vista Malls are meticulously designed commercial complexes that are tailorfit for the communities in the various Vista Land developments. Designed by developer, Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc., no one mall is the same as the other in terms of look, or feel. “We focus on the communities we cater to,” said Camille Villar, managing director of Vista Land. “We take great effort to understand our communities and give them what they need.” Vista Land has built over 30 master-planned communities all over the Philippines in the past 40 years. Currently being built or redeveloped are community retail centers of six Vista Group projects in Pampanga, Antipolo, Cagayan de Oro, Makati, Sucat, and Vista City. Upcoming community retail centers are also being eyed for set for projects in Manila, Pasig and Quezon City.

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JOEL D. L ACSAMANA EDITOR jdlacsamana@gmail.com

PROPERTY

calle real, an official heritage zone. Local hosting of ICOM 2015 comes at a time when the government, through the Department of Tourism (DOT), has identified the role of cultural tourism as one of the driving forces in Philippine economy.

international MuseuM Meet kicks off in iloilo Some 200 culture and museum leaders of the Asia Pacific region convened this week (December 3-7) at the newly-opened Iloilo Convention Center in Iloilo City, for the International Council of Museum- Asia Pacific 2015 Conference and General Assembly, dubbed as ICOM ASPAC 2015.

ICOM is a global network of more than 35,000 culture and museum institutions and professionals that seek to conserve the world’s natural and cultural heritage. Its Philippine National Committee, ICOM-Philippines headed by chairwoman Gina V. Barte, is hosting this year’s event.

ICOM president, Hans-Martin HInz, addressed the event at the event’s opening, together with the ICOM-ASPAC chair, Dr. Song Xinchao of ICOM-China and deputy director of the Directorate of State Cultural Heritage of the Peoples’ Republic of China.

This year’s theme, ‘Pathways for Museums for a Sustainable Society,’ promotes ICOM’s response to changes in today’s social environment and represents ICOM’s contribution to the domain of culture and museum building. This is part of ICOM’s response to the global call of uniting its partners to create the greatest impact in becoming a cultural driving force towards sustainable development.

The link between sustainable development issues and the core function of museums to educate the public about their cultural heritage is becoming more pronounced in recent

iloilo convention center’s ‘coming out’ party. The ICOM event showed that we’re ready to dish out the dazzle with world-class venues in key areas in the archipelago.

years. The world is increasingly torn by conflicts and violence, where museums and cultural heritage sites have become targets of destruction or end up as collateral damage, in situations of terrorism and war.

Meanwhile, disasters resulting from extreme weather conditions continue to endanger museums and collections that represent irreplaceable culture and heritage. Poverty and growing population have led to neglect in some countries, making museums and cultural objects to pillage and theft.

ICOM-ASPAC in Iloilo is gathering key leaders of culture and museums in the region as well as other countries, as one community in an effort to recognize its role in defining, promoting, and implementing sustainable practices.

The ongoing conference is currently exploring take off points that will bring

about new knowledge and best practices of each of the 24 ICOM-ASPAC member countries. The goal is to create pathways that puts culture and museums at the core of sustainable development in the countries/regions where the ICOM-ASPAC is present, including Australia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam (observer), China, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, and Russia.

“As the country host, the ICOM-Philippines is looking forward to having our colleagues and our sustainable development allies, learn from the plenary discussions and workshop sessions,” said Barte.

“But most of all, we want to discover our own cultural treasures through the study tours of significant cultural sites, museums, and exhibits and other activities lined up for the event.”

Make Mine alabang. Property developer A.M Oreta & Co., recently introduced its latest luxury project in the heart of the Alabang district in Muntinlupa City. Located inside Northgate Cyberzone, Alabang business district’s information technology center, 3 Forty Fifth Residences redefines the get-up-andgo lifestyle that can be enjoyed by both expatriates and executives who work in the BPO and Fortune 500 offices that dot the area. 3 Forty Fifth Residences is now ready for occupancy, with the turnover of units targeted in July, 2016.

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TATUM ANCHETA EDITOR

BING PAREL

A S S O C I AT E E D I T O R

BERNADETTE LUNAS WRITER

life @ thestandard.com .ph

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P OP CU LT U RE

LIFE

C1

Right in the middle of Circuit Lane is the floating stage and amphitheater where guests can watch small performances or enjoy a panoramic view of the development

THE NEWEST HIP PLACE TO HANGOUT

BY BERNADETTE LUNAS

“A

ctive, young, vibrant, hip – that’s Circuit!”

This is how Ayala Land, Inc. general manager Mina Domingo describes the newly built Circuit Lane, the 10,000-sqm dining and retail hub at Circuit Makati. And much like Circuit Makati’s contemporary approach to recreation and entertainment, the mall’s concept is geared towards attracting the young crowd.

Circuit Lane offers a balance between natural elements and modern features. The two-story shopping walkway houses dozens of lifestyle merchants, restaurants and specialty stores – both familiar brands and new labels. Small trees and potted plants dot the development and right in the middle is the Canal Walk, a man-made body of water that spans the entire stretch of the complex.

“The main feature of Circuit Lane is the Canal Walk which was added to give our shoppers an interactive experience,” shares ALI assistant vice president and head of operations for Central Manila Myrna Fernandez.

The shopping and dining complex’s spacious landscape allows enough breathing room for customers who want to take a break from checking out the many outlets. It also provides an ideal space for students to meet with classmates to discuss group projects or for young professionals to unwind after a day of office grind.

It also helps that the development is accessible – a few minutes away from Makati’s central business district.

Aside from Circuit Makati’s major entertainment complex Globe Circuit Event Grounds, Circuit Lane also has entertainment pockets for small activities in the form of a floating stage that can hold 50 people, and its amphitheater called “The Hill,” where people can watch the performances or enjoy a panoramic view of the development.

Circuit Lane is currently on soft opening, and many of the outlets are yet to open. Domingo says since a number of their merchants will only be fully operational next year, Circuit Lane’s grand launch is scheduled in late January or early February 2016.

The interactive retail complex is set to host 42 merchants: 27 dining establishments, nine retail stores, five specialty outlets, and one entertainment center.

“You are guaranteed to see new names (in retail and dining), many of which are owned by personalities and celebrities,” reveals Domingo.

Citing examples, Domingo says The Burgery is owned by JC de Vera, while Backyard Kitchen and Brew is operated by a group of personalities that include Rico Blanco, Jugs Jugueta, DJs Sam YG, Slick Rick and Aaron Atayde, to name a few.

Erwan Heussaff is set to open his latest branch of Pink Panda, and PBA stars Greg Slaughter and Chris Lutz together with his girlfriend Ashley Cayuca will open the first outlet of Mudpie Heaven at Circuit Lane.

OnBoard Game + Gastro Pub offers an exciting dining concept where friends can enjoy nachos, sliders and draft beers while playing board games. OnBoard has over 400 board games available for diners to borrow while in the restaurant.

Promising to tickle the tastebuds and cater to the diverse cravings of discerning diners are Fat Burger, Marugame, Palm Corned Beef Corner, Seafood Island, ShiLin, Shrimp Bucket, Social House, Steveston Pizza, Torch, Va Bene Pasta Deli, Wingstop, Yakitori Binchotan and Yoree.

Head over to Black Canyon Coffee, Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, Cold Stone Creamery, Krispy Kreme, Old Quarter Cafe, St. Marc Cafe, Starbucks, Tous Les Jours and Outre for an afternoon meeting over coffee and pastries.

Circuit Lane, Circuit Makati's shopping and dining hub, houses dozens of lifestyle merchants, restaurants and specialty stores

The Canal Walk is the main feature of the interactive retail walkway

The PowerMac Spotlight Center is perfect for intimate shows and events

In keeping with the active outdoors vibe and theme of Circuit Makati, majority of retail shops in the mall offer sporting goods alongside their lifestyle items, such as Above, Asics, Boardriders, Capital, Nike, Speedo, The Grnd, Titan (a basketball apparel and accessories merchant with a barbershop component) and Vans.

For gadget geeks, Digital Walker, Henry’s Camera, Playbook and

PowerMac are all expected to be open for business next year. Fitness junkies, on the other hand, can rely on Gold’s Gym for an hour or two of workout.

Completing the initial lineup of businesses at Circuit Lane is Miracle Art, an exhibition center where guests can be part of the artworks.

To complete the entertainment and recreation experience at Circuit Makati, the 300-seater PowerMac Spotlight Center

offers a perfect venue for intimate shows and events such as plays, art exhibits, music tours, music recitals, workshops and more. On the other hand, the St John Paul II chapel provides a place for prayer and worship.

Circuit Lane is located at Circuit Makati, A.P. Reyes Avenue cor.

Hippodromo Street, Carmona, Makati City.

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

Adele from the music video of Hello

ADELE IS MUSIC’S BIGGEST STAR THE GIST

BY ED BIADO When Adele’s “Hello” came out a month ago, the Internet went crazy. I wasn’t a huge fan. It didn’t help that the music video didn’t really do anything to sell the narrative. But hearing the song played repeatedly, either by friends or on the radio, it began to grow on me. Now, I actually enjoy listening to it.

On the Billboard Hot 100, “Hello” debuted at number one, only the 24th song in the chart’s history to accomplish the feat. It’s a massive hit, setting the stage for what would be one of the most successful comebacks in music ever.

The single’s parent album, 25, starts its record-breaking chart run in the US this week atop the Billboard 200 with 3.48 million equivalent units sold, 3.38 million of which are actual album sales – the single largest sales week of the Nielsen tracking era (since 1991). By comparison, the second largest sales week belongs to ‘Nsync’s No Strings Attached, which shifted 2.4 million units in its first week of sales in March 2000.

In the UK, 25 sold over 800,000 copies in its first chart week, becoming the country’s

fastest-selling album of all time. As of this writing, the album is number one in 11 other countries and already certified multi-platinum in five, namely Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.

The LP is so hot that it even revived interest in Adele’s last set, 21, which was released in 2011. The four-year-old album returns to the Billboard 200 tally at number nine. The success of 25 is so massive that no other release in recent memory can rival it. Taylor Swift’s one-year-old 1989, which pre-25 was a gold standard and reportedly the bestselling album of 2014, has so far sold 8.6 million copies worldwide – and it’s highly probable that the two-week-old 25 has already matched that number.

Not only did Adele manage to smash all existing album sales records, she got people back to buying CDs again. Yes, actual physical compact discs that you can’t even play on the media drive-less MacBook Air. We’re not sure if this is a joke, but some people on Twitter claim not knowing how to make a CD work.

Yet the same people purchased the 25 CD anyway – if only because Amazon sells it for a dollar cheaper and comes with a free digital download. But still.

Adele’s impact on a struggling music industry is undeniable. Her kind of star power is so rare that it transcends trends and expectations. Unlike most pop stars today, Adele has been quiet on social media for the most part, only posting important updates and announcements on her accounts. She

doesn’t come out on stage in wacky costumes and wild antics meant to shock and seek publicity. Her music isn’t trendy; the songs are middle-of-the-road torch anthems that recall the glory days of Celine Dion and the troop of big-voiced divas like Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

There’s also the fact that while generally positive, the album reviews were not exactly glowing. Critics were appreciative and encouraging at best, and lukewarm and backhandedly complimentary at worst. So the commercial success of 25 only proves that Adele is truly on a league of her own.

Call it her imperial phase, an era right after a breakthrough in which an artist is so revered that they can do no wrong before their fans’ eyes. However, bear in mind that even within their own imperial phases, no musician has ever sold this much this quickly.

We should also consider that she was almost literally gone for four years, only making a brief appearance to sing a James Bond theme in 2012. That’s a long time to be away from the public eye; long enough for a star – no matter how glowing – to dim significantly.

So should we call it filling a gap in the market and owning a very specific niche in pop culture? After all, no one right now is doing

what she’s doing, and if they are, they’re not doing it half as well.

Or is it luck? Is it timing? Is it all of the above that led to Adele suddenly becoming the biggest pop star in the world today? I don’t know, but there really is something incredible, unprecedented and aweinspiring going on here. And I can’t help but be amazed.

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram @EdBiado

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 5 : 2 0 1 5

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

LOVE AND OTHER APPS Technology and social media have changed the way #COFFEEWITHKAI

BY KAI MAGSANOC

we interact with each other. How about the way we love?

“Give the ones you love wings to fly, roots to come back, and reasons to stay.”

– Dalai Lama XIV

S

ocial media has changed the way we relate with each other, in my opinion. It is an extension of how we would treat each other in real life. In some cases, we treat each other better online than in real life, or vice versa.

All of us have a Facebook friend we’ve never really met, but thanks to mutual friends, we add them or accept their friend requests and begin to interact. The same goes for love prospects, I guess.

We see their profile, see what we have in common, and take a chance. Besides, the worst that can happen is they ignore us. Or we end up as just friends. Then we move on to the next prospect or – as they say in Tinder – we swipe left.

(Tinder is an app that shows prospects in your area. If you aren’t attracted to a prospect, you swipe left on the pic and the app presents you with another one. If you are attracted to a prospect, you swipe right. If he or she also swiped right with you, the app will inform

Gwen and Andrew Pesina

you with a happy, “It’s a Match!” The rest is up to you.)

The distance and initial anonymity of an online relationship may make us feel that we can be completely honest without worrying about being judged or what the other person will think of us. This allows us to be more candid, and therefore brings us closer to the person at the other end, provided he or she is extending the same amount of honesty to you.

On the other hand, the lack of serious commitment to each other whether in the beginning or throughout the course of the

relationship allows us to chat with as many people as we prefer, until we find the right fit.

Accept the fact, though, that if this is what you do, then maybe this is also what is being done to you. Ergo, you are one of the many, not the only one.

Romantics like me may see online relationships as proof of the power of the written word, when a “Good morning,” “Good night,” “I love you,” or “I’m thinking of you” can send one over the moon. They can be the modern version of what we used to call “pen pals” when I was younger (Kids, look it up!), except now the communication is real time, the reaction instant, and there are emojis.

Gwendolyn Binoya was one of two girls whom I helped rehabilitate from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after they survived Typhoon Haiyan and moved to Manila to earn a living for their families in Tacloban and Samar. In 2014, Gwen would be moved to tears each time we spoke about the experience. By the end of our two months together, she was back to being the sassy girl she used to be.

Today, Gwen is in the US, recently married to Andrew Pesina, a boy she met online.

“I met Andrew through Chatroulette after a failed blind date,” Gwen says. “I thought maybe my soul mate was outside my 10-mile radius. One boring day, I went on that site and met him. The first conversation went well and we exchanged Facebook names and

got to know each other more through chats and voice calls.

“He would always talk to me like we were just beside each other. He made the effort despite the time difference.” December 7 will be their first anniversary of meeting online virtually.

I asked my friends for their opinion on the matter, and here’s what they have to say: “I think it’s a must to start with a secure sense of self, a strong sense of self-love and selfworth, knowing what you want and don’t want – and what you deserve.”

– Celine Encarnacion

“Apps have provided both convenience and the false illusion of endless options. They make people less likely to settle because maybe ‘there’s someone better’.”

– Justine Tan

“I think we need apps that are more romantically inclined, not that ‘quick fix’ apps are not welcome. But apps that encourage dating as opposed to plain hook ups.”

– Matthew Pirante Perez

What are your thoughts on online relationships?

Would you go for it or not? Why? Tell me by emailing coffeewithkai@gmail.com. Follow me on Instagram and Twitter: @kaimagsanoc.

S AT U R D AY : D E C E M B E R 5 : 2 0 1 5

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LIFE life @ thestandard.com .ph

@LIFEatStandard

PUSH: MUSES, MISCHIEF, & HOW TO MAKE IT IN MANILA

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alent + perseverance + hard work + a little bit of luck + and a squad of people who believe in you is the recipe for successfully making it in Manila. And this holds true especially for 27-year-old Filipino photographer BJ Pascual, who skyrocketed to become one of the country’s most sought after fashion A look into the book's pages photographers today.

At such a young age, he muses, ambitions, dreams, and the conquered the fashion industry by people dear to his heart. A creative storm, something that a lot of young journey perfect for any millennial’s aspiring photographers can only reading list. hope to imagine for their career. Last “PUSH is not just a mantra. It’s November, BJ Pascual launched his a call to action,” writes Raymond first book – PUSH: Muses, Mischief, Ang (editor and founder of Made & How to Make it in Manila. of Bricks that edited PUSH under “The book isn’t a retrospective – I Summit Publishing Co.) in the think it’s too early in my career for foreword of the book. Who knows that,” explains BJ, “but the book is – there may be another BJ Pascual more about me confronting the first who touched this book waiting for six years of my career. I talk about that little push to go after his dreams. my experiences as a young creative, “I initially had no plans of the inspirations that have fueled my making a book because as I said, work, the people who’ve served as it’s too early in my career for a role models, and the muses who retrospective, but when my friend have helped me achieve some of Raymond presented this really great my favorite images,” he adds. outline for a book aimed to inspire PUSH illustrates how a young young creatives, I immediately said mind can make it in such a yes!” says BJ. cutthroat industry. His book is an Reading the book makes you intimate look at his inspiration, feel like you’re part of his journey,

Kid’s HEATTECH Fleece Cap and Neck Warmer

Women’s Cashmere Scarf

Chapter 3’s “Inspiration Is Everywhere” provides an intimate perspective of BJ and his connections between the people in front of his lens. The entire chapter features conversations with celebrities like Solenn Heussaff, Liz Uy, Bea Soriano, Isabel Daza, Anne Curtis, Kathryn Bernardo, Nadine Lustre, Liza Soberano, among others. It features not just BJ’s journey behind his lens, but at the same time the journey of self-discovery of some of the industry’s famous celebrities.

The book is available in four different covers with Nadine Lustre, Liza Soberano, Julia Barretto, and Kathryn Bernardo – BJ’s magic four, the muses whom he kind of grew up with as they all reach for success in their current careers.

Young as they may all seem, the stories of these millennials are great reads especially for the hungry young creative.

So what’s next for BJ Pascual?

“Hopefully more international work!,” he exclaims.

Push: Muses, Mischief & How To Make It In Manila is available in all leading newsstands and bookstores.

Julia Barretto on the cover

Janine Gutierrez, BJ Pascul, and Raymond Ang

BJ Pascual's muse Janine Gutierrez opened the book launch

HEATTECH Knit Camp and Gloves

Liza Soberano

Women’s Cashmere Turtleneck

THIS SEASON OF GIVING, GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFEWEAR

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s the Christmas draws near, the cold breeze of December also whispers to our skin. UNIQLO has the full line-up of LifeWear gift ideas this season that are sure to warm up the heart and literally the body of the person you are giving the gift to.

From style to comfort, UNIQLO Women’s Cashmere Turtleneck is a perfect gift for your mom, sister or lover as it’ll keep them warm and in style. The clothing brand also has HEATTECH garments that can keep any cold nights warmed up this season. Choose from HEATTECH knit camp and gloves, ultra light down jacket, and socks to finish the look. For those traveling to a colder climate this Christmas, arm yourselves with UNIQLO’s women’s

Baby’s Warm Lite, Full-zip Parka and Pants

Men’s Ultra Light Down Jacket

fleece jacket, and get your guy in that sexy Men’s Lambswool Crewneck.

For the kids and toddlers, doll them up in cute Kid’s Fleece Jacket, Kid’s HEATTECH Fleece Cap and Neck Warmer and snap all that Instagram worthy OOTDs for your kids while they enjoy the cold December breeze. For the tinier tots, they will sure look too cute for Instagram with Baby’s Warm Lite, Full-zip Parka and Pants.

This holiday season, give the gift of style, give the Gift of LifeWear and make your loved ones feel extra warm and special.

For more updates on Christmas promos, please visit UNIQLO Philippines’ Facebook page on Uniqlo.PH or their website at www.uniqlo.com/ph.

SAT URDAY : DECEMBER 5, 2015

SHOWBITZ

ISAH V. RED EDITOR

isahred @ gmail.com

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Lechon PArty with KAPuSo StArS

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Guinness Officer Lucia Sinigagliesi and Calata Corp President and CEO Joseph Calata

Glaiza De Castro

Kristoffer Martin

Derrick Monasterio

Jolina’s 5 lessons on motherhood

S

ince her return to show business, singer-actress Jolina Magdangal-Escueta has reaped many accolades for her performance in Your Face Sounds Familiar and the afternoon drama Flordeliza with Marvin Agustin. But her flourishing career hasn’t stopped her from being a hands-on mom to one-year old Pele.

A self-confessed “praning” mom, Jolina enumerates the top five motherhood lessons she has learned since she gave birth to the love of her life, Pele.

1. Motherhood comes first everywhere. Even with her busy schedule, Jolina is devoted to being a hands-on mom.

In fact, his son often comes with Jolina to her taping. “I want to be there for Pele’s every milestone. I don’t want to miss a thing,” Jolina says. “I’m glad the production staff of my shows understands where I’m coming from as a mother.

They help me ensure I have space to breastfeed, and to set up Pele’s playpen and cot so he can be safe and comfortable.”

2. Keep calm. Pele getting sick is one of Jolina’s biggest worries. “He is generally a happy baby, so I know right away when he isn’t feeling well. Because I am a first-time mom,

3.

I used to panic at the slightest sign of fever -- I call my pediatrician right away. Si Mark (husband Mark Escueta of Rivermaya) is usually the calm one, and he reads a lot of parenting books, ako yung madaldal at nagwo-worry,” Jolina says. “Mas panatag ako ngayon with Paracetamol Calpol because it is pedia-recommended, and I have the support of the #GoGinhawa community to share experiences with.”

Jolina was recently launched as a #GoGinhawa Mom for Paracetamol Calpol, along with TV personality Suzi Entrata-Abrera and lifestyle blogger Jackie Go. Involve your husband. Jolina says it is hubby Mark who keeps her balanced. “Ay mas involved siya kasi siguro nakikita niya na nagwo-worry ako, so dalawa yung inaalagaan niya eh,” Jolina elaborates.

“Yung emotions ko parang roller-coaster na pag masaya si Pele e di ako rin masaya, tapos pag nilalagnat na ulit parang maiiyak na naman ako.

So, ngayon yung asawa ko siya yung nagbabalanse sa amin. Kung ako konting kibot magte-text agad sa pedia, siya, nakabalanse sa baby and

sa akin, hands-on talaga siya.”

4. Mommy knows best. Jolina

5.

appreciates the guidance from her own mom. “Siya yung nagturo sa akin paano maghawak ng bata, kahit mahina likod niya dahil sa scoliosis,” Jolina narrates. “So tinuro niya pa rin sa akin bago pa bumigat si Pele.

As in talaga from Tagaytay umuwi siya para turuan ako.”

Share Best Practices. Aside from the Calpol #GoGinhawa community, Jolina swaps mommy tips with other celebrity moms. “Kami ni Kyla -- our kids are almost the same age, months lang ang pagitan. Tapos yung OB ko nakuha ko kay Juday. Ngayon, sa Your Face, kami ni Melai (Cantiveros). Minsan naglalaro sa playpen ni Pele yung anak niya. Tapos si Ate Carla (Estrada) rin.”

For mommies, more valuable tips can be found in the #GoGinhawa Mom Movement community that provides a wealth of information for mothers, including fever management tips and advice through the #GoGinhawa Mom blogs, articles, and educational videos. For more information, visit www.calpol.com.ph, or sign up to be a #GoGinhawa Mom by liking Calpol Philippines on Facebook .

Jolina and son Pele

fun and exciting vibe enveloped Quezon City Memorial Cirle as GMA Kapuso stars jazzed up Calata Corporation’s lechon party. Calata Corporation, one of the biggest agribusiness conglomerates in the country, celebrated its 16th year anniversary with GMA Kapuso celebrities as they made history by having a massive lechon party. The party was also the company’s early Christmas treat for the less privileged residents of Metro Manila.

Joining the event were Kapuso heartthrobs Derrick Monasterio and Kristoffer Martin along with Glaiza De Castro.

The celebrities gave the celebration an energizing atmosphere with their performance as Calata Corporation broke the Guinness World Record of largest serving of roast pork by serving 4,046 kilos of lechon, beating Mexico’s 3,094.2 kilos.

“This year, we are celebrating our 16 successful years in the business by giving back to the community instead of having a lavish party. This is a very momentous occasion not just for Calata Corporation but also for the Philippines, to break the Guinness World Record for the ‘Largest serving of lechon’.

We hope that through this achievement, more Filipinos, especially the younger generation, will be inspired to get into the often overlooked farming industry,” shared Joseph Calata, chairman and CEO of Calata Corporation.

The participation of GMA Kapuso celebrities in the party gave the occasion an exciting ambiance. At the same time, the celebration was made more special with the celebrities as they shared an early Christmas treat with the less privileged residents of Metro Manila.

SAT URDAY : DECEMBER 5, 2015

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SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

TNT Aldub Wedding

Singkuwento international Film FeStival aCCeptS entrieS

ALDUb ‘WEDDing’ viDEO gOES viRAL, tREnDS WORLDWiDE

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very touching wedding video featuring TNT endorsers Alden Richards and Maine “Yaya Dub” Mendoza, popularly known as Aldub, has sent Pinoy netizens abuzz, all raving about the undeniable chemistry of the country’s phenomenal love team in their first online video together.

Prior to this, the two only shot their string of endorsements separately as part of their split-screen love story on noontime television.

With hordes of fans anticipating the video, the hashtag #AldubEverAfter easily became one of the top trending topics on Twitter worldwide, even before the video broke Internet on TNT’s official Facebook account (www.facebook.com/ TalkNText) Tuesday night. Once uploaded, the video earned 500,000 views in less than 10 hours, and shortly reached 2 million online users.

Taking viewers to a story filled with kilig, Aldub Ever After shows the Alden and Maine meticulously preparing for what seemed to be their biggest day at the church.

“See you!,” Maine tells Alden via her TNT-powered phone. “Can’t wait!” he replies.

Then the video shows how they can’t help but exchange real-time photos and quirky updates on Facebook, Twitter and Viber – which now come FREE with top TNT promos. Their updates only further build their longing to see each other finally at the venue – where a twist takes viewers by surprise!

“It was worth the wait! Thank you TNT for this video!” wrote Facebook user Marinel Amor, among the thousands who rushed to comment on the video. “Thank you for being so creative, TNT. That was unexpected!,”

wrote Roselle Mae Perez Alonsagay.

“I can say that the newest TNT commercial of MaiDen is the most epic commercial evah,” tweeted user @heyiamkath. “Best ALDUB commercial so far!” posted another user.

“Like Alden and Maine, TNT subscribers can now make their interactions a lot more fun and creative through Facebook, Twitter and Viber – which now come FREE with select TNT promos,” said Evelyn Jimenez, Prepaid Category Marketing head.

“Aside from this treat, TNT subscribers can also conveniently extend their favorite TNT promos for up to 365x for only P5 per day. These are among the many ways TNT is able to bring panalo moments to subscribers, who now have more ways to keep in touch with their ka-tropas especially this season.”

Dial *121# to choose and register to your favorite TNT promos, which automatically come with up to 30MB of FREE Facebook, Viber and Twitter. You can also extend your favorite TNT promos by simply texting EXTEND to 4545.

Check out the TNT’s Aldub wedding video and keep updated on TNT promos and services by following its official accounts on Facebook (www.facebook.com/TalkNText) and Twitter (@TalkNText).

TNT’s new online video, featuring TNT katropas and phenomenal love team of Alden Richards and Maine ‘Yaya Dub’ Mendoza at a wedding has gone viral, earning raves from netizens around the world. Check it out now on TNT’s official Facebook page www.facebook.com/TalkNText.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE 43 45 46 48 50 53 54 55 57 58 60 65 66 67 68 69 70 ANSWER FOR PREVIOUS PUZZLE ACROSS 1 Japanese poem 6 Tech talk 11 Oliver Stone film 14 Fiery felony 15 Kiwi language 16 Inventor — Whitney 17 Ape 18 Raise horses 19 The nearest star 20 Band members 22 Warrant officer

24 28 29 30 32 33 35 39 40 41 42

Twangy instruments Get-togethers “Becket” actor Fiesta Gets 40 winks Ancient plants Unruly manes Confound it!

Mama’s boy Elongated circle Window part

Beyond the pale “Fancy” singer Hot topic Not well Risk or opportunity Sheds (hyph.)

Chortle Spark starter Museum contents Kapitan’s command (hyph.)

Give a lift Navy noncom Hotel offering Zealous, plus Marciano stat Herd member Glasses, slangily

DOWN 1 Smokehouse hanger 2 Uris hero 3 Belief 4 Garden-pond fish 5 Nerdy 6 Pulpits 7 Red inside 8 Leaves 9 Natural resource 10 Juicy morsel 11 Mr. Ventura 12 Dust the cake pan 13 Potters’ ovens

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2015

21 23 24 25 26 27 28 30 31 34 36 37 38 43 44 47 49 50 51 52 53 55 56 59 61 62 63 64

Complain Alone together, e.g.

Forms an affinity Video-game pioneer Prickly pear Shoving and pushing Half a couple Examine Livy’s year Hairy twin Easy to see Cello player — Casals Does in the dragon Mao — -tung Receptive Downhiller’s run Shoot-’em-ups Rattle A Marx brother Sedans et al Quart, plus Pate de — gras Overdue Except Drink like Rover “Honest” fellow Nervous twitch McMahon and Sullivan

The Singkuwento International Film Festival Manila Philippines (SIFFMP) in cooperation of National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) invites amateur and professional filmmakers to submit their full length and short films for exhibition and competition.

The SIFFMP, an international film festival, brings a collection of films that explore different genres ranging from youth, personal relationships, demise and destruction, growing up dreams and pains and societal issues.

The festival’s main objective is to unite various Filipino and foreign filmmakers in our country and around the world. It is an avenue for Filipinos both here and abroad to share their voice, sentiments and thought via the films they have created. It also aims to provide a channel for non-Filipinos to share their impressions of the Philippines and its people.

Festival Director Perry Escano says, “On our third year, there will be a separate category for local and international films in both fictional and documentary films. All films made locally will be under local category. The board of jury headed by Roberto Reyes Ang will select a few Filipino entries for consideration to the international category with consent of the filmmakers. Films entered in the international category will no longer compete in the local category.

“The short films competition is open to students, amateurs and professionals.

We are only accepting completed not earlier that Jan. 1, 2014. The maximum running time of short films including opening and closing credit is 30 minutes. Deadline of submission for both films in competition and exhibition is before midnight of Dec. 13. Short films that are already available online for viewing and promotional films are not eligible,” says Escano. .

This year, full length films and documentary films for exhibition will also be accepted. The minimum running time is 60 minutes. They must have been completed not earlier than Jan. 1, 2013. All films submitted for competition and for exhibition maybe in any

Perry Escaño

language or dialect and must be submitted with English subtitles.

How does one submit film entries?

Escano says. “A private on line link of the film must be sent for pre-screening purposes via email to singkuwento.international@yahoo.com.ph along with entry form, filmmaker’s CV, poster in .jpeg file, three .jpeg files of stills from the film and a profile picture of the filmmaker.

The film links must be downloadable.

They can visit our FB page Singkuwento International Film Festival Manila Philippines and our SIFFMP website http:// siffmp.wix.com/2016.”

Escano adds, “We are looking for films that can will allow people to have a better appreciation of our impressive Filipino culture and heritage with great messages of Filipino and foreign films to the audience.”

The Singkuwento International Film Festival, Manila, Philippines is slated on Feb. 19 to 27, 2016 at the Tanghalang Leandro Locsin , NCCA Bldg 633 General Luna Street Intramuros Manila. There will also be screenings at the UP Film Center in March.

For tickets, the SIFFMP Full Access Festival Pass and tickets are available via TicketWorld outlets and National Bookstore. They can also buy the tickets at the lobby of the NCCA.

SAT URDAY : DECEMBER 5, 2015

SHOWBITZ isahred @ gmail.com

C7 Billy Ray diReCts ‘seCRet in theiR eyes’

Hi-5, the Australian children musical group performs at the carousel centerpiece at SM Megamall’s Christmas Launch

Hi-5 members gamely had a Meet and Greet Session with their young fans.

Model Maggie Wilson – Consunji with husband Victor Consunji and son Connor.

Actress Yasmien Kurdi – Soldevilla with husband Rey Soldevilla, Jr. and daughter Ayesha

Actress Cheska Garcia – Kramer with daughter Kendra and son Gavin.

SM Prime Holdings, Inc. Assistant Vice President for Operations, Premier 2, Christian Mathay

Singer Karylle Tatlonghari - Yuzon

Model Rissa Mananquil – Trillo with husband Paolo and daughters Celestia Gabrielle and Audra Alessandra

HI-5 at SM MEgaMall CHrIStMaS CarouSEl launCH

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verything was merry and musical as SM Megamall recently welcomed Christmas with Hi-5, the Australian children’s group.

The event also launched the mall’s colorful centerpiece, a 55foot Christmas Carousel, making it a happy time for kids of all ages.

Hi-5 members Ainsley Melham, Tanika Anderson, Dayen Zheng, Stevie Nicholson, and Mary Lascaris delighted the

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crowd with their catchy hits, hip dance moves, and colorful outfits.

Mall-goers later had a chance to meet-and-greet the young singers.

Hi-5 was formed in 1998, and their television show, which is of the same name, is aimed at children of all ages and includes educational trends as fun and games, and features music and movement that would attract children’s attention.

Since then, the group has won five ARIA awards for “Best Children’s

28th aliw awaRds on deC.10 Aliw Awards Foundation, Inc. (AAFI) will present the 28th Annual Aliw Awards at the Star Theater on Dec. 10. Roxanne A. Lapus , Aliw Hall of Famer, will direct the show.

This year’s awards, according to Alice H. Reyes, founding resident will be presented

by AAFI in cooperation with Eagle Broad-

Album”, and won three consecutive Australian Logie Awards (the Australian awards for television performance and production recognition) for “Most Outstanding Children’s Preschool Program” in 2000, 2001 and 2004.

Mandaluyong City Councilor Charisse Abalos was among the guests in the star- studded launch. Guests included actress Cheska Garcia-Kramer with her daughter Kendra and son Gavin;

casting Corporation, Net 25, Star Theater and 8 Trimedia Broadcast Network,Inc..

Winners in over 40 categories will receive their Applause trophies at the Awards Night . The top award, Entertainer of the Year, was last year given to Jed Madela.

Lifetime Achievement Awardees this year are Joonie Gamboa, Roxanne A. Lapus and Miguel Faustman.

Special Awardees are Danny Dolor, Basilisa “Pla Pla” Pilapil Jr., Prof. Hermenegildo Ranera, Leonilo Agustin, and the St. Anne Theater Dance Company.

model Rissa-Mananquil-Trillo with husband Paolo and daughters Celestia Gabrielle and Audra Alessandra, actress Yasmien Kurdi-Soldevilla with husband Rey Soldevilla, Jr. and daughter Ayesha; model Maggie Wilson-Consunji with husband Victor and son Connor; and singer Karylle Tatlonghari-Yuzon.

The Christmas with Hi-5 celebration is one of the many exciting events at SM Megamall.

To be elevated to the Hall of Fame, having won three times in the same category, are Ballet Manila, Liezl Batucan, Tanghalang SLU, and Toni Gonzaga.

This year, a new award, the Alice Hernandez Reyes Award, will be presented to PAO Chief Persida Rueda Acosta and Cong.

Amado S., Bagatsing.

Also a Breakthrough Performers of the Year Award, a first in Aliw, goes to GMA’s AlDub. The awards ceremonies start at 8 p.m..

Call 0915 7493552 (Nona) or 0927 6255335 (Sonny) for information.

Billy Ray, an Academy Award nominee known for his stirring screenplays of box-office smash hits such as The Hunger Games, Captain Phillips, and Flightplan takes on the director’s seat in Secret in their Eyes where he has assembled an award-winning cast and for the first time brings together Academy Award winners Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman with Academy Award nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor.

Secret in their Eyes is based on El Secreto de Sus Ojos, the 2010 Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Language Film, directed by Juan Jose Campanella.

In the movie, a parent’s worst nightmare happens when investigator Jess Cobb (Roberts) finds her daughter brutally murdered, along with his best pal in the force, Ray Kasten (Ejiofor), the two set out to uncover the elusive killer with the aid of district attorney Claire Sloan (Kidman). Years passed and the killer is still lose on the streets of Los Angeles, beneath the missions, Jess tries hard to cover the pain that has haunted her for years after her daughter’s death.

For Julia Roberts the essence of the story is about the evolution of people who were taken off track by destiny. “I was very taken with Billy’s script. I don’t read a lot of scripts that I like and I don’t work very often.

But I read this and thought it was truly interesting. “Billy has been remarkable for me as an actor. He’s so available and he’s like Encyclopedia Brown. He knows everything, he’s calm and he’s super-loving. He’s always taking care of all of us in these very fragile scenarios that he’s created. I think he probably feels bad for putting us through all this,” she laughs.

Nicole Kidman says that the plot intrigued her when she first read the script. “Rarely do you get scripts that have three strong protagonists and a really, really strong storyline. I’ve known Billy for a while now and I wanted to work with him and the idea of doing this with Julia and Chiwetel was compelling. “For me writer-directors are the best combination.

Billy is so collaborative and he has a great sense of structure and a great sense of humor.

He frequently would rewrite or change things a little bit in order to adapt to what Chiwetel and I needed. I call him Professor Billy because he also teaches writing and has so much knowledge of film.”

Secret in their Eyes is in theaters now from Axinite Digicinema.

SAT URDAY : DECEMBER 5, 2015

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ISAH V. RED EDITOR isahred @ gmail.com

SHOWBITZ

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the Ryan Cayabyab ChRistMas speCial

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1 Jeepney TV's Ryan Ryan Musikahan Christmas from the Heart will air onDec. 5 at 5 p.m.

2 Ogie Alcasid at Jeepney TV’s Ryan Ryan Musikahan Christmas from the Heart 3 Piolo Pascual at Jeepney TV’s Ryan Ryan Musikahan Christmas from the Heart 4 The Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, the beneficiary of the concert 5 The Voice of the Philippines alumna Klarisse 6 MYX VJ and singer Nikki Gil 7 The Ryan Cayabyab Singers

Jeepney TV once again brought together on one stage the country’s acclaimed music artists to celebrate the spirit of the season in Ryan Ryan Musikahan: Christmas from the Heart, which will premiere on the cable channel tonight.

Ryan Ryan Musikahan: Christmas from the Heart showcases the best of holiday music and heartfelt songs with singer-actor Piolo Pascual, MYX VJ and singer Nikki Gil, The Voice of the Philippines alumna Klarisse, award-winning UST Singers, the Ryan Cayabyab Singers, and OPM icon Ogie Alcasid, accompanied by Cayabyab on the piano and members of the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra on strings.

Among the most memorable numbers are Piolo and Ogie’s duet as they share the spotlight for the very first time, Cayabyab and Gil’s take on the popular Michael Buble and Idina Menzel cover of a holiday classic, “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” and the UST Singers’ rendition of “Munting Sanggol,” which Cayabyab penned.

The Christmas spirit of joy, love, and hope fill the halls as Klarisse and the Ryan Cayabyab Singers likewise will stun the audience with their smashing performances.

The show is for the benefit of the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth, a joint project of Jeepney

Ryan Cayabyab

TV alongside the other ABS-CBN cable channels Cinema One, Lifestyle, MYX, Hero, and Balls.

This is Jeepney TV’s third revival special of Cayabyab’s musical variety show Ryan Ryan Musikahan, which used to air on ABS-CBN in the late 80s until the early 90s.

Meanwhile, Jeepney TV’s first Musikahan revival special Ryan Ryan Musikahan: Home for Christmas aired last year, was recently honored by the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA), earning a special citation under the TV Special category.

Don’t miss Jeepney TV’s Ryan Ryan Musikahan: Christmas from the Heart on at 9 p.m. tonight. The Christmas special will also air 10 p.m. on Cinema One on Dec. 6 and on Lifestyle at 10 p.m. on Dec. 12.

Viewers can also catch the Christmas special on iWant TV and SKY on Demand starting Dec. 13.

Jeepney TV aims to promote classic and timeless Filipino shows and music that are close to the hearts of Filipinos. It belongs to the family of cable channels under Creative Programs Inc., a subsidiary of ABS-CBN.

HHHHH Rafael Rosell Renews ties with GMa netwoRk Because of You leading man and environmental advocate Rafael Rosell signed another threeyear exclusive contract with GMA Network on Nov. 27.

GMA Network, Chairman and CEO Felipe L. Gozon is very happy that Rafael will continue to be part of the network’s credible roster of stars, “He’s a welcome addition to our stable of very good artists.”

Rafael feels honored to renew his ties with the network and he’s looking forward to the projects that will be given to him. “I’m super honored and grateful because they keep trusting me with different projects. Alagang-alaga ako dito and I don’t doubt my future dito sa GMA. Ngayon, I’m excited for the next three years to come,” concludes the Kapuso actor. ➜ Continued on C7

Rafael Rosell